Re: Road Rage, Safety, etc.

[DeWitt Harrison <de@aztek-eng.com>]

On Sat, 24 Jan 1998 02:06:29 EST, Eric Ferguson wrote:

>I should have clarified:  Insistent, continuous flashing of the hi-beams, not
>a courtesy flash to say "please get out of my way," more like "get the hiell
>out of my way now"

No argument here. Such behavior is out of bounds, at least in this land of
rugged individualism where so many people play by their own rules and
society damned well better accommodate them. The "get the hell out of my
way now" behavior would not be regarded as inappropriate in Europe,
at least in my own experience.

I would not flash someone in the left lane if they were passing traffic in
a fairly convincing manner and had no reasonable opportunity to safely
move into the slow lane. I might flash in a case where the driver was
creeping past the slower lane traffic at +2 mph. I don't consider that to
be passing. Those vehicles would be just as well off in the right lane
unless the traffic is so dense that both lanes are needed simply to
contain the volume. I've also noticed that many folks will stay in the
passing lane because they see that they will probably eventually overtake
a vehicle a half mile distant.

If a polite flash, or two flashes at the very most, does not produce
results, I sit back and bide my time until I have plenty of room to
pass on the right. I figure if a flash or two isn't sufficient, the driver
is either mentally impaired, on a mission from God to plug up the
passing lane or a social misfit who is probably armed. In all these
cases, the person is dangerous and not to be antagonized any more
than necessary. Fortunately, on the other hand, there are many people
who don't seem to take offense at a flashed request if they don't
perceive it as being rudely aggressive.  Easing up from behind
rather than imitating a charging rhino helps here.

DeWitt Harrison    de@aztek-eng.com
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq