Increased Road Rage?

[airborne spoon]

1. Multiple cars racing with each other on an interstate, weaving in and out at high speed.
2. A driver who thinks you are going too slow, gets up on your rear, swerves to the other lane, and then swerves back to your lane and cuts you off.

the first one is not road rage its racing that is a completely different thing

Hope you got some dash cam footage to help identify the person!

Doesn't matter. Some random person could have clear 4k dashcam footage of me doing 100 in a 70 (which i do commonly) and they could show that to a cop and the cop at the most would only be able to issue a warning but that is extremely unlikely even. If the event isnt witnessed by a cop firsthand their hands are tied.

by “other lane” I think you mean “the lane I should have been in to the right of the passing lane that I was clogging”
I don’t get people who sit in the passing lane — when they aren’t passing. Often driving right past signs that say “Keep right except to pass”
GTFO of the passing lane

Seriously why is it such a hard concept to grasp the left lane (right for those that drive on the wrong side of the road) if for passing and for those that have ticket money. If I'm driving along at 80-90 in a 65 and some jackass is doing 68 in the left lane you can bet your ass I'm gonna get about 3 inches from that bumper (if there is space for that car to move, not if its actively passing). and if the car doesn't move I'll pop over, go around, and most of the time ill cut off that car as a **** you.

You can call this road rage all you want, i call it GTFO the left lane, that's why the signs say keep right except to pass.

Now you say you were in the middle lane and both other lanes were open and this happened. That is just illogical on the part of the other driver, if it was the left lane then its perfectly acceptable behavior. So i dono WTF that other driver was doing since you weren't in the left lane.

 

[brainhouston]

Now you say you were in the middle lane and both other lanes were open and this happened. That is just illogical on the part of the other driver, if it was the left lane then its perfectly acceptable behavior. So i dono WTF that other driver was doing since you weren't in the left lane.

OP didn't say if right lane was open...
I did see drivers get frustrated if ur the only one in middle lane going slow... u should always be in the very right lane if highway is very empty
If its busy then of course leave it for merging traffic
My fear is if i'm doing 100 n someone in middle lane going slow, one wrong move from either driver will cause serious accident, having that middle lane as buffer is a lot safer

 

[Darkside213]

Sacramento area here...

Road rage here is terrible. The trouble here is we have a LOT of freeway shootings and I'd estimate 40% are straight road rage. But yes, it's getting worse. I swear, ever since covid....

 

[brainhouston]

I feel like during COVID ppl got used to drive fast n now they can't let that go...

 

[Darkside213]

I feel like during COVID ppl got used to drive fast n now they can't let that go...

OMG yes! It's soooo bad out here. And then they look at you like you're the one in the wrong after they cut you off twice!

 

[brainhouston]

However I do support fast safe driving at least in peak times
Traffics in busy cites are awful. It would help everyone's commute if everybody drove a bit above speed limit
Here in PDX, cops don't pull anyone under 70mph (might be even more for peak time) n ppl still drive 55 (speed limit).. sigh...

 

[Willy’sEV]

However I do support fast safe driving at least in peak times
Traffics in busy cites are awful. It would help everyone's commute if everybody drove a bit above speed limit
Here in PDX, cops don't pull anyone under 70mph (might be even more for peak time) n ppl still drive 55 (speed limit).. sigh...

That’s a great idea…..and may I add to your point, we should install pedestrian lanes on major Interstate highways (pedestrian, bikes) we would have less pollution, and people would get more exercise. Maybe even less cars on the road and the ones driving car even go at higher speeds due to lack of cars.

 

[brainhouston]

That’s a great idea…..and may I add to your point, we should install pedestrian lanes on major Interstate highways (pedestrian, bikes) we would have less pollution, and people would get more exercise. Maybe even less cars on the road and the ones driving car even go at higher speeds due to lack of cars.

Nah, they should just give fast lanes to Privileged drivers, kinda like carpool lanes
To get that privilege, u have to pass Advanced Drivers test where u have to drive 80mph in rain, merge n exit freeway without disrupting traffic, pass accident (in opposite lane) without looking or slowing down, merge in zipper pattern (one for one), pass 2 cars driving parallel to each other... u get the idea

 

[ElectricIAC]

Nah, they should just give fast lanes to Privileged drivers, kinda like carpool lanes
To get that privilege, u have to pass Advanced Drivers test where u have to drive 80mph in rain, merge n exit freeway without disrupting traffic, pass accident (in opposite lane) without looking or slowing down, merge in zipper pattern (one for one), pass 2 cars driving parallel to each other... u get the idea

I don’t like the implications of location tracking that would be required but would support a system where average speed is considered over instant speed.

When passing someone here on a 75mph/120kph two lane blacktop it’s pretty easy to jump up to ~100/160 quickly pass.

 

[drtimhill]

I am not sure which forum to post, so mods can move it if they wish.

Recently I have noticed more Road Rage. It comes in 2 forms:

1. Multiple cars racing with each other on an interstate, weaving in and out at high speed.
2. A driver who thinks you are going too slow, gets up on your rear, swerves to the other lane, and then swerves back to your lane and cuts you off.

I am seeing this more and more on the highways I drive. I ask myself why? Is it being restrained the last 2+ years due to Covid and now they can act out? I just don’t know. It seems like “anger” to me.

Another observation: All the cars that exhibiting the 2 behaviors above have dark tinted windows so you cannot see the driver. Note: Let me make the statement clear, I did not say all drivers with tinted windows. have road rage, but rather the ones I observe as noted above all do.

I suspect the root cause (if there is indeed an increase in incidents) is the rapid uptake of EVs, which have somehow got branded by a certain segment of petrol-heads as anti-American (lets not even do down that crazy path). As EVs go from oddities to everyday, anger-driven people get more angry and more desperate. Sad, really.

 

[drtimhill]

I don’t like the implications of location tracking that would be required but would support a system where average speed is considered over instant speed.

There are a lot of these in the UK . they are horrible. They have two stations setup at a known distance apart along a road and they measure entry/exit times for the road segment. Of course, what happens is kids drive REAL FAST for a short stretch, then REAL SLOW to try to keep the average low. Both of which contribute to dangerous driving, which was ostensibly the reason for setting up the stupid things in the first place.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Nah, they should just give fast lanes to Privileged drivers, kinda like carpool lanes
To get that privilege, u have to pass Advanced Drivers test where u have to drive 80mph in rain, merge n exit freeway without disrupting traffic, pass accident (in opposite lane) without looking or slowing down, merge in zipper pattern (one for one), pass 2 cars driving parallel to each other... u get the idea

...and don't play shitty loud music with their windows open

 

[Stromler]

I think there's more general angst in the population in general so it makes sense that it would translate to the road too. Politics have gotten weird, prices are up and everyone is mad about something. Bad recipe that could cause more road rage.

 

[Du30]

 

[Du30]

Suspected Tesla driver behind SoCal road-rage attacks arrested

The Tesla driver allegedly involved in a series of road-rage attacks in Southern California has been arrested, authorities said Monday.

abc7.com

WOW! $5.1 million bail! $$$$$

 

[brainhouston]

i can't understand if all those were actually road-rage or just random road attacks...

 

[fholbert]

Most CA law enforcement people do not interfere with the flow of traffic. I followed a brave soul doing 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit who was being followed by a CHP. Finally the car pulled over, and the officer went racing on down the road. The speeder was in his way.

I’ve been told by CHP they don’t write speeding tickets under 80mph. Assume higher out of the city.

 

[Chris55555]

I’ve been told by CHP they don’t write speeding tickets under 80mph. Assume higher out of the city.

That sounds about right, there's so many people doing over 80 here that they have their hands full anyway.

Speaking of road rage, a few weeks ago in Sacramento a CHP swerved over three lanes to cut me off while doing 80 in the left lane, passing people in light traffic. I moved to the middle and he swerved all the way back over to the right, I guess it's just about asserting dominance sometimes.