2 separate episodes of Road Rage at night

[Mosa]

First off Skyway, glad U came away ok...

Secondly, lots of good ideas, not all will work with his given situation imho.... I was one of those who carried lugnuts with me and used em once.... I never packed, although several times wished I had... I have learnd that doing whatever it takes to get out of that situation without pissing the other nutjob off is my best course of action... I tried the slowdown, brakelite, swerve into another line of cars, whatever... most of the time I end up just motoring away at hi-speed like U did, then take a turnoff, sit a spell, then start back on my way.... in Skyways case, the second time, I dont think he really had a turnoff to take, so that wouldnt worked there.... I moved from the DC area to NC thinking it would be better... its not... dont matter where ya are in the world, the other wierdos seem to come out at any time/any place....

Too many nutjobs out there, too many unique situations to comment on a way to handle em all.... Avoidance is the best thing for me... maybe not others... I just dont wanna do the jail time no more...nor pay hospital bills... no matter what, cages win over bikes....

thanks for the post Skyway... real interesting reads to responses and other's experiences....

As for hanging it up, like the otehrs said, its completely personal choice.. follow your gut/head/heart....

Hope to see U on the road sometime...

Mosa

 

[BeeLine]

I like your suggestion, althought I too would not hesitate to twist the throttle... I carry a 225 Lumen Surefire Flashlight on my person at all times while riding. It WILL blind you.

I think the first choice is always to use the capability of the bike (brakes or throttle) but the Surefire is a damn good second line of defense. Unless they're totally insane the only choice they have is to slow to a stop until they get their vision back. But if they are insane you can have fun watching them run off the road.

 

[NSFJR]

Skyway, Your encounter with TWO nuts consumed with road rage within 20 minutes is hard to comprehend. Your choices of action in both instances certainly appear to be correct as you are here to relate the story; I only hope I would have the same clear-thinking ability in a similar circumstance. Fortunately, here in Atlantic Canada, our population, and our traffic volumes lessen this liklihood, but of course, do not completely eleminate it from happening. Well done.

 

[Dan23]

Interesting thread, but in a case where I was the recipient of another's rage, after getting the license number and making a report to my state police (called 911 at the scene), the police...

did NOTHING.

 

[05fjrman]

Did you accidently leave those madly bright spotlights on and piss people off by blinding them ;-)
Maybe those lights made them think you were a cop and they got mad when you weren't :lol:

I gotta say, as I was lane sharing on 80, I was pleastly pleased how many people made room for me when they saw me coming. There was only one guy that seemed to try to squeeze me out on purpose. Of course, he was in a pickup.

that reminds me of a situation my dad had last year. he was coming home from work, on a single lane (each way) road. it's 30mph, and he was doing about 33. he has one of those headlight modulators, the things that go from low to high beam really fast, like police lights. so he comes up behind some lady in a minivan with out of state tags, not tailgating just going a couple miles an hour faster than her. so she must think that he's a cop, and puts her turn signal on and pulls over. he thought she was turning, and went around her. she realizes that he's not a cop, and snaps. she had to do about 75 to catch up to him and then passed him in a double yellow, and then slows down to 15mph, swerving all over the road. they pulled up to the next signal next to each other, and she starts screaming and swearing at him, like a freaking trucker. so what does he do? pulls up his shield and scrockes a giant loogie in her lap! i thought that one was funny, but i bet she didn't.

 

[Groo]

... pulls up his shield and scrockes a giant loogie in her lap! i thought that one was funny, but i bet she didn't.

Did her head spontaneously combust?

 

[Last Chance]

Skyway makes a mod to his hydration system that actually holds cat urine,

:clapping:

Actually, before I got to this post, I was thinking suggesting a launcher (spring loaded cannister, about 2" in diameter) for canine or bovine fecal matter. But yer-ine could be sprayed from a rather small, unobtrusive nozzle that would look like a vent. heh-heh-heh-heh-heh :yahoo:

Jeepers-creepers, surely someone would spray a tailgaiter that turned out ot be an unmarked cop. Now THAT would be interesting! :dribble:

Mike this thread is giving me "Deja Vu" moments all over again. Looks like I'm the a"Yang" to Ivan's "Ying". Discussed my case with my FBI son,, Got my strategy all figured out! No problem.

:dribble: :dribble: :blink: :dribble: I think Ian did the right thing AND he IDENTIFIED the threat! Very important, huh. :clapping:

 

[05fjrman]

... pulls up his shield and scrockes a giant loogie in her lap! i thought that one was funny, but i bet she didn't.

Did her head spontaneously combust?

actually, she was turning off at that point, so he didn't get to see her reaction to in depth. he just gunned it.

 

[Fred H.]

You guys better think long and hard before throwing ball bearing or anything else at a vehicle. It is only going to make the situation escalate and you will be worse off than before. The cage driver is now going to be even angrier and things are only going to get worse.

The same could be said for speeding. If someone is tailgating you and you speed up to say 110mph, and the car is still chasing you, now you have a car behind you going over 100mph and your options are even less than you had before. I understand sometimes that is the only way out, but just don't chose that as your first option. And if you do decide to increase your speed, first slow down some, forcing the car to slow down too, then as soon as the car slows, nail it, and use your ability to out accelerate him to open up a gap between you. I do this all the time when someone tailgates me. If I am going 65 and they are tailgating, I will slow to about 60, and then very quickly speed up to 70 or 75. This opens up a nice gap and the driver usually gets the message.

Another option you might want to think about in a situation like this is the awesome brakes on the FJR. If the left lane is clear, you might want to slow and get the car behind you a bit closer, then quickly pull all the way over into the left lane and jam on the brakes and haul the bike down to a stop and let the car go right on by you. At least now he is not on your butt. At this point you can even make a U turn if you need to and go the other way. Chances are he is not going to try to turn around and come after you.

But whatever you do, PLEASE, leave the ball bearings in the workshop. Throwing objects at cars when you are on a motorcycle is INSANE and you are asking to get killed if you do it.

 

[palerider]

Sounds like you did the best thing you could, given the available options, but how scary!!!
I met a friend of one of those drivers on my way to work this week. It was 6am, I wasn't on the top of my game so decided that four wheels were safer that day. I'm tootling along at 60-65 on the far right of six freeway lanes. The cars in front are doing the same speed. Two lanes to my left are pretty much open.

Moron in minivan then gets up my backside, for no apparent reason. I let off the gas and he gets closer. Show a little red light but he gets closer. I'm not moving left, because the next off ramp is mine. He gets closer so I shift down and show more brake lights. Closer still and now the high beams. Shift down and now we're going real slow. Moron passes me ON THE SHOULDER. For a millisecond, it was tempting to show him that a Z3 can take off in second, faster than any minivan. Thankfully, common sense won and I let the moron go.

Later, I thought what a crappy day he's going to have, with that attitude. Will he complain to someone that an idiot in the right lane was driving at 60mph, along with a bunch of other idiots? That none of them would let him pass? What a crappy life he/she must have, with so much anger stewing. Betcha he doesn't even KNOW how to ride a bike.

Jill

I was on a three-lane transition road between freeways. I was in the right-most lane (in my car) doing maybe 60. No one in the

in either of the two left lanes. Three in the afternoon. Guy comes up snug behind me and starts flashing his lights like I'm supposed to move over to let him pass. Move over where? Was he thinking I was going to pull onto the shoulder? Too bad they don't give psych evals before issuing driver licenses.

 

[madmike2]

But whatever you do, PLEASE, leave the ball bearings in the workshop. Throwing objects at cars when you are on a motorcycle is INSANE and you are asking to get killed if you do it.

Especially in the modern cell phone era. While it may be a teasingly pleasant fantasy, I'd bet it is highly illegal and if it actually caused the other person to have an accident or did damage to their car you could be held liable, and they could claim that YOU instigated the ordeal. THAT might make Mr./Ms. Policeperson vewy vewy angwy. Dey might eben get out their widdle chrome handcuffies and grant you fwee passage to the "Greybar Motel".

 

[odot]

Nice to see you fred.....drink and get drunk. And if I see you on the road...expect the bird from me.

 

[git-r-dan]

Last night

Ian, you did good gettin' away.

 

[Fred H.]

Nice to see you fred.....drink and get drunk. And if I see you on the road...expect the bird from me.

And a good day to you too.

Bye.

 

[odot]

O.K.....screw you...I'm running you off the road.

 

[twowheelnut]

You guys better think long and hard before throwing ball bearing or anything else at a vehicle.

Um, Fred?

...

Aw, screw it. Never mind.

 

[Silver Penguin]

Last night
Ian, you did good gettin' away.

That news report is scary. It illustrates perfectly how road rage turns people insane. I wonder how the shooter feels now that the dust has settled? He can't take back his actions because his victim is dead.

Several of the replies on this thread have shown how easily road rage can escalate. I'm aware that some of the revenge tactics were posted with tongue-in-cheek but how many were serious? While sitting at your computer, calmly and rationally, would you even DREAM of taking on a psychopath in a tank, who was possibly armed too? Sure, you have the gas and brake power over them but they aren't playing by the rules.

I've thought about this issue over, and over again after Andy was recently threatened by a woman driver. She changed lanes while paying more attention to the phone than the bike in her chosen lane. He made an aggressive swerve, which saved his life. Rather childishly, I rode up close to her back with my high beams on. Didn't SEE the bike huh? Well see THIS one. He was in front of her, and slowed down, looking to see if she had nailed me. After I was done with the light show, I pulled into the next lane and rode alongside her. We were doing the speed of the rest of the traffic, but had her between us. At the next light, she pulled alongside Andy and warned that next time she'd run him right off the road and kill him.

This was the stereotypical suburban soccer Mom. Probably a pillar of the PTA. She made a careless mistake. We retaliated and she was probably terrified. Fear led to aggression and you can imagine the rest. Common sense took over (thank goodness) and we took a different route. Sure, she started it but I made matters worse by responding the way I did.

I really hate to think of the morons getting away with their stupid antics. Revenge could be oh so sweet, but also to the cost of the biker's life or limbs.

Jill

 

[weekend rider]

Some times it is best to do nothing and live another day to tell about it

my two euros weekend rider

 

[mcatrophy]

First of all, congrats for surviving!

I once was almost guilty of road rage. An elderly driver (it was a woman, but that was nothing to do with it) pulled out sloooowly from a car park right in front of me. Nothing deliberate on her part I'm sure, just didn't see me. (Yes, I'd seen her head move towards me, and probably thought she had seen me. My mistake.)

The road was very greasy, there was no room to overtake, I just braked as hard as I dared (no ABS on my Trophy).

I managed to keep it all together, and got my speed down to hers with about 1 foot between my front wheel and her rear bumper. When I finally realised I was still upright and I hadn't actually soiled my underpants, my reaction was to put my headlights on full beam (right into her rear-view mirror), mentally shouting "I AM HERE".

In the heat of the moment I seriously considered riding up beside her and remonstrating with her.

Luckily for me, I couldn't do this for long enough for the adrenalin to subside, and I realised she was probably scared sh!tless by this Hell's Angel (as she probably perceived me). Also I could be "done" for my aggression. That's if she ever realised I was there, there was absolutely no acknowledgement of my presence, if anything she deliberately crouched even lower over the steering wheel.

But I can see why some people can get up tight about perceived bad driving or whatever, and not everyone is as mild a person as I normally am. Not that I'm making any excuses for road rage, it's just something else we have to be aware of and allow for.

As for the ball bearings, what happens to the next (innocent) car/bike that goes over these on the road?

 

[cctxfjr]

maybe just pulling off the side of the road and letting the other vehicle pass may be the best avenue to take the high speed escape my be second best other than crash danger and ticket risk-here in Texas state troopers won't buy the story and will say tell" the judge" as they are writing you up