This is why modern self defence trends get on my nerves.

[Mallic]

good point. I tend to think a lot of road rage is like a lot of bar fights. Very few bar fights are truly random.

Speaking just about driving, if folks would get past their misguided sense of road justice, using their cars to block lanes, slow speeders down, or keep people from even the appearance of cutting a line, we would all be safer on the roads. It’s juvenile.

Don’t get me wrong. Guys who split lanes on their bikes (where it isn’t legal like here), speed, weave in busy traffic, cut lanes, camp in the left lane, etc. they are d-bags. But when you retaliate and drive aggressively in response, you are as much the problem as them.

Just be friendly, even when people aren’t friendly to you. Driving isn’t a competition. No good comes from getting worked up behind the wheel. You end up pissed off. The other guy is also probably pissed off. You’re both telling a version of the story where the other person is the a-hole. And sometimes, rare as it may be, someone will be seriously hurt or killed.

Stuff like this makes me not wanna get a car.

 

[Steve]

Stuff like this makes me not wanna get a car.

. I get it. I’m teaching an anxious teenager to drive. She’s doing great.

As I said before, road rage is like bar fights, rarely random.

 

[Holmejr]

I live in the City of Irvine in CA. I have to travel to find danger. In fact, there is no “evil eye” here. If you stare at someone to long here, they bow their head and run away. In LA, if you stare, it considered a challenge.

 

[Steve]

I live in the City of Irvine in CA. I have to travel to find danger. In fact, there is no “evil eye” here. If you stare at someone to long here, they bow their head and run away. In LA, if you stare, it considered a challenge.

In Seattle, we are a bunch of introverts. As a group, we generally avoid each other making it easy to avoid trouble. I have heard it referred to as the Seattle Freeze.

 

[Hot Lunch]

I live in the City of Irvine in CA. I have to travel to find danger. In fact, there is no “evil eye” here. If you stare at someone to long here, they bow their head and run away. In LA, if you stare, it considered a challenge.

When people stare at me, I'll typically ask them "What's up, bro? You need something from me?"

And I'm always sure to ask it in a tone that's non-aggressive, yet firm. You'll find that in most instances, they're zoned out and just happened to be looking in your direction at the time.

If they are trying to stare you down, I think that looking away and trying to ignore it (when both you and the person staring at you both know you saw him staring at you) is going to send the message that you're a soft target. But I'm also not going to engage in a stare-down contest with anyone.

I want to make it clear to the person staring at me that I know they're staring, and that I'm ready for whatever they're thinking about doing.

 

[Fungus]

The number of young men who abuse steroids, making the ‘red mist’ descend, is very common and I can see that happening although the lack of firearms in Europe means it is unlikely to result in death.

It's not likely, but that's a risk you're taking each time you piss off a random stranger.

I agree, the most dangerous opponent is the one that is unpredictable due to beeing out of mental balance, or someone that has nothing to loose as their risk/reward analyais are out of balance. And you have no clue it that are armed or not.

Then normal tactical logic doesn't apply, as your opponent makes the risk/reward analysis in ungraspable ways. A rage attack might not even be a rational tactical response to you, it might simply be stress response randomly triggered from a prexisting condition whose original has nothing todo with your encounter.

 

[Cri70]

https://www.reddit.com/r/martialarts/s/TUj1TMNArv
There is no way something like this could realistically happen right? Just running into someone so unhinged that calling them out for cutting you off is enough to make them wanna gun you down? Like seriously 0-100. Forget jail someone like that needs to be executed.

Of course there is a way that it could realistically happen. Even discounting criminal and antisocial behavior, even with some "regular" people, if they get enraged and entitled, sometimes they do things that they then regret. Rage is not necessarily proportional to the event. Hopefully the probability is small, but in a country where loads of people carry firearms, the combination can be deadly.

 

[TenHands]

Leave the US and these people seem to disappear.

 

[Hot Lunch]

Leave the US and these people seem to disappear.

Nope. The UK ranks #1 for road rage. In a study of seven countries; the UK, Spain, India, and Russia have more incidents per capita than the US. Italy and Germany have less. Ironic, because I expected Germany to be #1 due to the lack of speed limits on the autobahn.

Are We The World's Best Drivers? U.S. vs. International Driving Habits, Compared

One aspect of driving that is constantly drilled into our heads is that speeding kills. The United States has one of the highest mortality rates from car crashes in the world. It's not far-fetched to think speeding might be a culprit. But is speed actually leading to disaster, or are Americans...

driving-tests.org

 

[wab25]

A while ago I drove by the aftermath of this, on my way to work:

Man shot, killed in Orlando road rage shooting was headed to 1st day at full-time job

A man shot and killed in an Orlando road rage shooting on Colonial Drive was heading to his first day of work at a full-time job, according to his family.

www.clickorlando.com

While looking for this article.... I found that I was lucky enough to miss this on, on the same stretch of road, yesterday:

'It made me sick': Road rage shooting in Orlando leaves man dead

One person was shot and taken to the hospital on Monday morning in Orlando after road rage ended in gunfire.

www.wesh.com

These people are around.... and will shoot at you... which is very unfortunate. It is best to let some things go.... maybe you don't really need to honk, or show the finger when you are driving.

 

[Hot Lunch]

It is best to let some things go.... maybe you don't really need to honk, or show the finger when you are driving.

Well, I don't know how others feel but when somebody gives me the finger, I take that as a win for me.

As for the honking of horns: if I'm driving down a stroad (the busy streets of the city where the department stores, strip malls, hotels, car dealerships, and fast food restaurants are) and I'm in the right line, I obviously need to slow down in order to make a right turn into the parking lot of the place where I need to do business.

And about a third of the time, some idiot behind me was going the full speed limit and is pissed that he has to step on his brake, so he honks his horn. In that case, I will literally stop my car before turning in and make him sit for a few seconds.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

And about a third of the time, some idiot behind me was going the full speed limit and is pissed that he has to step on his brake, so he honks his horn. In that case, I will literally stop my car before turning in and make him sit for a few seconds.

In defense driving class, instructor teaches:

- Keep 1 car distance for every 10 miles speed you are driving. If you drive 60 miles/hr, you will need to keep 6 cars distance.
- If someone's car is too close to your from behind, you need to slow down your speed to inform the person behind you.

Are those 2 rules no longer hold today?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

In defense driving class, instructor teaches:

- Keep 1 car distance for every 10 miles speed you are driving. If you drive 60 miles/hr, you will need to keep 6 cars distance.
- If someone's car is too close to your from behind, you need to slow down your speed to inform the person behind you.

Are those 2 rules no longer hold today?

I was taught to switch to another lane to allow them to pass when safe, and to never slow down for them intentionally from a defensive driving perspective, as that might trigger road rage issues.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I was taught to switch to another lane to allow them to pass when safe, and to never slow down for them intentionally from a defensive driving perspective, as that might trigger road rage issues.

But when you drive slow, you are already on the right lane. It can be dangerous to switch to the left land.

 

[Hot Lunch]

In defense driving class, instructor teaches:

- Keep 1 car distance for every 10 miles speed you are driving. If you drive 60 miles/hr, you will need to keep 6 cars distance.
- If someone's car is too close to your from behind, you need to slow down your speed to inform the person behind you.

Are those 2 rules no longer hold today?

I was taught 2 car distances at all times.

As for the second, they shouldn't be teaching that. That's called "brake checking," and insurance companies will take that into consideration when determining fault if you get rear-ended.

However, make no mistake... I'm not saying I'm not guilty of doing that myself.

I was taught to switch to another lane to allow them to pass when safe, and to never slow down for them intentionally from a defensive driving perspective, as that might trigger road rage issues.

If you're in the left lane or a center lane, sure. But if you're in the right lane, you have nowhere to go.

I can probably only count on one hand the number of times I've done this, but if I'm in the right or a center lane and the traffic isn't busy (i.e., all lane are open) and there's someone behind me who is matching my speed, I feel like they're attempting to pressure me to drive faster. In that case, I'll slow down - not in a way that's abrupt and could cause an accident, but in a way that makes them pass me.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I was taught 2 car distances at all times.

As for the second, they shouldn't be teaching that. That's called "brake checking," and insurance companies will take that into consideration when determining fault if you get rear-ended.

If you drive 80 miles/hr, when the car in front of you suddenly take a break, you may not have enough safe distance to react.

As far as the 2nd part, my memory can be wrong. It might be to put foot on the break several times to warn the car behind you (not really slow down).

There must be a safe way to warn the car behind you not to be too close.