Road rage

As a profession, I speak with people on a daily basis who do stupid things with their car. This could be backing out into their mailbox, being completely oblivious to what's going on around them and pulling out in front of someone, or running a red light, among countless scenarios people get themselves into.

I once spoke with someone who got into a high-speed chase with another driver down the interstate, exited the highway, then proceeded to have the other driver get out of their car and punch them. This, my friends, is what we like to call road rage. Road rage, if you ask me, is the stupidest and most avoidable loss situation there is.

Today I was driving back up I55 from Bloomington. I had set my cruise to 74 mph and was momentarily in the left lane to pass a slower-moving car. I wasn't accelerating because at the pace I was going, in another 2 or 3 seconds, I would be ahead of that car and I would be able to move back into the right lane.

Right as my car was at the point where the back half of it was still parallel to the car in the right lane, I noticed a white minivan seriously flying up behind me. People exaggerate to me all the time how fast they think another car was going, but I can honestly say this car had to have been going at least 90 mph coming up behind me. Well, my car was just about to the point where I could get over, but I, admittedly, hesitated for just a moment because I just couldn't believe this guy. Of course he flys up on my tail and is about thisclose to me. He's getting super impatient and jerks over into the right lane the same moment I do, as I'm trying to get out of his way. This of course pisses him off even more because of course he's in such a hurry. He continues to ride my tail in the right lane, as I look up in my rear view mirror and see him and his female passenger yelling at me and flipping me off. I scrunched up my face in disbelief and motion to the left - Well get over then! He then jerks back in to the left lane and flys past me. I can feel my face burn as their windows pass mine. Yes, I admit I flipped him off as he drove by. I figured he'd just keep on going, secretly hoping a cop was up there somewhere to bust him for driving like such an ass. I mean come on, what a jerk!

But then, his wife or girlfriend or whoever must have saw me flip him off because they suddenly slow down and start pacing me. Well this kinda scares me because who knows what this weirdo is capable of. Just drive on if you're in such a hurry, why are they hanging back now? Images of this guy swerving over into my lane and hitting me then trying to blame it on me are going through my head. But that's the claim rep in me, I guess. They slow down to the point where they are over and just barely ahead of me. I see the passengers side window roll down. Mind you, it is super windy today and they were going about 80 mph. The female in the passenger seat then proceeds to stick her head out of the window and scream profanities at me while flicking me off. I just stared at her in disbelief, hoping they'd just keep driving. After a few moments of this she finally got back into her car and they flew off at an unbelievable speed.

I watch the white minivan with dealer plates, DL 1550, drive off... I wonder if I could call that in? Nah... I don't even know who I could call? It's not 911-worthy. But come on. These are the jerks that cause accidents! These are the people that get into an accident from this kind of behavior, then refuse to believe that they could possibly have any negligence, or lie about what happened! This is how people get hurt.

I guess I just want to remind everyone, especially now when the weather starts getting bad and the roads can be treacherous, to please... take your time. Drive relatively near the speed limit. LOOK AROUND YOU. I can't tell you how many times people get into accidents and never saw the other person coming. And please... don't drive like this jerk! Or you or someone else might end up getting hurt. I know you might be in a hurry, but so is everyone else. Please, just calm down. Drive at a safe speed, watch out for the other guy, and more often than not, you'll get to your destination safely.