Poll of the Day > Do you guys ever flip off other drivers or honk at them if they anger you?

(+) Yeah! (+)

do you ever do either one?

I will do a polite horn tap if they're at a green light for more than 2 seconds without moving

If they aren't following traffic rules then it's fair game as far as honking goes. Flipping off is kinda extra IMO.

pvegeta posted...

I will do a polite horn tap if they're at a green light for more than 2 seconds without moving

Just this.
I might be the biggest guy with the smallest car on the road. But people here are fucking crazy. No need to risk death for a bit of traffic annoyance.
My father gets visibly angry when he is riding in a car with me because of how calmly I treat road rage. I remember one time him yelling at me for following a box truck. He was yelling its bad to follow him because I can't see past him. I said, I don't have to see past him, if he stops, I can stop faster, if he hits something, I can still stop faster, so what difference does it make? Same screaming from me following SUVs (which doesn't apply anymore because everyone has an SUV except me). And again, I stop way faster than an SUV, so what do I care?

pvegeta posted...

I will do a polite horn tap if they're at a green light for more than 2 seconds without moving

Largely this. I use my horn infrequently enough that it generally takes me a moment to actually remember where it is.

If I didn't use my horn regularly, traffic would never move in this city

rjsilverthorn posted...

Largely this. I use my horn infrequently enough that it generally takes me a moment to actually remember where it is.

Same. As far as I'm concerned, there are two possible outcomes when you use your horn:

-You alert the offending driver that they've done something wrong and they correct it/learn moving forward
-The offending driver already knows they've done something wrong and doesn't care about you

Most of the time, if you're honking at somebody for doing something wrong/aggravating, it's the latter case, in which case the only purpose the horn serves is to announce to everyone around you how angry you are. This is also true in the former case if you sustain the horn for longer than about a second. I don't really feel the need to announce to everyone around me that I'm angry about somebody doing a wrongdrive, so I don't use the horn much.

2 seconds is not a long time.The sudden horn can also startle them maybe if only 2 seconds.

Olld-Onne posted...

2 seconds is not a long time.

It's ~1.75 seconds longer than is needed for somebody that's going to notice/acknowledge a horn to notice/acknowledge a horn. You really don't need to sustain a horn for long to get somebody's attention; anything past the first second is more about catharsis than anything that can be practically justified.

pvegeta posted...

I will do a polite horn tap if they're at a green light for more than 2 seconds without moving

This, although I wait a bit longer then 2 seconds (maybe 3-5). Also, long "impolite" horn for "Hey jackass, you are going to cause an accident unless you start paying attention!"

SinisterSlay posted...

I remember one time him yelling at me for following a box truck. He was yelling its bad to follow him because I can't see past him. I said, I don't have to see past him, if he stops, I can stop faster, if he hits something, I can still stop faster, so what difference does it make? Same screaming from me following SUVs (which doesn't apply anymore because everyone has an SUV except me). And again, I stop way faster than an SUV, so what do I care?

I mean, in his defense, there are situations in which you need to be able to stop more quickly than a box truck. E.g. if the truck is coming up on slowed/stopped traffic or an obstacle in the road but isn't paying attention, they might make a quick lane change to avoid a collision, leaving you barreling towards an obstacle that you can't stop in time for because you couldn't see it until the truck made its quick lane change.

Is it likely? Not necessarily. But you should always leave enough space to be able to see around the car in front of you. I personally think those illegal-ass window tints making wide trucks/SUVs impossible to see through should be illegal. Semis are obviously an exception, but one should NEVER be following a semi so closely that they can't see what's ahead (and is usually not an issue since semis are 99.9% smart enough to get out of the left lane anyways).

Cupcake2006 posted...

I mean, in his defense, there are situations in which you need to be able to stop more quickly than a box truck. E.g. if the truck is coming up on slowed/stopped traffic or an obstacle in the road but isn't paying attention, they might make a quick lane change to avoid a collision, leaving you barreling towards an obstacle that you can't stop in time for because you couldn't see it until the truck made its quick lane change.

Is it likely? Not necessarily. But you should always leave enough space to be able to see around the car in front of you. I personally think those illegal-ass window tints making wide trucks/SUVs impossible to see through should be illegal. Semis are obviously an exception, but one should NEVER be following a semi so closely that they can't see what's ahead (and is usually not an issue since semis are 99.9% smart enough to get out of the left lane anyways).

Sure but as long as I am keeping a safe stopping distance, it doesn't matter. And I only drive small cars so everyone is taller than me. I am used to it.
Few more years maybe I will see underneath the monster trucks people are driving.

It doesn't mean he hasn't given useful advice. Like if a truck is turning at the intersection you are waiting to turn in front of. Do not turn until after you have a clear view. Because often some idiot on a motorcycle is hiding behind the truck.

The biggest reason I like to leave a decent amount of following distance behind trucks is so I can see road signs and stuff like that. The benefits in emergency situations also play a role, of course, but especially when I'm in an unfamiliar area, not being able to see signs until I'm right under them isn't ideal.

I am a big fan of following semis in areas with moose problems, though. Still at a safe distance, of course, but I'm all in favour of going a bit slower if it means that there's a much larger vehicle guarding me from a potential moose.

If you want to flip off another driver quickly and discreetly because they did something stupid, knock yourself out.

Giving someone the finger out the window while moving should get you pulled over. The level of attention it takes for you to be that angry and to make that much of a gesture means you're now driving much more recklessly and also creating a scene that will distract other drivers temporarily as well.

It's such a massive accident risk and a considerable portion of the time it's actually because the person in question is some indignant asshole who is mad the other driver isn't letting them drive as aggressively as they want. I think every time I've ever gotten the finger has been either as someone is speeding around me when I'm already over the speed limit or after I beep at someone because they've just blatantly broken the law like trying to turn into my lane without the right of way.

/Rant

Probably used to flip the bird a lot more, but there's little point.

I honk, but as a means of telling people they are doing something wrong. Once again, probably not exactly very effective but I am going to honk if you enter my vicinity without signaling etc.

The funniest thing that gets people mad is doing the Robert DeNiro "I'm watching you" finger movements. I've made one guy extremely mad doing that, and I was just doing it because he was on his phone constantly.

My sister drove head first into traffic with me in the passenger seat because someone honked and made her go before she was ready. My knee was screwed up at the age of 16.

That said, I irrationally dislike impatience, and will furiously honk at people who drive recklessly because mommy was so proud to shit out a forest gump with 3 collective brain cells. I'm talking people driving 3 inches behind me and reving around me in a park where there are kids around. It's always a truck driver, btw.

If anyone honks at me in my area, 90% of the time it's because they're an impatient little imp that exists to make other people miserable. 5 miles over the speed limit isn't enough for these people!

Whenever I try to give a friendly "honk honk" I always end up holding the horn too long. Makes me sound like an impatient grouch

ReturnOfFa posted...

The funniest thing that gets people mad is doing the Robert DeNiro "I'm watching you" finger movements. I've made one guy extremely mad doing that, and I was just doing it because he was on his phone constantly.

People are extremely easy to piss off on the road. It's like getting in a car makes people think everyone is out to get them. Smiling and waving or any sort of other benign taunt will send a lot of people into blind rage

I used to give the finger when people would do something really aggressive or stupid but now I just occasionally use my horn (sometimes aggressively if the offending driver is being extra stupid or dangerous). But living in the atlanta area, giving the finger can get you shot. People crazy on these streets

Using the horn is an essential component of driving here.

OhhhJa posted...

People are extremely easy to piss off on the road. It's like getting in a car makes people think everyone is out to get them. Smiling and waving or any sort of other benign taunt will send a lot of people into blind rage

I used to give the finger when people would do something really aggressive or stupid but now I just occasionally use my horn (sometimes aggressively if the offending driver is being extra stupid or dangerous). But living in the atlanta area, giving the finger can get you shot. People crazy on these streets

Yeah, I live in a sleepy-ass city in Western Canada, so no guns. But there're still psychotic dudes around here who'll get into physical altercations. It's good to err on the side of caution though. I taunted a crackhead while I was in the McDonalds drivethrough once, and realized how dumb it was lol.

Good way to get yourself shot if you live in the US

Il do it if someone jeopardizes my life. At that point I am ready for war and the consequences they may bring.

OhhhJa posted...

People are extremely easy to piss off on the road. It's like getting in a car makes people think everyone is out to get them. Smiling and waving or any sort of other benign taunt will send a lot of people into blind rage

The psychology of driving is weird. It's intrinsically a dangerous activity, which causes a lot of stress for many people, but because there's so much about how other people drive that's out of your control, you can't really do much about that stress. The physicality of driving also doesn't really lend itself to either of the usual crisis responses (can't flee because you're stuck in a metal box, can't fight because the most you can do directly is push the pedals a bit harder than usual), so there really isn't anywhere for that stress to go except to just sit there and make people angry. On top of that, the fact that it's hard to see other drivers as anything but faceless metal boxes can make it a very isolating, dehumanizing experience, where you don't necessarily feel any reservations about being angry at other drivers because it's so easy to see them as cars instead of people.

It all adds up to road rage being a lot easier to slip into than one might expect from seeing how somebody behaves outside of a car.

people who rage at honking are pretty unstable so it's better to avoid it. I honked too long when some old lady tried to merge into me once. she proceeded to cut me off and brake check me, not just once but over and over again for the next 5 minutes on the road. she kept going into other lanes and then cutting me off when I tried to pass. I don't know if she had nothing better to do or what. but yeah that kind of thing happens a lot.

rjsilverthorn posted...

Largely this. I use my horn infrequently enough that it generally takes me a moment to actually remember where it is.

Same with me. I still haven't even needed to refill my honk juice.

No.

I'll give a thumbs up to drivers sometimes when they do stupid things or wave to them when they are so close to my ass that we can make eye contact through my rear view mirror.

On rare occasions, when someone does something really bad that they clearly knew was bad I'll do the "go fuck yourself" hand motion, but never give the finger.

I rarely drive but if I'm walking and a driver fails to observe my right of way, I'm not afraid to stand up for myself and other pedestrians.