Road Rage

[Rainman]

If you are a victim and someone flips you the bird or uses some other inappropriate gestures, and you note down their registration number would police take any action against that driver should you report him? Would you need evidence? A vid on your phone maybe?

 

[lushlala]

As I don't drive and have never driven, I haven't ever experienced road rage. I am planning on taking some lessons and getting on the road soon. I fully intend to IGNORE these nutters who invest time and energy in harassing and abusing fellow drivers, because it can sometimes turn very ugly. I never forget the recent road rage story which concluded with a woman being killed on her doorstep. I don't know if the police would intervene if you had all that evidence.

 

[Gabe]

Road rage can get out of hand and it's best to move on. Once from my window I noticed some people who had cut each other up. They stopped the cars and one smashed the window of the driver and pulled him out and beat him up as he was trying to drive away. I gave a witness statement and road rage isn't worth it. There are bad drivers and they are irritating but it can lead to worse things if they are violent.

 

[Diane Lane]

I wouldn't consider flipping someone off to be road rage. Many people go around flipping people off all the time, and it seems that act helps them release some tension, as does screaming at people. I can ignore that type of behavior, but when someone becomes aggressive with following too closely, pulling in front of a car and slowing down or slamming on the brakes, or coming into my lane (or whichever lane the rage-recipient is in), that crosses the line into road rage, because it becomes dangerous, and presents an actual threat.

 

[JoanMcWench]

Flipping you off & calling you names isn't really something the police spend time doing something about. Unless, that is, you're doing it to the police themselves.

If you can prove they were driving recklessly or aggressively in retaliation toward something they feel you did then I can see them looking into the matter further.

 

[dyanmarie25]

I don't think the police would take action if someone flipped you the bird unless they tried to threaten your life or something like that. A video could be a good evidence though.

 

[IshieVonDyson]

Yeah, flipping the bird isn’t really road rage. And I’ve seen yelling and name-calling go completely ignored. Unless it’s somewhere like a service station, but even then it’s usually some type of security who gets the call, not the police. It would probably be best to save any police intervention for actions that actively puts lives in danger, like dangerous driving due to road rage.

 

[lushlala]

Some people are just full of anger, and who knows what they are so angry about? I'd just be very scared of pushing them over the edge and giving them the perfect excuse to do something stupid. Not that they ever need much of an excuse. It's almost like they don't have a life!

 

[Patrick]

There's plenty of jerks everywhere, not just on the road. So what if someone points the bird at you? He's not getting anywhere far in life with that sort of attitude. Ignore him and move on, the police have more serious cases to attend to with their limited time and resources.