Opinion Talk

By Dennis

August 1, 2008 7:56 AM | Link to this

I used to beleive that I should be able to drive as fast and recklessly as I wanted because “I am a damn good driver”. I had little or no patience with people who were “in my way.”

Then I grew up. Became an adult at age 38.

There may be a few drivers out there who are impeding your progress for some silly personal satisfaction reason, but most are just trying to get from one place to another.

If other vehicles being on the road with you aggravates or angers you, perhaps it is time for you to grow up too.

By Duluth

August 1, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this

Dennis I was the exact same way, and sometimes that “Excellent driver” in me still comes out. I too grew up, but not till I hit 45.

Now I have learned to slow down, and not worry about the idiots on the road. I will eventually get to my destination. No need for a stroke, or getting my blood pressure up for some idiot who can’t drive as well as me!

By "The Corporal"

August 1, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this

The problem is, driving is a privilege not a right, and WAY too many people (old and young) have driver’s licenses who should NOT have them. Testing (written and driving) should be much more intensive.

By BeepBeeo

August 1, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this

I stopped in at a gas station the other day in Alpharetta….the place was packed, so I politely pulled up to wait in line behind a car finishing their fill up. I drive an SUV, and my back end was haning out past the pumps a little bit and this Hispanic guy (mid 20s) came barreling through the station in his huge truck pulling a trailer with lawn equipment and slammed on his brakes, barely missing my car. I just sat there and watched him as he started screaming at me to get out the way.

My blood starting boiling, but I motioned for him to go around as he kept screaming. I have dark tinted windows, so I rolled down my window and shot him a bird. As I was about to step out of my car, he jetted off. Not that I was going to fight or anything, but still….why the yelling? There was an entire parking lot to go around me in. I was just in line to fill up…..

By Blogfather

August 1, 2008 9:18 AM | Link to this

I was driving my wife back from Chemotherapy. A driver pulled out in front of me across three lanes of traffic to get into the right turn lane. I had to slam on the brakes and my wife, still under the effects of the drugs, screamed bloody murder. The driver, noticing her reaction, allowed us to pull up along side of him, when he feigned violently like he was going to ram our car in the side. My instinct forced me to swerve into oncoming traffic without hesitation or really realizing whether or not there was a car on a collision course with me. There wasn’t, by some miracle there was a short break in the heavy traffic, so no harm. But this guy knew exactly how to make me react that way, and I could have caused an accident. He had obviously done this before. If I had been armed, there is no doubt I would have stalked this guy until I was sure I could have got a really good shot off at him. I was that frightened and then enraged. No doubt in my mind. As it was, I flipped him off, and we went on our way. He will do this again, and with the new concealed weapon law, I’m thinking justice will prevail. These cowboys always end up picking on the wrong guy.

I will never own a gun. I cant trust myself not to use it. One less p-hole is no defense in court. (I mean a-hole).

“But your honor, the world has one less p-hole, uh, I mean a-hole in it. He needed killin. What?”

By TomL

August 1, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this

Has another driver ever yelled at you, gestured at you, or worse, threatened you because of perceived problems with your driving?

Ha! You should bike commute in this town.

By WOW

August 1, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this

Blogfather, what’s the new concealed carry law got to do with it? Nothing as far as I can see. Any law abiding citizen can (and could before the “new” law was passed) carry a loaded gun right in their lap if they want to. But good for you for knowing your limitations. Law abiding citizens like yourself are more concerned with their own actions and won’t give in to the “cowboy mentality” all the chicken littles just knew would happen with the new gun law.

By R2D2

August 1, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this

Think about this for a minute: If everyone would slow your @$$es down and drive no more than 5-8 miles over the posted speed limit on any roadway, that would mean a whole lot less gas would be consumed by their vehicles - especially your gas-hogging trucks & SUV’s. Do you have more time to to get to your destination or do you have more money to spend for guzzing up gas in your tank? Ultimately, the less gas we as gasoline-dependent drivers use, the less oil U.S. petroleum companies either have to drill for or this country has to by from OPEC and other forgeign countries; (by the way, which continues to make them richer at our expense). Therefore, if you people would leave sooner and slow-ya-roll, Habib, Hassan & Masrif have build smaller hotels, resorts and island communities, not to mention the fact that we could possibly limit the in-fighting over AWAR amongst ourselves!!!

Just a thought……..

By Rick

August 1, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this

I used to be quite aggressive and confrontational. As with Dennis, one day I realized that a couple of car links do not anything.

And I agree with Blogfather: the fear of another having a weapon helps keep my temper in check.

The only action I take now-a-days is, if someone is on my tail, I drive slower and slower, forcing the other to pass me. I do not want such a driver behind: in front of me is safer for me. At the least, I can make a quick turn to get away.

And, yes, I do like the term, “Traffic Tantrum.” It fits quite well the little fits that we all see and do.

By nina

August 1, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this

When people scream at me, I usually blow em kisses. That seems to calm things down fast.

By MANGLER

August 1, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this

Happens to the best of us … and I don’t really know why, nor can I explain it. Monday, in fact, I was driving through a residential neighborhood, not down the highway. The speed limit is 25 through there. So, given the hills, I ranged from 25 to 35 as I went up and down the hills. The whole time, there was a lady so far up my bumper that I couldn’t tell you what color her car was. At the top of a hill, I just stopped suddenly and almost got out of the car to go say “hello”. But I didn’t. I just sped up again and she stayed right there on my rear until she pulled into her driveway. I couldn’t believe it. She lives on that street and she’s driving like that.

“Hi, I’m a driver and its been 4 days since my last road rage incident.”

By Jimbo I

August 1, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this

I’m 29 and I have a checkered past of aggressive driving. Not even super reckless stuff, just fast.

I tend to drive the speed limit now, it save on tickets and when everyone is passing you, you don’t really have to work too hard at traffic. It’s a nice change really.

I have a concealed carry permit and I often carry a gun, but even when someone is yelling at me and threatening me I’m not tempted to use it.

No one is worth going to prison for. I have a good life and a good fiancee and I intend on keeping them. At the end of the day that will always let me keep my temper.

Most of the time when someone gets crappy I just smile biggest at them like they’re the friendliest person in the world. Occasionally I give them the finger, it really depends on my mood. Giving the finger just gives the satisfaction of believing you’re the jerk. Smiling at them.. well.. that’s way more effective, I’m surprised some of these guys haven’t had a coronary..

As for what the guy said about riding a bicycle, holy crap is that ever true. A lot of that anger is directed at cyclists who ignore traffic laws.. I hate those guys. But some people are just jerks.

By GaLiberal

August 1, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this

There is a huge difference between a childish outburst and trying to run someone off the road or cutting in front and then slamming on the brakes. Those behaviors endanger lives.

One problem is the self-centered way people drive. I’ve noticed that many people to get better gas mileage are driving slower (like in a Hummer that’s going help). Yet, they continue to drive in the third and fourth lanes instead of moving right. This forces other drivers to make lane changes to pass these slower moving cars. If you want to drive slow, then be courteous to other drives and drive right. Otherwise, don’t expect others to be courteous to you.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the ignorant, racist, Rethuglicon bootlickers hadn’t put Bush in office. His failed economic policies and the reckless and unnecessary Iraq war has caused the dollar to tank causing oil prices to skyrocket resulting in the economy going into a death spiral. Every time I fill up my car, I thank Bush and every a*******hole that voted for him. McCain wants to continue these failed policies. He wants military bases in Iraq for the next 100 years. He wants to continue Bush’s tax cuts for the uberrich. All paid for by more deficit spending. A deficit which is now projected to be over $500 million. I’ll remember in November. Will you?

When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And paying $4.00/gal for gas is living proof.

By Fred

August 1, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this

If I get upset and want to give the finger…I use a peace sign instead and smile. It gets the point across without the malice. Traffic is always going to be a hassle. Dennis is right..let’s all grow up. Kudos to Nina…what a brilliant idea to blow kisses.

By Blogfather

August 1, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this

One way to save gas is to coast to the red light that’s directly ahead. The driver behind you will invariably honk his horn in an effort to get you to race to the red light. If he can, he’ll dash around you and floor it and then slam on his brakes when he gets to the red light.

Traffic behavior has to do with the effect on a person of moving through space with little white lines on either side of you. Those dashes of paint instead of solid white lines are a hypnotic metrometer that induces drivers to maintain their speed, no matter what obstruction is dead ahead. As you near a car that is slowing down, small amounts of a chemical that induces fear and frustration enter the bloodstream, (the fear of crashing, and the frustration of not getting to your destination in the least amount of time). There is also something about how humans fear and despise change, and the way we need to blame others for any change. We have been brainwashed by the bible to seek out devils and destroy them. Any slow driver must be a devil so we need to punish that devil. We are driving gods.

Thus road rage will never be solved until we remove the effect that riding in a car has on the intellect. The only way to do that is education. Teach driving in school like math or history.

By Jimbo I

August 1, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this

You know the peace sign, palm inward, means….right?

Same thing as the one finger does..

By Jimbo I

August 1, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this

You know what the peace sign, palm inward, means….right?

Same thing as the one finger does..

By Out of choices

August 1, 2008 10:41 AM | Link to this

I am glad you guys grew up. I did also, the first shift I worked as an Advanced Life Support Paramedic. If that does not make you grow up nothing will. I have required each of my children to ride a 24 hour shift with me before they got their liscense. So far that plan has worked.

By Fred

August 1, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this

My favorite is when some idiot in a pickup truck or SUV gets right on my tail with their lights illuminating the entire interior of my car. I usually slow down a bit to leave a bunch of room between me and the car in front of me. If they don’t take the hint, I hit my brakes hard. When they go roaring past me - usually in a no passing zone - and give me the finger, I smile broadly and wave to them as if they are a long lost friend. Then I put on some relaxing music and continue my drive. I have been working in Gwinnett County for about 8 months and have been hit 3 times. Each time I was at a stop. Drivers in Georgia are pretty bad but Gwinnett County takes the cake.

By Rick

August 1, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this

Please realize there is a difference between a “cyclist” and “a guy on a bike.” if you see a helmet, bright jersey, tight shorts, odds are the rider is trained and paying attention to the rules (I’m not saying all, just the majority; there are renegades).

A guy on a bike is generally helmetless, riding the wrong way, poking the front wheel into traffic, tending to ignore traffic signs.

Please, don’t see the cyclist and assume that that rider will act like a guy on a bike. Almost everyone I ride with follows the rules because we all realize it is for our safety. We hate the guy on a bike just as much as you do, because that idiot reflects on us.

By Blogfather

August 1, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this

As driving Gods, with the power of life and death in our hands every minute we’re driving, we demand respect. We will not be ignored. We are Gods. How dare anyone flip us off, or slow us down, or cut us off. As Gods, we own the highway that stretches from our front bumper to about a quarter mile in front of us. Any car that enters that zone is the devil who must be punished, even if we have to speed up to get on his tail. Then, when we’ve finished flashing our lights, honking, and flipping, and the devil moves over to let us pass, we pass, and then slow down the the speed we were traveling before the devil showed himself. We do this because we are Gods.

We are driving Gods. At 4-way stop signs, we are the traffic cop and we use hand signals to order other drivers to go, because they are not god and they cant be trusted to understand our own godly righteous sense of timing and priority at 4-way stop signs. We point with the index finger. They obey or else we switch to our middle finger, and we flip them like the dirty no account devil people they truly are. The flip means, “eat sh!t and die, you hoary devil”. We are Gods. You will respect us.

By Jaybird

August 1, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this

Can we talk about whether the media has a double standard in talking about affairs outside of marriage when John Edwards or a Republican is involved.?.Why is this blog devoted to silly things.? Let’s talk about the wall of silence that the AJC is erecting on this and why. What place does discretion have? Do news judgments get more exquisitely balanced when the party involved is one of us rather than “one of them”?

By It's simple

August 1, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

It’s simple people. Stop blaming transplants from the North. Stop blaming anything other than this: Georgia does not have mandatory driver education in schools. All over the county, it’s part of the Health & Phys. Ed. curriculum for sophomores. Our elected state officials don’t care about this subject at all!!

The State of Georgia does not worry iota about traffic safety. It’s mind boggling that driver education isn’t in the schools. I’ts mind boggling we have so few state troopers on the roads, that they have such old barracks, equipment and vehicles. It’s mind boggling that the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety doesn’t give a darn that half the drivers in Georgia don’t know it’s the law to turn your headlights on in the rain.

The worst one is that the state legislature will not make it state law to require passengers in pickup trucks wear seatbelts. Even though it costs the state $20 million plus from the fedral gov’t.

Remember that young punk guy who killed a family in Gwinnett on I-85 as he was racing and weaving in and out of traffic? That happens all the time in Georgia. We don’t have troopers on the highways. And the laws are weak so when someone is prosecuted for such offenses, they receive little to no jail time. An entire family, wiped out by the ignornace of one young, selfish driver.

Our state elected officials in Georgia don’t give a darn about driver education, traffic safety, our state troopers, road rage, etc.

If you’re not willing to contact your state rep., state senator or the governor, don’t whine here, because you’re just part of the problem, no the solution.

By nascar logic

August 1, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

Did you ever notice that traffic goes faster whenever there’s a Nascar race on Television?

We are driving gods, remember. We have our own ten commandments which we post to all other drivers so that they may obey us.

Commandment number one. Get out of my fooking way you horrid loser, or I’ll wish you were dead.

2. If I’m in a traffic jam that is caused by someone who lays injured in the road as I creep past, rubber necking, and helping to aggravate the traffic jam, then the injured driver got what he deserved, and I will flip him off, curse him to hell, and pray that he dies for wasting ten or twenty minutes of my time. I will also yell “a-hole” just loud enough so the cops at the scene dont hear it. 3. Go ahead. Cut me off. Make my day. 4. If I cut off a line of traffic and they end up right on my tail as I mosie on up to speed, it’s their fault for speeding no matter how close to the speed limit they were legally going. I can do no wrong as a God. Deal with it or get off the road, losers. 5. Parking is a right, my right. Unless you hurry out of the parking space you are in so that I may park and not wait, you are infringing on my rights. However, if I’m in a parking space, I can take as long as I damn well please in backing out of it, no matter how long you’ve waited. 6. Expectant mothers only parking places are for men only. Preferrably dead beat dads. Deal with it or eat sh!t and die, pregnant scum. Hello, God here. 7. Gods dont sleep. Gods can stay awake simply by turning on the radio and drinking coffee. We dont have to pull over when we’re sleepy on long trips late at night. 8. Gods are drafters. We can draft an 18 wheeler and get 150 mpg’s. So what if it confounds the truck driver, who may get distracted by us. 9. Cops are there to stop the other guy. If we get pulled over, it’s only to get an award for our professional skill and courtesy. 10. We are gods, and the roads are our temples, any 57 car pileups we may cause and the subsequent fires are merely incense burning in worship of us.

By Jimbo I

August 1, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this

You mean the guys in the tight short with the helmets and jerseys who ride in packs through parts of the city four abreast (which is against the law) and no regard for traffic safety?

That’s a serious renegade problem you have..

I thought most of the guys in jerseys and shorts just had the money to spend and approached cycling like they did golf or any other hobby they take up for a while.

By BeeJay

August 1, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

I don’t think it matters what you call it. Frankly I believe road rage IS an immature temper tantrum.

Recently I was in a rather long line of cars back from a red light, stopped, when a young drama thing pulled from an apartment complex within inches of my bumper. She gave me the finger and said a few words with her ugly face, most of which I fortunately did not catch, and over the course of waiting for the light to change, she said a few more, shook her head, etc. I never moved (couldn’t). When the light changed and the car ahead of me moved, I didn’t, and she whipped in and forward dangerously and recklessly. To this day, I don’t know what her problem was or what exactly she expected me to do in a stopped line of cars.

It seems some people are actively looking for something to get pi$$ed about. They enjoy being angry and projecting their vitriole on somebody else. Why? We see it all the time in all kinds of circumstances. A game of “I’m better than you and I show it by pretending you did something I can get mad about”?

By Road Rage is Justified

August 1, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this

Drivers going slow in the right lane are fine by me.

Bike riders are fine with me.

Drivers in the left lane driving slower than I want to go, but who are passing cars on the right of them are fine with me.

The only people I have an issue with are those who drive slow in the left lane, have no one in front of them and don’t make any effort to get out of the way.

Those people deserve to die, along with any cops looking to hand out speeding tickets.

By hardmanb

August 1, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this

To all the other drivers who have been inconvenienced by my driving…my sincere apologies.

I’m retired now, driving completely defensively and for milage at speed limits (except when it would dangerously impede traffic).

I never engaged in road rage or aggressive behavior, but for many years, I constantly was on the streets hurrying from one place/appointment to another, under stress of being late and traffic delays, and was often “assertive” and impatient…a victim of our “rat race”.

By GodHatesTrash

August 1, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this

I had a filthy redneck in a pick-em-up truck wave his pistlero at me on I-285 several years ago.

I look for NRA stickers and Bush/Cheney bumperstickers now on cars and trucks - they are short for “Angry Drunk Driver On Board”.

(Let’s face it, anybody that would vote for Bush is a stupid wild animal.)

By Amazed

August 1, 2008 1:41 PM | Link to this

I have always found that the drivers doing the raging are the ones who are in the wrong.

Just this morning, a driver coming off the on-ramp, crossed the gore into my path. I honked and swerved to miss the idiot. He had the gall to honk back, flash his lights and flip me a bird.

By Ben

August 1, 2008 2:50 PM | Link to this

As an adult who grew up and learned to drive in Gwinnett County I can tell you that the roads are no longer policed as they once were. When I was 17, I got a speeding ticket on I-85 near what is now Sugarloaf Pkwy for going 70 in a 55 mph. That was in the late 80s. No one ever gets even a look at for doing 70 unless you are in a dangerous construction zone. Even then your chances of getting pulled over are pretty much zero. If our roads were actually policed as they once were I think you would see drivers get in line and start driving responsibly. As it stands, it really is up the individual driver how sane they would like to drive. That’s not a good system and for the size expressways we have it is extremely dangerous. The only thing that is saving most drivers today is the quality of the vehicles in their ability to stop, avoid and protect occupants in an accident. If we were driving 80s cars like we drive today there would be carnage all over the city on a daily basis. As for the NE drivers, that influence came in the 70s and 80s but as far as I am concerned all super aggressive metro Atlanta drivers are home grown maniacs at this point. I don’t think you can blame NJ and NY drivers anymore. Georgia drivers have to look in the mirror on that one.

By Sallied Parry

August 1, 2008 3:01 PM | Link to this

BJ: you blocked the driveway, you moron.

Idiot.

By Dan

August 1, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this

I’m a fairly agressive driver (70-75 not 90), but I think very aware, I don’t get caught boxed in, and usually know who is around me on all sides. I have only been flipped off or honked at maybe 2 or 3 times since I moved here in 1994. People if you are getting flipped off, yelled at, honked at on a regular basis. You need to look in the mirror. I would venture to say the flippees are generally worse drivers than the flippers

By Dan

August 1, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this

Sallied you nailed it ole BeeJay is complaining about being flipped off cause he or she didn’t even realize they were in the wrong. That would be the stupid flippee and granted the flipper was possibly a tad rude but stupid people can drive you to that

By Hat

August 1, 2008 3:47 PM | Link to this

Hey GodHatesTrash-

I look out for anyone who has a bumper sticker for ANY democrat because I know that one hand will be holding a cigarette and the other one will be down their pants.

By AMC

August 1, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this

Why can’t everyone learn the basics? Left lanes are for PASSING. If you are not passing anyone, get your behind over. Hint! Hint! If you are in the fast lane and everyone to your right is passing you…guess what? You are WRONG!!!!! Some states have actually began ticketing such drivers. If you can’t handle the HEAT,….STAY OUT of the kitchen.

By bj

August 1, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this

To BeepBeeo: I was on your side until you said, “…so I rolled down my window and shot him a bird.”

Why? That makes about as much sense — or even less — as yelling at someone (as the guy did to you) waiting in line.

“Shooting the bird” is like an invitation to escalate. Is that what you wanted? (I note, though, that you’re not the only commenter with a quick finger.)

By BeepBeep

August 1, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

bj-

No, I didn’t want things to escalate…I was mad. I understand that I wasn’t in the right, in fact, I am very lucky I didn’t get shot.

I had a traffic tantrum, which is what this article is about…

By brock

August 1, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this

Like many, my biggest issue is with drivers who won’t yield the passing lane. And then they are usually the ones who complain about tailgaters and lane changers. They cause this behavior because they want to enforce the speed limit (I guess). Why anyone would invite road rage on themselves is beyond me.

But I no longer honk, flash my lights or turn on my left signal for these dullards, I just pass them on the right. But the ones that get to me are the ones who clearly won’t yield, and THEN, when I signal a lane change, they want to finally come over. Too late, I’m already there and passing, so I herd them back to where they wrongly insisted on being with a little swerve. Sorry, you only get one lane from which to impede others.