New Road Rage Lunatic Just Dropped
For once I think I've come across a road rage video that is in fact new, and not something recycled from 10 years ago that I will be ridiculed for upon posting. Maybe I'm wrong. Now I've claimed that, I'm almost guaranteed to be wrong. But it was posted on r/PublicFreakout 2 days ago by someone stating this happened on Saturday in Vancouver, Washington.
I can't find anything about this man being arrested either, so it appears he has gone unpunished. If you're in Vancouver, Washington, and you find yourself behind a silver Acura MDX, license plate BZX4731, maybe give him a little space. Or if you're looking for a viral video/fist fight, try fucking with him a bit. It should be worth a good story.
Road rage is such an interesting thing. I feel like it's something most of us have felt to an extent. Not to the extent of actually getting out our vehicles, spitting on someone's driver's side window, and going full Diddy Kong on the hood of their vehicle. But when I'm in line to turn left at a stop light, and the light turns green, and the car in front of the line isn't pulling out into the middle of the intersection so at minimum the 2 cars behind him will be able to make a left as the light turns red, I feel a type of anger I don't feel anywhere else. Except for maybe when I'm in line at a convenience store and the person at the counter is playing the lottery. Or when I feel like my favorite football team has been done wrong by a referee. And probably a few other situations that aren't coming to mind right now.
But still... in that situation, as irrationally angry as I'll be, I'm not going to get out of my car. I'm not going to do anything remotely close to what this lunatic did. But I will be seething internally in a way that is not rational. I'm going to wish horrible things upon that driver in my head. And if another driver in line takes it upon themselves to hop out and karate kick the rearview mirror off the side of their Prius... I will cheer him along internally from the safety of my locked vehicle. Because in that moment, delaying my commute to work by even 2 minutes is the single greatest sin a human can commit. There's something about being in a vehicle that makes people's brains short circuit. Whatever part of the brain is responsible for patience and understanding just shuts off entirely. It causes people to do some of the wildest shit you'll ever see.
So when I see a videos such as this, I'm never going to defend the road raging maniac. But I do think it's a bit unfair that we never get the full story. What did the person filming do? Could they have possibly deserved it? Was he aggressively tailgating this man, even though he was going the universally agreed upon 10 mph over the speed limit? Did he not give them ample room to merge? Or did they execute a perfectly safe merge in front of them, but they still gave a disapproving Dikembe Mutombo-style finger wag, even though there was plenty of room to get in. Honestly, if you me with a Dikembe Mutombo (RIP) finger wag while in traffic when I know for a fact I did nothing wrong… I actually might catch an assault charge for that. I can handle a middle finger. But a pompous, high & mighty finger wag when I know I'm in the right… I can't let somebody get away with that shit. I can't let that driver get home thinking he taught me a lesson. He needs to be punished.
Unless you get finger wagged… stay in your car folks. There are cameras everywhere. It's never worth it.