topic Re: Scary out there.... in Community Chat

Scary out there....

songbird — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:46:35 GMT

It's very ugly road rage. Mom teaching her son to drive was shot and killed in a road rage incident. Suspect fled, but was thanfully caught. Charged in a homicide.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/05/us/road-rage-mom-son-driving-trnd/index.html

Careful driving out there today. I had two near misses, driving to work today. Only had to drvie 2 miles today. One nut made a sudden u tern in front of me. Another darted out in traffic. Nearly hit the car in front of me who slammed on the breaks. Man I hate driving now!

Re: Scary out there....

Big Joanie — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:52:28 GMT

My granddaughter is just learning to drive .. I know it can be frustrating

for other drivers ... but we all have to start somewhere ... glad that

my son bought magnetic signs for the car .. that say Student Driver ....

Re: Scary out there....

denisemb — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:53:52 GMT

Heartbreaking.

Re: Scary out there....

Bri369 — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:58:50 GMT

That is so sad.

Every day I encounter some sort of near miss. I notice a lot of people making illegal U turns now. They're illegal in Illinois unless there is a posted sign saying they're allowed.

Some guy make a U turn right in front of me and I barely missed him. I had to swerve out of the way.

Re: Scary out there....

blackhole99 — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:14:41 GMT

Law enforcement need to be more of a presence on the highways, I rarely see the State police. People seem to be angry and aggressive with an," I don't care kind of attitude".

Re: Scary out there....

Suzeecat — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:43:14 GMT

Oh man, that poor kid, just learning how to drive, has to drive his dying mother to the hospital. He'll probably never want to drive again! This is a terrible story, there are some horrible people out there on the streets. Stay safe, people!

Re: Scary out there....

jpie — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:53:58 GMT

Too many people ignore the basic rules of the road. It's all about them. Running yellow lights as they turn red, never signaling so you have to wait until they go first , cutting in around you when you have to apply your brakes to keep a safe distance, failing to yield to the right of way, and much more.

I used to use my horn when they did something wrong, but there have been situations shown on the news in which a car that honked was chased down, and then gunned down, due to extreme road rage. Very scary stuff.

Re: Scary out there....

RedTop — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:09:07 GMT

I don’t mind one bit to drive around my hometown area.

I HATE driving to both VA facilities, which is all interstate driving. Every trip north makes me feel like I’m the one sensible driver in my whole entire lane of traffic.

My husband constantly wants us to get out of the house and “go somewhere”, and every single time we do, he gets the clear message from those we are sharing the road with, that we were better off at home. I can’t even bring myself to think about going on a trip.

Re: Scary out there....

CrazyKittyLvr2 — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:20:34 GMT

I saw that story yesterday. I feel so sorry for that young man and his family. I miss the old days when someone flipped you off or yelled and that was the end of it. BP may have gone up a little but everyone went home alive.

Re: Scary out there....

songbird — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:30:27 GMT

Scariest thing was with a co worker. Woman now in her early 60's. One rainy evening she was trying to merge in to traffic. Some man didn't like the way she was merging. He rammed her car with his truck repeatedly. Too terrified to protest, say anything or beep her horn. She allowed him to bully her in the car. Finally he sped off. Leaving her shaken. Too scared to call the police.

Hitting the horn seems to enrage or make things worse. Years a go ....same situation. Annoyed guy in a truck forced another car to over an embankment. Couple in car was killed. Truck driver took off. Never found the guy.

Re: Scary out there....

Cats3000 — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:37:16 GMT

Report I read said that he was a convicted felon with a gun. Convicted felons arfen't supposed to have guns. Wonder where he got the gun?

Re: Scary out there....

drizzellla — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:39:49 GMT

So sad.

But I don't get it. He shot and killed that woman and he gets a $100,000 bond? Shouldn't a human life be worth more than that?

Re: Scary out there....

bmorechick — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 02:11:29 GMT

Horrific story but I can’t help wonder why bystanders didn’t call 911 instead of putting her into the car and having her son take her to hospital...why??? With life saving measures in the ambulance Perhaps she may have had a chance to survive. Tragic

Re: Scary out there....

Anonymous032819 — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 02:20:24 GMT

@bmorechick wrote:
Horrific story but I can’t help wonder why bystanders didn’t call 911 instead of putting her into the car and having her son take her to hospital...why??? With life saving measures in the ambulance Perhaps she may have had a chance to survive. Tragic

People are afraid to get involved, I think.

Re: Scary out there....

Anonymous032819 — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 02:52:10 GMT

I try to drive senseably.

I go the speed limit (maybe 2 - 3 mph over), I stay in the "slow" lane, I signal, I come to full and complete stops at stop signs, etc.

I have seen people do 80 in a 50, I have had people tailgate me, even though the passing lane next to me is wide open.

I've had some near hits myself.

It's not highway driving that bothers me, it's the in-town driving where it's risky.

I've been first at a stop light, and when my light turned green, I started to pull forward, only to be almost hit by some red-light runner.

I have seen others almost get hit by red-light runners, and I'm not talking about the light having just turned red two nanoseconds ago. No, I'm talking about the light turned red about 3 -4 seconds ago.

I have seen people not yeld to emergency vehicles, even though they have their lights and sirens on.

On time, I was at a gas station, and I was pumping my own gas, when I heard the sirens of a fire truck blaring.

I'm watching, and the traffic that had the green light did. not. stop. for the fire truck!

Such sense of entitlement!

No, *I* have the green light, and *I'M* going. I don't care if you are a big firetruck with lights and sirens on. I'm. Still. Going. Because *I* have the green light."

Re: Scary out there....

LTT1 — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 22:25:15 GMT

@RedTop

I can sympathize. We are having the same issues here.

And the driving issue is one I cannot seem to cope with.

Re: Scary out there....

suzyQ3 — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 23:25:11 GMT

On a side note, I take my life in my hands every day when I exercise walk. I go about 3 1/2 miles, most of it along a pedestrian/bicycle path along the ocean.

But the rest is on city streets, and I swear that I have come so close to being mowed do quite often.

My solution, such as it is, involves not crossing until I know that I've made contact with the driver. A pox on those who have darkened glass (illegal here).

Re: Scary out there....

J Town Girl — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 01:24:05 GMT

@CrazyKittyLvr2 wrote:
I saw that story yesterday. I feel so sorry for that young man and his family. I miss the old days when someone flipped you off or yelled and that was the end of it. BP may have gone up a little but everyone went home alive.

My husband and I talk about that all the time. People would get irritated and possibly give you the bird but then they'd drive off and that was the end. They didn't take out a gun and shoot you because you did some minor thing that they found offensive.

If you were involved in a traffic accident the main thing that was forefront in the minds of both drivers was the possibility that someone might have been injured. Most people did not scream and yell over the damage to their car. They exchanged insurance information in a calm and rational manner.

Just yesterday my husband and I witnessed a young girl become irate and scream at the driver in a truck beside her because he wasn't going fast enough for her and she wanted to merge in front of him. I said to my husband, let's get the heck away from her because you never know what someone like that is going to do next.

Re: Scary out there....

lovesrecess — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 02:26:34 GMT

I still see people holding and yakking on their phones instead of using hands free Bluetooth. I have found even with using Bluetooth it can be distracting. so I try not to make or take many calls if I am in a lot of traffic.

Re: Scary out there....

Financialgrl — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 19:28:31 GMT

I feel your pain. Lived in northern VA and carpooled up 95/395 to Arlington VA/DC areas for over 25 years. I retired and moved farther south. I'd never use that road again unless I absolutely have to.

I recently attended a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. There is a wait for family to receive the grave location, date/time for funerals there. I told a friend - "oh please let it be in the middle of any cloudy day other than Friday". So of course it was on the sunniest, hottest Friday at 3pm and took me 2.5 hours to drive the 50 miles home.