Road Rage
I’m not ashamed to admit it. I was scared. Not wetting my pants, crying like a baby scared, but hair standing up on my neck, got my attention, knot in my stomach kind of scared.
I made a right turn in front of a 4-wheel drive on the way home for a coffee break Sunday night. Okay I didn’t have heaps of room but I gave it a boot full (read accelerated with purpose) around the corner and I’m fairly certain the 4wd didn’t have to slow down in the slightest as a result. That didn’t bother him though as he flashed me several times with his 100watt spotties. I gave him the finger and he drew closer almost to the point of hitting me.
I wasn’t intimidated by his carry on at this stage as this is something which I have experienced several times during the 11yrs I’ve driven a cab. I just slowed down a bit making sure to stay right on the speed limit.
After about a minute he backed off and I thought maybe he had enough. Just the same I didn’t indicate my intention to take the next left just in case and turned at the last moment. Thats when I realised he was either really pissed off or just wired wrong in the head as he stopped in the middle of the intersection before turning the corner and speeding after me.
The first road had been single lanes both ways but now we were on a dual lane road and he was coming up alongside me or at least thats what he thought. In the past cars have passed me then moved over in front of me and slammed the brakes on. Not wanting to be part of his crazy game I waited till he was just passing me and hit the brakes hard. He went sailing passed and stopped about 25-30meters further down at which point I did a u-turn and headed back the other way hoping he would get tired of it all and leave me alone.
He didn’t. That was the point I got scared. It’s one thing to flash your lights at someone or tailgate them to scare them a little, even brake testing someone is pretty much nothing to get excited about provided your expecting it which I was. It’s when the other guy changes direction twice determined to follow you and exact some revenge that things get a little too exciting for me.
I wondered just how far this guy was prepared to go. I was also faced with a choice. Less than 1km from where I was was a highway, should I head out there and use the power of the engine to out run this moron, the downside being it’s out of the way and if anything happened I would be on my own or should I turn left through the intersection again and head through the suburbs.
I decided on suburbia and once on the side road noticed it was also dual lane and thankfully it had some traffic. I took the right lane, found a gap, put the boot into it and pasted around 8 or so cars before pulling back into the left lane and slowing back to the speed limit. At the next set of lights I took the left, glancing in the mirrors the whole time. Mr Psycho stopped part way into the intersection and waited maybe 10 or 15 seconds before carrying on to wherever crazy individuals like him go.
I continued on my way home, checking the mirrors the whole way. Almost expecting him to pop up behind me like some cheap horror movie and start at me again. I made my coffee when I got home and sat down to watch Rocky IV on the TV.
I can tell you, it was at least a quarter hour after I got home before I stopped shaking.
February 6, 2007 at 06:29
Shit, Becker..
I had a friend who was engaged to a guy who used to pull up at intersections next to cars that had pissed him off and pull out a tyre iron.. just to show them they shouldn’t fuck with him..
In many other ways – he was a lovely bloke.. but in the end she decided that his latent aggression was too much of a risk..
February 6, 2007 at 14:12
Hey Kimba thanks for stopping by. You have the honor of being the first to comment on my blog lol. Sorry to hear your friend had to make that choice. It can be really scary at times on the road, you never know who your dealing with.
February 7, 2007 at 16:08
Yes..
Wow.. thanks! The first!! Do I get a trophy..? Or a cabcharge voucher as an incentive?
I was in a cab on NYE and the cabbie talked on his phone the whole time and then when I went to pay he put down his phone and grabbed me on the back of the head and tried to kiss me..
*frown*
When I relayed that story at the NYE party a girl there said the same had happened to her a few weeks before.. different cabby.. she freaked out and fell out of the cab and sprained her wrist..
Other than that.. I like cabs.. I swear I almost know all in Melbourne by name now..
February 8, 2007 at 06:49
Kimba I’ll look into the trophy thing :-)
Did you get the number of the cab ?? or if you called it there will be a record of the number with dispatch. He needs to be reported as that is not right under any circumstances. In fact it’s assault. If you had been talking about things related to sex, love, dating etc and I’m drawing a really long bow here. Then maybe, just maaaaybeee he might have read the signals wrong and it could be excused but what he did is akin to me walking along the street and grabbing your head and trying to kiss you. Totally wrong. Find him, Charge him.
February 13, 2007 at 07:57
G’day from above the equator! Thanks for visiting us, and thanks for your comments. I just wanted to say that I think your blog theme is *superb*.
February 13, 2007 at 10:55
Hey Becker..
I told a cabbie on Saturday night that his aftershave/scent was really cool – it was kind of a hippy spicy kind of a scent.
So he gave me a little bottle of it!! Some oil stuff from India I think.
Cab cultural exchange.. it’s kind of an intimate thing when you step into someone else’s car.. It’s nice when you make a brief connection..
February 14, 2007 at 07:22
Kimba said in a previous comment:
It’s nice when you make a brief connection..
Yes it is and some people treat you, your car and the whole environment like shit while other people such as yourself understand that a cab really is an extension of the drivers personal space especially when you consider I spend roughly 60 hours each week in the cab and that makes a big difference not only to the driver but also to how the ride goes. As you say there are times the driver and the passenger connect albeit briefly.
Which reminds me of a guy I took home a while ago after getting out he came back to check he hadn’t left anything behind. When he asked if he had left anything I said “Only a good impression” and we both chuckled and went our separate ways.
February 14, 2007 at 07:23
G’day Doug, thanks for stopping by mate. Glad you like the blog and I hope you find the answers your looking for on the home front too.
February 14, 2007 at 07:28
kimba I said I would look into it and I didn’t forget
Here is your “1st person to comment on my blog trophy”
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February 14, 2007 at 10:55
haHA!! thanks Becker!
Is it a little lopsided??
More stories please.. or maybe I should go back to the beginning and read your back catalogue..