I feel awful for feeling this way. :/

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If drunks want to be stupid and kill themselves by driving drunk, that is their own personal choice and it is fine with me. Actions have consequences and it is enabling to shield them from the consequences of their own actions.

Unfortunately, they seem to like to take an innocent family in another car with them, so I am also fine with locking drunks up for years and years if they refuse to stop driving after a DUI. If they insist upon endangering the lives of other people, then they don't belong wandering loose in society.

(However, I do have some sympathy for the families of teens who kill themselves by doing stupid things with a motor vehicle)

[Colorado Rambler]

Originally Posted by LoveWisdom

The reason I feel upset is because they scare me by either almost running into me or by showing how easily they could have caused an accident and caused pain. When someone scares us or brings us pain (or thoughts of pain), we can react, lash out, wish them pain to pay them for the pain they caused us. Because being scared (you know, those moments when you almost run into someone) is very unpleasant. And these drivers cause us to feel those upsetting moments. So it feels like they should pay for doing it. It's the old payback idea in-programmed into us.

These sorts of drivers scare me, too. But here recently, I've started acting like them out of self preservation. I know how stupid that is, but I don't know what else to do. I have to drive about 7 miles every night to get to my turn off from a heavily used 2-lane highway filled with speeding semi's, and also both Natives and whites who obviously have had too much to drink and wanna show off by driving 90 mph. So there I am getting close to my turn-off with 5 or 6 crazies already jammed up my tail pipe (I had been driving the posted speed limit of 65mph). I tried tapping my brakes slightly a few times to let them know I'm slowing for my upcoming right hand turn. They just edge closer. Then I started just pulling over to the shoulder and slowing down when I was near home, but they are paved and have those stay-away rumble strips on them. Everytime I drive over on them, it always jars me slightly with surprise.

So now I've started fighting back. When I turn onto the road from hell, I jam on my gas pedal and quickly achieve lift off speed. This tactic usually leaves the regular speeders in my dust, so that by time I'm at my turn, I can tap my brakes with no immedient 17 car smash off. I know that joining the rat pack and turning desperado is not the answer, but swear I don't know what else to do. I wish all the rest of them would get their licences revoked forever, so that I could become a more cautious driver again.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

OP, I hope that you will one day be able to overcome such a strong reaction to people who do things like this. Yah, it's natural to want to see people get their comeuppance, but not by death just because they were driving 75mph. I think a little bit of it is our own ego, as well. When we take a step back and evaluate ourselves, we become a little lighter with other people. Death like that is not pleasant, and I would not wish it, or rejoice over it, on anyone.

Originally Posted by sade693

Similarly, reckless drivers were probably reinforced by that behavior. Maybe they never got in trouble for speeding. Maybe their friends would laugh their wild driving off rather than scold them for it. Maybe they'd never learned a proper way to deal with stress or whatever, and drove in such a way as an emotional outlet. If that's the case, they likely felt invincible to any negative outcomes of their dangerous behavior.

This paragraph, but especially the bolded part. I think that is what we see a lot today. People have no idea how to handle stress, and they act out on the road by driving fast, weaving in and out of traffic, and even driving on the shoulder.

Now, OP, what about the person who was not driving like a maniac and was not drunk? What about the person who pulls right out in front a car, or a truck, and is killed? Do they deserve to die, too? A momentary lapse in good judgement means death is to be rejoiced?

I got plowed in to in 1999 by another driver. He was out of control, (he was high as a kite), and was coming right for me. The ONLY thing that saved me from being killed, or in a wheelchair, or a vegetable right now was my own driving skills. (Yes, I haz them. I drove for a living...you gain skills when you do that for so long.) Right now, I'm in pain. I will always be in pain. It will never go away. It's been 14 years, and I still have pain, constantly. Yes, even right this second.

But I would NEVER rejoice in the death of the person who injured me like this. Oh, I would love it if he had to feel what I feel for just one day....but death? If I were to see him get in to an accident and be killed, that would not make me rejoice. I AM one of those people that these "idiot" drivers hurt, and I still don't sit here smugly when they screw up and get killed in accidents. Of course I think they are idiots. I might even verbalize that. "Fricken moron!" But there's no pleasure in that, for me.

[etacarinae]

I was in an accident in September , struck by someone who ran a red light. My car was totaled , and I went straight to hospital. They stated they weren't injured , but 2 months later are suing me for $2 million , citing 'injuries'. I'm aware latent injuries show themselves after months or years , so I'm not negating this possibility. I had a green arrow , limit was 35 , and this redneck in a double axle pickup flies through at about 55 , smashing the car nearly to oblivion. This area of the city I live in is populated by an excess of young people , and men in midlife crises , driving sports cars thinking they are in Nascar or something. After at least 100 incidents with these motha****as riding the bumper , acting like life is a commercial , wrong lane speeders , I have no remorse for someone who perishes as a result of stupidity. Hell yeah , I hope they die!! Maybe Earth would be a better place without their kind. Most of the fools you see promoting violence , and associated atrocities have similar personalities. There is a lake about 30 miles north of my location that I like to fish , however , decline to do so due to the drivers. The street leading to the main channel has stripmalls for miles on both sides , and is gridlocked in perpetuity. Don't feel like being bothered , or using 10 gallons of gas to travel 2 miles. Some may see this as cold , heartless , or whatever but I don't care. Anyone else who perishes or is injured , gets my total sympathy.

[nickerman]

hard labor