What is the rudest thing another drive have said or done to you?

[moe.ron]

Some guy gave the finger and high beam me for a good 2 minutes. To this day, I have no idea why he did it.

[Kevin]

When I was 16, some ass cut me off so I gave him the bird.

He then proceded to do this routine where he gassed it like he was going to pass me, then slammed his brakes and got behind me for about 1/2 a mile. We then ended up at a stoplight here he got out of his red pickup truck (what is it about people in red pickups?) and started yelling, cussing and banging on my door (which I had locked). That went on for about a minute or so until the light turned green.

I then proceeded to smile at him and drive off

God that was dumb on my part in retrospect.

[33girl]

Right after I moved here, some old bat (think a trashy version of Sophie Masloff, LOL) rammed into the back of my car, blamed it on me and drove away. She totally went ballistic because there might have been a scratch on her Crown Victoria or whatever that big ole boat was that she was driving.

[DeltAlum]

I was only doing about 70 MPH on a Denver freeway and the guy in the RED truck behind me took offense that I was driving so slowly, passed me, then slowed down to about 20 and then tried to run me into the median.

[aephi alum]

Funny you should ask... I see so much isht on a daily basis that I'm putting together a website of stupid driver tricks.

Some of the highlights:

- I had a guy cutting me off and brake-checking me for a good three miles because he thought I'd cut him off. He even sounded an air horn and threw it at my car (and missed). I don't know how I could possibly have cut him off, as he was in the left lane and I'd just moved from the right to center lane.

- I had a guy chase me down (on foot) at a gas station and scream at me because he thought I'd hit his car. Half a dozen witnesses said otherwise. He shut up...

- I was rear ended (my little car vs. a Ford Exploder!) and the other driver fled the scene. I got her tag number, though, and she got a big fat ticket.

- My favorite: I turned out onto a road where some guy was speeding along. I was clear when I started the turn, and had good visibility, so he must have been doing at least 60 in a 30 zone to come up behind me so fast. Anyway, he decided I had cut him off. He proceeded to tailgate me for three miles, running a few stop signs on the way (darn country roads - no public place to pull into). I finally got caught at a red light. He got out of his car and came up to me screaming and swearing. My doors were locked, my windows were closed, but stupid me had left my sun roof open... as I was closing it, he threw a glass of water through it and onto me, got back in his car and sped off (incidentally, running the light, which was still red). So I got his tag number and called the cops. A couple of days later, he was arrested on a Sunday morning, so he got to cool his heels in jail most of the weekend . I took him to court... because he had no priors, he got off kinda light. He had to do some community service and anger management training, and I have a restraining order against him.

Yeah, I'm just a bad-driver magnet.

[chideltjen]

A group of friends were all caravaning to another friend's house for a party. 3 of us were following another car but some dude in a Jeep cut in front of us and we couldn't see where our friends were going. So we changed lanes and passed him. The Jeep dude decides that we had apparently cut him off so he pulls out from behind us and cuts us off big time. On a suburban street no less. Then he sticks his right arm out and gives us a thumbs down. It was the lamest cut off I've ever experienced. So all three of us in the car flipped him off from behind.

I also had one lady in this TEENY lil Miata lay on her horn because she wasn't going fast enough for me to merge behind her. So I passed her with plenty of room. There was no way I would have hit her because she was going too slow.

[SSS1365]

Let's see... I was driving once on I-95, where the speed limit is 65. I was going somewhere between 85 and 90 and some dude was seriously tailgating me. As soon as he got a chance, he passed me on the right, and although he didn't give me any obscene gestures, if looks could kill I would certainly be six feet under right now. I don't really understand what his problem was. I guess he thought that 25 mph over was too slow.

Then, someone almost sideswiped me once because they obviously didn't bother to look before they started to get over. Well they realized it just in time, but then they honked at me , like I did something wrong! Oh, excuse me for being in your way, I'll never let it happen again

[PhoenixAzul]

Ok, for future reference people...If you see a cyclist on the road, DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT honk at them! Just like normal driving, it doesn't make us go faster. Actually, what happens is most of the time cyclists can't hear a car approaching because of the wind (it gets really loud even if it isn't a windy day), and if you honk when you're right upon a cyclist, then they get surprised and might swerve into traffic or off the road and into a ditch. This happened to me yesterday when I was out training, and I flipped the guy off.

I got run off the road a week ago by a truck driver who thought it was funny to pass about 1/2 an inch from my handlebars.

[kddani]

so then how in the heck are you supposed to alert a bikerider then?

I see all sorts of stupid driving moves- both car and ESPECIALLY bike rider every day in downtown and Oakland. Bikeriders always bitch and complain, yet the majority of them don't obey traffic signals or the rules of the road, nor do they use the proper hand signals. I always appreciate those that do, but those are few and far between.

The bus I was on nearly smeared a bike rider today. The bus was stopped, as was the car in the lane to our left. The light turns green, the bus begins to pull away from the curb, and a bike rider comes flying up between the bus and the car. He was inches away from becoming thin-crust-pavement-pizza

[honeychile]

When I was about 18, I was in a hurry to get somewhere, and the little old lady driving behind me was going about 10 miles an hour (seriously - that's what I was doing!). Impatient, I was right behind her, until she pulled over, and motioned to me to put down my window. I did, and in the nastiest voice she could muster, she said, "Tail Gater!" in a voice that's usually reserved for comments about mother comments.

I laughed, but deep down inside, I felt bad about it.

[SapphireSphinx9]

this happened a couple of weeks ago when i was driving home from work.

as everyone knows, the freeways in southern california are horrible! so even though it was 4:30, and the big rush hadn't started yet, there was HEAVY traffic on the freeway.

i was in the second lane and decided to get into the far right lane, because the truck in front of me was gassing me out! a big rig was slowly pulling up, but i had way more than enough room to get in there and for him to stop; he was a good 50 feet away and going like 10mph!

i had my music up pretty loud, and thought i heard a horn... and this is what ran through my head after that... "nah, that couldn't be for me ... uh uh, i know that truck driver did not just blow his horn at me! ... ah hell no muthaf*er!"

(ok, so i have a really bad case of road rage - let's just state that right now)

so once i passed up the delivery truck that was gassing me out in the second lane, i pulled in front of him... just so the big rig trucker would get next to me.

i knew he couldn't see me, because i don't have a sunroof... so i put my right hand on the passenger seat and flipped him off, not even knowing if he was looking.

oh yeah, he was looking alright! haha! this crazy mofo pulled ahead of me, stopped his truck and hung out of his window cussing and spitting and doing some weird gestures with his arms.

so, i looked at him, smiled and waved. haha! everyone that was around us were gaulking at him, not knowing what the hell he was doing, or why. (they hadn't seen me flip him off)

he kept going off, and it started getting annoying, and i got pissed. so i thought, "hey, he's driving a rig, and his company's name is on the side of the truck... maybe i should call his boss and tell him that his driver is making obscene gestures and sexually harrassing me!" haha... ok, so i'm really mean!

but unfortunately, traffic let up in his lane and he merged onto another freeway by the time we got moving... i never was able to get the number off the truck! so i never got my full retalliation...

and that's the end of my story.

[kappaloo]

During my trip ... in some random state, on some random deserted interstate (I'm thinking Nevada, Arizona or New Mexico) I was in the right lane going the speed limit and this large truck come up behind me and instead of passing me in the very clear left lane decided to tailgate me - to the point where all I could see in the rearview was grill. GRRRRR. After awhile he got bored and passed me anyway.

[HotDamnImAPhiMu]

I drive in DC so the drivers here get really riled up, too.

Plus I'm a terrible driver.

Sometimes when people get real upset, and start honking or making gestures, I grin real big and wave excitedly. If your goal is to make the other guy quit what he's doing, that works *real* well. I think because for a minute they panic and think we know each other. But it's long enough for me to drive away or merge back in or whatever.

[TigerLilly]

PhoenixAzul - ditto everything you said about bikers! Above all...drivers, please share the road.
Probably the most dangerous thing a driver ever did to me (not rudest, because it's much more than just rude!) was to actively try to run me off the road while I was biking! I was just riding along minding my own business, on a road with a clear view and that was plenty wide enough for bike and car, when out of the blue these two idiot guys came zooming up beisde me, honking their horn. They slowed down to my speed and started swerving towards me, acting like they were going to run me off the road. Finally I just rode over into the grass and stopped, hoping they'd give up and go on, which they did. It was really scary, though, because they almost made me wreck.

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally posted by kddani
so then how in the heck are you supposed to alert a bikerider then?

I see all sorts of stupid driving moves- both car and ESPECIALLY bike rider every day in downtown and Oakland. Bikeriders always bitch and complain, yet the majority of them don't obey traffic signals or the rules of the road, nor do they use the proper hand signals. I always appreciate those that do, but those are few and far between.

The bus I was on nearly smeared a bike rider today. The bus was stopped, as was the car in the lane to our left. The light turns green, the bus begins to pull away from the curb, and a bike rider comes flying up between the bus and the car. He was inches away from becoming thin-crust-pavement-pizza

You don't need to alert. Just pass on the left at a safe distance. Riders should be looking back for cars, and visually know you're there. But especially on downhills, bikers have a ton of other conditions to worry about (roadkill, oil slicks, potholes) , and some guy honking the horn in his Bush-Cheney laden gas guzzler is just one more thing I don't need.

Riders should pay attention to traffic signals and use proper turning etiquette, and should NEVER ride on the sidewalk. It's theoretically safer in the street than on the sidewalk.