What the hell is wrong with people!!!

[esqeddy]

Have a Viper in NYC grants me time with exactly this kind of ignorance quite often. After MANY years of this kind of pure crap, I can only recommend that, before you make any move, you ALWAYS take a single moment to consider the risk/reward action ratio. Sure, you're completely in the right ad you'll get your few seconds of "righteousness", BUT you could wind up with damage to your car, some road rage pursuit and/or a court appearance. In the end, it is FAR more intelligent to let it be.

That's not to suggest it's in any way an easy thing to do. It's not and for the life of me, I can't always turn the other cheek. But when I have taken some action, the "feel good time" immediately after is never worth the hours later thoughts of just how consequentially bad things could have been.

The "lesson" you offer when with confrontation is NEVER learned. SO it's all about getting even and you've "arrived at the scene" SO far ahead of the other party that's there's never any real need.

I agree. In fact, I have adopted the view that the classic "Idiot Driver" is just another type of potentially lethal rolling road hazard that one must effectively avoid to keep oneself as safe as possible while out on the road. Surely, each of us is aware that the world is full of nuts who are ready to snap and go on a full out shooting spree. Here in the US, and especially here in S. Ga., those nuts are typically well armed. (Of course, so am I. But that doesn't mean I'm looking for a firefight with a wack job.)

The most effective way I've found of dealing with the "Idiot Driver", is to get myself and my vehicle away from the psychopath as quickly as possible. Prolonging the confrontation rarely has any beneficial outcome. A confrontation can result in having someone ram your car just because it is a Viper, or them pulling a gun or weapon and trying hurt and/or kill you. Often, a confrontation can result in the involvement of law enforcement. In such a situation, even if it all pans out in your favor, and you are declared the good guy and the "Idiot Driver" is hauled off to jail, you just blew half a day of dealing with cops, being interviewed, and don't forget, you may be subpoenaed back to the Idiot Driver's court hearing, where you will get to waste even more of your time. And this is the best case scenario. Law Enforcement may not accept your explanation of the events, especially when the Idiot Driver is telling a completely different story. You could find yourself facing criminal charges, hiring an attorney (hopefully me!), and having to fight your ass off to NOT become a convicted felon.

It is said that Discretion is the better part of valor. "It is good to be brave, but it is also good to be careful.; If you are careful, you will not get into situations that require you to be brave."

Fortunately, with a Viper, I am well equipped to remove my person and my car from the vicinity of an "Idiot Driver", and I do so love doing it with great haste, leaving them in nothing but a cloud of dust and envy, knowing the last thing they see and remember is my middle finger salutation.

[Sybil TF]

Just your typical democrat voter. Get used to it........

[CSXT802]

Thanks for input everyone. I know it was best to turn the other cheek in this case. Did not sit well with me at first , but it is best not to risk what I have worked for. Who would have thought that trying to enjoy a drive in my viper would turn into drama. The scum bags and haters have to try and ruin it for the rest of us. What goes around comes around.

[Mr White]

naughty word warning, but appropriate:

[HobokenViper]

I had a similar experience recently commuting home from the train station in North White Plains, NY.

Get off the train and walk to my car, get in and drive about 15 mph through the parking lot. Some guy in a new Mercedes E-Class comes flying around a corner of the parking lot that I was approaching without looking and misses hitting me by mere inches (I was going straight and clearly had right of way) and I was thankfully NOT in my Viper, but in my 4 month old Lexus. He only missed slamming into me because I jammed on the brakes. I sat on the horn for about 5 seconds, and this guy stops his car short in front of me blocking the road. He jumps out of his car like a maniac approaching me cursing and screaming and telling me that he is going to kick my a$$. Now he is a normal average joe 40-ish year old guy who clearly works at a corporate job and had a bad day, but what he didn't know was that the guy he was trying to pick a fight with was a former bodybuilder and I could easily pound him into a pile of mush on the floor and beat him to a pulp with his own arms. I chose the high road and simply told him with a smile to get his a$$ back in his car before he got himself hurt. He got even closer and more threatening, and I warned him again that he should back away before he really caused some serious trouble and hurt for himself. He finally started walking back to his car yelling all the way that he should kick my a$$, and gets in his car and drives up ahead. All the other commuters behind me were nodding their heads in disbelief since they saw exactly what happened and that I did nothing wrong to deserve this psycho reaction. Further down the road, I happened to pull up almost next to him at speed without fully realizing it until he tried to smash his car into mine and run me off the road into a huge rock wall. I know it was intentional because he was looking at me while doing it screaming F YOU!!!!! This guy was seriously out of his mind and for what?!?! Because I honked my horn at him when he almost smashed his car into mine from his own careless driving?!

I was angry, but didn't have plates because I didn't think of it at the moment in my shock and anger. I decided it was better to hang back and avoid this guy than to engage him in a fight and potentially go to jail for permanently mangling him in self defense.

A couple weeks later, I was at the gym lifting some serious weights and looking especially huge and scary, and who do I see sit on the bench right next to me.....? The crazy a-hole from the road rage incident!!! I casually walked over to him and politely asked him if he drove a new silver Merc E-Class and he replied yes. I asked him if he commutes out of North White Plains, and he said yes and asked why I was asking him. I told him I'm getting to it and then asked him if he had tried to fight a guy in the parking lot a couple weeks prior and he turned pale as a ghost realizing that he was in big trouble. He was silent and I asked him if he felt like a tough guy now that he saw who he tried to start a fight with and didn't have his car to run and hide in, and asked if he wanted to step outside and see who would be kicking who's a$$ now, and he replied, "No, I'm good right here." And he basically apologized. Told him to shut his mouth from now on and not act like a moron because next time it might not end so well for him, or he could end up in jail if he killed someone running them off the road for no reason at all.

I thought that ended well, and haven't seen that guy at the gym since, or at the train station. Moral of the story, don't be an a-hole with road rage. You never know who you are messing with or what could happen to you, and nothing is worth starting a fight with someone over on the road.....it never ends well for anyone involved.

[Anonymous]

Hey Hoboken,welcome to westchester, we have a ton of assholes like that!

[HobokenViper]

I'm convinced he just REALLY hates Lexus cars.....

[v10enomous]

Wow... I just saw this thread Darren... As I was half way through your original post and knowing you, I thought to myself that there is no way you would let this get too far out of hand... and then I thought... Crap... I hope he didn't wreck his car before Carlisle... j/k hehehehe

[v10CodeMonkey]

A couple weeks later, I was at the gym lifting some serious weights and looking especially huge and scary, and who do I see sit on the bench right next to me.....? The crazy a-hole from the road rage incident!!! I casually walked over to him and politely asked him if he drove a new silver Merc E-Class and he replied yes. I asked him if he commutes out of North White Plains, and he said yes and asked why I was asking him. I told him I'm getting to it and then asked him if he had tried to fight a guy in the parking lot a couple weeks prior and he turned pale as a ghost realizing that he was in big trouble. He was silent and I asked him if he felt like a tough guy now that he saw who he tried to start a fight with and didn't have his car to run and hide in, and asked if he wanted to step outside and see who would be kicking who's a$$ now, and he replied, "No, I'm good right here." And he basically apologized. Told him to shut his mouth from now on and not act like a moron because next time it might not end so well for him, or he could end up in jail if he killed someone running them off the road for no reason at all.

I thought that ended well, and haven't seen that guy at the gym since, or at the train station. Moral of the story, don't be an a-hole with road rage. You never know who you are messing with or what could happen to you, and nothing is worth starting a fight with someone over on the road.....it never ends well for anyone involved.

Stories like this warm my heart Too many idiots get off scott free, this one did not.

[C.J]

Haven't experienced behavior like that here in NC. Maybe there's something in the water up North?

[Viper Pit]

Gimme some info on these dash cams you talk about!

[Patentlaw]

To all,

Respectfully, it is the area that you live. Lived in NJ for 40 years. Went through the same type of stuff.
Moved to Texas in a nicer area and bingo....no problems. Just thumbs up from people and appreciation for the car.

Not trying to be difficult, but if it bothers you that much....move.

And yes, I fully expect to get answers from people in Texas who complain about the same thing. Trust me....it is a geographical issue. Heck you get more respect in Hoboken because the parking and congestion mandates it than some areas up in Eastern PA and NJ.

Wishing you well with your continued insanity in the area.

Plaw

[Mr White]

Funny things happen when you cram too many people in one space.

[TitleMine]

People like that are why I want to put in some kind of dash cam.

I just use my Hero 3+ Black on 2.7k widescreen mode. Erase at the end of the day if nothing happened.

[Motor City Madman]

I've had similar experiences with idiot driers getting pissed off no matter what car I drive. I don't get the mentality. I could see if I was tailgating them or driving like a jerk, but that is not the case. For example, I was driving in my SUV a few years ago and this idiot in a pickup truck is driving about 65 mph in the fast lane on a 2 lane highway with a driver next to them in the slow lane driving the same speed. I usually drive about 90 mph in a 70 zone and want to get by. I'm patently waiting for this idiot to get out of the fast lane. Finally after about 5 minutes the car on the right slowly drops back far enough that I can pass on the right. So I then quickly get up to 90 mph and am on my way. About 3 minutes later the idiot in the truck that was in the slow lane comes flying up beside me, which means he had to get up to about 120mph, just so he can lay on his horn and flip me off. For what? Get the fuck outta the fast lane if you are driving the speed limit or below.

[MACH4444]

Not dash cams, action cams similar to a go pro but cheaper. I actually have a few, 2 contour roams and a contour+. They can take a good beating, can be submerged for short periods of time and have decent image quality.mi have mounts for them in my Viper, my wrangler and on a couple of my bikes. Attached one to a fishing line one day while surf fishing and it worked great even after hours in the salt water. Not as expensive as a go pro and the shape and size make it easy to use. Check out the contour website.

[Big Miata]

You have to let people be idiots and lets someone else teach them their lessons. The last time I got out of a car cause some idiot in a crap 4 runner ran me off the road he drove off running a redlight once he saw me get out of the car. Good thing cause a cop came the other direction 30 seconds later and I would be in jail for pummeling some punk kid into the ground. You got lucky that you had that filter. I always remember that when I think about getting out of a car to lay down my justice.