Is there anything?

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 01/22/2014 at 16:56 • Filed to: Rage

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Is there anything you can do that's legal for brake checkers? I got brake checked heading back from my weekend plans on a quite 2 lane highway in Wyoming (I was doing 70 in a 65, he was doing...68?) I came up behind him and was preparing to pass when he jams it down to 40...no reason. I pass him later; late teens or early 20's, skinny, stupid hat and what I'm assuming is is overweight GF in the passenger seat both flipping us off. Just me, my wife, and my 2 sleeping girls, just trying to drive home. I wasn't tailing him, i wasn't doing anything to threaten him...

Yeah, people like that make me....Furious. Frankly Its not a stretch to imagine how people get so upset they do something stupid like shoot other people or run them off the road over road rage incidents. I think the reason it makes us so made its because there is nothing we can do...i mean, is there? Basically you are helpless, subject to their whims because short of ending up on the nightly news, what can you do? Its this impotence that gets me (us?) wound up more than the act.

Oh you flipped me off...well...SCREW YOU!

Anyone have ideas of ways to mitigate the impotent rage? I try and just let it go, but its hard (HA! hard and impotent in the same sentence)

ddavidn > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 16:58

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I call them in as drunk, occasionally. But I don't call anyone in very often.

JustWaitingForAMate > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:00

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Why did you have to put a 'legal' caveat on it.

I got nothing.

HammerheadFistpunch > ddavidn 01/22/2014 at 17:00

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something tells me that wouldn't go very far in Evanston WY

ddavidn > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:01

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Probably not.

Arben72 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:01

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Brush gaurd and a dash cam.

jariten1781 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:02

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I used to get on the CB and broadcast that they were acting like a jackass. Sometimes the truckers would make his drive a bit more painful. I don't have a CB anymore though and I haven't been brake checked in a very long time so I doubt I'd do anything now.

HammerheadFistpunch > Arben72 01/22/2014 at 17:03

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You have no idea how temping this idea has been for me lately. Whats the legal recourse in rear ending someone that clearly brake checks? that's where I get stuck.

Im set for the car

and an ARB bumper may be in my future...

I_AmDeath > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:06

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You can actually call them in to the police I know that truckers have to do it quite often.

marshknute > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:07

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A friend of mine just shoots them with a bright orange paintball pistol. Not sure if that's legal or not, but it gets people out of the way really damn quickly!

You could always fit your car with a train horn or a foghorn to scare people out of your way.

deekster_caddy > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:07

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Plan your passing better? And call the cops. "He is driving very erratically and changing speeds for no apparent reason, seems to be intentionally creating a hazard." No lies, just the facts. Get the plate number and year/make/model if you can. It all gets recorded somewhere.

He may not get stopped today, and that stuff never goes "on your record" but they keep track of it all, somewhere.

Klaus Schmoll > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:08

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I always wanted to get one of these LED bars to tell them what I think. But over time, with age came wisdom. I just get past these idiots sooner or later (more often later), and I just shrug it off and forget about them. No point in holding a grudge! It just spoils your day(s), while these idiots feel righteous, and get a kick out of it.

dogisbadob > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:08

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Probably some criminal kid trying to commit insurance fraud

HammerheadFistpunch > deekster_caddy 01/22/2014 at 17:09

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plan my passing better? I'm not sure you understand that I wasn't ever tailgating him.

HammerheadFistpunch > dogisbadob 01/22/2014 at 17:09

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I wouldn't go that far, since he wasn't trying that hard for me to hit him, my guess is that he was a bored small town kid.

Arben72 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:10

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Don't know about legal recourse as I'm not a lawyer but if you hit them hard enough (especially if you get a lift kit), I do know dead men don't make good witnesses. I'm guessing you could claim possible insurance fraud and if they go under the minimum speed limit for no reason while brake checking they could be found at fault.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:12

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Aside from dashcam and then Youtube -> Facebook of the local constabulary, I don't think there is much one can do.

I agree with people wanting to go completely Mad Max with brush bars/external cages. I would love to have an H1 with an external cage just to plow through the idiots who can't be bothered to follow our traffic laws.

I_AmDeath > I_AmDeath 01/22/2014 at 17:12

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It's technically reckless driving.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > JustWaitingForAMate 01/22/2014 at 17:15

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Because he want's to be able to despense justice and not have to worry about his insurance getting dinged.

Bird > marshknute 01/22/2014 at 17:18

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Not sure if that's legal? Let me help you. It's not. Also, it's just plain stupid. What happens when he shoots at someone with a real gun?

If I even witnessed someone shooting a paintball gun at another car, I'd call 911, give them the plate number, and tell the operator they were shooting a gun indiscriminately in traffic. How many cops do you think would show up for that call?

crowmolly > marshknute 01/22/2014 at 17:20

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Not even close to legal

desertdog5051 > I_AmDeath 01/22/2014 at 17:23

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Good luck with that. A lot of dead air in WY.

Dallas Sadler > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:35

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When I get into confrontation with people I generally freeze up with anger. I can't say anything because my mind is blank with anger. But when there is a barrier between us, as it is while driving, I feel compelled to set forth my own justice. The kid probably feels like he's the smarter, better person and he has the right to have justice served for something that's nothing. That's how I used to be.

I had a girl brake check me. I was super pissed. She could have caused a major accident. I was younger and stupider then(might still be). I got around her and ahead of her at a longish distance then slammed on my brakes to a near stop. I thought that was retaliation but I too could have caused a serious incident.

Figuring out how to deal with anger is a journey. I have gotten myself down from showing them my anger to cussing and now to small muttering to myself. However I still would like to get a couple of GoPros in my car and upload to YouTube all the stupid driving that occurs in front of me.

ihm96 > Klaus Schmoll 01/22/2014 at 17:43

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Haha having a bar like that would be soo much fun. Just think of all the pranks you could play

davedave1111 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:43

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You're not normally in the right if you fail to avoid an accident you could have avoided, even if it was ultimately caused by someone else being an idiot.

davedave1111 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:47

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Being that kind of a douchebag is its own punishment, but if you really want to do something, try confusing him: smile, wave, thank him as if he just let you in.

marshknute > Bird 01/22/2014 at 17:49

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It's almost like there's a reason I don't drive with him anymore. Pennsyltucky has some crazy people in it (exibit A: my friend), and I don't care to find out what types of colorful guns the brake-checker has on board.

HammerheadFistpunch > davedave1111 01/22/2014 at 17:52

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That's the best one yet. Then I can train my daughters to throw nails out the window or something.

"If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at some guys, throw one of those little baby-type pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think of how crazy war is, and while they're thinking, you can throw a real grenade." — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

Bird > marshknute 01/22/2014 at 17:53

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Ok, nevermind. You didn't explain the geographic region.

I have relatives in the 'Tuckasee' area...

davedave1111 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 17:56

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I don't know about that - not really worth the bother in my book. There's a line I remember from some old sitcom I saw years ago: one person asks 'why do you hate me so much?' and the other one replies 'I don't hate you, I nothing you'.

A waste of skin like the one you encountered isn't worth my anger. At most, I might chuckle for a second or two at what an idiot he is, and how empty his life must be.

Korea Miéville > Dallas Sadler 01/22/2014 at 18:00

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One thing that helps me deal with anger is reminding myself that all I really do when I give in to anger is create a toxic cloud that poisons me and the people I care about. If I allow myself to be put into a bad mood by some jackass, and that spoils my day and turns me into a total sourpuss at home with my family, I've let that jackass beat me. Stewing over it just means you suffer the original offense over and over again.

However, I also like your idea of posting videos of the idiocy to YouTube. Since cold-blooded murder is currently illegal in most states, the next best alternative is public shaming.

Deven > HammerheadFistpunch 01/22/2014 at 18:51

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If I have that happen to me I throw a soft drink from a fast food place if I have one in my truck but that is only reserved for the people who I try to avoid but go out of their way to try and cause me to run off the road

deekster_caddy > HammerheadFistpunch 01/26/2014 at 10:11

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Sorry I missed this reply somehow. All I meant was, typically in a pass situation, you give yourself lots of space, don't get right up on him. You should be on the other side of the road well before you are within 'brake check' range, unless there isn't enough visibility etc. So if you weren't tailgating him, how could he brake check you? Being brake checked sort of implies that you were too close already.

Anyway, I would stick with 'call in an erratic driver' as the right thing to do.