Over-aggressive Morons

This particular rant is many years in the making. I have noticed that in the last 5 years or so, that I have had to endure over aggressive drivers more and more often. Here's a couple of examples.

One day one the way home from work, I noticed a guy behind me in a Dodge Ram. I happened to be in the left lane of a 4 lane divided road and the right lane was polluted with folks looking to make right turns. Also, I was traveling at 50 MPH which is actually 15 MPH OVER the posted speed limit. After a mile or so, I looked up and Ram Butt was getting progressively closer. A little while longer, I noted that this chump is now about 3 feet from the back of the Monster, and has taken to driving as close to the Jersey barrier as possible. (Apparently so that I may more easily see how mad he is). All the while I can see Ram Butt yelling at me. At the next light, he pops into the right lane, pulls up next to me, rolls down his window and tells me that he's a City of Pittsburgh cop, and I'll be receiving a ticket in the mail. What he didn't realize was that he was wearing his Carlow College security guard uniform (It said so on the sleeve) so I smiled, rolled up my window, and proceeded to ignore him. Haven't seen (or heard from him) since.

Some time later, as I was driving to work on a 2 lane twisty back road, A Chevy Pickup appeared in my mirror. Again, I was traveling at a speed that was slightly above the posted limit, but well within safe limits. Again, the pickup guy apparently thought that I was too slow for him and also thought that tailgating me would cause me to go faster, or that I'd move over. Chevy man eventually backed off, but only after I used what I consider to be extreme measures. Of course, this particular OAM decided to take a verbal shot at me before veering off at the next intersection by telling me "FUCK YOU!" He really wasn't my type, so that won't happen. Anyway, the point of this whole rant is....

That OAM's are the result of the poor driver's training that is prevalent in this country, (especially PA) and the general decline in civility in the general populace. The only way that OAM's will disappear will be the day that politicians realize that just handing a license to every 16 year old that manages to not wreck their car during the driving test is counter-productive. I would like to see a minimum time frame between the arrival of a new learner's permit and the opportunity to test for a license to be at least 1 year. And that the student driver not only show ability to properly operate a motor vehicle, but demonstrate the maturity to do so safely. Also, I realize that the police are stretched to their limits currently, and do not have the resources to combat the problem fully. But I would like to see police officers being more visible out on the roads (not parked on the side on a "traffic post". Please, I know MANY police officers), which would certainly discourage such behavior.

In conclusion, I DO NOT recommend that anyone take the sort of measures that I might, and since the law enforcement community recommends that you move over and give the OAM what he wants, I suggest the same.

Update 12 August 07

This may invoke some bad feelings amongst any ladies reading this (if there are any) But what's up with the over aggressive female morons (OAFM) out there? Call me what ever you prefer, but I liked it better when women drivers were less, shall we say...... male? Some of the worst examples of OAM's I've seen lately are women. There's one in particular that I have to endure on most drives home from work. This OAFM drives a Chrysler minivan like it was a Sprint cup car. Pushy, aggressive, and certainly appears to be looking for an incident. And she's just one example. I wonder if all of these folks, not just the women, realize that they're taking not only their own life, but that of others, into their hands when they drive like idiots? And please, don't bother writing me to beat me up over this. I am a believer in equal rights, but that doesn't mean that I think women need to be just like men. There's nothing wrong with the differences between women and men. It's those differences that make life what it is.

Funny, I notice that over the last few months that some groups (not identified) have been airing anti-aggressive driving adds on the radio, and some billboards with the same subject have popped up. A good start in my opinion, but certainly not enough. I think that legislative action and follow-up media attention should be taken to further discourage Over Aggressive Driving. Now, I usually don't believe that behavior can be modified by laws, but it may help continue the process of re-educating of those folks.