Road Rage

[Roy Tucker]

The roundabouts in Mass. are a true test of skill and balls.

[RBA]

I've ridden motor scooters around the Greek Islands. That was enough to scare me away from motorcycles.

Me too. Zakynthos, in the Ionian See. I was with a group. One guy had a rental that the headlight didn't come on, he went off the road and landed in the bushes.

[RBA]

The roundabouts in Mass. are a true test of skill and balls.

Try negotiating the roundabouts in England in a left hand drive (American) car.

[texasdave]

Try negotiating any road in any vehicle at any time with my mother-in-law in the back seat.

[OldRightHander]

The roundabouts in Mass. are a true test of skill and balls.

They're really not that bad once you know the rules. I've done them in a truck, so negotiating them in a car is easy.

[vaticanplum]

The roundabouts in Mass. are a true test of skill and balls.

They are ROTARIES, Roy.

[919191]

They're really not that bad once you know the rules. I've done them in a truck, so negotiating them in a car is easy.

Man, I thought for a second you were referring to texasdave's post right before yours. Then I realized you meant roundabouts and not mother's in laws.

[SunDeck]

They're really not that bad once you know the rules. I've done them in a truck, so negotiating them in a car is easy.

When I drove a truck, I always found negotiating with cars to be quite easy.

[kaldaniels]

When I drove a truck, I always found negotiating with cars to be quite easy.

When I, a non-truck driver, rented a 25 ft or so Penske (or the like) moving truck, the agent's last words to me were, "Don't worry, cars will get out of your way."

[RedsfaninMT]

22 years ago I used to get pissed while driving all the time. My wife changed me, and it saved my life. Eight years ago, April 14, I left work early to help our accountant with our taxes. A woman cut me off getting on the interstate, passing me on the inside of the merging lane driving her huge old Lincoln Continental. She then got boxed in and I was the last car in a line of cars to pass her. She was obviously ticked; she moved over to the passing lane, and put the hammer down. She darned near clipped my bumper after passing me to merge back to the slow lane. In the past, I would have passed her back and flipped her off. Instead, I eased off the gas to let her get out in front of me. Suddenly, she swerved into the grassy median, lost control and zipped across both lanes of traffic. All I could see was a cloud of dust, and I was thankful she hadn't clobbered me in my Toyota Avalon.

I pulled to the side of the road immediately, and saw what I thought was her intact Continental, parked facing backward. I was going to go up to her and say "that was a sphincter tightener" but as I approached her car I saw her laying on the ground away from the car. She had been ejected through the rear window. She died in my arms less than two minutes later. If my wife had not changed my behavior, I am absolutely convinced I would have joined the woman in death.

I carry that memory with me to this day. There is no place for road rage.

[bigredmechanism]

22 years ago I used to get pissed while driving all the time. My wife changed me, and it saved my life. Eight years ago, April 14, I left work early to help our accountant with our taxes. A woman cut me off getting on the interstate, passing me on the inside of the merging lane driving her huge old Lincoln Continental. She then got boxed in and I was the last car in a line of cars to pass her. She was obviously ticked; she moved over to the passing lane, and put the hammer down. She darned near clipped my bumper after passing me to merge back to the slow lane. In the past, I would have passed her back and flipped her off. Instead, I eased off the gas to let her get out in front of me. Suddenly, she swerved into the grassy median, lost control and zipped across both lanes of traffic. All I could see was a cloud of dust, and I was thankful she hadn't clobbered me in my Toyota Avalon.

I pulled to the side of the road immediately, and saw what I thought was her intact Continental, parked facing backward. I was going to go up to her and say "that was a sphincter tightener" but as I approached her car I saw her laying on the ground away from the car. She had been ejected through the rear window. She died in my arms less than two minutes later. If my wife had not changed my behavior, I am absolutely convinced I would have joined the woman in death.

I carry that memory with me to this day. There is no place for road rage.

Wow, that story really took a turn.

[RedFanAlways1966]

I assume the lady not only drove aggressive/unsafely, but she also drove without wearing a seatbelt. Sad story and unfortunate that you will live with that for the rest of your life. It was good of you to do what you could to help this person.

[RedsfaninMT]

I assume the lady not only drove aggressive/unsafely, but she also drove without wearing a seatbelt. Sad story and unfortunate that you will live with that for the rest of your life. It was good of you to do what you could to help this person.

Okay, so the final kicker to the story, she indeed did not have a seat belt on. I went to her memorial service and met her husband Wade, who became a friend before he left town a few years ago. I wanted him to know his wife did not suffer. She left behind 6 daughters from age 3 - 18. They were sobbing children who could not understand what had happened to their mom. She was on her way to pick up her kids from school, and I am convinced she was on something. Thankfully, there were no kids in the car. But there was an empty baby seat thrown into a field, so we did a search looking for an infant. Thank God one was not found. I finally had a fireman to tell me to stop looking, as I had been through enough. He was afraid I would go into shock at any moment.

[bigredmechanism]

Okay, so the final kicker to the story, she indeed did not have a seat belt on. I went to her memorial service and met her husband Wade, who became a friend before he left town a few years ago. I wanted him to know his wife did not suffer. She left behind 6 daughters from age 3 - 18. They were sobbing children who could not understand what had happened to their mom. She was on her way to pick up her kids from school, and I am convinced she was on something. Thankfully, there were no kids in the car. But there was an empty baby seat thrown into a field, so we did a search looking for an infant. Thank God one was not found. I finally had a fireman to tell me to stop looking, as I had been through enough. He was afraid I would go into shock at any moment.

That is a crazy story man. I hope you didn't beat yourself up too much after a traumatic event like that. To echo what RedFanAlways1966 said, it was very good of you to be there with her and see her off. Nothing is scarier to me than going alone, and I imagine it gave her comfort with you being there.

[RedsfaninMT]

That is a crazy story man. I hope you didn't beat yourself up too much after a traumatic event like that. To echo what RedFanAlways1966 said, it was very good of you to be there with her and see her off. Nothing is scarier to me than going alone, and I imagine it gave her comfort with you being there.

Didn't beat myself up at all, but I was shaken for sure. The 2.5 interrogation for the highway patrol didn't help. There was nothing I could have done, BUT (!) when I went through CPR training again several years later I cried like a little baby. I had tried to resuscitate her, but her trachea was completely crushed, so breaths would not go in. By today's standards, there is no breathing involved. Lucky for me a trauma care nurse was there right after first breaths and took over...and even she couldn't save her.