[rkv_2401]

Originally Posted by SR-71

This particular incident that happened in Oman is not random road rage it seems. The 2 people involved apparently had a long running feud which eventually resulted in this unfortunate situation.

Having said that you are spot on when you say road rage never works. And random road rage have resulted in loss of life like one that happened last week in Bangalore between 2 bikers. The best thing to do when you run into a moron on road is to ignore and move on.

Or that horrible accident where the KSRTC bus driver (maybe unintentionally, but he clearly was trying to bully them) killed the two bikers on a KTM by trapping them between his bus and a lorry. (Link - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...wo-youths.html (Dashcam reveals a horrible accident caused by KSRTC driver killing two youths))

[Satish Pari]

Wanted to share an incident not related to road-rage but how a situation that seems and sounds trivial can turn into a disaster.

About three years ago, we received a phone call that my wife's cousin had passed away due to stab wounds he had received. Immediately my wife and I went to the town near Theni. Once we got there, the entire picture became more clear. My wife's cousin was in his late 40's, married and had a daughter who was in class 10 then. He was running a small photo studio in Bodinayakannur. One particular there were some three guys who were smoking ganja near his shop. All he did was scold them and asked them to leave the place. This apparently enraged the youngsters (all in their early 20's) and they decided to take revenge. They did take revenge on a normal morning at around 11am, they barged into his shop with a knife in hand and managed to stab him some18-19 times. He tried to fight back but in vain. He slumped dead in his shop and later his younger brother came and took him to the hospital where it was too late.

The point I wanted to make is that no one would have imagined that a small scolding could escalate to death. Similarly when there is a potential situation of road rage, one can never predict the outcome. I'm in my mid 40's now, before this incident I used to get angry pretty frequently due to someone driving in a wrong way or breaking some traffic rule. But this incident has really changed me and now I do get angry, but avoid unnecessary arguments with other road users. Whenever I do loose my cool, this incident comes to my mind and I tone down. It is better to choose "Flight" rather than "Fight" in such situations.

[shashwat7548]

Hi all, i am posting this thread here so as to inform all that what kind of people are plying on the roads of Pune or anywhere for the matter.
Kindly move this thread to a more appropriate one if required.

Yesterday i was going towards Balewadi with a friend of mine on my bike, when at a turn i had to to a slight handle maneuver to avoid a bump due to which the guy on my side had to turn a bit to left to avoid contact. I would like to mention here that there was no contact between the two vehicles & both bikes were absolutely balanced & on their way. Lord knows what got into that guy he came to my side & said something in marathi since i am not versed with the language i gestured my hand in a peaceful way & said sorry after that he blocked my path & started abusing me with the choicest of words. Me & my friend couldn't understand what was going on & tried to clam him down but it was of no use, we again said sorry because i didn't wanted to escalate the situation since that guy seemed like an anti-social person & would have either resorted to physical scuffle or would have called other people to assault me.

At the end when i saw no point in saying anything to him i just accelerated & went my way. I think my gesture which was obviously in a peaceful way was taken in an offensive way by him, since he kept mentioning it.

It got me thinking that all these safety rules which are now implemented by the government, its high time that roadrage & unruly behaviour on the road should also be put under criminal offenses. I still think that the way i deescalated the situation despite the fact that i had to listen to unmentionable abuses without any fault of mine, was the best way to handle it otherwise things would have gotten out of hand very seriously for me my friend as well as my bike.

Kindly share your views & experiences if any, since i did the same to get a better understanding of how to handle such situations or deescalate, & i think my way was appropriate to handle such situation, or was it not?

Thanks!

[Amrik Singh]

One thing I always avoid is, using Horn. Although most drivers use it as a Booster for Acceleration, sounding Horn to get way and drive faster, there are others who use it to warn others to avoid collision. Their intentions are not bad, but sometimes taken in bad taste.
There are drivers who would take offence on being honked. In their opinion, they have taken all precautions to avoid accident and that the Horn was not required.
Think over my views and implement if worthy or just ignore.
Happy Driving

[shashwat7548]

I totally agree with your views, but the situation which I mentioned, not even honking was involved because the guy was at my side & not in front & I didn't honk for a single second as it was not required.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by shashwat7548

when at a turn i had to to a slight handle maneuver to avoid a bump due to which the guy on my side had to turn a bit to left to avoid contact!

If one encounters bad road or any obstacle when driving, they should move to their left or right only after checking their RVMs whether it is safe. Suddenly moving to left or right is not only a major inconvenience for others, but also can cause mishaps.

[shashwat7548]

Yes absolutely, but at low speeds & at a turn sometimes you have to do brake & go to left or right at speeds as low as 15 or 20 kmph, but to my surprise the guy was just on my side not even keeping a proper margin & the way he was being abusive it felt like he had been hit by my bike, whereas nothing of that sort happened. So yes I do agree with your views but I think such unprovoked abuse on the road is definitely not called for.

I have read on this forum itself that people now consider roads as the place to get their frustration out, or its just them being utterly manner less, which I got to experience first hand

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by adisan

If one encounters bad road or any obstacle when driving, they should move to their left or right only after checking their RVMs whether it is safe. Suddenly moving to left or right is not only a major inconvenience for others, but also can cause mishaps.

Agree, but only in situations where an imminent tumble/crash due to the sudden appearance of a pothole (like say when the biker is directly behind a car) would people take to sudden evasive maneuvers, as they can truly be life threatening.

Originally Posted by shashwat7548

...It got me thinking that all these safety rules which are now implemented by the government, its high time that road-rage & unruly behaviour on the road should also be put under criminal offences. I still think that the way I de-escalated the situation despite the fact that i had to listen to unmentionable abuses without any fault of mine, was the best way to handle it otherwise things would have gotten out of hand very seriously for me my friend as well as my bike.

Kindly share your views...

Causing public nuisance is very much a criminal offence, but we all know how complaints are treated in police stations.

Still, if things go beyond a point, call 100. This notifies the local police and whether they come late or not is not so very important, but the person who calls 100 first is presumed to be more credible (legally as well as in practice).

ANY type of gesture, except for apologising or a helpful offer to pass, can trigger certain people. This is true world-over.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Two-wheelers will swerve not only to avoid potholes, but even to avoid a different colour tarmac or a patch of concrete! How does that justify turning into oncoming traffic?

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

One thing I always avoid is, using Horn.

Yes, I do agree. I have mentioned how much my life on the road has improved since I stopped yelling at people, and just accepted --- but I do sometimes still hit the horn.

I'm working on it.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Agree, but only in situations where an imminent tumble/crash due to the sudden appearance of a pothole (like say when the biker is directly behind a car) would people take to sudden evasive maneuvers, as they can truly be life threatening.

In most cases, a pothole appears suddenly only when one is tailing a vehicle too closely. This is applicable not only for two-wheelers, but also cars when behind a heavy vehicle.

It would help to leave some space when behind a larger vehicle.

[NG_EV]

I wish to share my recent experience and I want to thank the forum especially this thread as it has saved me from some serious damage.
I was driving in Meerut City and there is a lot of construction going on due to the RRTS project. I overtook an auto and an activa with pillion rider (Speed no more than 30kmph). There was some water flowing across the road from the construction site. I misjudged the depth of water (seemed very little depth, but there was some uneven road) and the distance of the 2-wheeler from me. There was a splash of water on the 2 wheeler which enraged him. He started driving rashly and banging on the car. Initially I didn't understand what had happened and moved forward which angered him even further. I then stopped the car and he pulled along side, started screaming, repeatedly asking me to get out. I rolled down the window and folded my hands and apologized to him for my mistake. He then kicked the passenger side door (caused a dent near the door handle) and asked me to leave. The incident shook me but I thanked Team-bhp at that very moment as if this was 2 years earlier, the story would have been different.

I started visiting the forum since last 2 years (approximately) and at first I limited myself to just the advice section. But gradually I started reading the road safety forums and the road rage thread has taught me a lot. Before this I was a hot headed driver and used to drive a little agressively. I used to yell at the bikers coming from wrong side of the road if they were blocking my path. My father always asked me to avoid road rage as its not worth it, but I didn't listen to him as I thought being in a bigger vehicle somehow protected me. But after going through the threads on the forum I realised that I was wrong and he was right all along. The road is not a place for emotions. If you want to be safe, being alert and calm is the only solution.

This incident also made remember an incident that happened when I was quite young (5-6 years old). I was riding pillion with my father on his scooter (Bajaj Priya) in my hometown. A biker started an argument with father over some issue (I do not remember the details). I remember that my father just listened to him and apologized even though it was not his fault. In my heart, I thought that my father should have argued with him or even fought him. But now I realise that all he was doing was protecting his family from an unpleasant situation.
This road rage incident made me realise a lot of things and after this I have started making more changes to my driving. I thank the community once again for making me a better driver. Thanks.

P.S. - I went to the Hyundai service centre to get the door fixed and was quoted around 7.5 to 8k and 2 days turnaround time. As I had an upcoming trip and didn't want to trouble my family with the incident (the dent was a dead giveaway of an incident), I couldn't leave my car for so long. I went the World of Service workshop in Noida and they were able to reduce the dent significantly (cost - 300, time 15 min). I have also changed my driving route in the city to a longer but better maintained road.

[turbodude]

I experienced a road rage on 16th May due to the speed limits imposed by Mumbai Pune Expressway. Not blaming the authorities but this was the primary reason hence mentioned it here.

I was coming down to Khalapur mall from Lonavla and after Khopoli exit, 1 yellow plate WagonR cab driver was behind me. Now the speed limit is 50 kmph here which is ridiculous as without accelerator the car goes easily to 60 kmph but I tried to maintain 50 kmph.

This angered the cabbie behind me and once he was successful in overtaking me, he was trying to block me. I noticed his behaviour but remained calm. When I changed lane, he also did that and this continued for some 500 meters. I went to fast lane as speed restriction ended and got upto 80 kmph, he did same in middle lane. Then I realized that what can happen and I slowly got back to middle lane, gave left indicator and pushed the car to leftmost lane.

Could not note down the whole number though but it was something MH46 BB XXXX. I was quite angry that time but later I realized that by taking the car to sideways, I did the right thing. Even if I had stopped the cabbie, the fighting is not worth it. A cabbie is dependent on his car for his earnings and my slow driving, even if within speed limit, had angered him as his time got wasted.

Thanks to this thread, I had read it multiple times earlier and it helped me cool down immediately.

[Prithvi Mundur]

Beware of the hooligans in this picture. I had the misfortune of encountering them during my recent road trip from Bangalore to Gujarat:

The old man in the pic was yelling at me -- "ye amdavaad hain..bengloor nahin"..

All the while during his tantrums, he reminded me of the Chacha of Mirzapur Web series

Look at the angst in the eyes of the waste fellow in the green shirt. Aankh dikhata hain dialogue from Gangajal movie yaad aa gaya

I just wonder how the kid in the arms of the lady would turn out amongst these violent and volatile creatures (I whole-heartedly pray that he would instead turn out to be a gentleman).

The guy in green came running furiously towards my parked car and started banging windows on the driver's side and even tried to pull my car door open. I had locked my car from inside and was smart enough to not open the window/door. This infuriated him even more and he went in front of my car and stamped his feet on my car's bonnet. I had a sudden urge of starting my car, and run him over but then I calmed down as my Mother was also seated beside me, and didn't want to escalate it further in a totally new place as it was my maiden trip to Gujarat and know no one over there.

Just in case anyone happens to cross the path of these so-called humans, do one thing -- Runnnn!

What you are seeing in the foreground of this picture are absolutely frustrated people, with a total lack of civility. Beware!! Avoid these horrible characters.

[tharian]

This video of a road rage hit and run in Delhi has been doing the rounds on social media.

https://youtu.be/acllKCFowa0

Supposedly the bike that got hit wasn't part of the group that had some argument earlier with the Scorpio driver.

Hopefully the driver is tracked down and the legal course taken.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by Prithvi Mundur

Beware of the hooligans in this picture. I had the misfortune of encountering them during my recent road trip from Bangalore to Gujarat:

The old man in the pic was yelling at me -- "ye amdavaad hain..bengloor nahin"..

All the while during his tantrums, he reminded me of the Chacha of Mirzapur Web series

Look at the angst in the eyes of the waste fellow in the green shirt. Aankh dikhata hain dialogue from Gangajal movie yaad aa gaya

While you did the right thing in not escalating it further, You are not saying what was your action that infuriated the whole bunch out there.

I always believe in - There is no smoke without a fire. and also believe in - We all act holier than thou when on forums like this.