Is that your highbeams or are you happy to see me?

[Skandranon]

I don't know if this really counts as "sucky", but I found it amusing as hell.

I was sorting my way through traffic today, head bopping to a new CD, when something catches my eye in the rear view mirror. I look, and the guy behind me is.... shaking his fist at me? As I watch, he shakes his fist at about head height, pauses, shakes some more a bit more vigorously, pause, shakes, pause, grabs a baseball cap from the passenger seat and waves it about furiously.

I run a mental checklist to make sure I'm behaving. Yep, doing my job as a driver stuck in traffic. Can't be me; maybe he's just mad in general.

I look back at him, and he's still shaking. And now he's looking me right in the eye through the mirror, with a vicious scowl. Shake shake. Scowl. I tilt my head in the universal "?" gesture, but he just gets angrier. More shaking. Back up comes the ball cap. Then he's flashing his lights at me. Flash flash. Switches to highbeams. Flash flash. I triple check. Nope, not doing anything wrong that I know of. Since traffic's dead still, I turn around in my seat and make a shrugging "dunno" gesture, to see if he'll elucidate. Nope, more fist shaking, more light flashes, and now he's honking. Honk honk. Flash flash. Shake shake. But he won't tell me what's so horribly wrong.

When I got home, I checked my car over. Lights in working order, trunk closed, tires fine. Dunno what he was going on about. Maybe he was just letting off steam.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Sooooo....you weren't driving at your usual speed of 50mph in the fast lane? Cause if you were, I can see why he was so livid, but if you were just stuck in traffic....I dunno. Some people like to be angry.

[Swordsman422]

Shaking his fist?

Seriously, who beyond C-grade movie villans chakes a fist anymore? Come on, get a gun already!

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Dude...neko, if you see a little red dot sliding around the dash board of your car, drive FASTER. (for once)

[blas]

That was the guy from this morning when I was driving home.

He was having a fricken seizure at the wheel. That or he was mentally insane. His head was bobbing to and fro and he was freaking out and flaring his arms at nothing. The light was red. He was first to go. He swerved ALL over the road...

I got away from him ASAP. Wouldn't surprise me if later on he started flashing his beams because of a nervous tick.

[Pagan]

Doncha know you were in His Highness' way and he wanted you to move? Even though you couldn't go anywhere and he would've gained, what, a car length? Honestly, it must be great to be the only person on the road like these asswipes!

[Skandranon]

Sooooo....you weren't driving at your usual speed of 50mph in the fast lane? Cause if you were, I can see why he was so livid, but if you were just stuck in traffic....I dunno. Some people like to be angry.

No, I wasn't going 50 like I normally do. But honestly, what's so wrong about going 50? The speed limit's 55. That means BELOW 55, not frickin' 75 like all the other cars on the road. And I'm in a company vehicle, yo.

[RentalRacer]

No, I wasn't going 50 like I normally do. But honestly, what's so wrong about going 50? The speed limit's 55. That means BELOW 55, not frickin' 75 like all the other cars on the road. And I'm in a company vehicle, yo.

Well, if you are going under the speed limit, keep it out of the passing lane. Thats all I would ask.

[gregmaddux17]

Dude...neko, if you see a little red dot sliding around the dash board of your car, drive FASTER. (for once)

The cops wouldn't be able to catch you or run you off the road if your car had a moving and flashing red light on the front.

[ArenaBoy]

If you ever drive on I-75 in Michigan or near it be prepared to have a lead foot. Michigan drivers like to go fast. A friend of mine once joked that out of state freeways should have a Michigan lane with a sign reading: "Caution, do not drive in lane unless you have a lead foot." I've had friends go a good 90-100 on I-75. Ah Michigan, what fun.

[Gurndigarn]

Reminds me of one day. First off, around here, horns or lights means "look out!" not "speed up!" At least to most people. (An extended middle finger means the same thing as anywhere else, however.)

I'm speeding. Not enough for the cops to care about usually, not as much as most people... but I'm definitely speeding. And I'm in a four-lane per side interstate. I look in my rearview mirror, and there's a lady flashing her high beams at me.

OK, I take it off the cruise to try to figure out what she's warning me about. Nothing there, and she's still flashing me. OK, she's either from out of town or just a complete caffinated soccer mom. That's fine. I put the cruise back on.

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

OK, lady, lay off it. You've been doing this for at least twenty seconds. There are three freaking lanes to my right that are wide open. By the time the road hits four lanes, you sort of lose the "passing lane on the left" thing. Go around me.

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

OK, now I want you the hell away from me. Which means I want you to pass me, since if I speed up, you'll only speed up. And I've seen to many people passing me on the right while accelerating at top speed to want to move over myself, just in case that's when you make your move. Cruise gets set below the speed limit so that she'll get the hint.

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

OK, down to 50.

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

45.

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

The minimum speed is 40, so I'm not dropping any lower. Keep in mind that the entire time, we've been in 4 or 5 lane interstate with a light traffic load. There is nothing preventing her from passing me other than the feeling that this is her personal, monogrammed lane.

We went three or four miles with her high-beaming me the entire time before we came to her exit. And when we started, I was speeding. It wasn't like I was poking along.

Lay off the amphetamines, lady. Speed kills.

[blas]

That was that guy's wife.

Maybe she was bored?

I'm not defending that kind of outrageous and irresponsible driving behavior, but when one of my friends first got her license, she could not understand the concept of only using highbeams when you're in front of everyone and like, out in the country or on deserted roads. And you turn them DIM when you see headlights starting to come at you. Perhaps that lady was confused?

[Gurndigarn]

I'm not defending that kind of outrageous and irresponsible driving behavior, but when one of my friends first got her license, she could not understand the concept of only using highbeams when you're in front of everyone and like, out in the country or on deserted roads. And you turn them DIM when you see headlights starting to come at you. Perhaps that lady was confused?

Nope. Not confused. She was distinctly turning them on and off. For several miles.

[powerboy]

I hate it when people ride my bumper. I had this one guy, back when I had my Ford F150 a couple of years ago, who was riding my bumper, and I didn't even know it, until I left a stop sign.

I also had one guy who was using his high beams, one early evening. I was going down this one street, that was notorius for police to be hiding down every other side street. I was driving the speed limit. He drove was too fast past me, and got pulled over by 3 different police cars.

Warning: If you ride my bumper, it will not cause me to go faster. It would actually cause me to drive slower and slower until you get the hint

[JustADude]

Ah yes...crappy drivers who seem to feel that my going 15 over the speed limit is still not fast enough for them. But see, instead of catering to their whims, I prefer to piss them off even more. I'm sure one day I'm going to be the victim of road rage.

Oh, I do the exact same thing, and I'm severely NOT worried about Road Rage. Anyone who's not scared off by 3 guys who are all over 6' tall piling out of a Toyota compact is going to have to FIGHT said trio, not one of us stepping up like an idiot.

If they're dumb enough to pull a weapon my late fiancee's uncle (who is actually YOUNGER than she was), the 3rd member of the Wrecking Crew along with me and my blood-bro, is licensed to carry concealed and got sharp-shooter qualifications at the training academy when he did a stint as a Deputy for a Sheriff Dept..

While we've had one or two people follow us into a parking lot after we had fun playing Piss Off The Tail-Gater, but us climbing out of the car and giving them The Look™ made them just get back in their cars and drive away. Both times they were late-20s/early-30s Yuppie types that looked like they were expecting some tiny person they could easily bully to feel better about themselves.