OT: Drivers, what you do? The REST of the story!

"Ernie Sty" wrote in news:7aidnWxMlpTVZJbanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Seems to me this was one of those situations you could not possibly have changed in any way, and where you could not possibly have communicated the facts to the other driver. You were stuck. Period. These things happen.

Hundreds (thousands?) of novel, stage play, TV show and movie plots hinge on exactly this sort of lack of communication.

Not only that, the other driver was perfectly justified in expressing his ire at your seeming attempt at "teaching him a lesson" for running up your ass. He had no way of knowing why you did what you did.

It is a bit odd that you would ask opinions on this episode before providing contextual information. That was quite unfair actually, since appropriate response demanded knowledge of the precise circumstances, INCLUDING the perceptions of both parties in the event. My response, for instance, was wholly inappropriate in this specific circumstance, reasonable as it was.

Shit happens. Move on with your life.

What was your point with this pointless exercise, anyway?

Yep. And it underscored a lesson I've learned countless times and will likely learn many more times before it sticks: No one makes angry. Ever. We do that to ourselves.

And another: Never do anything out of anger until you have the full story. And as a follow-up rule, never assume you have the full story.

Not at all. I presented it as what the driver of the truck would have seen.

There was no intent of unfairness, and I don't understand what was unfair about it.

EXACTLY. However, people responded as though they had all the information they needed in order to make the judgment. It's natural, everyone does it all the time. We have to make assumptions to survive. However, problems can arise when assumptions are mistaken for knowledge.

I probably would have done the same thing the truck driver did, if not worse, had I been in the truck rather than the car. The truck driver wasn't tailgating. However, I would have assumed the driver of the car thought I was and that he slammed on his brakes out of spite. And that assumption would have pissed me off a lot. I probably would have flicked on my brights and tailgated the car for a few miles. Yeah, it would have been the wrong response to the situation, but it's the right answer to what I would have done (at least, back then.) The situation taught me that even when the situation looks cut-and-dried, it ain't necessarily so.

Your response was. "If passing on the right was a legal option (as it is in my area), I would have simply done that in sufficient time so your left-lane-bandit wouldn't have had to make a move."

The only reason it was inappropriate is because you failed to answer the question, which is what would you do in that situation.

Allow me to simplify this.

I ask, "What would you do in [a specific situation.]" Appropriate answers would be to explain what you'd do in that situation, or to say you can't imagine yourself in that situation so you don't know what you'd do. To say "I wouldn't be in that situation" is inappropriate because it doesn't address the question. It's a senseless response.

My original intent was to see how people would react in that situation, and to post the other side of it and see how people reacted to that. I had no idea this was going to turn into a scene from "Idiocracy."

Still, it was fun and I did learn some things. Thanks to all who participated.

Seems to me you are overlooking one important fact: It is safer to steer around something than to try to brake to avoid it. Not knowing all of the circumstances except that the only other car on the road was behind you, you should have steered around the unknown object (balloon) even if it required you to swerve two lanes to your right... Braking is usually the 2nd choice in accident avoidance - steering is first.

Jack G.

Who gives a rat's ass?

why are you so concerned about what the truck driver may be thinking/feeling?

Jesus Christ. Shut up about it already.

"Ernie Sty" wrote in news:EMidnUnvocVal5HanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Are you being a moralist here? Have you conducted a sting operation?

That is even more unfair.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged." Is that the lesson you were trying to force this group to learn?

I still would have thrown the potato at you! ;)

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@nntp1.usenetserver.com:

To scold the rest of us for our moral failings, apparently.

Yeah, you never know what's going on in front of the car in front of you. Many years ago I was driving on a 4 lane roadway late at night and the car about half a mile in front of me stopped suddenly. There was very little lighting and I couldn't figure out why a car would suddenly stop and when I got to the car I whipped into the left lane and zoomed past. As I passed, I turned my head and saw a young boy crumpled in a bicycle under the front of the car that had stopped. The boy was wearing all black clothing and had no lights. I stopped but saw a dozen or so people running out from homes around and so I continued on. Next day I saw in the newspaper that it was a 14 year old boy and he had died.

CD

About 17 years ago I was driving home from work at night (1:30 AM) and came to a stop sign. A car came up rapidly behind me, went AROUND the traffic island and sped off without hardly stopping. Some drunk @$$hole, I thought (there were a LOT of them on that road at that time of night...)

I got to the center of town and the Ambulance from the local fire dept went whizzing in front of me with the lights and siren full blast. When I got to where the Ambulance was garaged, parked out front was the car that had blown through the stop sign.

I uttered a "Sorry!" under my breath.