[madbullram]

It was an another afternoon, I am driving down from my office at 1.15 pm, for a 1.45 pm Scan appointment for my wife. We both work in same place so life is easy. Traffic is regular no jams nothing.

Had popped in Vedic Mantras since it relaxes her. We are in the middle of a nice conversation or rather battle (positive one with loads of laughter) of god/religion/belief etc suddenly I hear a blaring horn and within seconds I see a Hyundai Accent within millimeters to my car on the left squeezing between me and Bolero, trying to overtake us.

My wife literally screaming at the proximity, with her pregnancy elevating her fear, the accent is trying to muscle more. Split second I decide move to the right and may be scrape the median so that the moron does not hit the left side of the car, bcos that would give my wife extreme stress. I steer right and thanks to 10 yrs of driving and my racing skills i manage not to scrap the car same time manage to give enough gap for the maniac to pass through, and I realize the Bolero driver has also done the same and had scrapped the share auto and was pulling to a stop.

What happened next, was something I have not seen after teen years....and this part of my introspection.

My wife, asking me to stop so she can relax, I see her almost pale, almost in tears, My body shifts to perfect focused position, clutch gear in sync, hand switches of the A/C, the speedo is already at 90 KMPH, no traffic in front and clear roads

1 min, I have caught up with the accent, 10 more seconds i overtake him, 5 more seconds move infront of him, 5 more seconds stall brake and force him to stop.

Both vehicles comes down to screeching halt, I slam open the car, got down, went straight to the Accent who was rolling down his side glass with the most local abuses in tamil for cutting him to stop, I move to him, grab his shirt and 3 solid punch on his face...bugger cries of pain, apologizes in crying voice and I drag him down ...and then I realize what I am doing...by this time a Bolero pulls over, 3-4 more cars and all of them get down and grab the driver and starts shouting at him and abussing him, apparently i think he cut and snubbed them all and with his music system blarring party music I am sure he never heard anyone.

I let go of him, I just walk away, and drive my wife to hospital and I just told her, nothing da, just shouted at him royally and all came and started shouting so I left since its time for our appointment. She says serves him right, I am so proud of you.

She goes inside the scan room, I realize my fingers are swollen, I sit there and think:

1, What happened to me? I have never hit anyone (except for school days and boxing competitions). I always pride my self control and boxing had taught me enough of it.
2. Was this rage? Where was this, havent seen it after my school days?
3, What did I do? I actually chased a moron/maniac and taught him a lesson but at what cost? he could have hit my car when I tried stopping him?

I am typing this and fingers still hurt.

My mind says what I did is completely wrong and I should be ashamed

But my heart says "Did you see the fear in your wife's eye? Did you see what would have happened if that guy had actually hit on the left side of the car with your wife sitting ? my heart says "its absolutely right, you did it for your loved one, you did bcos more people will not be harassed by this moron..relax and move on"

Just little lost and confused and still shaken and my mind replays me hitting the driver in the middle of the road with a crowd around. Ya been in good number of boxing matches but I dont remember any but this does not go out of my head but glad to see my wife sleeping peacefully.

Whom do i listen? My mind or heart?
What would you do?

[GordonGekko]

I think you over-reacted a bit.

Shouting at him would be enough. In that case, if he were to abuse you/try to physically harm you, a punch would be appropriate....not under these circumstances though.

[MutantX]

Ram, chennai traffic can be unforgiving at times. It doesnt really matter how experienced you are! it really boils down to how pro-active and reactive you are.

I am sure no one knows or follows the traffic rules. I would always keep my eyes wide open and my mind on the wheels when i am driving in traffic. I always limit myself when I am behind the wheels how ever controlled I am.

What has happened to you might happen to anyone, just that we need to take this as a lesson to stay clam and composed which is the right thing to do. You did 90KMPH on chennai roads? man, it could be fatal! you could have inflicted more damage than the accent guy! *i guess you understand what I am saying*.

[kingofmyworld]

You did the right thing dude, Morons don't care about other vehicles on the road, All they want is to rush through vehicles and showoff their so called great skills, These morons wont change unless they get a hardware reply from people. I'm sure he wont repeat this again if he has any brains.

If you wouldn't have done this, He might trouble many other people on his way and who knows, He might have been the reason behind a horrifying accident which might have taken place that day.

You should be proub man

@mutantX : I think he did 90kmph to catchup with the accent guy and to teach him a lesson. ( correct me if I'm wrong)

[condor]

Ram, I think the anger after seeing your wife's state caused this. I suppose you woud not have done the same at any other time. And considering the reaction from the others, you were not the only one who was wronged. Hopefully, your reaction will help him not repeat that in future and avoid endangering others.

Hope your wife is doing fine now. Take care.

[Lightening-Fast]

Be it any road rage, its absolutely not essential to get into a fist fight. There can be a verbal exchange, but considering the conditions, i guess you should have let this gone. But glad it did not turn out to be more than this.

[humyum]

Ram, you did the right thing. Most of us would have done the same.

Been there, done that.

Seeing one's family members in agony and in danger instantly gets our blood boiling.

Just forget about it and best of luck with the baby.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by madbullram

...I move to him, grab his shirt and 3 solid punch on his face...

in hindsight, all's well that ends well.

BUT, i wouldn't do this if I had my wife/family with me in the car. Not worth the risk, that guy could have been a criminal and he could have had accomplices in the car.

[aargee]

@Ram - Considering your boxing skills you've picked up courage to punch that guy down & that too seeing your Wife's state.

If that guy walks into police station, admits he did a rash driving & lodges complaint against you, then isn't both of your lives also under mess? This is the only thought I keep off from fighting on the road, both verbally or physically. Trust me, I wouldn't want to end up myself behind bars while others at home dialing in for lawyer to bail me out.

Just adding another thought; when you were speeding in 90 imagine someone crossing the road by mistake & you knocking them down!!!

Anyway past is gone; just remain little cautious on road & just try to shrug off. A car can take all the hit & still can be repaired, but not human. I hope that moron has a good lesson for his lifetime, if not you, he would've got from someone at some point in life. Probably he learned sooner than later.

Edit - @Blue_Thunder - very very true; agreed 101% on your valid point

[speedsatya]

It was very reckless on your part also to have got out of your car and punched that a-hole with your wife in tow.

Had this guy been drunk or had he been some "local" ,you would have easily got back those punches with dangerous outcomes.

I have been in a similar situation before ( i have mentioned this in some thread) ,where I did this mistake of trying to talk some sense into some "locals" on a motorcycle .I was left to die on the road .To add to this ,a cop with a sten gun warned me against lodging a complaint if I wanted to reach my home alive

[Pancham]

@Madbullram. What you have done is difficult to say whether its right or wrong. But just imagine what would have happened if the guy pulled out a gun or any harmful object(to hit you) and then if he eventually got the better of you..what would have happened then? Your wife sitting alone in the car. I think thats even more worse. So I would suggest not to get into a fight when you have people (who are dependent on you like your wife or sister) around you. Eh?? What say?
Anyways one thing is proved. You love your wife..Congrats!!!
And what has happened has happened. Shrug it off, give it some time, You will get over it.

[vinaydas]

Let me get this right, she asked you to stop so that she could relax and you Sped, did a dangerous life threatening maneuver to the 3 of you(you,wife&Baby) and got into a fight with a person whom you barely know? what if you were stabbed in this process by that person or shot(there have been incidences)? A Hurl of abuses or a simple finger would have helped in this case.

[prince_pervez]

Though I do not approve of the punches hurled at the bugger but I'll be happy if he turns to become a sane driver fearing more punches for rash driving.
Sorry to go OT but a colleague said he drove on 40 mph at a 25mph zone and the cops fined me to some 130$ (don't remeber exactly). The police should hunt down speed demons and racers. Or we should have a 911 types number to complain against rash driving.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Or we should have a 911 types number to complain against rash driving.

@Prince, pls don't compare 911 to the existing 100. Yes you can still report rash & negligence driving to 100. Somewhere during my tenure in US, I heard that 911 gobbles up 60% of tax payers money. Not sure how far this is true.

Also certain services towards 911, such as medical aids are not free. Anyway, point being that there're every aspect of law in this country as compared to US, but the only thing is that, they don't work.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by aargee

@Prince, pls don't compare 911 to the existing 100.

I am not comparing, but, similar services where someone can complain to the stand by highway/road way Police Patrol who can lookup that vehicle and mend things. Something similar. Why copy when we can innovate.

911 is charged 5$ when you call it from the car OR rather when you dial from the car (RVM button press). Every government service is run by taxes (except middle east where govenment is made to take care of you and not make you pay them), but 60% of taxes to 911 is a tall order. For weapons making and distribution is a possiblity.