Originally Posted by
UMassAm
yeah i admit the finger was not thoughtful- ive found i get more road rage than other people around me, working on it. but these are good ideas.
Of course, it can be uncomfortable and intimidating to have a car sitting close behind like that. It is not necessary either. What I witness is that a car provides so much anonymity that allows people to do things when behind the wheel they'd never do when in person. Say you are standing with a few others at the entrance to an elevator (or in line for a movie) and another person steps in and walks in front of everyone when the door opens. That is rare in my book, but go to a roadway where one of the lanes has to merge into another and tell me what you experience (I/we know the answer to that).
Easy to get upset and raise the middle finger - been there and done that... I have regretted it often and find that it does not get the reaction/action that I would benefit from.
Hey, how 'bout a story to make us all feel better!? This is like an old Billy Jack movie where he gets revenge on the bad guys - and I don't condone this type of behavior anymore, but it was sure fun to watch.
Travelling with another cyclist across one of the local bridges. A dude in the passenger side of the pick up truck (PU) sticks his head out of the window and yells profanities at my riding partner from inches away. We were climbing at about 15 mph and they doing at least 40.
Well my riding partner wasn't impressed and got what I would say was a massive dose of adrenaline and starting cranking up and then over the bridge. The PUwas way down the road, but my partner must have seen them up ahead. I'd say he was up over 30 on the flat part of the road after the bridge. The PU was heading for some traffic and up the road made a left, but the other cyclist wasn't far behind (about 3/4 mile from incident to their turn). When I came on scene the PU had pulled into a beach parking lot and was looking for a vacant space to park. My partner came along side the passenger and leveled a fist into the side of his head. He hit him so hard the guy bumped into the driver on the other side of the PU. Neither of them would get out and attempt to do anymore damage since my riding partner was ready to kill.
Again, not condoned by me anymore.