|
All right here’s my story :
About this time last year my wife and I were heading to a friend’s house. We are on a four-lane road and when I come to the stoplight there is a semi in the right lane and a dump truck in the left lane in front of me. The light turns green and both trucks take off real slow ( I know that it takes awhile for them to pick up speed so I patiently wait for them to start going ). There are no turns on this road for a couple of miles so I hang back so the trucks can see me in their mirrors so they will know I am behind them.
The semi sees me and slows down to let the dump truck get in front of him and gives him the signal. I wait for awhile for the dump truck to move over ( it is noon on a Sunday on a major road with a ton of cars behind me ) so I can pass both safely in the left hand lane ( speed limit is 50 mph – we are going about 30 mph ) I wait and wait for the dump truck to merge but he just sits there and refuses to move over for about a mile ( both trucks still going about 30 mph ).
I finally get fed up, speed up ( I was still in the left lane, by the rear of the semi, behind the dump truck so he could see my in my mirrors, with a nice gap between the front of the semi and the rear of the dump truck ) get in front of the semi, get in the left lane in front of the dump truck, and slow down to about 20 mph.
I am angry, and slow down gradually to slow down the dump truck because I am so upset by his inconsideration. Of course now the dump truck is getting mad I am slowing him down and starts wailing on his horn ( keep in mind my wife is in the passenger seat and not very happy with me at the moment ). By slowing down the dump truck the semi passes and the cars that were stuck behind us are now able to pass in the right hand lane.
I look about a mile ahead and see that there are police stopping traffic and letting cars out from an event. When I stop the car for the police officer in the street I see the dump truck driver in my rear view mirror get out of the car. I jump out of the car and the guy is furious and starts walking towards the car screaming and swearing at me at the top of his lungs. Of course the police officer stops directing traffic and walks over.
The dump truck driver then tells the officer that I got in front of him and slammed on my brakes and he almost crashed into me. I explain what really happened, apologize for being an idiot, and reason that I would not slam on my brakes in front of a dump truck because I know I would lose that battle in a heart beat. The dump truck driver is still screaming and swearing at me and another two squad cars pull up.
One takes me off to the side and the other takes him off to the other side. I am calm and apologetic, but the other guy is still going nuts. The cop tells me that a lot of truck drivers carry bats or pipes in their trucks and unless I have a death wish not to pull this kind of stunt again. I apologies again and he tells me to get in my car and take off while they calm the other guy down.
Needless to say when I get in the car my wife is furious and doesn’t talk to me for the rest of the drive. I promise her I will never do something that stupid again, and every time someone does something idiotic on the road ( which seems to happen a lot since I got the Boxster, getting cut off, cars slowing down on purpose when I am behind them, etc ) I remember back to that day and think of what could have happened ( bodily injury / arrested ) and I just let it go.
Bottom line is that there are a lot of idiots and crazy people on the road and it’s just not worth it…
Nick
|