How do you deal with road rage?

[mgbgt89]

Two days ago I had a guy deliberately hit me with his ranger on 244 in akron. I punched his mirror off and pulled away while a good Samaritan ran him off the road in an F-250, giving me plenty of escape time. Didn't have a chance to get a plate number, I was too focused on squeezing all of the 34 horses out of my bike to get away from this asshole.

I deal with shit almost once week commuting in akron, people merging into me, tailgating, cutting me off deliberately, but this is the first time i've ever actually made contact with a car at interstate speeds. 2 years of riding in Indianapolis, and i had ONE car swerve at me.

I really hate this town. I can deal with inattentive drivers, but down right homicidal drivers are something completely different.

[NinjaNick]

Crazy roadwarriors are one reason I love having a powerful bike to get me out of hairy situations.

I've never been messed with much on my bike, but it depends how bad I'm fucked with I guess to determine how I react. I try to brush off as much as possible though because it's not worth it.

[Disclaimer]

... I think there may be more to this story...

What did you do to make him 'deliberately' hit you?

[tyler524]

I usually kick it sideways at 140 and find 1.85$ in my pocket

[mgbgt89]

... I think there may be more to this story...

What did you do to make him 'deliberately' hit you?

Merged. Using a signal, moving faster than he was. Probably 3-4 car lengths in front.

I was speeding on the entrance ramp. I'll give you that. I call it conservation of momentum.

[mgbgt89]

Crazy roadwarriors are one reason I love having a powerful bike to get me out of hairy situations.

I've never been messed with much on my bike, but it depends how bad I'm fucked with I guess to determine how I react. I try to brush off as much as possible though because it's not worth it.

This does have me thinking, I really need a faster bike. Riding a nearly 40 year old 350 honda doesn't give you alot of chance to escape unless you're being pursued by a diesel chevette.

[Likwid]

I always carry an AR-15 with me

[Disclaimer]

Meh... I still dunno.

I'm a huge douche with a bunch of bad karma racked up and still don't have random weirdos deliberately trying to make me a pavement pancake.

That's why I have trouble thinking there isn't more to the story. Assuming they're sober and not 'off their meds' people typically just don't randomly attack others without provocation...

Edited May 26, 2011 by JRMMiii

[jagr]

Learn to efficiently utilize a Franchi SPAS-12 whilst riding.

Get on my level brah!

[okeefe01]

I knew a guy that carried a handfull of half inch diameter bolts in his jacket pockets. If anyone messed with him, he would pull in front of them and toss up a couple bolts. Not sure if that is a good idea though.

Edited May 26, 2011 by okeefe01

[Disclaimer]

Someone should totally put that video in it's own thread and have a discussion about it!

[mgbgt89]

Meh... I still dunno.

I'm a huge douche with a bunch of bad karma racked up and still don't have random weirdos deliberately trying to make me a pavement pancake.

That's why I have trouble thinking there isn't more to the story. Assuming their sober and not 'off their meds' people typically just don't randomly attack others without provocation...

I think he took my merging as cutting him off, Even though i was 3-4 car lengths ahead, and pulling. Once i was in front of him, He got less than a foot off my fender, and once i turned and looked at him it was game on. He got next to me, and tried to force me on the shoulder. His car looked more appealing than a metal guardrail, so i loosened up on the bars and stood up a bit off the seat and let him hit me. The mirror removal ensues, and the f-250 that had been following me for the last 4 miles took over after that.

[jagr]

Meh... I still dunno.

I'm a huge douche with a bunch of bad karma racked up and still don't have random weirdos deliberately trying to make me a pavement pancake.

That's why I have trouble thinking there isn't more to the story. Assuming their sober and not 'off their meds' people typically just don't randomly attack others without provocation...

Wow. Wish I grew up in your world.

But really I didn't enjoy this peaceful existence I enjoy now prior to "movin on up" to predominately pasty eggshell neighborhoods.

[Likwid]

Someone should totally put that video in it's own thread and have a discussion about it!

Yah, I'm gonna stay outta of that one.

[Disclaimer]

It's never too late to be a huge douche Jagz

[Likwid]

and FYI, I ride like a major asshole sometimes and I've never had someone hit me.

The fact I'm a large guy may have something to do with it, or the fact, like I said, I have an AR-15 strapped to my back.

[ReconRat]

Mostly I see inattentive people that don't drive well. That's a problem when merging, either me or them. A couple of close calls, but in both cases I pulled up to a front window and forced the SUV off the road or back out of a lane with a motorcycle. Not recommended. Other times I just back off and let them go.

A couple or three have actually chased me all road raged for no reason. Once I took off and left, and the in the other I stopped and asked them to roll down the window so I could hear them.

The official best response is to slow down, let them go. Pull off or stop or turn a corner if you have to. You are on a motorcycle. You will not win in any serious collision.

[mgbgt89]

Back home my best friend rides with a nice shiny chrome .38 in a tank holster, and has never ran into problems. I doubt open carry is legal here though.

Seriously though, This has me looking at getting a bike that can get me away from trouble. Bike vs. Car, the car almost always wins. I got very lucky having that guy in the 250 that took it upon himself to protect me. I really wish i knew who he was, I would buy him a beer.

[tyler524]

We were on a group ride and most had gone around this car and it was at slower speeds maybe around 45 or so. I kept going towards the middle of the road so I could pass and the car would swerve over to block me. There was a big paved shoulder so I finally went to the outside of the lane and went to go around the car and he swerved over and ran me off onto the stone shoulder/grass but I managed to keep a hold of it and get around the asshole. That is probably the worst I have had but I've been in other situations and I always try to just brush it off the best I can. There are some birds that fly every now and then.

[NinjaN8]

A pocketful of ammo is a GREAT idea as long as you don't stick around to let them get your plate.

People are effing crazy! I've had people try to run me into sidewalls for no other reason than I am on a bike. I don't fuck around down here anymore. I just ride like they are ALL trying to kill me and do my own thing. I lane split and create my own lanes...

I don't give a fuck. I'm hardcore like that yo!

If they fuck with me though, I really am going to make their life as difficult as I can. I don't mind kicking or punching cars. Fuck, those fucking, fucks!

Their is a slight learning curve though if you are going to attack cars... It's actually a "little" harder than it looks... At least in my opinion anyway...

All of the above should be taken with a grain of salt as I am drunker than hell right now...

[Aerik]

Yeah, same as most of the others here, I've punched mirrors, kicked doors, thumped hoods, "dropped" pocket change on tailgaters, run up on people's windows, etc. It is quite gratifying to see a traumatized yuppie sitting behind me in his Beemer, 7 carlengths back at the stoplight because he's afraid to get near me again after he tried to bully me out of a lane.

About half of them are just the same idiots we always see, but I've been seeing a lot more cagers doing blatantly rude/ dangerous things, like trying to merge on top of bikes or "fake" swerving to see if they can scare them.

Of course, we should remember that we're kind of relying on shock/surprise and pure intimidation when we take aggressive actions with moving cars-- we are rather vulnerable if they decide to push back.

Also, these:

http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/Fingerless-Lead-Lined-Defense-Gloves-p-17074.html

Oh, and that F-250 that backed you up is probably just another rider. I've done that too, when I'm stuck driving my truck-- see a car bullying a bike, bully the shit outta the car. For great justice.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Aerik

[mgbgt89]

A pocketful of ammo is a GREAT idea as long as you don't stick around to let them get your plate.

People are effing crazy! I've had people try to run me into sidewalls for no other reason than I am on a bike. I don't fuck around down here anymore. I just ride like they are ALL trying to kill me and do my own thing. I lane split and create my own lanes...

I don't give a fuck. I'm hardcore like that yo!

If they fuck with me though, I really am going to make their life as difficult as I can. I don't mind kicking or punching cars. Fuck, those fucking, fucks!

Their is a slight learning curve though if you are going to attack cars... It's actually a "little" harder than it looks... At least in my opinion anyway...

All of the above should be taken with a grain of salt as I am drunker than hell right now...

Heh, We should ride together sometime.

I do lane split at the 76/77 interchange, some days, because i don't feel like getting sodomized by a Lincoln Navigator when traffic suddenly slows from 70 to 15. I've passed way too many rear end accidents not to split lanes.

I don't split just for the fun of it, and i've had people swerve at me while i'm splitting on that stretch of road. I go around them, don't flip them off, and don't do my patented Caterpillar steel toe boot mirror removal technique i've grown so much to enjoy.

The one thing that makes me feel better about splitting, is when i told my mom, who was adamantly opposed to me riding motorcycles, that i split lanes in heavy traffic. I told her my reason i split, and even her, the person MOST against motorcycles i have ever met, thanked me for risking a ticket for splitting lanes to avoid getting rear ended. She said, a wreckless driving ticket is much cheaper than any hospital bill. (Or a funeral)

Well, We could turn this into a lane splitting thread.... If you want.

[buildit]

This was my answer to assholes.

[chevysoldier]

This was my answer to assholes.

Lame. This is mine.

[buildit]

It's a KLR! I had to keep the weight down so I could make it out of first gear.