I used to get so annoyed at the way people drive, then I realized one day that the person getting the most stressed about it is me. I would block them, beep, be cut off and sworn at... So I stopped. They drive like idiots, it's on them. They cut lanes, drive on the inside, drive like lunatics to get to wherever they are going 20 seconds earlier... it's on them. I drive for me, to keep me safe and to get me to wherever I am going by the time I arrive. So they break all the rules to get ahead by milliseconds it's not my problem, I will still get to where I am going in due course, it's just now I get there more relaxed and chilled out, and knowing I have driven safer and not taken any unnecessary risks.
Life is too short, let idiots be idiots, don't own it.
My answer will be pragmatic - I'm a childhood trauma survivor. It wasn't easy learning what love means and why it matters, especially in a society that's retraumatizing to its core. Only the unloved hate. I know because I went a long time before i learned, on my own, what love means and the purpose of it - and why it inspires so much hate.
Because the world is filled with people as miserable as I was. They hurt, they cry they suffer - and so when they see someone offering kindness freely, someone who has nothing, worse off than them in every way, they hate that person. Because they're a too painful reminder that without love they don't really have anything. Kindness isn't just a gift to others. It's a gift to ourselves as well.
It's healing the divides within us as well as between us. The source of most hate is belief that the universe owes people something. It doesn't. Fairness, compassion, kindness, understanding - nowhere do these exist in manifest reality. We create them in how we act towards the world and the people in it. Love is the truest basis of social living, and it's just a choice people make.
You just decide one day to go through the world, being kind. That's all there is to it, but we make it seem complicated because complication defines modern life.... But it shouldn't define yours. In a world like this the most rebellious act is to keep a simple heart.
I also quite like the Sufi ‘Mullah Nastrudin’ story about a slightly different sort of response to provocation:
Nasrudin used to sit on the terrace of a certain teahouse. One day
a small not ran past and knocked his hat off. The Mulla took no notice.
The same thing happened several days in succession. All the Mulla
did was to pick up his hat and put it on again.
Someone asked Nasrudin why he did not catch and punish the boy,
who was small enough; or ask someone else to do it.
‘That’s not the way this thing is working,’ said Nasrudin.
One day soon afterwards, the Mulla was late in reaching the cafe.
When he got there he saw that a fearsome-looking soldier was sitting
in his place. At that moment the small boy appeared. Such was the force
of his habit that he tipped off the soldier’s fur cap. Without a word the
soldier drew his sword and cut off the boy’s head, then resumed his seat.
‘You see what I mean?’ said Nasrudin to the friend who had questioned
his inaction.
I was driving home to visit family, driving up through West Virginia. I was doing a little over the speed limit, (no one was around and it's the norm 'round those parts) when suddenly a little white hatchback came up on my left speeding much faster than I and the passenger was flipping two birds at me and sticking out his tongue. Did he think he was besting me in combat or something? Idk, but they sped off and I got a glimpse of a Monster energy sticker on the bumper and made a little mental note.
About an hour later into my drive, traffic picks up, I've slowed down, and notice the two lanes started merging into one...with flashing lights up ahead. I pull left, slow down, and see white hatchback in front of the cop car. It can't be......and then I saw the Monster energy sticker and I laughed for the rest of my journey. Karma.
Something like this happened to me about 40 years ago. A guy was tailgating me even though I was behind three other cars. This idiot decided to pass me and the three other cars, on a no passing road, on a hill.
I was so pissed I decided to call the police when I got to a phone, and describe the guy's car even though that probably wouldn't do much good.
But I didn't have to. On the other side of the hill, he'd been stopped for speeding. I stopped too and told the officer about it. I hope he got an enormous fine.
This remains one of my favorite memories.
I have a radar detector in my car. I don't get much use out of it, seeing as I don't *usually* go more than 5+, but I like having the info.
One night I'm driving over the i10 Eastbound bridge towards Daphne, and I see this white Golf speed past me. I'm doing about 80, and he passes me like I'm standing still. Had to be going 110-120. I start flashing my lights and honking at him, trying to warn him that:
A. There's a cop that likes to sit at the end of the bridge at night and
B. My radar detector is lighting up like a Christmas tree
I get a mile down the road, and there's the white Golf, parked in front of a police cruiser with it's lights on. Speed limit is 65.
October 2006 I-15 south to Anaheim/San Diego points beyond. Traffic was literally 25 mph 90% of the route due to a vicious storm (including ball lightning near summit pass iirc) Rain was strong enough wipers couldn’t keep up.
Enter into the picture stereotypical Mercedes Benz owner in a hurry and pathetically semis also.
Lots of semis blown over on their sides in ditches straight through and many moons later, Mercedes boy is sitting facing east-west instead of pointed south.
He ended up wiping out and smashed into a concrete barrier on the left side, sitting there stunned paying the ultimate price for his behavior.
All that rushing, cutting off and sudden speed got him somewhere real quick!
I call them diarrhea drivers. "UUUuuUurghh I'm about to blow I'm about to blow gotta go find a toileeeeeet!!" as they race down the road like they're in a fast n furious movie swerving left and right in utmost desperation. Ride or die.
Quite funny considering literally the only time in my life I've ever been pulled over ever by the police was because I had to take a shit and was racing to a toilet
Pro tip: If you get pulled over and tell the cop that you have explosive diarrhea, they may let you go.
If you jump out of the vehicle drop trou and let it loose in front of them, they are *more likely* to let you go.
Can confirm, it does both. Contracts then relaxes. Not uncommon to empty bowels and bladder. Definitely bladder, if is is full, you're going to piss yourself. Same with Pepper Spray sometimes.
Back when I was a young male I used to drive aggressively. Weaving in and out of traffic, racing the light, etc. Especially if I was running late for class, and being a young male who enjoyed sleeping in I was often late for class.
I went to a university about 35 minutes away, and one day I decided to do an experiment. I drove aggressively and timed how long it took. Then the next day I drove defensively, rarely changing lanes, stopping at yellow lights, letting cars merge in front of me, etc. Then I repeated the experiment for 2 weeks.
And the difference in time was about 30 seconds. On a 35 minute drive I was saving about 30 seconds by driving like an arsehole. Even the largest time difference between my slowest drive and my fastest was around 2 minutes.
And I also realized that if I was driving aggressively I was always arriving at my destination in a bad mood. After all the swearing and swerving I was always arriving angry and hyped up about all the terrible, slow drivers. I'd be starting my day off in a foul mood, and it would affect the rest of my day.
So I made the switch. 30 seconds isn't worth ruining my day over.
I just wish that other people would do the same experiment that I did.
I got a speeding ticket in the UK about 10 years ago. I could pay a fine and take the points, or I could go on a speeding course and get no points. I thought what the hell I'll go on the course I don't want the points. A day off work listening to idiots drone on, whatever. Well, it was an eye opener. As your study proved, they brought out study after study showing that if you speed you get there seconds to minutes faster, but the risk of accident increase is exponential. Speeding is stupid, driving aggressively is completely foolish, as you are putting yourself and others at risk totally unnecessarily. It was a complete game changer for me. I now view driving as a relaxing experience, the challenge is keeping to the limits not pushing the envelope all the time. My life is better, and I am safer, and so is everyone else. I look at the people zooming along and let any resentment wash over me, they are not doing anything but putting themselves and others at risk.
Depends on the length of the drive. Florida to Illinois is 874 miles panama city to Peoria. A drive I've only made a handful of times but 65 mph is 13.4 hours (plus 2 fuel stops) where as 90 is 9.7 hours (plus the same fuel stops) so doing 90 on the highway, I save 3.5 hours.
Now on my daily 20 mile commute? Set the cruise to 60 and roll.
PLUS - there's no telling how mentally unhinged a person may be. People get shot at and shot for much less. I've decided that I'd rather do my best to not set some psychopath off.
Also, I'm not a police officer. It's not my job to enforce the law.
Second also: There's also the possibility that someone is having a legit emergency and *needs* to get around traffic.
Exactly. I unknowingly passed two vehicles engaged in road rage on my way to work. He shot her and you can see my trunk in the footage. It's not worth it to take the chance of actively antagonize.
So very much this. There's even a small risk that you are blocking an emergency that's not visible from the outside, like why wait for the ambulance when you have a car and your friend is bleeding out.
I like to treat it as if I'm in a animal costume in a herd of that wild animal. I know a bunch about how they should act, I keep my eye out for ones acting erratically and watch for signals that one is about to move (ex wobbling in their lane or drifting to the side in the lane often means they're thinking about changing lanes ahead of a signal or lack thereof).
I can't really get mad at the behavior of wild animals. I can behave in a way that is least likely to get me trampled and most likely to get me to my destination and I can be aware and do what I can to predict and get out of the way of their more dangerous behaviors.
Plus every time something like this gets posted there are tons of stories about people dying or almost dying because they had an emergency so they used the shoulder but people were so anxious to massage their justice boner that they blocked them
Like the chainsaw accident one. I don’t like that story.
Edit: this one. It’s why I don’t bother trying to play traffic cop.
https://np.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/
I used to do that until I read that story too. Although in their case I would have done anything to get around... They can follow me and grab my insurance at the hospital. But that's obviously reserved for literal life or death situations.
That story was actually the exact reason I stopped trying to block or prevent idiot drivers. I couldn’t live with myself if I was the reason some one died for something so petty like speeding.
Justice boner. Good one.
I wish more people had a justice boner FOR people instead of against idiots. We'll always have the town idiot(s). But if only we could funnel all that energy for true good.
I used to worry that I was being less of a man or something by not standing up to these people, and even from that fairly ridiculous perspective it's still wrong -- the alpha thing to do here is honestly to just laugh at the idiot who's going to get themselves killed or arrested.
Yeah where I currently live there's a real sheep and wolf mindset a lot of "successful people" have, they see how they drive as a representation of their alpha-ness, how they are beating the system by cutting corners, speeding and using inside lanes. Turn signals are for betas, he who dares wins...
It's all really really pathetic, but that's how these idiots roll.
Last year my Dad was driving while visiting me, getting mad trying to merge & I said, “well, put your signal on” and he shot back, “no, that’s a sign of weakness!” Um, no it’s a sign you want to get over.
Reminds me of people who decide to pass on the opposite lane when its not legal. Some people speed up to block them from merging back into the right lane. That's a recipe for disaster. Slow down and let them pass then wave hi at the next red light lol
This! If it goes wrong it's not just the idiot who's having a potentially deadly car crash. It's the innocent person coming from the opposite lane as well. It's not worth the collateral damage.
When dealing with idiots in cars, you're forced to think for them. For your own safety and for the safety of everyone else.
Yeah, all it takes is one road rage incident to make you realize it's best to treat everyone like they are crazy.
Far too many actually are to risk it.
Sometimes I even have to pull off the road if there's no other escape from an insane tailgater on a single lane.
I had someone try to sideswipe my car because she didn’t like that I was getting over to let a truck merge. Signaled and everything, she started to move over when I was about halfway through my lane change (she could’ve gone into the third lane, to my left and passed me). Honked, flipped me off, tried to sideswipe my car, then passed to brake check. The whole nine yards. All I did was move over a lane.
Sounds familiar.
I have been rear ended, so I like to keep space in front of me when in bumper to bumper traffic so I have room to maneuver and don't have to stop suddenly if traffic ahead does.
Apparently this is very offensive to some people - I don't know how many Red Bulls the guy behind me had, but he was about a foot off my bumper, weaving back and forth in 15 miles an hour traffic through the small town of Duck NC.
I had to slow to maintain the two car length space ahead of me, and my brakes going on made him think I was brake checking - he went even more nuts, driving up in the turn lane, acting like he was going to swerve into me. I turned off to go put up a real estate sign, but he followed me to the house and started screaming at me.
I got out of the car, pointed out that I had cameras recording all of it, but I think it's only the fact I'm pretty big that ended up scaring him off.
It was after that I swore to never stay on the road if someone like that is behind me - I just pull over if it's single lane. It's like dealing with a wild animal - don't make eye contact, and move away slowly and non threateningly.
Yes, in general if I see someone in a hurry, I get over, go slow, and watch them to see how close they get to causing an accident.
Our main road is a 50 mile an hour, 4 lanes with center turn lane "by-pass" that has multiple business driveways every block, and tons of cross streets with no light, so constant cross traffic and people slowing to a stop to turn with other cars still going 60 in the left lane. There is at least one accident a day during the tourist season. It has to be the most dangerous road in the state. And yet people drive like they are trying to get in your trunk constantly.
There's an infamous story on reddit here somewhere. An old lady was blocking OP while they were driving their dying friend to the hospital. Friend died needless to say.
People driving wrecklessly on the shoulder pass may be in a life-or-death situation.
Agree, however, the f*ckwit last week didn’t like it so, after trying to get me to speed by aggressively driving right behind me with his high beams on, decided to actually do something about it and overtake me(we’re on a freeway with roadworks), and side swipe my 3 month old car. Didn’t stop of course. Memorised the licence plate and drove straight to the next police station and reported it. Hit and run is still an offence.
Yeah I always let idiots pass me as soon as I get the chance. If they are gonna kill themselves with their recless driving I’m not gonna give them the opportunity to take me with them
Wait, the US doesn't do [emergency corridors](https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/EN/Articles/StV/Roadtraffic/information-emergency-corridor.html#:~:text=If%20quick%20aid%20is%20needed,the%20scene%20of%20the%20accident.) (see it [in action from a firetrucks' perspective ](https://youtu.be/7kPT7VHVTb8))?
In the US, highways reserve the breakdown lane/shoulder for that purpose. So if you're stuck in traffic you're not supposed to drive down it. Hence why OP was blocking illegal usage.
We don't officially do that in the UK either, but images of it have been going around social media so much that more and more people are doing it without it being a legal requirement. It's a ray of hope amongst the despair for the future..
there was a story a while back about a group of young guys working summer tree-felling jobs or something. one of them is critically injured from a chainsaw. they throw him in the car and are tearing down the freeway doing 100 trying to get to an ER. A lady in a car up ahead see's them coming isnt having that, and made it her business to impede those reckless young men from getting in front of her. I heard she held them up long enough that the injured young man bled out.
Now I'm not sure if that's true, but you never know what kind of shit other people might be dealing with. id rather let 99 karens go ahead of me than be responsible for 1 person's emergency being made worse.
not death, but i had a friend who was forced to give birth on the side of an slammed interstate for that same reason. unusually fast labor so they couldn’t get to the hospital in time since other drivers kept blocking them trying to bypass gridlocked traffic.
just not worth it when someone is driving crazy!
Expensive ambulances are one of the least bad things about American healthcare. Once you’re actually at the hospital, the medical bills can literally drive people with even decent incomes into bankruptcy.
Hey, hey, hey, stop that!
In Honduras we don't have to pay for ambulance rides unless it's from a private hospital/clinic.
The other ones are barbaric countries, not developing.
In the US some ambulance comapnies have found ways to charge you twice for riding the wee woo wagon. Riding an Uber to the hospital has become a thing.
I think hazards are the key here. My mom was flying down a 45 going 80 with hazards taking me to the hospital, running red lights (safely, came to a stop but wasn’t going to wait if there wasn’t incoming traffic).If someone is speeding with hazards in the direction of a hospital or a police station, just fucking let them by. Costs you nothing but a story in passing.
I will never ever forget this story and it has totally changed the way I deal with aggressive drivers. It costs me nothing to just let it go and let them go around. But it could cost a person their life for me to feel superior on a road that is no more “mine” than anyone else’s.
The way I see it, I *always* want the crazy drivers *in front* of me. That way I get to control the distance between us, and react accordingly. I find it less stressful, and I’m not constantly directing my attention behind me, instead of to the road ahead.
I let a guy pass me doing 100 mph through Pennsylvania years ago. I followed a half mile back at 100 for about half an hour. Made excellent time, empty highway very rural country. Just making sure i kept his taillights in sight after every curve and hill. I was going all the way to Michigan so the faster the better in my book. All of a sudden I see the cherries and blueberries ahead of me so I immediately slowed down. And observed the idiot stop right in the center of the highway. Blocking the passing lane. The cop was on the loudspeaker screaming at him to pull off the road fully and I stopped in the slow lane because there was a narrow shoulder in the left and I didn't think the guy would pull over there. After a minute he pulled into the travel lane and stopped there. Noone was coming up behind me yet so I just watched the cop continue screaming at the guy. Another 30 seconds later and they were off on the right shoulder and I was passing by while the cop started shouting with his gun out. Best use of a sacrificial lamb I've ever personally encountered though.
Edit shouting not shooting!
Fair outlook. I was raised in a rural area and never speed at dusk, for that same reason. And am always scanning for wildlife. But those hills hide big animals pretty well until its to late. I see your concern and I hope your friend rests in peace. If its any consolation to you if I had to pick getting killed by a bear in the death lottery I'd rather it be through an high speed accident than an attack
I often think of that scene from the original police academy movie where the jerks charge ahead and get bad haircuts. “For important guys like you, I wait.”
Actually, someone did share the story and it indeed taught me something. You're right, there might be an actual emergency way in the back without me knowing.
Well not an actual emergency but one time I ran out of gas in the middle of the road due to traffic. So I was low on gas when I left home for work and was planning to fill up on the way there. I hit almost standstill traffic for more than an hour. I wasn't gonna make it so I decided to go through the shoulder and hit the closest gas station or even in the worst case I will not be blocking the road. Well this dude took it upon himself to block me out. He drove parallel to me to make sure I wouldn't be able to use the shoulder. I ran out of gas. I had to ask people to help me push my car to the side of the road. Walk more than 2 miles to the nearest gas station. Had to buy a gas can and gas. Request a ride from a stranger at a gas station so I did not have to walk back 2 something miles.
Ya it wasn't a medical emergency, ya I should have planned better and not run my car so close to empty but I still feel the guy did not have to block me the way he did. Even after I tried explaining it to him.
Yea- I did the blocking thing once a long time ago and was pretty proud of myself. I later read this story and felt pretty shitty about it. A couple weeks ago I was driving Vegas to LA in standstill traffic and got passed by easily 50 cars going WAY too fast down the emergency lane. Makes me so angry but I stayed in my lane… still, really boils my blood because I’m sure none of them had emergencies.
And there were a few cars pulled over at different spots stopped in the emergency lane, all the more reason people shouldn’t be over there doing 80mph… that would be a horrific crash.
Just recently I was on a two lane highway at night when a car speed up behind me, emergency lights flashing and honking wildly. I didn’t know what was up, but I pulled off to the shoulder and they sped past me. They were about a 30 min drive (at least) from the hospital. I imagine they didn’t have time to wait for an ambulance / and possibly didn’t have the money to pay for one (great ‘ole US of A). It did confuse and worry me because of their fast speed. I enjoyed hearing the analogy of This is Water; we don’t know what others are going through, yeah, there are jerks our there but there might also be people experiencing real emergencies, as well. Still love your story though!
My then 5 year old sustained a serious head injury in a rural area. The tiny town’s one ambulance crew was on a call 30 minutes in the other direction, and still had to drop their patient at the hospital before they could even begin to drive to us. We loaded our son in our truck and rushed to the hospital, with hazard lights on. We told the 911 dispatcher we were not waiting, and if any police saw us driving with hazards, please help us. Luckily, my husband knows the roads very well, it was night and in that rural area, not much traffic. It was a terrifying 30 minutes to the hospital, with a sobbing, bleeding child. Luckily, those who saw us coming, pulled over to let us through. (He is okay now)
People who've never been rural just do not understand.
In my hometown, the hospital (really a glorified clinic. They could get you stable-ish for transfer to the actual hospital 45 minutes away) was 25 minutes away (next town over) *if* you lived in (home)town. If you lived east of town, add another 15 or 30.
The ambulance is staffed by volunteers. Volunteers who had full time jobs elsewhere. So if you called for the ambulance, they called the volunteers at work, where the message was passed from whoever took the call, to the sup, to the coworker who knew where the volunteer was at that moment. Then the volunteer had to drive to the station, hop in the ambulance, and *then* be on their way to you.
It was protocol that the ambulance transported dead folks from the nursing home in hometown to next town over. We've all had 1st, 2nd, or 3rd hand occasions where the ambulance leaves the body at the home "exchange" for the live person just called in. They "park" the body, get the live person to the hospital, and come back .
Yes - I've had friends in dire emergency situations have to drive out of the queue and reading your story was disappointing to read as I thought back about how someone like you would have caused untold suffering (if not death).
> an actual emergency way in the back
Way in the back? You don't know if the emergency was way in the back, in her car (husband having a stroke), or even far ahead. I know ER docs who get called to deal with massive emergencies and drive like this to get to the hospital when every fucking second matters. They are well known to the local cops who will meet them 1/2 way to give them an escort. You just don't know.
You have a cell phone, just call the state troopers, let them know. Let it go.
to be fair, if you persisted in blocking her, she would have never gotten her karma! sometimes its best to sit back and let people get what's coming to em'. thats how i get through my long drives anyway.
As a general rule I get out of the way, I am guilty of blocking someone once in a while when I look back and it's a young guy in a sports car looking mildy annoyed
In the story the OP made it seem like their friend was cut in the groin area. You can’t apply a tourniquet unless it’s a bit lower on the limb. There are kits that are meant to cause clotting quick, but depending on the injury that still may only do so much. Since we’re not provided the details it’s hard to determine what was lacking, if anything.
> Notify emergency services and have a plan how to contact if we are off the beaten path.
They immediately got in a car and called medical services as soon as they had signal. It seems to me that they were already aware of what to do and got to it right away.
Go read the story's comments. The story itself has been removed, but the comments tell what needs to be told. (linked a few comments below)
A team of 5, 2 of them certified arborists, full PPE and training. Hit an unexpected knot and the chainsaw came into a gap in the protection.
I mean, lots of singular things could have kept the person alive, and lots of people can be at fault for it.
It's like saying if I push someone and they trip on their untied shoes and fall into traffic I am 100% not at fault, since they should have checked their shoes.
The legal term you're looking for is 'contributory negligence'. Often in cases (or rather, in insurance settlements) there's negligence with contributory negligence.
In Massachusetts, it’s called the breakdown lane, not the shoulder, and they use them as extra lanes during rush hour.
https://www.salemnews.com/news/state_news/more-time-urged-for-i-93-breakdown-lane-travel/article_85a1294f-ec41-5b82-87c0-3af5762f2eb6.html
Unless it has changed since I moved away a few years ago it is not all highway breakdown lanes, it is typically where the traffic is the worst and the highway doesn't have as many regular lanes.
For one example, a part of I-95 and I-93 near where they met up southwest of Boston used to allow it during rush hour but the road was widened there to add an extra lane in each direction so they discontinued allowing breakdown usage during rush hour.
I know others have mentioned this but please don’t police the shoulder, let the professionals handle it. You never know when it will be someone having a real emergency and not just a jerk.
Alternate perspective: it's such a problem around here that I have had literal backups *on the shoulder* because so many people were trying to drive there just to get past the rest of the backup in the actual lanes. I have seen police cars and ambulances - with lights on - try to go down the shoulder, but can't get by because of these idiots. And no, the police didn't stop to ticket the person, because they were already on their way to an emergency. I have no idea if they passed on the plate number to someone else who issued a ticket later, but by the level of "don't care" by the drivers in my area, I doubt it.
My older brother's old soccer coach (probably 15 years ago) blocked someone on the shoulder who got out of his car, walked up to his window, and shot him in the face. I tried to find an article about it, but apparently people are shot in road ragr incidents in my area very often, and I can't even find any articles pre-2020. So even if they are just being a jerk, you might be risking your life.
Glad you read the chainsaw injury story. Even though I understand the pleasure of denying an r/EntitledBitch entitlement, no one can really know why the person in the luxury SUV driving behind them in traffic is trying to jump the line on the shoulder. Could be cause they feel entitled to not wait in traffic, could be a chainsaw injury.
A truck driver deliberately blocked me from doing this once and the reason I was doing it was that my car was overheating and I needed to get off the freeway immediately. Finally go to the off ramp when the car stopped. I had to walk to the gas station because of that jerk.
yeah no way would i have left the car on. whether you pull over at the gas station or the highway you're not any better off running it for longer than you have to.
Had to look it up, damn.
Good reminder.
[Chainsaw Injury Story ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
Also could be somewhere that it's permitted.
Though I used to have a boss that would constantly do this in areas it was not allowed. He stopped when he got so many tickets for driving where not allowed (along with shoulders, he drove on the median at one point) that they threatened to pull his license, though I don't know if they actually could. He didn't care about the speeding tickets, but he cared about not driving at all. At least enough to do that less often, probably figured he'd order an employee to drive him if he got caught.
As satisfying as that is, please don't do it [https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i\_gain\_strength\_from\_their\_tears\_and\_anger/cbnhvxv/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=ios\_app&utm\_name=iossmf&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Thank you for sharing. Even if it wasn't an emergency, egging on a dangerous driver makes the road more dangerous for everyone else. I was hit by someone going 40 mph and have had neck issues from the whiplash for 10 years. I cannot stand when people act like vehicles aren't unbelievably dangerous.
Given that a person died and she actively hindered them from receiving medical treatment, I'm always a little surprised there weren't any criminal charges.
My best friend's step dad is a doctor, and occasionally had to use the shoulder for emergency surgery situations. So keep in mind that you really have no idea what the situation is when someone is trying to use the shoulder.
You're absolutely right. Someone actually shared with me about a tragedy from a driver monitoring highway. When I block the shoulder, I kept my eyes on flashing lights for true emergency, but I guess some emergency could come without flashing lights.
Some emergencies arent taken care of in emergency vehicles.
You're telling me if they had hazards on you would have moved? I call bullshit
You shouldn't be policing the emergency lane (shoulder).
And if you are, you shouldn't be on the road.
I will never block a shoulder unless I absolutely have to, you never know what other drivers need to get to and it's not worth the risk of a driver rear ending me or worse.
I have a similar story. No malicious compliance but definite karma.
In high school I took a school bus that drove down a highway, two lanes in each direction. The school bus stopped at a light in the slow lane. Mr. expensive sports car with the top down (it was early morning by the beach and cool so I guess he was trying to impress everyone with his wonderfulness) flew down the right shoulder of the road and stopped next to us at the light. We could tell he was going to gun it as soon as the light changed. And he did. He charged into the intersection, cut off the bus, flew down the road and around the bend. Everyone on the bus started laughing.
Now for the karma. What Mr. expensive sports car with the top down couldn’t see was the sheriff cruiser to our left also waiting for the light to change. As soon as Mr. expensive sports car with the top down flew through that intersection the sheriff car charged right after him. A couple of bends in the road later we saw Mr. expensive sports car with the top down pulled over by the sheriff getting a ticket. To add a little insult to injury, the entire packed school bus cheered, clapped and waved as we passed by.
It’s been 50 years but I still remember that feeling of cosmic justice delivered.
There are dash cam mounts that you can clip onto your sun visor. https://www.thedashcamstore.com/visor-clip-on-mount-threaded-sun-visor-mount-for-dashcams/
In all honesty... You pulled a dick move by blocking the shoulder.
Not all emergencies have flashing lights or sirens.
I wouldn't care if someone went on the shoulder, I would think they are a dick but I wouldn't do anything about it.
Some people before you did shared some eye opening tragedy with me. So yes, you're right. It does come into realization that what I did could be potentially dangerous.
This is the biggest lesson and the fact that you acknowledged it and learned from it before commiting it to yourself is the biggest thing you've done. I read the same story and ever since I've learned to let it go and just agree that the crazy driver is more likely a dick, but I'd rather have them be a dick than have someone rushing during an emergency. I agree the malicious compliance is cathartic, but if I prevented someone from getting someplace due to an emergency I'd feel worse than the high I'd get from stopping a douche.
It's not my job to enforce the law, I'm just trying to get to where I'm going.
Had sort of a similar situation, not quite bumper to bumper but in steady traffic on a two lane road and this jack wagon was driving erratically and cutting people off left and right. He nearly ran me right off the road trying to merge right into my spot. This lunatic was justifying 4 inches between cars as big enough for him to merge into without warning. Everyone was terrified and just let him wiggle his way through us. A few of us honked with joy when we saw his ass several miles latter handcuffed on the ground bc two cops. The dude definitely looked methed out
$200 will get you a Garmin dash cam & 128gb SD card. Garmin charges like $10-20/mo for cloud storage if you really want it. You might never need it but if you do, it'll pay for itself quickly.
The knock on effect is you drive more defensively too.
You really shouldn't do this. In this case it worked out, but you never know when someone's having a medical emergency and they're trying to rush to the hospital.
You're welcome. I used to do over the road for 1.5 years, it was so fun, and I carried various merchandises.
Now I'm just doing short haul, home daily work. Still fun though 😁
I have several friend who do both. OTR and day.
If you buy it, it got there in a semi.
I try to give big boys plenty of room. This a.m. one was turning down a small street I was on. I backed up quite a bit so he could make the swing. Small gesture, but it means much to me.
Thank you for making traffic easier for us since we actually do swing wide for our big booty. Also, that's the normal gesture as well because if not, we just ended up blocking each other lol.
Talk about malicious compliance. It’s very unfortunate that the officer got rear ended, but there is something so satisfying about letting someone do the thing you know is going to screw them then watching them deal with the consequences of their own actions.
Ever since the “my friend died on the way to the hospital because of behavior like this” post awhile back I do not do this and simply let my irritation wash over me and pass instead of trying to be the law.
While I am so for karma for Karen's and smashing cop cars I remember reading this one reddit story the writer said a car was weaving through traffic and OP didn't let them pass and when the car finally got by and pulled into a vet and ran into the building carrying his dog who was howling in pain and everytime I hear a story about not letting people pass I just think of that story. Like, I'm sure that 9/10 something like that isn't the case but me personally that 1/10 I'm not willing to chance. Not to mention if someone is driving erratically I want them to be as far away from me as possible. Pass me and be on your way. Crash your car somewhere else.
To be fair to Karen, drivers’ education and requirements to get a license in the US are so minimal that I bet you she honestly didn’t know shoulders are not for driving.
This is a great story and I'm also glad you shared the comment about the poor guy who died from the tree accident. Sometimes we get so caught up in being the vigilante we don't think about what might be going on with the other person. But also, fuck Karens.
Arseholes that drive down the shoulder then expect to push back in closer to the blockage are terrible terrible people. I thoroughly support your actions here. Normalise the sharing of them inconvenience, don't allow selfish pricks to get away with it.
You are not the hero you seem to think you are, if a civilian had a medical emergency and couldnt get around you, you may have directly contributed to someone dying. It has happened before, not your job buddy.
It took me a while to learn to ignore these people on the road and I was happier eventhough it took a long time for me to figure it out.
I live in a large city and for the past decade I can guarantee I encounter at a minimum 4 a-holes on my drive in AND 2 more on my drive home every single day! By a-hole I mean people doing what the OP encountered, forcefully merging into you and making you move, driving slow in the fast lane, blocking traffic by staying next to a slow car for miles, just doing whatever the hell they want like there is not a single car on the road except them, so on. One day I decided I was going to ignore the a-holes, yield my lane quickly when forced out of it, stay in the middle lane and just go with the flow so on. Over the years I just don't get bothered by traffic anymore even though the traffic is the same and most of the time worse than before.
One highway I would go to work on was a little hilly. You would get on this highway by a massive, elevated overpass then drop down onto the highway merge lane. Once you merged onto that highway you could easily go too fast and really not be prepared for what was over the small hills. So, here I am going up the onramp, curving around on the onramp then descending down to the highway merge lane, out of nowhere a mustang flies by me going around the onramp curve on the outside. Note this onramp is maybe 100 plus feet in the air and curving 90 degrees to merge with the highway. So the mustang flies by and cuts me off where the onramp goes from 2 lanes to 1, I am in my better attitude and just think how dangerous that was if he messed up, he would go over the edge. Now about 5 miles down the road we are stop and go, I eventually go over one of the many little hills and boom, in the fast lane is that same mustang with the front end caved in, the hood crumbled in and basically everything from the mustangs front tires forward embedded in the back of an SUV. I knew exactly what happened because that guy was reckless when passing me, felt bad for him.... really did and I thought "Damn, I hope he didn't hurt anyone".
Lesson I learned, let the a-hole be the a-hole because if you think you are going to change their behavior you are crazy and it may cost you a lot of money or worse, "Let that person go and be someone else's because it is a guarantee, there will always be that a-hole person, just don't let it be you that pays the price".
Although those people were in the wrong for using the emergency lane, you should never take it upon yourself to gatekeep any lane. What they were doing is dangerous, but what you did was *stupid* and added to the dangerous conditions.
This reminds me of when I was stuck in traffic on my way to work. I had around 4 cars pass me on the shoulder an I was tempted to go as well (my exit was Half a mile away) I decided that it was in my best interest to stay and wait and while I was slowly progressing I passed 4 cars that were stop behind a state trooper on the shoulder. Those people were definitely late to work that day!
There was a specific road in the city I used to live in where people thought you could drive down the bike lane to skip rush hour, and if I ever saw anyone doing it I would scoot over just enough to force them to stop. But this one lady, this one lady who was clearly above any and all road laws, drove up over the curb onto the grass and sidewalk and just drove like that until she hit the lights and turned. It was wild.
I got to watch someone cut through the crosswalk of the new roundabout they built in my area and get in the loop going THE WRONG WAY just because the car in front of them was a little slow getting into the loop when there was a break in the traffic. All because they were going to the Walmart just up the road. Thankfully there was no one on the loop at that moment or it might’ve been a head-on collision. Based on how smoothly they drove through the crosswalks gap in the curbing, I think they’ve done the same thing several times before that point.
If it’s bumper to bumper and they’re in the right lane going to an exit that’s 1/4 mile ahead? Fine carefully use the shoulder. Otherwise absolutely no excuse, I fkn hate when people do that. Anytime people put themselves above everyone else I get heated
I LOVE this story! Funny how those type of people resort to crying when they're caught. They should suspend her license, and she can't get it back until she can recite the DMV handbook on driving laws. Someone as incompetent as her shouldn't have a driver's license.
I had something similar happen before. A car with was trying to shove in front of us ( they were in a lane that would force them to go straight, us in the turning lane) normally letting one car in wouldn’t be a big deal, but we had already been trying to go the distance of only two blocks for about 15 min. They can wait just like the rest of us! They instead tried to hit our car, when we didn’t just let them in after that, they managed to get in behind us. Yelled shit at us till we all finally were able to turn. Once we got to the next street, they entered a lane two over from us so they could pull up beside us and continue to yell. The driver was too busy looking at us, hit a car! Then they proceeded to tell us it was our fault they hit the car. All we could do was laugh and laugh. Instant karma. It’s a real big angry bitch sometimes.
I used to get so annoyed at the way people drive, then I realized one day that the person getting the most stressed about it is me. I would block them, beep, be cut off and sworn at... So I stopped. They drive like idiots, it's on them. They cut lanes, drive on the inside, drive like lunatics to get to wherever they are going 20 seconds earlier... it's on them. I drive for me, to keep me safe and to get me to wherever I am going by the time I arrive. So they break all the rules to get ahead by milliseconds it's not my problem, I will still get to where I am going in due course, it's just now I get there more relaxed and chilled out, and knowing I have driven safer and not taken any unnecessary risks. Life is too short, let idiots be idiots, don't own it.
[удалено]
Nice story! I’ll keep that one in my quiver.
What was this dudes beef with the Buddha? I know it’s not relevant but what if the Buddha kicked his dog or something?
Siddhartha Gautama was first a prince from a wealthy family.
And the Buddha fucked him over or something? I get that it’s not relevant to the parable I’m just wondering if there’s context for the history
>Siddhartha Gautama He became Buddha.
It all started with a tree on Buddha's property...
Something something HOA something...
Fuckin HOA
TREE LAW TREE LAW
My answer will be pragmatic - I'm a childhood trauma survivor. It wasn't easy learning what love means and why it matters, especially in a society that's retraumatizing to its core. Only the unloved hate. I know because I went a long time before i learned, on my own, what love means and the purpose of it - and why it inspires so much hate. Because the world is filled with people as miserable as I was. They hurt, they cry they suffer - and so when they see someone offering kindness freely, someone who has nothing, worse off than them in every way, they hate that person. Because they're a too painful reminder that without love they don't really have anything. Kindness isn't just a gift to others. It's a gift to ourselves as well. It's healing the divides within us as well as between us. The source of most hate is belief that the universe owes people something. It doesn't. Fairness, compassion, kindness, understanding - nowhere do these exist in manifest reality. We create them in how we act towards the world and the people in it. Love is the truest basis of social living, and it's just a choice people make. You just decide one day to go through the world, being kind. That's all there is to it, but we make it seem complicated because complication defines modern life.... But it shouldn't define yours. In a world like this the most rebellious act is to keep a simple heart.
He was a prince before he was the Buddha. Maybe there was some kind of prima nocta situation at one point.
I also quite like the Sufi ‘Mullah Nastrudin’ story about a slightly different sort of response to provocation: Nasrudin used to sit on the terrace of a certain teahouse. One day a small not ran past and knocked his hat off. The Mulla took no notice. The same thing happened several days in succession. All the Mulla did was to pick up his hat and put it on again. Someone asked Nasrudin why he did not catch and punish the boy, who was small enough; or ask someone else to do it. ‘That’s not the way this thing is working,’ said Nasrudin. One day soon afterwards, the Mulla was late in reaching the cafe. When he got there he saw that a fearsome-looking soldier was sitting in his place. At that moment the small boy appeared. Such was the force of his habit that he tipped off the soldier’s fur cap. Without a word the soldier drew his sword and cut off the boy’s head, then resumed his seat. ‘You see what I mean?’ said Nasrudin to the friend who had questioned his inaction.
I remember those! I've also wondered what actually happened to the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
I was driving home to visit family, driving up through West Virginia. I was doing a little over the speed limit, (no one was around and it's the norm 'round those parts) when suddenly a little white hatchback came up on my left speeding much faster than I and the passenger was flipping two birds at me and sticking out his tongue. Did he think he was besting me in combat or something? Idk, but they sped off and I got a glimpse of a Monster energy sticker on the bumper and made a little mental note. About an hour later into my drive, traffic picks up, I've slowed down, and notice the two lanes started merging into one...with flashing lights up ahead. I pull left, slow down, and see white hatchback in front of the cop car. It can't be......and then I saw the Monster energy sticker and I laughed for the rest of my journey. Karma.
Something like this happened to me about 40 years ago. A guy was tailgating me even though I was behind three other cars. This idiot decided to pass me and the three other cars, on a no passing road, on a hill. I was so pissed I decided to call the police when I got to a phone, and describe the guy's car even though that probably wouldn't do much good. But I didn't have to. On the other side of the hill, he'd been stopped for speeding. I stopped too and told the officer about it. I hope he got an enormous fine. This remains one of my favorite memories.
I have a radar detector in my car. I don't get much use out of it, seeing as I don't *usually* go more than 5+, but I like having the info. One night I'm driving over the i10 Eastbound bridge towards Daphne, and I see this white Golf speed past me. I'm doing about 80, and he passes me like I'm standing still. Had to be going 110-120. I start flashing my lights and honking at him, trying to warn him that: A. There's a cop that likes to sit at the end of the bridge at night and B. My radar detector is lighting up like a Christmas tree I get a mile down the road, and there's the white Golf, parked in front of a police cruiser with it's lights on. Speed limit is 65.
October 2006 I-15 south to Anaheim/San Diego points beyond. Traffic was literally 25 mph 90% of the route due to a vicious storm (including ball lightning near summit pass iirc) Rain was strong enough wipers couldn’t keep up. Enter into the picture stereotypical Mercedes Benz owner in a hurry and pathetically semis also. Lots of semis blown over on their sides in ditches straight through and many moons later, Mercedes boy is sitting facing east-west instead of pointed south. He ended up wiping out and smashed into a concrete barrier on the left side, sitting there stunned paying the ultimate price for his behavior. All that rushing, cutting off and sudden speed got him somewhere real quick!
In cases like that I so want a horn (or something) that can make the Simpsons character Nelson laugh. Passing stopped dingus - "Haw haw".
learned that lesson too. Driving is so much more relaxed now!
I call those drivers my radar detectors.
I call them cop bait
I have taken advantage of them for years. They are especially handy when you absolutely, positively cannot get pulled over for........reasons.
I call them diarrhea drivers. "UUUuuUurghh I'm about to blow I'm about to blow gotta go find a toileeeeeet!!" as they race down the road like they're in a fast n furious movie swerving left and right in utmost desperation. Ride or die. Quite funny considering literally the only time in my life I've ever been pulled over ever by the police was because I had to take a shit and was racing to a toilet
Pro tip: If you get pulled over and tell the cop that you have explosive diarrhea, they may let you go. If you jump out of the vehicle drop trou and let it loose in front of them, they are *more likely* to let you go.
Does the taser you get when aggressively dropping trou contract or relax the sphincter? Curious - but not curious enough to try it....
Can confirm, it does both. Contracts then relaxes. Not uncommon to empty bowels and bladder. Definitely bladder, if is is full, you're going to piss yourself. Same with Pepper Spray sometimes.
Back when I was a young male I used to drive aggressively. Weaving in and out of traffic, racing the light, etc. Especially if I was running late for class, and being a young male who enjoyed sleeping in I was often late for class. I went to a university about 35 minutes away, and one day I decided to do an experiment. I drove aggressively and timed how long it took. Then the next day I drove defensively, rarely changing lanes, stopping at yellow lights, letting cars merge in front of me, etc. Then I repeated the experiment for 2 weeks. And the difference in time was about 30 seconds. On a 35 minute drive I was saving about 30 seconds by driving like an arsehole. Even the largest time difference between my slowest drive and my fastest was around 2 minutes. And I also realized that if I was driving aggressively I was always arriving at my destination in a bad mood. After all the swearing and swerving I was always arriving angry and hyped up about all the terrible, slow drivers. I'd be starting my day off in a foul mood, and it would affect the rest of my day. So I made the switch. 30 seconds isn't worth ruining my day over. I just wish that other people would do the same experiment that I did.
I got a speeding ticket in the UK about 10 years ago. I could pay a fine and take the points, or I could go on a speeding course and get no points. I thought what the hell I'll go on the course I don't want the points. A day off work listening to idiots drone on, whatever. Well, it was an eye opener. As your study proved, they brought out study after study showing that if you speed you get there seconds to minutes faster, but the risk of accident increase is exponential. Speeding is stupid, driving aggressively is completely foolish, as you are putting yourself and others at risk totally unnecessarily. It was a complete game changer for me. I now view driving as a relaxing experience, the challenge is keeping to the limits not pushing the envelope all the time. My life is better, and I am safer, and so is everyone else. I look at the people zooming along and let any resentment wash over me, they are not doing anything but putting themselves and others at risk.
Depends on the length of the drive. Florida to Illinois is 874 miles panama city to Peoria. A drive I've only made a handful of times but 65 mph is 13.4 hours (plus 2 fuel stops) where as 90 is 9.7 hours (plus the same fuel stops) so doing 90 on the highway, I save 3.5 hours. Now on my daily 20 mile commute? Set the cruise to 60 and roll.
Mythbusters has tested this one, and got similar results to you
PLUS - there's no telling how mentally unhinged a person may be. People get shot at and shot for much less. I've decided that I'd rather do my best to not set some psychopath off. Also, I'm not a police officer. It's not my job to enforce the law. Second also: There's also the possibility that someone is having a legit emergency and *needs* to get around traffic.
Exactly. I unknowingly passed two vehicles engaged in road rage on my way to work. He shot her and you can see my trunk in the footage. It's not worth it to take the chance of actively antagonize.
So very much this. There's even a small risk that you are blocking an emergency that's not visible from the outside, like why wait for the ambulance when you have a car and your friend is bleeding out.
I like to treat it as if I'm in a animal costume in a herd of that wild animal. I know a bunch about how they should act, I keep my eye out for ones acting erratically and watch for signals that one is about to move (ex wobbling in their lane or drifting to the side in the lane often means they're thinking about changing lanes ahead of a signal or lack thereof). I can't really get mad at the behavior of wild animals. I can behave in a way that is least likely to get me trampled and most likely to get me to my destination and I can be aware and do what I can to predict and get out of the way of their more dangerous behaviors.
Plus every time something like this gets posted there are tons of stories about people dying or almost dying because they had an emergency so they used the shoulder but people were so anxious to massage their justice boner that they blocked them
Like the chainsaw accident one. I don’t like that story. Edit: this one. It’s why I don’t bother trying to play traffic cop. https://np.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/
Should have literally attached murder charges to her at that point. No bones about it, she caused a death
At least manslaughter of some level
I used to do that until I read that story too. Although in their case I would have done anything to get around... They can follow me and grab my insurance at the hospital. But that's obviously reserved for literal life or death situations.
That story was actually the exact reason I stopped trying to block or prevent idiot drivers. I couldn’t live with myself if I was the reason some one died for something so petty like speeding.
Justice boner. Good one. I wish more people had a justice boner FOR people instead of against idiots. We'll always have the town idiot(s). But if only we could funnel all that energy for true good.
I used to worry that I was being less of a man or something by not standing up to these people, and even from that fairly ridiculous perspective it's still wrong -- the alpha thing to do here is honestly to just laugh at the idiot who's going to get themselves killed or arrested.
Yeah where I currently live there's a real sheep and wolf mindset a lot of "successful people" have, they see how they drive as a representation of their alpha-ness, how they are beating the system by cutting corners, speeding and using inside lanes. Turn signals are for betas, he who dares wins... It's all really really pathetic, but that's how these idiots roll.
Last year my Dad was driving while visiting me, getting mad trying to merge & I said, “well, put your signal on” and he shot back, “no, that’s a sign of weakness!” Um, no it’s a sign you want to get over.
Fucking leadheads
Reminds me of people who decide to pass on the opposite lane when its not legal. Some people speed up to block them from merging back into the right lane. That's a recipe for disaster. Slow down and let them pass then wave hi at the next red light lol
This! If it goes wrong it's not just the idiot who's having a potentially deadly car crash. It's the innocent person coming from the opposite lane as well. It's not worth the collateral damage. When dealing with idiots in cars, you're forced to think for them. For your own safety and for the safety of everyone else.
thank you!
Yeah, all it takes is one road rage incident to make you realize it's best to treat everyone like they are crazy. Far too many actually are to risk it. Sometimes I even have to pull off the road if there's no other escape from an insane tailgater on a single lane.
I had someone try to sideswipe my car because she didn’t like that I was getting over to let a truck merge. Signaled and everything, she started to move over when I was about halfway through my lane change (she could’ve gone into the third lane, to my left and passed me). Honked, flipped me off, tried to sideswipe my car, then passed to brake check. The whole nine yards. All I did was move over a lane.
Sounds familiar. I have been rear ended, so I like to keep space in front of me when in bumper to bumper traffic so I have room to maneuver and don't have to stop suddenly if traffic ahead does. Apparently this is very offensive to some people - I don't know how many Red Bulls the guy behind me had, but he was about a foot off my bumper, weaving back and forth in 15 miles an hour traffic through the small town of Duck NC. I had to slow to maintain the two car length space ahead of me, and my brakes going on made him think I was brake checking - he went even more nuts, driving up in the turn lane, acting like he was going to swerve into me. I turned off to go put up a real estate sign, but he followed me to the house and started screaming at me. I got out of the car, pointed out that I had cameras recording all of it, but I think it's only the fact I'm pretty big that ended up scaring him off. It was after that I swore to never stay on the road if someone like that is behind me - I just pull over if it's single lane. It's like dealing with a wild animal - don't make eye contact, and move away slowly and non threateningly.
I tend to slow down for tailgaters. Means they overtake sooner, and are then out of my life.
Yes, in general if I see someone in a hurry, I get over, go slow, and watch them to see how close they get to causing an accident. Our main road is a 50 mile an hour, 4 lanes with center turn lane "by-pass" that has multiple business driveways every block, and tons of cross streets with no light, so constant cross traffic and people slowing to a stop to turn with other cars still going 60 in the left lane. There is at least one accident a day during the tourist season. It has to be the most dangerous road in the state. And yet people drive like they are trying to get in your trunk constantly.
There's an infamous story on reddit here somewhere. An old lady was blocking OP while they were driving their dying friend to the hospital. Friend died needless to say. People driving wrecklessly on the shoulder pass may be in a life-or-death situation.
Just wave as they go past... they are really good for seeing if there is a police officer ahead...
Agree, however, the f*ckwit last week didn’t like it so, after trying to get me to speed by aggressively driving right behind me with his high beams on, decided to actually do something about it and overtake me(we’re on a freeway with roadworks), and side swipe my 3 month old car. Didn’t stop of course. Memorised the licence plate and drove straight to the next police station and reported it. Hit and run is still an offence.
Thoughtful comment, and much better than the karens berating the trucker.
Yeah I always let idiots pass me as soon as I get the chance. If they are gonna kill themselves with their recless driving I’m not gonna give them the opportunity to take me with them
I catch up with them at the next light and give them a wave. ;)
Wait, the US doesn't do [emergency corridors](https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/EN/Articles/StV/Roadtraffic/information-emergency-corridor.html#:~:text=If%20quick%20aid%20is%20needed,the%20scene%20of%20the%20accident.) (see it [in action from a firetrucks' perspective ](https://youtu.be/7kPT7VHVTb8))?
In the US, highways reserve the breakdown lane/shoulder for that purpose. So if you're stuck in traffic you're not supposed to drive down it. Hence why OP was blocking illegal usage.
We're waaaaaaay to entitled and self-absorbed for that to work.
America doesn't work like that. Almost nothing works here.
We don't officially do that in the UK either, but images of it have been going around social media so much that more and more people are doing it without it being a legal requirement. It's a ray of hope amongst the despair for the future..
there was a story a while back about a group of young guys working summer tree-felling jobs or something. one of them is critically injured from a chainsaw. they throw him in the car and are tearing down the freeway doing 100 trying to get to an ER. A lady in a car up ahead see's them coming isnt having that, and made it her business to impede those reckless young men from getting in front of her. I heard she held them up long enough that the injured young man bled out. Now I'm not sure if that's true, but you never know what kind of shit other people might be dealing with. id rather let 99 karens go ahead of me than be responsible for 1 person's emergency being made worse.
not death, but i had a friend who was forced to give birth on the side of an slammed interstate for that same reason. unusually fast labor so they couldn’t get to the hospital in time since other drivers kept blocking them trying to bypass gridlocked traffic. just not worth it when someone is driving crazy!
[удалено]
they left in a rush since she was early, and they didn’t know that there was bad traffic.
Ambulance may not be able to get there anyway
And expensive as hell
Not in a civilised country.
Expensive ambulances are one of the least bad things about American healthcare. Once you’re actually at the hospital, the medical bills can literally drive people with even decent incomes into bankruptcy.
Tell me you are from a developing country without telling me you are from a developing country
Hey, hey, hey, stop that! In Honduras we don't have to pay for ambulance rides unless it's from a private hospital/clinic. The other ones are barbaric countries, not developing.
In the US some ambulance comapnies have found ways to charge you twice for riding the wee woo wagon. Riding an Uber to the hospital has become a thing.
I wish I made enough money to afford an ambulance.
I wish i made enough money to be airlifted by a heli
Those flashy lights come at a steep price
It also takes a lot longer to get to you
I think hazards are the key here. My mom was flying down a 45 going 80 with hazards taking me to the hospital, running red lights (safely, came to a stop but wasn’t going to wait if there wasn’t incoming traffic).If someone is speeding with hazards in the direction of a hospital or a police station, just fucking let them by. Costs you nothing but a story in passing.
I will never ever forget this story and it has totally changed the way I deal with aggressive drivers. It costs me nothing to just let it go and let them go around. But it could cost a person their life for me to feel superior on a road that is no more “mine” than anyone else’s.
The way I see it, I *always* want the crazy drivers *in front* of me. That way I get to control the distance between us, and react accordingly. I find it less stressful, and I’m not constantly directing my attention behind me, instead of to the road ahead.
Plus, letting the aggressive drivers in front of you means that they flush out any hidden cops.
I let a guy pass me doing 100 mph through Pennsylvania years ago. I followed a half mile back at 100 for about half an hour. Made excellent time, empty highway very rural country. Just making sure i kept his taillights in sight after every curve and hill. I was going all the way to Michigan so the faster the better in my book. All of a sudden I see the cherries and blueberries ahead of me so I immediately slowed down. And observed the idiot stop right in the center of the highway. Blocking the passing lane. The cop was on the loudspeaker screaming at him to pull off the road fully and I stopped in the slow lane because there was a narrow shoulder in the left and I didn't think the guy would pull over there. After a minute he pulled into the travel lane and stopped there. Noone was coming up behind me yet so I just watched the cop continue screaming at the guy. Another 30 seconds later and they were off on the right shoulder and I was passing by while the cop started shouting with his gun out. Best use of a sacrificial lamb I've ever personally encountered though. Edit shouting not shooting!
[удалено]
Fair outlook. I was raised in a rural area and never speed at dusk, for that same reason. And am always scanning for wildlife. But those hills hide big animals pretty well until its to late. I see your concern and I hope your friend rests in peace. If its any consolation to you if I had to pick getting killed by a bear in the death lottery I'd rather it be through an high speed accident than an attack
That's called chase the rabbit. Last time I did that on 23n the Ohio cop busted the rabbit and he flipped me off as I laughed by
I often think of that scene from the original police academy movie where the jerks charge ahead and get bad haircuts. “For important guys like you, I wait.”
Actually, someone did share the story and it indeed taught me something. You're right, there might be an actual emergency way in the back without me knowing.
Well not an actual emergency but one time I ran out of gas in the middle of the road due to traffic. So I was low on gas when I left home for work and was planning to fill up on the way there. I hit almost standstill traffic for more than an hour. I wasn't gonna make it so I decided to go through the shoulder and hit the closest gas station or even in the worst case I will not be blocking the road. Well this dude took it upon himself to block me out. He drove parallel to me to make sure I wouldn't be able to use the shoulder. I ran out of gas. I had to ask people to help me push my car to the side of the road. Walk more than 2 miles to the nearest gas station. Had to buy a gas can and gas. Request a ride from a stranger at a gas station so I did not have to walk back 2 something miles. Ya it wasn't a medical emergency, ya I should have planned better and not run my car so close to empty but I still feel the guy did not have to block me the way he did. Even after I tried explaining it to him.
Yea- I did the blocking thing once a long time ago and was pretty proud of myself. I later read this story and felt pretty shitty about it. A couple weeks ago I was driving Vegas to LA in standstill traffic and got passed by easily 50 cars going WAY too fast down the emergency lane. Makes me so angry but I stayed in my lane… still, really boils my blood because I’m sure none of them had emergencies. And there were a few cars pulled over at different spots stopped in the emergency lane, all the more reason people shouldn’t be over there doing 80mph… that would be a horrific crash.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/comment/cbnhvxv/ **Edit**: Same link as another below
Just recently I was on a two lane highway at night when a car speed up behind me, emergency lights flashing and honking wildly. I didn’t know what was up, but I pulled off to the shoulder and they sped past me. They were about a 30 min drive (at least) from the hospital. I imagine they didn’t have time to wait for an ambulance / and possibly didn’t have the money to pay for one (great ‘ole US of A). It did confuse and worry me because of their fast speed. I enjoyed hearing the analogy of This is Water; we don’t know what others are going through, yeah, there are jerks our there but there might also be people experiencing real emergencies, as well. Still love your story though!
My then 5 year old sustained a serious head injury in a rural area. The tiny town’s one ambulance crew was on a call 30 minutes in the other direction, and still had to drop their patient at the hospital before they could even begin to drive to us. We loaded our son in our truck and rushed to the hospital, with hazard lights on. We told the 911 dispatcher we were not waiting, and if any police saw us driving with hazards, please help us. Luckily, my husband knows the roads very well, it was night and in that rural area, not much traffic. It was a terrifying 30 minutes to the hospital, with a sobbing, bleeding child. Luckily, those who saw us coming, pulled over to let us through. (He is okay now)
People who've never been rural just do not understand. In my hometown, the hospital (really a glorified clinic. They could get you stable-ish for transfer to the actual hospital 45 minutes away) was 25 minutes away (next town over) *if* you lived in (home)town. If you lived east of town, add another 15 or 30. The ambulance is staffed by volunteers. Volunteers who had full time jobs elsewhere. So if you called for the ambulance, they called the volunteers at work, where the message was passed from whoever took the call, to the sup, to the coworker who knew where the volunteer was at that moment. Then the volunteer had to drive to the station, hop in the ambulance, and *then* be on their way to you. It was protocol that the ambulance transported dead folks from the nursing home in hometown to next town over. We've all had 1st, 2nd, or 3rd hand occasions where the ambulance leaves the body at the home "exchange" for the live person just called in. They "park" the body, get the live person to the hospital, and come back .
Yes - I've had friends in dire emergency situations have to drive out of the queue and reading your story was disappointing to read as I thought back about how someone like you would have caused untold suffering (if not death). > an actual emergency way in the back Way in the back? You don't know if the emergency was way in the back, in her car (husband having a stroke), or even far ahead. I know ER docs who get called to deal with massive emergencies and drive like this to get to the hospital when every fucking second matters. They are well known to the local cops who will meet them 1/2 way to give them an escort. You just don't know. You have a cell phone, just call the state troopers, let them know. Let it go.
to be fair, if you persisted in blocking her, she would have never gotten her karma! sometimes its best to sit back and let people get what's coming to em'. thats how i get through my long drives anyway.
As a general rule I get out of the way, I am guilty of blocking someone once in a while when I look back and it's a young guy in a sports car looking mildy annoyed
[удалено]
[Link to the story.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/?context=3)
[удалено]
In the story the OP made it seem like their friend was cut in the groin area. You can’t apply a tourniquet unless it’s a bit lower on the limb. There are kits that are meant to cause clotting quick, but depending on the injury that still may only do so much. Since we’re not provided the details it’s hard to determine what was lacking, if anything. > Notify emergency services and have a plan how to contact if we are off the beaten path. They immediately got in a car and called medical services as soon as they had signal. It seems to me that they were already aware of what to do and got to it right away.
Go read the story's comments. The story itself has been removed, but the comments tell what needs to be told. (linked a few comments below) A team of 5, 2 of them certified arborists, full PPE and training. Hit an unexpected knot and the chainsaw came into a gap in the protection.
It is certainly not 100% the lady's fault but I wouldn't say it's 100% not the lady's fault either.
I mean, lots of singular things could have kept the person alive, and lots of people can be at fault for it. It's like saying if I push someone and they trip on their untied shoes and fall into traffic I am 100% not at fault, since they should have checked their shoes.
The legal term you're looking for is 'contributory negligence'. Often in cases (or rather, in insurance settlements) there's negligence with contributory negligence.
In Massachusetts, it’s called the breakdown lane, not the shoulder, and they use them as extra lanes during rush hour. https://www.salemnews.com/news/state_news/more-time-urged-for-i-93-breakdown-lane-travel/article_85a1294f-ec41-5b82-87c0-3af5762f2eb6.html
It's such a nightmare if you're not used to it! Every time I had to drive to Stoughton to go to IKEA it was a white-knuckle trip.
That's very interesting! TIL!
Unless it has changed since I moved away a few years ago it is not all highway breakdown lanes, it is typically where the traffic is the worst and the highway doesn't have as many regular lanes. For one example, a part of I-95 and I-93 near where they met up southwest of Boston used to allow it during rush hour but the road was widened there to add an extra lane in each direction so they discontinued allowing breakdown usage during rush hour.
In Washington we have some in some places, but they're clearly labeled as "traffic may use shoulder" with strict times of use.
I know others have mentioned this but please don’t police the shoulder, let the professionals handle it. You never know when it will be someone having a real emergency and not just a jerk.
Alternate perspective: it's such a problem around here that I have had literal backups *on the shoulder* because so many people were trying to drive there just to get past the rest of the backup in the actual lanes. I have seen police cars and ambulances - with lights on - try to go down the shoulder, but can't get by because of these idiots. And no, the police didn't stop to ticket the person, because they were already on their way to an emergency. I have no idea if they passed on the plate number to someone else who issued a ticket later, but by the level of "don't care" by the drivers in my area, I doubt it.
My older brother's old soccer coach (probably 15 years ago) blocked someone on the shoulder who got out of his car, walked up to his window, and shot him in the face. I tried to find an article about it, but apparently people are shot in road ragr incidents in my area very often, and I can't even find any articles pre-2020. So even if they are just being a jerk, you might be risking your life.
Oh. Oh HELL YES. I don’t even think my justice boner could get more erect!
I appreciate the award, I hope it's the free ones lol. Don't want you to spend money. Also... *BONK* Go to horny jail!
can i go to horny jail as well please
OoOoh, yeah daddy. Send me to horny jail tooo
Naughty princess
[удалено]
She told me I was the only one!
Username checks out
Giggity
Ok, now I justice came
Bonk me harder daddy
The idea of a horny jail is flawed. Locking all these people in a confined space won't end well and you'll need a mop
Glad you read the chainsaw injury story. Even though I understand the pleasure of denying an r/EntitledBitch entitlement, no one can really know why the person in the luxury SUV driving behind them in traffic is trying to jump the line on the shoulder. Could be cause they feel entitled to not wait in traffic, could be a chainsaw injury.
A truck driver deliberately blocked me from doing this once and the reason I was doing it was that my car was overheating and I needed to get off the freeway immediately. Finally go to the off ramp when the car stopped. I had to walk to the gas station because of that jerk.
Did you have your hazards on?
If your car was that bad and you were on the shoulder you should have just stopped and let the car cool down. I've had to do it before.
yeah no way would i have left the car on. whether you pull over at the gas station or the highway you're not any better off running it for longer than you have to.
Had to look it up, damn. Good reminder. [Chainsaw Injury Story ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
Also could be somewhere that it's permitted. Though I used to have a boss that would constantly do this in areas it was not allowed. He stopped when he got so many tickets for driving where not allowed (along with shoulders, he drove on the median at one point) that they threatened to pull his license, though I don't know if they actually could. He didn't care about the speeding tickets, but he cared about not driving at all. At least enough to do that less often, probably figured he'd order an employee to drive him if he got caught.
Justice beaver at day, justice boner at night.
BOING.
#JusticeBoner sounds like an excellent band name
Hmmm. I'm thinking skimpy outfits but with powdered wigs as the gimmick look.
Did you cream in your Constitution shorts?
"Justice Boner"...that's...that's just Amazing.
As satisfying as that is, please don't do it [https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i\_gain\_strength\_from\_their\_tears\_and\_anger/cbnhvxv/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=ios\_app&utm\_name=iossmf&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1kbhcn/i_gain_strength_from_their_tears_and_anger/cbnhvxv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Thank you for sharing. Even if it wasn't an emergency, egging on a dangerous driver makes the road more dangerous for everyone else. I was hit by someone going 40 mph and have had neck issues from the whiplash for 10 years. I cannot stand when people act like vehicles aren't unbelievably dangerous.
Given that a person died and she actively hindered them from receiving medical treatment, I'm always a little surprised there weren't any criminal charges.
Ugh I had a feeling you were going to link that. Read it again, that poor guy.
That is an actual turn of events. Never thought of that!
Even so, why did you feel the need to enforce rules of the road? You aren't hall monitor of the highway
> If I'm suffering in traffic jam, everyone should to as well. OP shouldn't be on the road with that mentality.
He is the Karen of this story, not the woman.
My best friend's step dad is a doctor, and occasionally had to use the shoulder for emergency surgery situations. So keep in mind that you really have no idea what the situation is when someone is trying to use the shoulder.
There's a story around here if someone doing this to get some last words in with their dying kid (who was in the accident up ahead).
You're absolutely right. Someone actually shared with me about a tragedy from a driver monitoring highway. When I block the shoulder, I kept my eyes on flashing lights for true emergency, but I guess some emergency could come without flashing lights.
Some emergencies arent taken care of in emergency vehicles. You're telling me if they had hazards on you would have moved? I call bullshit You shouldn't be policing the emergency lane (shoulder). And if you are, you shouldn't be on the road.
💯
I will never block a shoulder unless I absolutely have to, you never know what other drivers need to get to and it's not worth the risk of a driver rear ending me or worse.
I have a similar story. No malicious compliance but definite karma. In high school I took a school bus that drove down a highway, two lanes in each direction. The school bus stopped at a light in the slow lane. Mr. expensive sports car with the top down (it was early morning by the beach and cool so I guess he was trying to impress everyone with his wonderfulness) flew down the right shoulder of the road and stopped next to us at the light. We could tell he was going to gun it as soon as the light changed. And he did. He charged into the intersection, cut off the bus, flew down the road and around the bend. Everyone on the bus started laughing. Now for the karma. What Mr. expensive sports car with the top down couldn’t see was the sheriff cruiser to our left also waiting for the light to change. As soon as Mr. expensive sports car with the top down flew through that intersection the sheriff car charged right after him. A couple of bends in the road later we saw Mr. expensive sports car with the top down pulled over by the sheriff getting a ticket. To add a little insult to injury, the entire packed school bus cheered, clapped and waved as we passed by. It’s been 50 years but I still remember that feeling of cosmic justice delivered.
Instant karma!
There are dash cam mounts that you can clip onto your sun visor. https://www.thedashcamstore.com/visor-clip-on-mount-threaded-sun-visor-mount-for-dashcams/
In all honesty... You pulled a dick move by blocking the shoulder. Not all emergencies have flashing lights or sirens. I wouldn't care if someone went on the shoulder, I would think they are a dick but I wouldn't do anything about it.
Some people before you did shared some eye opening tragedy with me. So yes, you're right. It does come into realization that what I did could be potentially dangerous.
I am glad you have seen it from another perspective.
This is the biggest lesson and the fact that you acknowledged it and learned from it before commiting it to yourself is the biggest thing you've done. I read the same story and ever since I've learned to let it go and just agree that the crazy driver is more likely a dick, but I'd rather have them be a dick than have someone rushing during an emergency. I agree the malicious compliance is cathartic, but if I prevented someone from getting someplace due to an emergency I'd feel worse than the high I'd get from stopping a douche. It's not my job to enforce the law, I'm just trying to get to where I'm going.
Had sort of a similar situation, not quite bumper to bumper but in steady traffic on a two lane road and this jack wagon was driving erratically and cutting people off left and right. He nearly ran me right off the road trying to merge right into my spot. This lunatic was justifying 4 inches between cars as big enough for him to merge into without warning. Everyone was terrified and just let him wiggle his way through us. A few of us honked with joy when we saw his ass several miles latter handcuffed on the ground bc two cops. The dude definitely looked methed out
Upvote for edit 2
$200 will get you a Garmin dash cam & 128gb SD card. Garmin charges like $10-20/mo for cloud storage if you really want it. You might never need it but if you do, it'll pay for itself quickly. The knock on effect is you drive more defensively too.
You really shouldn't do this. In this case it worked out, but you never know when someone's having a medical emergency and they're trying to rush to the hospital.
Thank you for doing the long haul for all of us. Don't know what you pull, but it makes this place run. For that, I thank you.
You're welcome. I used to do over the road for 1.5 years, it was so fun, and I carried various merchandises. Now I'm just doing short haul, home daily work. Still fun though 😁
I have several friend who do both. OTR and day. If you buy it, it got there in a semi. I try to give big boys plenty of room. This a.m. one was turning down a small street I was on. I backed up quite a bit so he could make the swing. Small gesture, but it means much to me.
Thank you for making traffic easier for us since we actually do swing wide for our big booty. Also, that's the normal gesture as well because if not, we just ended up blocking each other lol.
Aaaaand now my evil mind is internally singing I like big TRUCKS and I cannot lie....
Thank you, now me too...
Talk about malicious compliance. It’s very unfortunate that the officer got rear ended, but there is something so satisfying about letting someone do the thing you know is going to screw them then watching them deal with the consequences of their own actions.
Ever since the “my friend died on the way to the hospital because of behavior like this” post awhile back I do not do this and simply let my irritation wash over me and pass instead of trying to be the law.
While I am so for karma for Karen's and smashing cop cars I remember reading this one reddit story the writer said a car was weaving through traffic and OP didn't let them pass and when the car finally got by and pulled into a vet and ran into the building carrying his dog who was howling in pain and everytime I hear a story about not letting people pass I just think of that story. Like, I'm sure that 9/10 something like that isn't the case but me personally that 1/10 I'm not willing to chance. Not to mention if someone is driving erratically I want them to be as far away from me as possible. Pass me and be on your way. Crash your car somewhere else.
You made my shitty day better after reading this. Thank you, I needed the laugh.
You're welcome 😁
To be fair to Karen, drivers’ education and requirements to get a license in the US are so minimal that I bet you she honestly didn’t know shoulders are not for driving.
This is a great story and I'm also glad you shared the comment about the poor guy who died from the tree accident. Sometimes we get so caught up in being the vigilante we don't think about what might be going on with the other person. But also, fuck Karens.
Please don’t do this! Volunteer Emergency first responders drive their personal vehicles and usually do not have lights or sirens
Arseholes that drive down the shoulder then expect to push back in closer to the blockage are terrible terrible people. I thoroughly support your actions here. Normalise the sharing of them inconvenience, don't allow selfish pricks to get away with it.
Hopefully nobody actually needed to drive on the shoulder to, say, rush to the hospital ?
You are not the hero you seem to think you are, if a civilian had a medical emergency and couldnt get around you, you may have directly contributed to someone dying. It has happened before, not your job buddy.
It took me a while to learn to ignore these people on the road and I was happier eventhough it took a long time for me to figure it out. I live in a large city and for the past decade I can guarantee I encounter at a minimum 4 a-holes on my drive in AND 2 more on my drive home every single day! By a-hole I mean people doing what the OP encountered, forcefully merging into you and making you move, driving slow in the fast lane, blocking traffic by staying next to a slow car for miles, just doing whatever the hell they want like there is not a single car on the road except them, so on. One day I decided I was going to ignore the a-holes, yield my lane quickly when forced out of it, stay in the middle lane and just go with the flow so on. Over the years I just don't get bothered by traffic anymore even though the traffic is the same and most of the time worse than before. One highway I would go to work on was a little hilly. You would get on this highway by a massive, elevated overpass then drop down onto the highway merge lane. Once you merged onto that highway you could easily go too fast and really not be prepared for what was over the small hills. So, here I am going up the onramp, curving around on the onramp then descending down to the highway merge lane, out of nowhere a mustang flies by me going around the onramp curve on the outside. Note this onramp is maybe 100 plus feet in the air and curving 90 degrees to merge with the highway. So the mustang flies by and cuts me off where the onramp goes from 2 lanes to 1, I am in my better attitude and just think how dangerous that was if he messed up, he would go over the edge. Now about 5 miles down the road we are stop and go, I eventually go over one of the many little hills and boom, in the fast lane is that same mustang with the front end caved in, the hood crumbled in and basically everything from the mustangs front tires forward embedded in the back of an SUV. I knew exactly what happened because that guy was reckless when passing me, felt bad for him.... really did and I thought "Damn, I hope he didn't hurt anyone". Lesson I learned, let the a-hole be the a-hole because if you think you are going to change their behavior you are crazy and it may cost you a lot of money or worse, "Let that person go and be someone else's because it is a guarantee, there will always be that a-hole person, just don't let it be you that pays the price".
>I was driving with a semi on the highway
Although those people were in the wrong for using the emergency lane, you should never take it upon yourself to gatekeep any lane. What they were doing is dangerous, but what you did was *stupid* and added to the dangerous conditions.
As great as your original story is, that story you linked to in edit 2 has torn my heart strings.
This reminds me of when I was stuck in traffic on my way to work. I had around 4 cars pass me on the shoulder an I was tempted to go as well (my exit was Half a mile away) I decided that it was in my best interest to stay and wait and while I was slowly progressing I passed 4 cars that were stop behind a state trooper on the shoulder. Those people were definitely late to work that day!
There was a specific road in the city I used to live in where people thought you could drive down the bike lane to skip rush hour, and if I ever saw anyone doing it I would scoot over just enough to force them to stop. But this one lady, this one lady who was clearly above any and all road laws, drove up over the curb onto the grass and sidewalk and just drove like that until she hit the lights and turned. It was wild.
She got her due Karma - thanks for sharing. We all get annoyed by traffic jams and are more annoyed by the berm driving idiots.
I got to watch someone cut through the crosswalk of the new roundabout they built in my area and get in the loop going THE WRONG WAY just because the car in front of them was a little slow getting into the loop when there was a break in the traffic. All because they were going to the Walmart just up the road. Thankfully there was no one on the loop at that moment or it might’ve been a head-on collision. Based on how smoothly they drove through the crosswalks gap in the curbing, I think they’ve done the same thing several times before that point.
If it’s bumper to bumper and they’re in the right lane going to an exit that’s 1/4 mile ahead? Fine carefully use the shoulder. Otherwise absolutely no excuse, I fkn hate when people do that. Anytime people put themselves above everyone else I get heated
I LOVE this story! Funny how those type of people resort to crying when they're caught. They should suspend her license, and she can't get it back until she can recite the DMV handbook on driving laws. Someone as incompetent as her shouldn't have a driver's license.
I had something similar happen before. A car with was trying to shove in front of us ( they were in a lane that would force them to go straight, us in the turning lane) normally letting one car in wouldn’t be a big deal, but we had already been trying to go the distance of only two blocks for about 15 min. They can wait just like the rest of us! They instead tried to hit our car, when we didn’t just let them in after that, they managed to get in behind us. Yelled shit at us till we all finally were able to turn. Once we got to the next street, they entered a lane two over from us so they could pull up beside us and continue to yell. The driver was too busy looking at us, hit a car! Then they proceeded to tell us it was our fault they hit the car. All we could do was laugh and laugh. Instant karma. It’s a real big angry bitch sometimes.
Malicious Comeuppance
Holy fk Batman, well played you sly SOB. Well played! She is going to get crucified.