Unprovoked road rage

[Zerosum]

This is one of the big reasons I finally opted to get an Autocom:  I want to be able to dial 911 while riding.  

Hell, a small video camera would be great, too.  With it, you could prove Attempted Vehicular Homicide.  I've often wished for a teeny-tiny helmet cam that's writing to a flash drive.  Whenever you pull the flash drive, you've got a video record of the last x hours.

[Brent099]

Hell, a small video camera would be great, too.  With it, you could prove Attempted Vehicular Homicide.  I've often wished for a teeny-tiny helmet cam that's writing to a flash drive.  Whenever you pull the flash drive, you've got a video record of the last x hours.

I'm kicking myself now, because I did have a helmet cam, I just didn't have it turned on at the time because the road was so boring and battery life is limited.  I wanted to turn it on just to capture the crazy amount of dust that the first truck was spraying everywhere, but I have to open the visor and take my attention off of the road for a second to start recording.  I didn't want to open my visor and let all that sand get in my eyes and on the camera lens.

I hope it's not this bad down there. I have to move there later this year!

It's not that bad.  Some of my favorite people in the world live in Mobile, AL, so there are some real quality people there to offset the psychos.  It is really hot and humid down there, though.  And I didn't see many curvy roads in that area...

[Zerosum]

I think I should create this helmet-cam product.  

It would be really small, cheap, and easy to use, with a power cord that connects to your bike via an SAE connector.  The camera doesn't need to be great, just high enough resolution to read a license plate.   And it needs to be SIMPLE, with a single start/stop button and a USB port.  It would normally be recording all the time, streaming an endless loop of video to a small flash drive.  When you have something you want to record, hit the button and go plug it into a computer to read it.

[OT rambling...]

I think that this is the future of "civility": everyone keeping everyone else in line with video cameras and the internet.   I was watching the news the other night... there's this website were women who are sexually harassed on NYC subways post pictures of the perverts flashing them.  They've actually gotten guys arrested, thanks to cell phone cameras.  It got me thinking... we all need cameras.  Everyone filming everything that everyone does.  Through modern technology, we'll return to the "small town", pre-industrial concept of everyone knowing what everyone else is doing.  Too much anonymity is a bad thing, IMO.

[Karmak]

You should try passing the red necks where it aint legal.  They expect it in the legal areas.  You gotta pop em hard an fast or forget about it.  

I have noticed up in the rural areas of Vermont and New York people actually move over to let motorcycles pass.  Some people in the south feel it is a direct challenge to their manhood if someone manages to pass them.  Look out for the pick up trucks.  The larger and louder the truck the smaller the brain.

Nobody ever said driving in south Alabama would be easy.  They didn't just make up the crap in Easy Rider and Deliverance out of their heads. Yes I realize Easy Rider is Louisiana and Deliverance is the North East Georgia mountains but the people aren't  much different

Had a redneck in a pickup trying to ram me from behind in the Catskills and in the Adirondacks only once (maybe twice) has anyone pulled over for me.  Must be my bad Karma.

[motomem]

Stuff blowing out of vehicles ranks up there with cell phones with me.

The only time I can remember getting road raged was at a 4 way stop a woman was on the cell phone. She just set there talking and it was her turn to go but she didn't. So I went. As soon as I pulled in the intersection she flipped me off and started cussing. I didn't think I had done anything wrong.

You did the right thing just going on about your business.

[freecatSV]

Wow.  That's more vicious and sociopathic than anything I've seen here in Baltimore.  Yeah, people are idiots, aggressive drivers, innatentive, etc.  But I've never had someone try to KILL me before.

Isn't it funny that some people have this notion that "country folk" are all nice?  No, they can be animals too.  It's just the lower population density that makes it feel safer.  I think it all boils down to socioeconomics.  A west Baltimore ghetto, a shack in southern Alabama... people in both places will tend to be nasty, feral subhumans for whom life is worth exactly Jack and Shit.

Interestingly, my worst experiences with unprovoked road rage are both in Central Maryland, one in Laurel, and one on the BW Parkway, maybe near Glen Burnie if I remember correctly. Anyway, in Laurel there's a stretch of 198 that's now 4 lanes the whole way, but several years ago it was 2 lanes, then expanded to four for a mile (because of a couple of interesections) then back to two, then back to four and eventually six lanes. So I was following a buddy on a bike and a pickup truck gets between us, more or less cutting me off to do so, but not maliciously, just in the usual thoughtless cager way. We're talking about a major surface road with stoplights and all. So the road expands to four lanes, he moves into the left lane, and I pass him on the right to catch up to my buddy. Well this guy freaks out, tailgates us a while when the road goes back to two lanes, then passes both of us as fast as he can when it goes back to four lanes, flipping the bird and yelling something I wouldn't have been able to hear even without a helmet on. He's really weaving and rocking that truck as he does this, then he slams on his brakes in front of us. We just went around him and filtered at the next light to get him behind us for good.

A few miles later we stop to turn left and I notice he's not far behind us now. As he goes through the intersection I flip him the bird, and I swear it was a miracle he didn't crash in his wild efforts to return the gesture and yell out the window. Maybe it's wrong, but I really wish he had crashed. I still have no idea what made him so mad. He cut me off, and I waited until I had my own lane to get ahead of him.

The worst injustice I usually have to endure here in the Smokies is that tourists won't use turnouts (I'm guessing they don't know what they're for, even though there are usually signs saying "Slow vehicle turnoff 500 ft"). The locals, mostly, pull off the road and wave me by as soon as they notice. I've heard stories everywhere, though. Some people just really hate bikes.

[02Tac]

I think that this is the future of "civility": everyone keeping everyone else in line with video cameras and the internet.  

We could just allow (as the Constitution permits) law abiding person to carry.  An armed society is a polite society.

[Brent099]

We could just allow (as the Constitution permits) law abiding person to carry.  An armed society is a polite society.

That very thought was one of the reasons I chose to just keep riding rather than retaliate.

[JoeRider]

I too often contemplate mounting a gun, turrets, maybe a few mini harpoons.  I guess the video cam would be enough for presecution, but I would like to be alive to do so.  I am appauled at what some people do.  Thers needs to be more commercials promoting cage safety and a side line of harsh p[rosecution iof you do harm or atemp to harm a motorcyclist.
Maybe that why the roads are like a war zone.   For us oldies, you may recall the arcade game paperboy-- obstacles, dogs, etc, now, the stakes are higher






We could just allow (as the Constitution permits) law abiding person to carry.  An armed society is a polite society.

[ragtoplvr]

This weekend in SE Kansas I came upon two cars running under the speed limit.  Each car had a teen age boy driver with Girlfriend, never a good combination!  

Pass the first car, lead car floors it.  On coming traffic.  stuck between, they they slow way down, turn around laughing.

Nice thing about quiet pipes, they will not hear when you down shift and get on it, that extra 1/2second of time is useful.

They got hung up in traffic, and I got far away.

I hope their girlfriends were not impressed.  If they were, well, they get what they deserve.

It is a small town, and I grew up there.  I might just drive around and look for the cars.  Will be really interesting if I happen know one of their dads.

Then Sunday in Arkansas, came up on a herd of HD that try to keep you from passing.

It did not work.

Seems the hotter it gets the worse people act.

Maybe that is why I like winter riding so much.

Rod

[evilted]

Yep, I agree -- this is another solution I've considered.  But it has the disadvantage of recording to local media, which means it's not going to do you any good if you end up dead or incapacitated after an incident and the recording is appropriated by the miscreants who precipitated the whole thing.

Now, if you could come up with a way to stream this data to a remote datastore, even in remote areas lacking cell phone coverage, that would be something.

I think I should create this helmet-cam product.  

It would be really small, cheap, and easy to use, with a power cord that connects to your bike via an SAE connector.  The camera doesn't need to be great, just high enough resolution to read a license plate.   And it needs to be SIMPLE, with a single start/stop button and a USB port.  It would normally be recording all the time, streaming an endless loop of video to a small flash drive.  When you have something you want to record, hit the button and go plug it into a computer to read it.

[OT rambling...]

I think that this is the future of "civility": everyone keeping everyone else in line with video cameras and the internet.   I was watching the news the other night... there's this website were women who are sexually harassed on NYC subways post pictures of the perverts flashing them.  They've actually gotten guys arrested, thanks to cell phone cameras.  It got me thinking... we all need cameras.  Everyone filming everything that everyone does.  Through modern technology, we'll return to the "small town", pre-industrial concept of everyone knowing what everyone else is doing.  Too much anonymity is a bad thing, IMO.

[evilted]

With respect to the sort of firearm a motorcyclist is likely to be packing while riding, I don't really see how this helps.

Brandishing a firearm while riding is an empty threat -- motorcycles in motion are not good gun platforms insofar as effective use means the rider is at least temporarily compromising his ability to maintain speed & direction or effect evasion in the not unlikely circumstance that the cager tries to effect a collision.

And, if you brandish, you've made a deadly threat, which an armed cager may view as an invitation to now use his own firearm against you in "self defense."  

We could just allow (as the Constitution permits) law abiding person to carry.  An armed society is a polite society.

[Jes_VFR]

 I had an asshole try to run me onto the opposite shoulder once while I was passing. This was in an area I know well so after I got past him I wicked it up, and found a spot to hide out. Followed him at a distance into town enough to see what neighborhood he lived in.

 When I went there later in different vehicle, and discovered where he lived I didn't have the heart to do anything more. Where he lived was punishment enough for him, and likely why he had such an attitude problem.

Hey, I look at it this way. Gesture at me all you want, Yell/Scream obsenities at me if it makes you feel better, but come over and try an harm me and You just earned the polished turd life award.
It would not have mattered how bad his home was, If he had tried to take me out and I found out where he lived, he would find out what a shit life really was.
Little really annoying shit would just suddenly find him, you know un-explained flat tires, mystery dead batteries, expanding/contracting engine oil, unexplained cracked windows, constantly shocking door handles, funny (as in bad) smells inside, Shorting horn button, Random no park windshield wipers, mystery coolant leaks, drifting transmission neutral switch, Self starting engine, Etc.......


I've had un-provoked road rage while on the bike.
Passing is something that a lot of people just can't stand.

If you think it is bad on a bike, try passing on of those left-lane hugger/blockades, while towing a trailer.
I can't tell you the number of people that got pissed when their sitting in the left lane of I-95 doing 65.xxxx mph and pull past them on a hill towing the VFR on the trailer.
Especially the VA and MA drivers.

GIVE UP and ask someone how to GET A LIFE!!!!.

[burnergold2B]

 Not to get into a Southern bashing thread but....in the middle of nowhere Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, etc., is where you will find A LOT of methamphetamine labs. It's not just an America thing. That being said...

  It takes all kinds. While most folks are as even keeled and sensible as the next regular joe, you are really probably lucky to have survived the incident with a couple of bonafide psychos. Screwing with other folks on the road like that is actually a sport for them to talk about @ the bar. One word;sidearm.    

It just reinforces that nagging feeling they have in the back of their mind that life is passing them by.

One of my friends who spends a lot of time living abroad always notes when he gets back stateside how drivers here always seem to take being passed as some sort of personal offense.  Sensitive American ego at work, I guess.

[Snowbird]

Seems the hotter it gets the worse people act.

Yeah, heat is a warning, as are holidays. July 4th is a real danger. People get pissy when it's hot, and people disappointed by high expectations of holiday merriment are dangerous. Those are the times I've had the most trouble.

But some people are asses and think causing a motorcycle to crash is like tripping someone walking. These people deserve killin' but in the end you're better off just letting them go. The cops are useless unless there's contact.

Most of these asshats will only pick on riders when they're alone. That's why bikers group ride.

[02Tac]

With respect to the sort of firearm a motorcyclist is likely to be packing while riding, I don't really see how this helps.

Brandishing a firearm while riding is an empty threat -- motorcycles in motion are not good gun platforms insofar as effective use means the rider is at least temporarily compromising his ability to maintain speed & direction or effect evasion in the not unlikely circumstance that the cager tries to effect a collision.

And, if you brandish, you've made a deadly threat, which an armed cager may view as an invitation to now use his own firearm against you in "self defense."  

 I meant the society as a whole.

[H.C.D.]

Was out riding yesterday and had a tractor-trailer do the speed-up-swerve manuvre on me as I was trying to pass him.  I've also noticed an uptick in seemingly unprovoked road rage around here the last two or three months.  Had an incident Sunday afternoon while driving to a local pizza parlor with my wife and kids in the car.  Apparently, Billy-Bob in the big Chevy pickup behind me didn't think 55 in a 45 was fast enough for him, but yet also didn't think that changing lanes and passing me was something he could do, either. (it was a 4 lane road) Was freakin 3 feet from my rear bumper.  When we came to the next light and I got into the left-turn lane he wound up next to me, and honked his horn and started yelling something.  I just went on about my business.  You can't fix stupid.

If that fuker had hit me and hurt my wife and/or kids, however, I would not have been responsible for what happened to his redneck, inbred adz shortly afterwards.....

[Rincewind]

As I'm overtaking the truck I see that there is a large diesel pickup about 200 feet in front of the 18-wheeler.  Not wanting to pass both in one go, I do a quick head check to make sure I've left enough room between myself and the 18-wheeler and then swing back into the right lane.  

I would have just passed both of them in one swoop.  I don't understand your reasoning to duck behind the pick-up truck.

[Brent099]

I would have just passed both of them in one swoop.  I don't understand your reasoning to duck behind the pick-up truck.

I just generally try to avoid passing multiple vehicles in one go when they're spread out.  My main priority was just to get ahead of that stupid truck and get the dust off my visor and out of my eyes.

Now if I had gone ahead and tried passing both at once, who knows if things would have gone any better.  We know billy-bob already had the intent to do something harmful.  I doubt he would have been more receptive to a me blasting past him as opposed to harmlessly passing the truck behind him.

[FredE]

I read through this thread earlier and thought I'd been lucky lately - no overtly dangerous maneuvers from the cagers for quite a while now.

Ah, but then this happened: I'd put a new set of Avon Distanzias on the Husky 610SM, and went out early to scrub them in.  As I was headed to some more appropriate roads for the task, I was doing a slow weave to start wearing off the release agent/build up some heat/start the scrub-in process.  I was moving at a leisurely, legal pace on a well-marked fairly wide and straight two-lane secondary road.  I was NOT crossing the center line - not even close to it.

A small beat-up import pickup approaches, and as the driver (white-haired old hillbilly looking codger) nears - he swerves completely across the double yellow, then back into his lane.  I hit the brakes and headed for the fog line.  I didn't know what he was doing - trying to scare me or trying to actually hit me.........or just reacting to something I was unaware of.  The new tires and the heavy braking (trying to scrub off speed in case I had to abandon the pavement) combined to produce a very scary two-wheel slide - I nearly went down.  

As Crazy Clampett passes, I can see his face contorted in anger - he's screaming at me.  Damn he was close to impacting me/my bike..............I was so shook up, I didn't even consider following him.  I just sat there on the side of the road, waiting for my hands and feet to stop shaking enough to continue on.

I was already thinking along these lines (after reading the first posts in this thread) before this happened: People do not need a good or valid reason to direct their rage at another motorcyclist/motorist.  It's all about them - they may be having the worst day of their lives (or just be a nut case), and you just happen to be in the line of fire when the cork pops off.  So BE CAREFUL at all times, and be aware of your surroundings and who's shaning the road with you.  That vigilance may give you the second you need to avoid one of these psychos.