Pointless near-crash on the highway last night

[Harry]

Driving back from Morgantown, WV I was cut-off by a driver on the highway while doing about 70mph.

I flashed my highbeams at him and he (it *must* have been a male because no woman would be stupid enough to do this) decided to slam on his brakes, coming to a full stop on the highway with cars and trucks closing in behind us.

I didn't *leave* my highbeams on him. I just flashed them.

I had to drive off of the road and onto the embankment in order to avoid crashing into him. If I had crashed into him it would have been at a speed of at least 50mph and the both of us probably would have been hit by the speeding vehicles coming up from behind.

The driver then took off as I was trying to get my car out of the mud.

I thought about it later and realized that both he and I could have been killed or seriously injured over nothing more than pointless male ego.

Then I wondered if the driver was intentionally setting me up so that I would crash into him and he could sue my insurance company. That has become a big and carefully crafted scam in many states these days.

Either way, people just don't realize how quickly their lives can end or be permanently altered over a trivial, impulsive decision.

I'm sure glad that I wasn't on my bike at the time...

[iowabeakster]

other people are jerks.

i know of a family, basically same story, but with a much worse ending. glad to hear you are ok.

[Harry]

Ironically it was my motorcycle safety training that kept me from crashing my car last night.

I instinctively identified an escape route and used it!

[GypsyRR]

I must be missing something, Harry. Why would flashing your high beam at someone make them mad?

[Harry]

Ha! Of course you're "missing something." You're a woman are far too evolved to understand the stupid, fragile male ego.

He had to "teach me a lesson" for flashing my highbeams by nearly killing us both!

I really am thinking that it was a set up because the guy did everything that he possibly could in order to get me to hit him.

[NoRRmad]

Yeh... I've heard it called "swoop and squat." Was there another car to your left when it happened? The second car keeps you from going left, and serves as a witness for the lawsuit.

[DJ Downunder]

I flashed my lights at a stupid driver once.

The other driver stopped..and I stopped behind him..he walked up to my window and I said you nearly got us killed back there..and he punched me in the nose and walked back to his car..(he was a big guy with tats).

I had blood dripping onto my lap..There was a police station just up the road so after getting his license plate number I stopped at the Police station to file a report..(blood still dripping on the cop shop floor).

The cop said it was my fault..I should not have aggravated him..he also said they knew the guy and said it's not the first time he's done that.

I don't flash my lights any more...and I have lost faith in the Police force also.

DJ

[Harry]

Um, we were on a two lane road (I was in the left lane) so there was no vehicle blocking my left side. But there was also no road and more than a few guardrails. It was just luck that there was a clear spot when I went off road.

I couldn't get into the *right* lane because when he hit the brakes, there was a tour bus on my right.

Damn, DJ. Sorry to hear that you got clocked by that dude! Couldn't you have at least sued him in civil court? Or is it only us Yanks that think about doing that?

[sjbmw]

Glad you are safe and are able to enjoy the holiday season.
Sadly, mechanized vehicles have caused many forfeit their humanity, or what little they had left.

I stopped calling attention to myself a long time ago. In any way, shape, or form. Somebody wants to get in front of me? Go right ahead. You want that lane? Go right ahead. I have no stake in any piece of tarmac. Get me outta here.

People do not care when they screw up on the highways, and will harm you if you attempt to let them know. It's a provocation to fight, all the time.

Kinda like being caught in downtown Baghdad or Beirut. I would not try to engage or educate the populace on etiquette. I would just run.

[GypsyRR]

Gee, where have I been? I thought people flashed their lights to tell another driver that their high beams were on or that a policeman was up ahead. I thought it was a courtesy signal. I've never thought to use it to tell someone to stop being stupid. I'll certainly be more cautious about flashing lights!

I've only had someone flash lights at me twice within the last few years. Once to warn me of a policeman and another because my Piaas are so bright they thought I had a high beam on.

Maybe it's a geographical thing. Down here people use other methods to let you know you are stupid.

[yjleesvrr]

I see idiots of this sort all the time given how much time I spend on the road. Some people have all kinds of nerve, acting like they can get whatever they want whenever they want at the expense of others around them. I've had a couple instances where I've been personally confronted on the road. The first one was when I was 17 driving home on Braddock Road in Northern VA. He was in a pickup truck tailgating me close in the left lane with his lights right in my mirror. I got frustrated and unwisely gave him the finger. When we stopped at a signal light, he promptly got out of his pickup truck and kicked the side of my door. Having grown up in some rather bad neighborhoods earlier in life, this was a provocation I found impossible to resist. I got out of the car and found that I was taller than him by at least 2 inches. He started backing off when 1) He found out I was a teenager (in a fight, he's the one who'd wind up in jail), 2) when I got out of my car, I was not the typical glasses-wearing submissive Asian. I weighed close to 200 lbs. and I was lifting weights at the time. So both of us knew as soon as I got out of my car that should we exchange blows, I'd probably beat the pulp out of him. He retreated back to his truck with me following while yelling at him. I was pretty hot-headed back then, so I wound up kicking his truck as was starting to drive away. I felt my foot sink into his quarter panel a few inches.

The second was more recent - about five years ago. A guy zoomed up to me in a 35 mph zone while I was going 45 on South Main St. in Blacksburg. Funny enough, this guy was in a pickup truck as well. After a quarter of a mile, I raised my hand in the mirror shouting "Do you think I'm going to go faster because you're riding my ass?" This set the guy off. He followed me through Southgate Drive and onto 460 a few feet from my bumper all the while jesticulating at me to pull over. Once we turned onto 460, he tried to run me off the road yelling at me to pull over. I was armed with a Model 22 Glock .40 cal. pistol with 5 rounds in the mag. I racked the slide (not in his view) thinking if this jackass forced me to stop and came over to confront me that there was going to be a body in the Blacksburg morgue that night. I slowed down to 30 mph to try to get the guy to keep going as Route 460 is a 55 mph zone. To my relief he did. I promptly noted his license plate number down and called the police on my cell. They asked if I wanted to press charges. I asked if I had to spend time in court to testify and they said yes. I said to the police that I was too busy to deal with this idiot, but admonished them to keep the license plate on record in case he had a habit of road rage.

Now that I'm in Northern VA with more traffic and more unstable people (same percentage multiplied by 6 million in the D.C. area equates to a lot of loonies), I simply pull over or avoid nuts no matter how much they're irritating me.

[B52G]

Here in the states they will give anybody a license. We, as a group ,are poor drivers,and get worst ,more complacent the longer we drive. I like the old German way of granting licenses. You must attend driving school and spend a lot of $ for it, then have extensive on road training with instructors. Then you are restricted to driving only secondary roads till you have enough experienc to graduate to driving the Bahns. There are tiers that llimit the driver to certain hours of operation, and weather conditions. Those drivers on the autobahns are fast but good . I'v spent a lot of time there and would rather drive there doing 150kph than be on our interstates doing 65mph with a lot of inattentive, preoccupied slugs. Just the other day driving on a 2 lane road at 55, a woman backed out of a driveway right in front of me causing me to lock the brakes up. I flashed my lights too, then she flipped me off and turned into another driveway 100 yards down the road. DUH
Also ,I have always found it amusing that a lot of people who hate their jobs want to drive way over the speed limit to get there in the morning.

[R4R&R]

Here in the states they will give anybody a license.

Proof of that:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Home ... geId=1.1.1

I remember back in Drivers Ed in high school, that a license was not a right, but a privilidge. The other day I was going to a close shopping center and must've seen about 10 differnt cars doing EVERYTHING wrong. What can be done about this? It's ridiculous how sloppy people are with 3000lb+ machines. It's like they don't realize that so many people die because of a driver not paying attention or being in a hurry.

[Boxer]

I'm not a racist, by any stretch of the imagination, but lately the influx of Mexican and other immigrants from south of the border has greatly impacted this issue.

My daughter lives in Los Angeles area and has seen this grow over the last 15 years there, and now as the population changes here around Atlanta and other areas, the driving just plain sucks!

I'm generalizing I know, but those folks drive like there are no lines on the road or rules to follow. I think they may be just driving like they did back home...or they are very new drivers.