Road Rage in Traffic...WWYD?

[johnson0317]

I have to say, AJ admits he is still fueled, somewhat, by youthful indiscretion.

AJ, the advice is hard to listen to, but it is correct. You really have to swallow bile sometimes. Even if you are not carrying on any given day, and you decide you are going to go ahead a butt heads with someone, you may get a large enough charge against you to take that CHL right out of your pocket for years to come. I said it in another thread, but carrying a gun has to become an exercise of patience...start practicing now.

[ajwakeboarder]

And just imagine, if you had tempered your testosterone just a little bit, and let him in, none of this would have happened, yes?

I've had to deal the the consequences of someone getting mad on the road and doing something stupid - in my case, I wasn't even the one she was mad at, but she still bounced off my little car. The resulting paperwork, money out of my pocket for an uninsured driver, hassle over getting the car fixed, and subsequent time off talking with investigators and DA's convinced me that if I can avoid such a situation in the future, my manhood will not be challenged in the slightest!

Yeah, I admit that it was a dumb thing to do. I should have just let him in front of me. I am still a little hot headed sometimes, but hindsight is 20/20. I'm just wondering what ya'll would do in a situation when your boxed in in traffic and you are approached by a hostile person. Without any way to evade. Traffic on the freeway is just about the worst tactical situation i could think of.

[texasmusic]

I didn't let him over.

An ounce of prevention... just let the guy get over. Not only is he happy cause he gets to be .25 seconds ahead of you but he's .25 seconds ahead of you, let him take off and take the situation with him.

If I was boxed in... probably use the car to jam through. We've seen the helicopter chase videos on TV. Bad guy gets stuck in traffic, starts playing bumper cars and pretty soon people start clearing the way. Depends on the traffic and whether there's a shoulder to work with or concrete barriers etc.

[wharvey]

Yeah, I admit that it was a dumb thing to do. I should have just let him in front of me. I am still a little hot headed sometimes, but hindsight is 20/20. I'm just wondering what ya'll would do in a situation when your boxed in in traffic and you are approached by a hostile person. Without any way to evade. Traffic on the freeway is just about the worst tactical situation i could think of.

Yep, but like the old joke, sometimes when you are up to your waist in a swamp full of alligators it is pretty hard to remember the original objective was to drain the swamp. No one was hurt so it was a learning experience. There are so many fools out there behind the wheel it often amazes me that there aren't even more accidents than there are.

[n5wd]

...I'm just wondering what ya'll would do in a situation when your boxed in in traffic and you are approached by a hostile person. Without any way to evade. Traffic on the freeway is just about the worst tactical situation i could think of.

Once again, prevention is worth a thousand pounds of response. Having spent many years in a MICU ambulance, I learned to drive tactically, a habit that continues today. One of the ways I watch out for things like that is to never be stuck in an inside lane - I'm always looking about 1/4 mile in front of me, if it's possible. If I see traffic start to jam up, and I'm in an boxed-in lane, I tend to move to the far inside or far outside, to provide me with an escape path. Most likely, I wasn't in the middle lanes to begin with.

[wharvey]

I'm always looking about 1/4 mile in front of me, if it's possible.

You are a rare driver. I think the vast majority never look past the end of their hood. People can't understand how I can go 150K miles without brake work. When you don't have to use them constantly while going down the freeway they really don't wear out that quick. And it is so much more relaxing when you don't have to worry about having to slam on the brakes.

[Venus Pax]

I have called 911 over another driver's dangerous (possible drunk/chemically impaired) driving, and I would do it over a hostile driver as well (especially if I felt threatened).
Often, they straighten up or get far away from you if they see you on the phone while surveying their license plate; however, you have a call on record that you tried to get an officer to handle the situation in the event that you end up having to defend yourself.

[johnson0317]

Venus Pax,

Such a great point! Many experts, including Ayoob, teach that the first one to get with 911 generally gets the "victim" label while the other party gets the bad guy label. If you have any inkling something is going to go down, get on the phone. If there is not time for that, then get to the phone as fast as you can afterwards.

Chris Bird wrote a book called, "Thank God I Had a Gun". I believe he has at least one story of how hard it was on people who were righteous in their use of force, but the other party called first. They then got treated as the offender and went through hell. May not be fair, but then, if you really want fair...go to the State Fair.

RJ

[ajwakeboarder]

Thanks alot guys. I appreciate the advice. I just hope i never need any of it.