I almost got run off the road today...

DasLeben · #1 09-07-2005, 05:29 AM

So I was coming back today from what every good college graduate does, which is applying for a waiter job at Applebee's. While I was driving back up the highway, I came up to a red light. The light was about to turn green, so I popped into the right lane, downshifted to second, and got ready to get ahead of the pack of cars all stacked up at the light in the left lane (strangest phenomenon ever).

At the front of the line of cars in the left lane was an older bodystyle Explorer. The light turned green while I was still at 15 or so mph, so I passed everyone expecting to get out front. Nope, this Explorer accelerated fast enough to catch up to me (my truck is slow as [censored]). Now, an intelligent person would pass here. Nope. The guy in the Explorer decides that he'd like to camp out right next to me while we're accelerating along.

Now here's the catch to all of this. Just past the stoplight about 500 feet, the right lane ends. So here I am, floored, trying to get away from this guy, and he's just hanging out on my left-rear quarter panel.

Needless to say, the right lane ends, and I'm stuck with nowhere to go. At this point, the Explorer has now moved up so that the other driver is even with me. I'm running very short of road, and the Explorer is already only 2-3 feet or so to my left. I look over and give him the "wtf?!" look, and he just smiles and nods.

At this point, I only have one move, which is to slam on the brakes and jump behind him. This isn't exactly safe either, since there's a car directly behind him. But, I didn't have much of a choice. The car behind the Explorer brakes for me, and I cut right behind the Explorer while laying on the horn.

His reaction? An innocent-like shoulder shrug and him pointing at himself (which I don't get). Whatever. I drop back to a good following distance for a couple miles. Nothing else happens here.

I did get him back though. As it turns out, we were both making a right turn onto another highway. We catch the green light onto the highway, and he jams into the corner, brakes reeeeal hard, and then crawls out of it. I downshift, trailbrake, rotate the back end out, and pass him on the left with about a 10-15mph overtake. He proceeds to flip me off and point at himself again(?). I give him the "finger twirl" sign in my rear window, and I go about my business as usual. Bwahaha.

dcasper70 · #2 09-07-2005, 08:52 AM

NutCrackerr · #3 09-07-2005, 09:16 AM

So you were being the dick trying to pass a string of cars at the stoplight and the guy in the Explorer wasn't hip to it? How about next time you get in the left lane and wait your [censored] turn moron.

kyro · #4 09-07-2005, 09:20 AM

[ QUOTE ]
So you were being the dick trying to pass a string of cars at the stoplight and the guy in the Explorer wasn't hip to it? How about next time you get in the left lane and wait your [censored] turn moron.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're not very smart, are you?

RunDownHouse · #5 09-07-2005, 09:47 AM

Something I've wondered about is why everyone in the US takes everything so personally when they're driving. If you cut me off and I hit the horn, its both warning you that I'm about one inch from your bumper, and letting you know you're a dick. There's no reason to feel that its a personal attack and respond by crawling along for the next 5 miles. If I pass you because you're going the speed limit, its not like I slapped you with my penis. I just want to go faster than you do. There's no reason to speed up as I'm passing so I either have to slam on the brakes or risk a head-on collision.

People in other countries use their horns and pass people all the time without all of the horrible connotations it seems drivers here attach to such actions.

mason55 · #6 09-07-2005, 10:03 AM

[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Why didn't you just drop behind him before it became an unsafe situation?

Patrick del Poker Grande · #7 09-07-2005, 10:04 AM

You're the jackass for taking the pole position with a pos car that can't go fast enough to pull it off. Let someone that can actually get going take it.

swede123 · #8 09-07-2005, 10:07 AM

You are correct about this. Overall people in the U.S. just aren't very good drivers, which is compensated for by having lots of attitude. I can definitely see myself flipping someone off or honking at someone if they slapped me with their dick. That [censored] just ain't cool.

Swede

spamuell · #9 09-07-2005, 10:08 AM

Something like your lane converging situation happened to me last night, except I was the guy on the left and slightly in front of the guy in the right lane, and the right lane was the one that ended, and he tried to overtake me incredibly close to where his lane ended, even though I was already significantly speeding.

I didn't let him though and gave him this wtf you idiot look and then my friend in the passenger seat was like, "let's drive really slowly to piss them off," before she turned around to look at them and then being like "oh wait it's 2 black guys... never mind."

I thought it was pretty funny.

swede123 · #10 09-07-2005, 10:14 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Something like your lane converging situation happened to me last night, except I was the guy on the left and slightly in front of the guy in the right lane, and the right lane was the one that ended, and he tried to overtake me incredibly close to where his lane ended, even though I was already significantly speeding.

I didn't let him though and gave him this wtf you idiot look and then my friend in the passenger seat was like, "let's drive really slowly to piss them off," before she turned around to look at them and then being like "oh wait it's 2 black guys... never mind."

I thought it was pretty funny.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now now, Barbara Bush.

Swede