Road Rage murder (Edgewood: crime, how much, neighborhood)

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Davros

So tragic.

One lesson we can learn --- don't engage in an argument with someone who appears to be completely unstable and full of rage over what's happened on the road.

It's best to remain courteous, try to defuse the situation by being apologetic or at least agreeable

Better yet, pay attention to what the hell you are doing, and mind your own business and keep driving. Parking lots are ultra dangerous anymore. My wife and I even saw a pedestrian hit near one of the parking lots at UPMC St Margarets this summer.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

I also had a late 20 something woman flip me off at Edgewood Towne Centre, and decided to pull up to see what her problem was. She sped off in a hurry when she realized I was pursuing her.

Following somebody because they flipped you the bird is just plain creepy, but it is really great that you managed to provide more evidence that people are nuts.

As a matter of personal policy (when there is no kid in the car), if somebody honks at me because I don't move as fast as they want me to on a when the light turns green, I flip them off. Mostly people seem to do it whenever I yield to pedestrians. The other day, a guy honked at a car that yielded to a crossing guard escorting two little kids across Murray. He didn't make the light and got yelled at. Made my morning.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

I've had some pretty funny encounters with women in traffic, thinking they were intimidating me by over use of their brake pedal, but their demeanor changes quickly when they know they are being followed. I also had a late 20 something woman flip me off at Edgewood Towne Centre, and decided to pull up to see what her problem was. She sped off in a hurry when she realized I was pursuing her.

OMG! You're just as bad as the woman PB&J described. You shouldn't follow people. That's freaky weird!

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Following somebody because they flipped you the bird is just plain creepy, but it is really great that you managed to provide more evidence that people are nuts.

All the more reason to mind your own business while driving, right?

[Hopes]

We had a woman flip out on us last night. My son was driving. It was an intersection where he was at a stop sign and people turning left had the right of way. This woman didn't have her turn signal on. My son already took possession of the intersection and she comes flying up trying to interject her car in front of our car. He was already in the middle of the intersection, the stop sign was way back there. My son pulled our car around hers to continue. She was seriously trying to ram her car into the side of our car. My son rolled down the window and said, "Use your turn signal." I must have flipped her off because her response was "You *****!" So we went past the intersection but had to come to a stop for a red light. I see in my rearview mirror that she's still stopped----like she's going to get out of her car to come after us. My instinct was to take my seatbelt off. My son says calmly, "Put your seatbelt back on, Mom." LOL I wasn't going to do anything. I was just getting ready to make an escape if necessary. It's amazing how the smallest thing can set people off!

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

There are not many parking lots in existence that are more rage-inducing than Whole Foods.

Waterworks Giant Eagle has to rank up there

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

Waterworks Giant Eagle has to rank up there

It's not bad. You're supposed to YEILD to the pedestrians, not get angry at them.

[gg]

Scott, you must be younger than I. At some point you are going to realize, you are never going to change the world. Sure I still have my days where I think I am going to change people and the way they drive in the city. I ride up to them on my bike and am singing, everyone is in a hurry to get nowhere. I mean I always catch up to the cars in the city. People just don't seem to comprehend speeding stop sign to stop sign or red light to red light just gets you no where. I get a good laugh at the 90%+ cars using their braking going up hill through the zoo. People just can't drive in the US. There is no training.

Anyway, the road rage thing is pretty often if you are in a hurry. If you are not in a hurry, you could probably drive YEARS without one incident. At my age I leave a tiny bit earlier and take my time. Sure I have the white knuckle people behind me all freaking out until we get to the next red light. Then they calm down and I like to think they realize they would have gotten nowhere by speeding about. Now in the country or the highway, sure you can make some time off your drive if you move along. In the city? No way. We are talking about seconds not minutes. Means nothing and is stupid.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Hopes

We had a woman flip out on us last night. My son was driving. It was an intersection where he was at a stop sign and people turning left had the right of way. This woman didn't have her turn signal on. My son already took possession of the intersection and she comes flying up trying to interject her car in front of our car. He was already in the middle of the intersection, the stop sign was way back there. My son pulled our car around hers to continue. She was seriously trying to ram her car into the side of our car. My son rolled down the window and said, "Use your turn signal." I must have flipped her off because her response was "You *****!" So we went past the intersection but had to come to a stop for a red light. I see in my rearview mirror that she's still stopped----like she's going to get out of her car to come after us. My instinct was to take my seatbelt off. My son says calmly, "Put your seatbelt back on, Mom." LOL I wasn't going to do anything. I was just getting ready to make an escape if necessary. It's amazing how the smallest thing can set people off!

Love your son's reaction to you taking your seatbelt off. Smart kid, you should listen to him!

People's reaction to the bird (or other driving irritations) can be really weird I guess. I do remember one guy, I can't remember why I flipped him off except that we were merging and he did something weird. It was on Rt 65 going south from E. Rochester so 4-lane divided road. He goes by and I flip him off. He the proceeds to slow WAAY down to about 30 mph, sticks his head out of the window screaming who knows what, etc. I stayed behind him because I sure as hell didn't want to be in front of him! He made to turn left at the place I usually turn so I went straight and took another route home. I made it look like I was dialing my phone when I went by but I didn't actually call since at that point things were over. Though I likely would have in a couple of these situations described, like PB&J's.

I get irritated at stupid driving but usually I'm just screaming in the car. I wouldn't follow someone, that's insane. There's only so much you can do without creating a MORE dangerous situation. I might slow down if someone tailgates me when I'm already going over the limit on a 2-lane road, or if I'm already following 1 or more cars in front of me. But the operative here is slow down, not brake check or something else that would endanger me or others.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by greg42

Love your son's reaction to you taking your seatbelt off. Smart kid, you should listen to him!

I know! I had to laugh at myself. It was hillarious.