Was this stupid SUV trying to make me hit them?

[Ferzerp]

I was just driving along a 3 lane interstate, saw the upcoming traffic was slower than I was (currently in the middle lane), so I pull over in to the left lane to pass. An SUV cuts me off and slams on its brakes. Then after we get by that slow semi, he maneuvers where I can't get around him again, and more needless braking (open lane ahead of him, semi to our right). At one point he pulls in to the center lane and I start to pass, but there's a slow vehicle in the left lane (I was trying to be safe and so I didn't do this too quickly), and as I pull beside the maniac driver, he's making all sorts of crazy faces at me.

Sadly, (for legality's sake, but good for my safety's sake) there ends up being an open right lane at this point and I fall behind him and get over in the right lane before he has any idea what is going on and do a little WOT run from 2nd in to 3rd to put that dangerous situation (far) behind me.

I'm trying to figure out, was this guy trying to cause an accident, or wtf was going on.

 

[cbrsurfr]

Some people are just crazy...

I recently had an SUV driver pissed off at me for no reason. He was slowed down by a semi that turned into his lane (not my fault). So he proceeded to floor it past me (~70+ MPH in a 35). Then we were both turning left on green to get on the expressway and he deliberately slammed on his brakes mid turn to try and trap me in the intersection to get hit. I wasn't tailgating so I had plenty of room to go alongside him and not get hit.

He then proceeded to drive like an a-hole on the expressway cutting people off left and right, tailgating, double lane changes, etc... Funny thing is I drove normally all the way home (5-10) over and I ended up right behind him on my exit (~9 miles from where we got on). All that messing around got him home no quicker than driving normally.

 

[Ferzerp]

Well, I tend to drive quickly, but not dangerously, so I don't like it when things like that happen.

I just can't imagine what I did that was so offensive that mr suv wanted his car to make sweet love to my car.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm sure someone will be along soon to point out why this was all your fault.

It is the AT way.

 

[LTC8K6]

Some people are just crazy...

This.

Maybe you had a similar vehicle to someone who cut him off earlier?

Who knows?

Sometimes you just have to get away from a driver.

I had a guy who kept stationing himself just off my left rear quarter this evening, 2 lanes in each direction. Like he was trying to be my wingman. I hate that. I want to be able to maneuver.

So I tap the brakes to separate us. He slows down too, and parks himself there again. So I accelerate away from him and open a nice gap. Here he comes again...doesn't pass. Always stops right off my left rear without passing me. Won't stay away from me...

I finally put the boot to the hemi and got rid of him for good.

I can't stand drivers who stay next to me when there's plenty of room...

 

[kitatech]

Unfortunately too many (most?) drivers don't look past the car in front of them and so have no clue about the upcoming situation (or are just tailgaters who, because they're so close, can't see past the car in front of them) and then blame that car for whatever, get angry, and then worse...happens all the time.

 

[manimal]

Sometimes you just gotta get away from someone quickly.Dont sweat it.

 

[Murloc]

The craziest thing I saw was someone driving an old car at high speed and changing lanes between cars going all zigzag, surpassing on the right all the time (forbidden in Europe) etc. and you could see that the car was barely able to hold it.
It was on this road: https://maps.google.ch/maps?q=como&...noid=WLghj8WQV3u17d9_SMZBaA&cbp=12,6.58,,0,10
so it's pretty dangerous because there are always lots of cars too

 

[Sunny129]

i'm casting another vote for just plain crazy...

the other day i was cruising in the right (slow) lane when some oblivious driver decided to make a right turn out in front of me. now while i wasn't yet dangerously close to the intersection, i also wasn't very far from the intersection either...and to make things worse, the driver proceeded to accelerate like a slug after pulling out in front of me. fortunately, as i said before, it wasn't a real close call or anything, so naturally i had time to get over into the middle lane and go by this other car without really having to brake or anything. my first thoughts were that this must be a woman or a senior citizen behind the wheel...sure enough it was an old lady whose head barely peaked above the window sill as i rode by . but here's the kicker - as i passed by her, she was giving me a big old middle finger as plain as day LOL. i couldn't figure out why, considering that 1) she pulled out in front of me, 2) we completely avoided having a close call, and 3) that i had plenty of time and space to move over and go around her without getting too close and tailgating her for a brief moment. but sure enough she thought otherwise...apparently some people are crazy enough to think that they have the right of way while waiting to pull out onto a cross street, and that anyone on said cross street should have to slow down and yield to traffic pulling out onto the road LOL. its like she took her driver's license test on opposite day or something haha...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It's your epeen inflator vehicle.
I drive a plain Jane 10 years old truck. I barely even get noticed and that's the way I like it.

 

[Ferzerp]

It's your epeen inflator vehicle.
I drive a plain Jane 10 years old truck. I barely even get noticed and that's the way I like it.

You might be right. I get plenty of people who want to see the car go fast. I've never had someone who wanted me to go fast (flying through the windshield) before.

 

[Ferzerp]

I'm sure someone will be along soon to point out why this was all your fault.

It is the AT way.

For all I know, it was, but I can't figure it out.

 

[mmntech]

Happened to me once as well. SUV, a Jeep IIRC. Scared the living s--t out of me. I got him off me by holding up my phone and snapping a pic of his plate. I didn't call police but in hindsight I should have. This kind of stuff makes me really want to get a dash cam.

That was before I started doing traffic reporting. Now I know it happens with alarming regularity. Hear it all the time on my police scanners, multiple times per day. Yep, it usually tends to be SUVs or luxury vehicles. I've been compiling a mental list of collision stats. Aggressive driving is certainly in the top three causes of crashes. I'd probably put it second behind not paying attention. Crashes also seem to always happen in the left lane and Fridays are the worst day, interestingly enough.

The police do take road rage seriously. If you get the plate, they will at least send out a warning letter and it puts a flag on their driving record. If a cruiser happens to be near by, they'll get a stern talking to or get charged with aggressive driving.

I'm sure someone will be along soon to point out why this was all your fault.

It is the AT way.

It's a good measure for people's stupidity, isn't it. Even if you made mistake that triggered it, there's never an excuse for road rage. In Ontario, the penalty for aggressive driving is a minimum $2000 fine and a seven day roadside suspension. Unfortunately that's only if the cop catches you in the act. Good reason to get a dash cam.

 

[DVad3r]

There's a lot of drivers like that, I call them the self appointed bosses of the road. I see this happen a lot with truck drivers, especially on lanes where you merge onto the highway and have your lane ending, they pull to the right to block you from going further and forcing you to merge early. I try to write down the number/company of the truck and license plate, then I call and report their drivers for unsafe driving.

 

[Zap]

my first thoughts were that this must be a woman or a senior citizen behind the wheel...sure enough it was an old lady whose head barely peaked above the window sill as i rode by . but here's the kicker - as i passed by her, she was giving me a big old middle finger as plain as day LOL.

Are you sure it wasn't from a video you saw?

 

[MagickMan]

Yep, yep. Ever since my 12C was delivered I've had all manner if morons try to; force me into rear-ending them, swerving in front of me, incessantly honking their horns, and acting like fools at lights (yeah buddy, I really want to race your Camaro ). Then there's the other type who are fine and just want to check it out and sit in it, which is okay if they seem cool and their pants are clean. You never know what you'll get with random people.

 

[soulcougher73]

Easier to just shoot them and go on with your day. Its what i do.

 

[AMCRambler]

Every now and then I see a real crazy person behind the wheel. It somewhat entertaining but at the same time you want to stay far away. Usually they are all wound up and moving around in their seat at the stop light. Its almost like they can't sit still. Fiddling with the radio, playing with the climate controls, looking around all twitchy like. It makes me think they're probably on drugs or have something wrong with them.

Invariably they drive like they're acting, unpredictable and twitchy. Sudden lane changes with no signal, full throttle from a stop light and then slamming on the brakes at the next. I prefer to stay far behind them where I can keep my on them rather then having them behind me potentially rear ending me.

Just the other day I had one like you described in front of me. I'm driving my F150 just cruising along in the left lane and I start to catch up to a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee in front of me. I notice he keeps hitting the brakes at random intervals. Looking around him the nearest car is a good 20 car lengths away. It was like they were having trouble with depth perception. Every time the car in front of them applied their brakes he was immediately tapping his when in reality just letting off the gas would be enough. So he kept going from the speed limit to 10 under, back up to the speed limit. Clearly a bad driver.

Another thing I've noticed is that occasionally I see people that appear to be driving with one foot on the gas and one on the brake. Not sure why but they will be clearly accelerating with both brake lights lit. Unless their brake light switch is effed up or something. Anybody else ever see this?

 

[jaedaliu]

was it a beat up SUV?

Could be an insurance scam. If you run into the car in front of you, it's typically your fault for not following at a safe distance. They go after you / your insurance for repairs / hospital bills / loss of use, then pocket the money and do it to someone else.

Allstate used to run radio ads about it (but with other drivers work in The Fast and the Furious method instead of a passing semi.)

 

[JackBurton]

He was probably trying to collect some money from you by getting into a rear end collision. He saw a GT500 and probably said to himself, "this may be a good pay day." That's why I LOVE driving my old truck. No one messes with me. They probably look at me and say, "stay away from that guy. He probably doesn't have insurance." And that's the way I like it. If someone does get into an altercation with me, I will have no problems burying my truck into their vehicle. I'll just probably leave it on the side of the road and go buy me a new car. The down side, I'll then be driving a new car.

 

[Ferzerp]

He was probably trying to collect some money from you by getting into a rear end collision. He saw a GT500 and probably said to himself, "this may be a good pay day." That's why I LOVE driving my old truck. No one messes with me. They probably look at me and say, "stay away from that guy. He probably doesn't have insurance." And that's the way I like it. If someone does get into an altercation with me, I will have no problems burying my truck into their vehicle. I'll just probably leave it on the side of the road and go buy me a new car. The down side, I'll then be driving a new car.

That's really the only thing I can figure, but despite the much maligned brakes (as far as reviewers are concerned), I'd have to be a really bad driver to not be able to stop faster than an SUV that I'm following at a safe distance, so it really wasn't going to work out for them if that was the angle.

 

[mmntech]

Easier to just shoot them and go on with your day. Its what i do.

I'm surprised more of these incidents don't end in fist fights. Especially if it's a scammer. Happens but not very often.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Some people are stupid. I run into them all the time on the road. Not literally, but sometimes awful close. Had some lady decide she wanted my lane randomly and started moving over with no blinker, no nothing, and didn't even flinch when I hit the horn. She was in a compact car, maybe she wanted me to make it smaller for her? :|

 

[GregGreen]

Twice in the last week, I've thought a city bus was trying to get me to hit them.

Right by my work there is a bus stop in a 45mph zone and apparently the bus line takes a left not too far after their last bus stop. Both times, I've been doing between 45 and 50 with no one else around me and the bus has pulled into the left lane doing 20 or less and I've had to slam on my brakes both times. Why wouldn't the bus driver wait until after I pass?

 

[JulesMaximus]

It's always fun when you get those fuckheads near you when you're on a motorcycle too. Thankfully that has been a fairly rare occurrance for me.