Road Rage

I was flipped off on the way home yesterday so I have been thinking about road rage. OK, being flipped off is the mildest form of road rage, but it is still road rage. I keep thinking about the feeling of anonymity in the car. The guy who did it, I'm sure, thinks of himself of anonymous. But when he flipped me off, how did he know I wasn't his doctor (I'm not a doctor) or his kid's teacher. We're within a couple of miles of my house (and probably his) and chances are that we'll see each other again.

I've been in a hurry and annoyed by the slower person in front of me (even now, there are occasionally slower people in front of me). Usually, it happens when I'm driving to class, and I'm later than I would like to be. But I always imagine if I flip someone off, it's going to turn out to be one of my students.

By the way, I didn't cut the guy off or drive slower than the speed limit. He was behind me for most of the way home through roads that were 30 m.p.h. (where I was going 32) and roads that were 40 m.p.h (where I was going 42).

Sometimes this anger gets to me (that's probably why I'm writing a blog that no one is reading), and I think I should drive a little faster. Then, this morning I hit a slick spot on the road (not the same slick spot where I had my accident), and I was very thankful that I was going the speed limit. I'm pretty sure I would have lost control if I had been going 5 m.p.h. faster; even at 30, it wasn't easy to keep control on this slick spot (black ice from the warm daytime temperatures and the below-freezing night time temperatures). I'm almost certain that someone else is going to hit that same spot this morning and wipe out. I guess I should start looking for that person's blog tomorrow.

I'm just one car

I remember something like this being on the news when I was in sixth grade.

Cadillac vs. Mercedes

Yesterday, I had two different luxury cars behind me for most of the way to work: a Cadillac and a Mercedes. The Cadillac sat on my tail as close as it could get, but the Mercedes stayed a safe distance behind. I saw it coming in my rear view mirror. It was going a good 5-10 m.p.h. faster than I was, and I was fearing another tailgater. Then, as it started to get closer, it slowed down and stayed a comfortable distance back. Another totally unscientific data point in favor of Mercedes drivers.

Almost no tailgaters

Yesterday, I almost made it all the way to and from work without any tailgaters. I just had one on my last stretch to work for about a mile or two. Other than that, driving was blissful (and none of this was highway driving).

Benefits of driving 55 - not

One of the benefits of driving the speed limit is not having to worry about speed traps. I can just drive on by without worry when I see a police car on the side of the road...theoretically. Today, I was driving along the highway right at 55 (in a 55 zone), and I saw a police car and instinctively hit the breaks. So much for this extra benefits.

Scary Close

We got a dusting of snow last night so I thought the traffic would behave...I was wrong! I had the usual tailgaters, but one Ford pickup truck was scary. He didn't pass me, but he was as close as he could get without actually hitting my bumper; it was scary. When I turned and he didn't, he went around me so closely that I thought he was going to scrape my car.

The only humor was when we got an intersection, and I turned on my blinker, I watched him shaking his head, doomed to follow me some more. It was even funnier that, in this case, he really couldn't go anywhere. When I got to the intersection, the line of 5 cars that I had been following was sitting at the stop sign. When he passed me, most of that line was still a few car lengths in front of me. Sometimes, you can get ahead by going faster and sometimes you can just annoy yourself by trying.

Passed by a taxi

I could see it coming. The taxi wasn't just the average tailgater. He was itching to get by, and he did...right at the spot where I had my accident. Visibility is low, and the curve is deceptively sharp, but he went by anyway.

I was also tailgated by a Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, and Lexus. I'm not sure what make of car was keeping a safe following distance, but she didn't stay behind me for too long, turning off somewhere.