Road rage confession

[abhi182]

This incident happened to me close to six months ago, but was suddenly reminded of it when reading up the posts in this thread...

I usually drive with a cool head and am not prone to road rage barring a few occasions

However, one day, I was coming back home from office and was on the Taramani Velachery road driving towards Vijaynagar bus stand...

Now people who know this road would realize how chaotic this road is in the after-office
hours with pedestians, ccycles, autos , bikes, buses cars all jostling for space yet speeding on this narrow two laned road (and everyone driving on high beam :@ )....

And admist all this chaos, there was this crazy biker behind me constantly honking at me to let him pass despite the fact that there was no space for me to let him pass.

SO I got pissed off and basically did everything to not let him pass even when i could ...including speeding up, driving in the middle on the rare free stretch...moving to the left when he'd try to overtake me from the wrong side...you know, the whole works..
and all the while, my face was flush and my heartbeat was up and I felt so weird...

After some 5 mins of a tussle, finally, this guy revved up up his bike at one free strecth and cocked his middle finger at me while overtaking me almost making my blood boil....

Barely 2 seconds later , he went crashing into a road divider which suddenly emerged frm nowhere...
what makes it worse is I didn't bother to stop or do anything at all, i just drove past without even looking back deriving some mad kind of perverse pleasure in the whole experience.

I do not know what the extent of his injuries were, but to this day, when i think about that incident i feel guilty, more so because at that moment, i felt more glad than sorry :(

[X-Machine]

Hey abhi,
Never mess around with bikers, for the simple reason that they are not as safe on the bike as we are in cars. One bad accident on a bike can take away you life, while in a car chances are that you might survive.
Keep this in mind, dont mess around with vehicles smaller or bigger your size.

Drive safe mate. Take it easy!!

X

[abhi182]

^^ I know, and i usually never lose my cool even in worse situations...
PErhaps the effects of a long day at office + particularly bad traffic and the constant honking woke up the devil in me ...who knows.....

Just wanted to make a confession here

Also, something should be done about educating the 2 wheeler riders in chennai (which incidentally is perhaps the only city in India where helmets aren't compulsory).... Unlike Delhi, where the car drivers drive recklessly as if they own the road while the 2 wheelers keep a safe distance, In Chennai, it's exactly the opposite....

(And delhi car drivers need similar lessons too )

[prkothan]

To all who get provoked by reckless driving by bikers,

Today we are owning a car, but most of us were using bikes earlier. We are more safer in roads than bikers. The biker who want to over take us may be in genuine hurry, the reasons may be countless. They may be running to home to handle some emeygency etc. Just give them way.
Never involve in road rage with bikers.

[Steeroid]

If a biker is pestering you from behind...let him go. He's like a fly - small and agile and you'll never be able to contain it. Besides, he needs very little space to go compared to your car - imagine his frustration at finding a 4 wheeler hogging the road when he could have passed and reached the next intersection by now...

Never hold up traffic and let those who can pass go ahead. However, if it were a pesky 4-wheeler behind you I'd do what you did - keep that guy firmly behind. You have a better chance of keeping a 4-wheeler behind too - they need as much space as you do.

Dont bother too much about two-wheeled riders - they are unobtrusive if you allow them to go ahead.

[kgc_cool]

I guess it is easier said than done..

There is one interesting incident I went through - that kind of changed my attitude on the roads a bit..

I was stuck in a really bad traffic jam on Richmond road (Bangalore) once (bumper to bumper traffic doing hardly 1-2kmph).. And there was this biker who kept honking at me.. I thought it was quite odd.. nobody was moving anywhere.. so, whats with all the honking stuff..

After about 5 minutes, when I got a chance to give a couple feet gap for the biker (enough to let him pass), he was honking and not passing ahead.. So, I was really wild and rolled down my window with the intention of giving him a piece of my mind..

Once I rolled down my window, the guy was screaming "flat tyre".. That is when I figured my rear tyre had a flat (and never realized it till then since it was traffic at snail's pace)

I was quite happy I never got around to saying nasty things to someone who wanted to help me! But, also felt like a moron for sometime after that!

So, do look back and try to find what the deal is people.. don't pick a fight without some thought..

And if you put in some thought, you'd probably not pick a fight in the first place :P

[navin]

Originally Posted by abhi182

...After some 5 mins of a tussle, finally, this guy revved up up his bike at one free strecth and cocked his middle finger at me while overtaking me almost making my blood boil....

Barely 2 seconds later , he went crashing into a road divider which suddenly emerged frm nowhere......

I dont want to make you feel worse than you already do but I get the feeling that while your blood was boiling so was his. In that mood he could have easily be taken by surpsrise by a divider. Keep your cool and let others keep theirs.

I too love to drive fast (why else would i be on a BHP forum) but only if the traffic and road conditions allow (very rarely in India). It makes better sense to let faster drivers pass. The traffic and lights will ensure they dont get too far ahread of you.

[mohit]

Originally Posted by kgc_cool

Once I rolled down my window, the guy was screaming "flat tyre"..

Exactly the same thing happened to me too.... The difference being that the other vehicle was a maruti 800. The was following me and kept honking and flashing his lights... I drove for some time but then, irritated, let him pass. When he was parallel, he told me that I had a flat tyre. Man it was so embarrassing.... someone trying to help and you get mad at him.

[abhi182]

I know, which is why i always try to keep my cool....but driving in Chnnai has become so stressful that I slip up once in a while....
Say what you may about Delhi traffic...but I was a way more sedate driver there

[aZa]

The cost of the Dent + Paint + teflon or worse Part replacement or physical injury! is never worth that short 30Sec adrenaline rush. I learnt this when i purchased my car with my own money.

[karthik247]

"AUTO DRIVERS". Worse than anyting else on the road. Do whatever they can to get past, and once they do that they make sudden turns causing another block or an accident. Bikers are far better.

Yesterday my driver was driving the car and had to stop suddenly as the guy in front braked hard as he didn't notice the signal from the cop. A scooterist banged my car from behind, got out and started shouting that my driver braked on purpose . Atlast had to give him 100INR for his scooter repairs. That b****** must have hit the bar or sumtin with that money for sure! Anyway nutin happened to the car, not even a scratch. Call it build quality, or call it Skoda Auto

[kb100]

Similar to people who straddle lanes....some of them continue to do that despite flashing lights , honking et all... it takes all of my will (and some of my fore-fathers too!!) to stop me from nudging them off the road!! ... Grrrrrrrrr ... One of these days I might just lose it and do what my Dad always swore he will - get myself a beat up Jeep and fit the biggest bull bar I can find!!... **evil grin**

[airfoil]

I've had a similar experience, except that it was me in a car chasing and honking at a two wheeler.

Thats because his expensive camera cell phone fell out of his pocket and I was trying to catch up with him after I had retreived it. Catch up I did, albeit with a lot of honking to get his attention. In true Hyderabadi style, the guy stopped, parked his bike and started toward me menacingly - until he realized I was holding his cell phone. Yeah, his countenance underwent a sea change then; and he actually almost hugged me with gratitude instead.

[quicksilver]

I get provoked easily by people who do not follow rules, like someone honking at me for stopping on a signal.

The other day we were on the road when a guy on an Accent tried to overtake me from the wrong side, but could not do that.. he kept on trying for a while though I did not block him deliberately. Finally I got irritated and decided to let him pass and slowed down and almost pulled over so he can pass me on the right. When I did, he waved at me and I saw that his car had a [ + ] symbol used by Doctors. We realised that it indeed could be a Doctor rushing in to treat an emergency case and felt happy that I did not block his way. Nowadays I take extra precaution to let someone pass if they honk/flash.... you never know what situation the other person is at.....

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by kb100

Similar to people who straddle lanes....some of them continue to do that despite flashing lights , honking et all... it takes all of my will (and some of my fore-fathers too!!) to stop me from nudging them off the road!! ... Grrrrrrrrr ... One of these days I might just lose it and do what my Dad always swore he will - get myself a beat up Jeep and fit the biggest bull bar I can find!!... **evil grin**

Slightly off topic... reminds me of our drive back from Cochin meet (me and KB100) when an alto was trying to take us on the left and KB100 kept him on bay. When we stopped to tank up, that fellow came to us and actually told that that he had good fun driving with us ??!!!!! think KB100 succeeded in adding one more member to T-BHP