SELECTION #1:

Left Lane Hogs

Date: 1998/12/11

 

Left lane hogs, though they will never admit it, are passive aggressive drivers who rationalize their behavior by smugly intoning that they are the "good" drivers because they stay within the speed limit. In reality they are trying to assert some fictitious territorial right to a piece of roadway, and in so doing are becoming part of a problem, and not the solution.

What gets me is that whenever issues like this come up, each side thinks it is justified and that it's the *other* party that has the problem. Either the slow drivers are passive-aggressive, or the fast drivers are over-aggressive. I think the truth is that both sides have some serious control issues. For every driver who wants to play speed cop by blocking the path of faster drivers, you have dickwads who just *have* to be at the front of the line, and will drive 20mph faster than they would on an empty road just to pass someone with the temerity to be ahead of them.

I think the real solution is for everyone to just relax and stop treating their car like a therapist's couch. Play out your insecurities someplace else! Forget eye exams -- what they really need on the driving test is a psychological profile. Think of how pleasant driving would be if they only gave licenses to the mentally well-balanced.

 

 

Comments on Left Lane Hogs:
I believe that this writer has some serious issues regarding people who hold up traffic by driving too slow in the left lane. As far as I can tell, the writer is trying to communicate to the readers that if youâre going to drive too slow, keep out of the left lane or if you plan to enter the faster lane, keep up with the traffic.

Personally, Iâd have to agree with this writer. When Iâm in the left lane on the freeway and thereâs a person driving in front of me who is not keeping up with the traffic, I start to get irritated, especially if Iâm in a rush. I think that in our culture, people tend to be a little impatient and impulsive and want to get to their destination as quickly as possible. For some people, "time is money." When Iâm on the road, I donât want to waste my time following a slow driver. I want to get where Iâm going as safely and as quickly as possible.

 

 

SELECTION #2:

Speeding and Congestion: A Recipe for Disaster

Date: 1998/11/23

 

Speeding caused 153,000 accidents that ended with injuries in 1997, a 48% jump from 103,000 in 1988. Other forms of aggressive driving, such as reckless driving, have dropped over the decade, keeping overall numbers stable.

But congestion threatens the balance, experts say. Over the past decade, the number of miles driven has risen 35% while the number of miles of new roads built has increased just 1%, federal figures show.

Traffic engineer Showalter says that unless the twin problems of congestion and speeding are addressed soon, ''We may be creating a recipe for disaster. We've been hearing plenty about aggressive driving and road rage. But the real problem might not have even hit us yet.''

 

 

Comments on Speeding and Congestion:
The writer here is trying to address the fact that the problems of traffic and speeding on the road are a bad combination. Studies show that there is a positive correlation with the growing number of motorists on the road and automobile accidents.

There are so many people on the road these days, especially in the city. With Hawaiiâs growing populations and limited roadways, the problem of congestion will only get worse.

 

 

SELECTION #3:

Bad SUV Drivers

Date: 1998/11/22

 

Otis is correct except I have also found that people who drive Volvo's tend  to drive very dangerously. I believe they are not worried about anyone but themselves.

While I occasionally run across some really small yuppie woman with a cell phone screwed into her ear while she's behind the wheel of an SUV that she probably had to use a step ladder to climb into, I often have problems from people driving the fancy yuppie-fied ego machines like Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, or Volvo. (I know - that sentence was waaaay too long, but I was having too much fun.) Just because they're driving the latest "one-up-thy-neighbor" Euro-trash car, or the latest rice burner, does not mean they automatically receive some kind of divine driving knowledge. It don't matter if it's a Suburban, a Lexus, a BMW, or whatever, some people are going to be idiots behind the wheel no matter what.

 

 

Comments on Bad SUV Drivers:
When the writer speaks of European cars as "Euro-trash cars" and Asian manufactured vehicles as "rice burners," it gives me the impression that this guy is pro-American automotive all the way.

I think this writer makes a good point when saying, "some people are going to be idiots behind the wheel no matter what." However, when someone says that SUV drivers are generally bad, that is being quite stereotypical.

 

 

SELECTION #4:

Road Rage Revenge

Date: 1998/11/22

 

Driving down a crowded highway in CT, this ASSHOLE from New Jersey decides he is GOING to cut me off. Wrong move for him. I speed up a bit.

So : you willingly entered into a competitive and aggressive display of driving tactics- and sped up ? Proud of yourself? You are just as much a jerk as he is, only you are a COWARD who misuses the police. Instead of taking responsibility for your actions yourself, you use the cops to help you get your 'revenge'.

Courtesy on the road, or lack of courtesy, cuts BOTH ways.

It seems like an asshole from Connecticut and an asshole from NJ just Had a little "run-in" on the public roads. Don't suppose you two ever considered that the actions you took might have had serious consequences involving innocent drivers nearby? Grow up.

 

 

Comments on Road Rage Revenge:
The writer here is trying to criticize the Connecticut driver because he wouldnât let another driver cut in front of him. He makes a good point by questioning the driver about the consequences of acting on road rage. The driver obviously doesnât practice compassion on the road. He never stopped to consider that maybe that person was in a rush for a good reason. All he cared about was denying this person from cutting in front of him so that he could protect his ego. The driver has an attitude that needs to be readjusted for the better.

 

 

SELECTION #5:

Road Rage Weapons

Date: 1998/12/12

 

There seems to be a growing debate these days, as to which is the best weapon to use when involved in a roadside road rage altercation. Myself, Iâm from the old school, meaning I prefer to use good old reliable "mr.tire iron". I know a lot of people who like to do battle with your standard "Louisville slugger"30-32oz model, but I find your much better off hacking away with a tire iron. The main reason being, you only need one hand to hack at your foe with a tire iron, rather than two with a baseball bat. I'll admit at one time, I used a baseball bat in my battles with the savages on the road but the results were mediocre at best. In 1997,I fashioned a so-so 7-4 record in vicious road rage brawls.

After switching over to the tire iron in 1998,I went an undefeated 11-0 this year. The reasons for my success were the following:1)Installing a custom handgrip on my tire iron, with a leather strap which you wrap around your wrist.2)Mounting my tire iron on the left side of the passenger seat for quick access in "emergency situations".3)Always wearing steel-toed workboots(they come in handy when you want to finish off your foe with an old fashioned "boot job") I know a lot of people prefer using a baseball bat, but for me my weapon of choice is the tire iron. If used properly, you have a good chance of winning even against the most savage of motorists.

 

 

 

Comments on Road Rage Weapons:
This guy here needs to take a course on traffic psychology. Rather than deal with the problem at its source, which seems to be his anger, he chooses to solve his issues with violence. This leads to dangerous situations for both himself and especially others. It seems as if he is just looking for altercations. I think he needs to re-evaluate himself and ask why he is getting into all of these road rage battles in the first place. Itâs true that sometimes itâs impossible to avoid a road rage situation with another individual, but you, yourself, can deal with your own issues without resorting to violence.

This attitude that this person possesses needs to be changed. His violent behavior is out of hand and destructive. I wouldnât be surprised if he ended up killing someone or getting killed himself. Itâs a scary thought, knowing there are people like him driving on the road with me. Drivers like these should go through a road rage course and some sort of psychological therapy or anger-management classes.

 

 

SELECTION #6:

Road Rage: Utter BS!

Date: 1998/11/29

 

Check this out. As I suspected, the so called epidemic of road rage and aggressive driving is just a crock. It's fueled by a combination of media hype, poor statistical analysis, and the propensity of the police to seize on any opportunity to get more funding!

Of particular interest is the definition that some bozo at the federal level used to talk about aggressive driving. He called it anything that isn't driver inattention or fatigue. So some dork who didn't look in his blind spot when he changed lanes now becomes an aggressive driver? What a crock!

 

 

 

Comments on Road Rage: Utter BS!:
This man is entitled to his opinion, and heâs expressing it fully and without censure. However, I donât agree with his statements that road rage doesnât exist. I believe that it does. There are too many instances of people getting out of hand on the road and lashing out in anger to other road-users.

I wonder what would happen if Mr. Wang were to have an encounter with Dr. Swinestein (the driver who has an 11-0 battle record on the road with "Mr. tire iron" with the custom hand grip). Would he then change his thinking on road rage? This would be an interesting situation, with two totally different aspects of road rage clashing.

 

 

SELECTION #7:

The Road Rage Myth

Date: 1998/11/23
 

A while back, politicians and paranoids began a campaign of going after aggressive driving and road rage. In previous posts in this newsgroup I challenged the idea that it was worth wasting time and money on going after the very few people who drive aggressively with any more effort than was been done in the past. (Most past attempts at this have been pretty much happenstance.)

Well USA Today bolstered my claim that itâs not worth increased efforts. USA Today reported:
- In the last 10 years the danger from road rage has not increased
- Highway congestion, the government's fault, is the biggest cause of people becoming impatient
- Aggressive driving may increase when congestion gets too heavy.

 
CONCLUSION:
(1) "Aggressive Driver Campaigns" are all political hype to win votes.
(2) If itâs the government that "wages war" on "aggressive drivers", its because the government is covering up for its failure to either make roads keep pace with development or curtail growth until services are in place.
(3) When private organizations "wage war" on "aggressive drivers", its because they are paranoids, since they obviously have not based their campaigns on factual statistics.

 

 

Comments on the Road Rage Myth:
This person is believable because he supports his claims with sources and supposed facts. Rather than ranting and raving like most of the other newsgroup posters, this man argues his point rationally. He makes convincing points, attacking the government, private organizations and their faults.

Personally, I disagree with Mr. Horning in his claim that road rage is a myth, but his arguments are convincing enough that Iâm willing to concede that the government should "wage war" on other issues besides road rage. I donât particularly believe that dealing with road rage is a waste of time, but itâs just like when a police officer pulls you over for speeding 10 miles over the speed limit while there is a robbery taking place not one block away from you. That is, road rage is a problem, but there are bigger problems that should be tackled first.

 

 

SELECTION #8:

Road Rage Victim

Date: 1998/11/25

 

I was a victim of 'road rage' 18 months ago by Black Power gang members.....this wasn't a case of being stressed out with me on their part, but the fact that they thought I was giving them the fingers when I was in actual fact trying to warn them that I was turning left even though they were insisting on trying to overtake me on the inside AND my indicators were going....at the time I was in a hillman avenger...they were in an MR2....big brave boys huh!....The incident included trying to force my car into the Avon River alongside Avonside Drive....level pegging me on the wrong side of the road and glaring threateningly at me whilst doing so....getting out of their car at an intersection I had to stop for a red light and kicking my car hard enough with his steel capped boots to leave dents in it....pounding on the windows....I am just thankful my children weren't in the car at the time.

As I was nearly home you can imagine how I felt when I knew I couldn't go home because they would follow me and do me over....they would have at the intersection if they had a gun or baseball bat..I'm damn sure of it...luckily i had the forethought when i saw a police dog van to flash my lights at him, caught his eye and he did a u turn....they took off but not before I memorized their numberplate and broke down blubbering!!! The whole thing lasted 20 minutes...I think i may have hacked them off even more because I refused to be forced into driving over the 50 kph speed limit so here were these big boys in their fancy car chasing an avenger going 50k! The police caught up with the car 10 minutes later...in that time frame they had gone somewhere, changed the two male occupants for two female ones and absolutely denied anything that I said happening....Did the police thing. Turns out the owner of the car...(and guaranteed to be the driver in my incident) was in court the next day on drug offenses...he had to sell his car to pay for fines and is in prison now....

Crime pays huh!!!

 

 

Comments on A Road Rage Victim:
This is a really powerful posting because it is a first-hand account from a victim of road rage. Reading this made me realize that road rage is more than something you see on television or learn about in class. People actually experience it, and when they do, itâs quite frightening. Reading this makes me more wary of other drivers. Most of us have heard the story of the gang initiation ritual, where you become the victim when you warn an oncoming car that its headlights are off. When you flash your highlights at them, the gang members turn their car around and start to follow and harass you. Whereas telling other drivers that their lights arenât on used to be a friendly gesture, itâs now an invitation for trouble.

In sharing his or her story, this driver has made road rage more real and powerful. Testimonies like this hit home. I think this story is an indication of the direction our society is going. After reading this, I think more action needs to be taken against drivers who experience road rage and assault others on our roadways.

 

 

SELECTION #9:

Road Rage Vigilante

Date: 1998/11/23

 

He can't pass me. He waves what looks like a very convincing .44 pistol at me. I slow down quite a bit. Nearly stopping. Let him get in front of me, get his license plate #, exit the highway, and locate (conveniently) a COP sitting near the exit. Tell him the ordeal. He races off and about 20 minutes later, he returns to tell me they caught up to the guy with the gun. It turns out to be a fake plastic gun. HOWEVER, it is still illegal to wave or threaten anyone with such an item. Being a Saturday, this guy had to spend THE WHOLE WEEKEND in some shitty jail cell in STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT. If you've ever been there, you know...Well, Monday morning comes along, and the police chief calls me wanting to know to what extent I wish to press charges. He could have faced quite a stiff penalty, but I figured having some ASSHOLE from Jersey mad at me FOREVER would not be the best thing on Earth, so I figured two nights in jail three hours from home in the LAST place on Earth you would want to spend two nights three hours from home was enough punishment.

 

 

 

Comments on Road Rage Vigilante:
The person who wrote this posting was trying to teach the other driver a lesson because he demonstrated road rage. This brings up one question: how do you deal with road rage? Did this narrator do the right thing? I think he took a first step, but is spending three nights in jail really going to cure the driver of road rage. He might just get more angry and take it out on other drivers on the road.

Itâs scary to think that someone would pull a gun on another person just because he couldnât pass. Even though the gun was a fake, there was no way to tell unless you are some kind of gun expert. The person pulling the gun indicates that there are some stupid people out there on the road.

 

 

SELECTION #10

Sick of Bad Drivers

Date: 1998/11/19

 

What is it with drivers on the road today. I swear if I didn't love my car so much I would ram them. I miss my Cutlass Supreme in that fact. Anyway, yesterday on the way to school I was connecting to the main highway and there was a small red Honda Civic crusin' in the right hand lane. I was doing about 75-80 to pass him out, he had to be going fast because it took me awhile to catch up to him. I finally passed him, not looking at him or anything, just driving cause I WAS LATE FOR SCHOOL. He started with the games with me but I ignored him and just watched him in my rearview mirror the whole 20 minutes to school. Never got in front of me but he was swerving and tring. They ended up getting off at the same exit as me. The honda had the typical stupid windshield sticker, bra, and some shit hanging from the mirror. He had his girlfriend in the car. Could this be why? I am not impressed.

Then around 9pm last night on my way home, I was on a back road 5 minutes form my house and some guy came out of nowhere, riding up my ass. He attempted passing me in a nopassing ZONE and I constantly swerved to avoid letting him, I was also protecting the Subaru that was in front of me. He never flashed his high beams but he was swerving and tried passing me many times. Itâs a school zone. Geeze. I came to a stop sign and I stopped, turned as usual and then once I didn't see him after the turn, because there was a bend, I sped up trying to get away from him because I was freaked out. Boom! There he was again, attempting to pass me again, but I wouldn't let him and this was less than 300 feet from a stop light. Once we got to the stop light I was on the right and pulled on the left. Another F**ker with his girlfriend. WHAT THE HECK GIVES. I think it was a Pontiac I'm not sure. But it as red again.

You aren't going to impress your chicks by racing a female that beat you in a Fox. i don't even like to hear about my own boyfriend racing other VW's on the highway. I was never racing, just avoiding. Road rage... It's here to stay. I'm sure everyone's got a few stories to tell I have, but I can't be bothered.

 

 

Comments on Sick of Bad Drivers:
As far as I can tell, this driver is sick of people hassling her on the road. In her two stories, she seems to be quite innocent and was minding her own business when these incidents occurred. There was a strange coincidence that in both instances the drivers causing the hassle were males with female companions driving red automobiles.

There are a lot of crazy people on the road who are willing to jeopardize the safety of themselves and others just to act in a stupid fashion.

 

 

IMPRESSIONS AND REACTIONS

A lot the Newsgroup reports of my fellow G10erâs were excellent. Compared to my report, the content of my classmatesâ reports were well researched. Their writing styles varied somewhat but they all seemed to get their points across to the readers. Finally, their presentation of the material was excellent. Their use of colors in their web design was well-matched. You could really tell that they put a lot of time and effort into their work. Good job.

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

Future generations can benefit from my report by seeing that many changes could have been made to my document. My web design was kind of simple and there werenât many links to other pages unlike some other reports. I would have to say that my procrastination played a big part in my failure to do a thorough job with my documents. It took me a very long time to look through Deja News in order to find my Newsgroup postings so I would suggest getting an early start on it. Time management is key in order to create a successful report.