What type of driver are you, Raging or Calm?

I often wonder how many folks out there drive without really realizing how crazy they are.

I want to video my husband so he can see just how nuts he appears when he gets behind the wheel. A switch goes off before we are even out of the neighborhood.
Cursing, finger gestures, riding on other drivers asses.
He is so impatient he scared an old man off the road and rushed a new kid on a motorcycle out of the way, in which the kid fell off his bike. His exact words "that wasn't my fault the kid shouldn't be riding if he doesn't know how". Of course we stopped and took the kid home with a lot of road rash and left his bike on the side of the road.

I'm pretty much the complete opposite and just want to hide when he behaves this way.
Is this a pretty normal thing out there; am I being overly nervous?

 

You should rephrase the title or the question since not many are going to admit that they drive like crazy.
I think this doesn't just apply to driving but to almost all behavior. I was once told that there were 3 "truths". What we think, what others think and what really happened.

 

When I'm driving, it's because I've got somewhere to be. If you're hindering the flow of traffic, particularly through your own inattentiveness (I would say idiocy, but it seems more often than not it's not a person too dumb to get it, just one that appears not to give a shit), then you're making my day more difficult. I will, at the very least, be unhappy with you. I don't go crazy with swearing, gesturing, tail-gating and what-not (besides, tailgating is unsafe for everyone) but I don't hesitate to tap on the horn or blink my lights at someone if that's what it takes to get them to pull their head out of their ass.

The one exception to this is probably the person attempting to merge onto the free/express/park/highway going at least 30 mph (~50 kmh) slower than the traffic they are attempting to merge with. Particularly when I'm the next person behind them trying to merge. My blood boils and I want to purge the earth of these people. If it's because they're on a cellphone, everyone in the car can go with them.

 

i stick to ~ 5 mph above the limit and am relatively safe. i have one caveat though. living in los angeles means lots of middling to heavy traffic and unfortunately if you leave a safe distance between you and the next car, all the assholes in this town take that as you saving them a spot so that they can cut in front of you on their serpentine way through all the traffic.

between that and people gutter sneaking a.k.a. drving straight through the right turn lane to get past 10 or 15 cars at a stop light, i keep a careful eye on my rearview and am quick to seal off that space to they can't get past me. i consider tailgating the lesser evil compared to them almost side-swiping me and once i'm on to what kind of driver they are trying to be i will pace the car in the other lane in effect forming a wall to their shennanigans.

 

Defines me exactly Borla. I used to drive as much as you for years. With that much driving, you get used to whatever happens on the road and not let it make you go postal. It just isn't worth the aggravation.

 

I drive a lot as I work on the community, I used to be more aggressive if someone acted like a complete knob, but now I just smile and wave them on like the Queen and I can see that it gets to them more.
I see all sorts of idiocy on the roads and I am amazed not more people are killed.
It's thought that men are the more aggresive drivers but in my opinion it's mostly women who try to drive up my exhaust or hurtle through red lights.
I don't drive like Mr Magoo but as I have gotten older I have definitely calmed down.

 

I am a verbal rager-I will cuss out real idiots (including getting into verbal altercations when getting cut off, etc), but I try to stay aware of them and stay out of their way. The spouse, on the other hand, is a physical rager in that he will aim toward a car sticking out of an exit or tailgate someone not going fast enough to suit him. He can't stay in one lane, going back and forth thinking he's getting past the lesser drivers (in his eyes). If he sees a dumb move several cars up the road, he gets pissed. He scares the shit out of all of us but when told that, he thinks we're the nutty ones.

Not this chicky. The spouse will stop so close to the car in front, he should whisper sweet nothings to them; I keep far enough away so that I can see their tires. Anyone comes crashing into my rear end will at least not push me to the next hapless victim. I stop at yellows many times, much to the chagrin of whoever is behind me.

Read more: http://www.thetfp.com/threads/what-type-of-driver-are-you-raging-or-calm.3977/#ixzz1xWRk13k3​

 

There's no way on god's green Earth I would be a passenger with a rage-impaired driver.
I'm a defensive driver meaning I assume all the other drivers are bad. It's a pleasant surprise when they are good!
No yelling or gesturing--that's not at all cool IMO, and if you regularly are that worked up behind the wheel you should probably seriously consider another form of transportation.

 

Where I live, bad traffic is waiting through a couple of lights before you get through the intersection. My wife and kids think I'm a very aggressive driver because I comment on other driver's bad habits/manoeuvres... the sort that put me at risk through their inattention or over-aggression. I got a speeding ticket once (25 years ago). I've had 2 accidents that were my fault (one involving just my car and post in a parking garage - stupity; and one because of a stupid decision - backing out of the driveway in a blizzard to take my daughter to a team get-together). Aside from my family, I take a lot of abuse over my rather sedate driving habits from my friends who are somewhat more adventurous.

My biggest complaint about other drivers is that so many of them simply shove their brain into neutral when they get behind the wheel. Automobile traffic is a perfect example of what happens when there are no continuing certification requirements. I think it would be vastly amusing to require a periodic re-certification to be allowed to drive.

 

I live in the country.
I go most places by bicycle.
Driving is just a task. A boring one. I'm flummoxed by the amount of mental energy some folks spend on their interactions with other drivers.
I go the speed limit, try to be courteous to other drivers. Generally that's what I get back.
Maybe if I lived in a city and had to deal with traffic I would see things differently.

 

I have momentary lapses into cursing fits when shit don't go my way. Otherwise, I'm hissing and cussing about the idiocy of other drivers. I live in TexASS... where every other motherf*er has a truck and almost practically has to be some sort of asshole. I don't do well in traffic, either. I live in DFW, and my company's based in Austin... I hate traffic in both. Ft. Worth / Tarrant County is the 4th most unfriendly bicycle city in the US. Dallas is a little better. Austin is a HUGE bicycling city, but, fuck... traffic there is cramped (safer to bicycle on the side of the highway during rush-hour).

In general, I have a big problem with idiots not paying attention to what they're doing on the road, and this elicits constant / regular cursing fits for me... but it doesn't make me an unsafe driver. I don't drive white-knuckled, and I prefer my cruise control to anything else. Smooth sailing... but woe unto the asshole who's on and off the gas pedal, or sits on one of my quarter-panels and doesn't want to pass. I make a known point of that behavior by, what many have called "herding" other drivers around the road (skirting the line to let them know distance, letting them know I know how to use my gas pedal, and my brake, etc...)

Okay, y'all probably wouldn't want to drive with me.

California's a little better... I <3 Mountains. I hate LA. I love San Francisco.

 

depends on the car i drive. thats why for the last 3 years since my two lil-Lishes have come along, ive stuck to driving a 4-cylinder small car. it keeps me from doing stupid shit like speeding when i shouldnt. It also gets me from getting annoyed at stupid slow drivers because ive probably become one myself.

 

LOL @ This!
I drive a 4-cyl, too... and I bought it on purpose because a few years ago, I woulda gotten myself in trouble w/ any manly car I was considering.

 

Looks like the whole gamut of drivers are in this thread. Generally I drive safe and courteous, let people merge, take the live and let live attitude. That said, I will be the first one here to openly admit that when someone pisses me off, typically on the interstate when I'm driving a long way and they cut into my lane a few inches off my bumper, I get road rage. For me this typically involves staying exactly as far behind them as they pulled in front of me while slaloming left and right in my lane with my brights on so they can see me in their rear view mirrors. The car horn and certain fingers may also come into play. Honestly, on a long trip like that, it's much better for me to have a puff and get my head right and then stay in the right lane at 5 to 10 over the speed limit and admire the scenery.

 

I used to be that asshole always flying from one lane to another and riding bumpers, but I've reformed.
Like Borla, I'm on the road all day logging anywhere from 400-800 miles in a week and I drive a Hybrid. I can't go that fast even when I want to.
Majority of the time, I just plod along and pay no heed to the idiots. I'll even wave them through or by so they can go become someone else's headache.
I do not, however, have any problem what so ever with voicing my displeasure at a particularly egregious maneuver.

Count me among the 4-cyl for a reason crowd. If I had the car I really really want, I'd be crazed. All that horsepower and everyone slowing me up...

 

I hate old farts with fast cars who drive like grannies.
Cars should be used (and abused) to their fullest potential...
And, despite my rant on my own driving above, I have moments of "that was a kick-ass awesome move"... probably once a month I see another driver I actually respect (careful, responsible, but also assertive and knows how to use their vehicle).

 

I like the 4-cyl idea, convince him to dump his gas hog "Nissan Xterra". I drive about 300 miles a week and let the heavy petal people pass me.
I usually catch up to them at the next light.
I agree with Borla, what's the point of getting all twisted inside, and over what?