Road rage might make even the calmest of souls shake with anger—there’s something about irresponsible driving that makes people’s blood boil. Yet some motorists take it to new heights. They open a box full of fury and the lid just won't close.
Redditor u/Al1G8R5 had to endure the sizzling heat of another driver’s anger despite apologizing for their maneuver. They opened up to the 'Petty Revenge' community about cutting off a lady in their blind spot. However, the story took an unexpected turn. Scroll down for the full version, in the OP's own words.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the post, redditor Al1G8R5, and they answered a few of our questions.
A driver cut off a lady and apologized, but that didn’t stop her from bursting into a fit of road rage
Image credits: Deea_Olteanu (not the actual photo)
The conflict that was blown out of proportion started with one careless maneuver
Image credits: bilanol (not the actual photo)
Image credits: LightFieldStudios (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/Al1G8R5
Road rage is linked to aggressive driving—another major problem on the streets, the lady in the OP’s story demonstrated
Road rage can be not only emotionally draining but dangerous as well. Whether it’s a 'force majeure' that evokes it or someone’s unwarranted maneuvering, it is important to try and stay calm. Otherwise, it might negatively affect your driving. Your safety and that of others should always be the main priority while on the road, even when other drivers seem to be testing your patience.
The OP emphasized the importance of staying collected: “Always stay calm and never let the emotions take over. If on the phone with dispatch, continue to relay where you are while following their directions. Do not retaliate the road rage (yelling, flipping off, etc). It will only make the road rages angrier. Lastly, drive carefully and if tired ask for a ride instead of driving.”
Image credits: micens (not the actual photo)
Such rage is often related to aggressive driving, but they're not the exact same thing. The latter might lead to outbursts of fury in the streets, when motorists get too annoyed by certain circumstances like traffic or what other drivers do. The main difference between the two is that aggressive driving usually means provoking vehicle users in various ways, such as excessive honking or blinking one’s lights. Road rage, on the other hand, takes it one step further and showcases intent of actual physical violence.
Taken over by road rage, people can disrupt traffic and endanger not only themselves and the person they're angry at but innocent bystanders as well
Sadly, aggressive traffic has been on the rise in recent years, with some of its most popular forms of expression being tailgating, excessive honking, and yelling at drivers. It shows that not all people realize that driving like this can lead to terrible consequences, including fatalities. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed that tailgating, together with erratic lane switching and wrongful passing, are related to as much as 56% of fatal accidents.
“People are unpredictable. Even after a genuine mistake and multiple apologies they will still seek revenge. Dashcams are invaluable objects that everyone should use for safety,” the OP told Bored Panda.
Image credits: mstandret (not the actual photo)
Aggressive driving can be deadly even without the intent of actual violence, which makes road rage a problem of an even bigger scale. Statistics show that in the span of seven years, it accounted for 218 murders and over 12,500 injuries. Road rage includes everything from sideswiping the other car, to trying to push it out of its lane, or even using guns to threaten its driver.
As shocking as road rage-related gun violence is, it’s likely more common than you might think, killing an average 44 people per month in 2021. Luckily, in the OP’s situation, the lady didn’t touch the weapon that was later found in the car. This only proves how good of a decision it was to contact the authorities and stop the rage-drunk driver. “I thought I have to call the cops since I will not be able to go home without being safe. She could come back later with more people, weapons, etc. I trusted the cops in my county to help out,” the redditor said.
People in the comments rejoiced, happy that the road rage lady did not get away with her actions
