Fast track to road rage...

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i have instant road rage, as soon as i get in my car. it's because most people shouldn't be allowed to be on the road ANYWHERE near me - how DARE they?!

however, my bumper sticker says (if it hasn't fallen off): "My other car is a broomstick". people do tend to back off when they see that. no idea why...

i have a lot of rage problems in general - blind red rage. especially prone to it on the road.

but when you're driving, you're propelling a ton or more of metal through the world at very high speed - in other words, you're operating a deadly weapon. deadly to yourself and everyone else.

what i've tried to do is when i feel this rage starting, i try to withdraw as much as possible. with tailgating, if i'm not in the mood to slow down and keep it steady with someone on my tail without having a stroke or, god forbid, breaking sharp and causing myself, the perpetrator, and every other innocent driver who can't get out of our way ridiculous and unnnecessary risk or accident and death, i just pull over and let them go by.

i figure if they're in that much of a hurry, and it's important to them but not to me, why should i drive us both nuts and perpetuate the dangerous situation?

cause, you know, you're gonna get where you're going and so will everyone else if you step back and take a few breaths and think logically about what's going on and what the potential adverse outcomes really are.

easier said than done, but it can save your life.

also, no point getting into social dominance incidents with strangers in cars. lots of strangers are ragier than you and better armed. it's really better to avoid violent interactions with the humans.

personally, i leave twice the recommended car space, at least, ahead of me because i've been in enough accidents to know how hard it is to react quickly and stop safely and it hurts to hit things hard.

also, if you're being tailgated all the time, and it's not a very busy, tail-gatey kind of city, you may be driving much slower than the normal pace of traffic, and that can be as dangerous to you and everone else as driving too fast. traffic flow can be a real quality of life issue for a lot of people.

I am generally a 5-10mph over the speed limit and yet I STILL get tailgaiters-- and I'm not talking in the fast lane either. Usually, if I'm on the highway, I stick to the third lane (one over from the slow lane).

The tailgaiters who especially drive me INSANE are the ones who insist driving my bumper while there are other lanes open for them to pull around and pass me! I just don't get it... I just do NOT get it...

Reckless AND lazy!! !

I'm glad the topic of driving came up again. I've been reflecting on the "aspies follow the rules" stereotype and figure it applies to just about everything I do except driving. I speed like a demon and roll through stop signs, and a few days ago I made my very first left turn at a "no left turns" intersection (it was 5:15 AM and nobody was around). And yet there are other rules I follow without question or exception, ranging from "don't walk on grass" to "12 items or less". I don't even try to cheat on my taxes.... I've been wondering what it is about driving that allows me to break the rules when I'm essentially unable to do so in any other context.

As for road rage - I completely understand it. I sometimes tailgate, but I do it intentionally because I *want* the person in front of me to feel uncomfortable. Usually it's because they are either speed-matching the lanes next to them to create a rolling road-block or because they are leaving a big gap and people from other lanes keep passing us and pulling into the gap (which makes the car in front of me slow down even more and leave an even bigger gap).

I'm gonna get a numberplate that reads "Out of the way, unless you like buying new cars!" because I think I will get an army surplus APC