I did snap a picture, but I didn't a clear enough one that you can read the tag number... it was very difficult to do while in the throes of a roadway duel that I wanted no part of.

It's also interesting that there was a fatality accident later that same day on the Broadway Extension from an out-of-control driver...

I initially thought this post was going to be about the dead bastard that was beating his woman on the Extension. Turns out it's about some OTHER doofus

every time i read a complaint about a specific road rage incident, without exception it has that "mom, he hit me *back*" attitude to it. the complainant always prefaces their screed with "all i did was... (insert lame excuse for not paying attention)", and then blames the other driver(s) for reacting to a problem that the complainant caused.

the linked article is only the most recent of this kind of story; i hear at least two a week from a coworker about his commute.

road stupidity and driver inattention are the diseases, road rage is merely a symptom that will go away when those diseases are cured.

I dunno. There's a Mopar minivan around town driven by a wizened creature at 82 percent of the speed limit, tops; I figure she deserves all the outrage she inspires.

exactly. that person in the minivan could easily say something like "i had just picked up mopsy my poodle from the pet spa (you know how nervous she gets if i drive over 27mph). anyways, **all i did was** turn around for a minute to give her a chewtoy, when this young whipper-snapper zoomed around me doing at least 40! on the interstate, and in the righthand lane too! those dadgum kids are crazy!"

now, who's the real road hazard? :)

I believe the technical term for such individuals is "rolling speed bump."

I'm curious, hattiesburg, as to why you feel that I wasn't paying attention. I wasn't going slower than anyone else in traffic... in fact, I was changing lanes to move around someone who was going slower. I didn't change lanes without looking either; she was more than a dozen car lengths behind me when I moved into that lane. I maintained going at or above the speed limit.

And even if I did pull into that lane inadvertently, is that an excuse for a response that seriously put both her and me, as well as the drivers around us, at risk?

People have cut me off, driven much slower than me and the rest of traffic (usually as they gab away on their mobile phone), and generally acted stupid while behind the wheel, but I have never put another driver in jeopardy no matter how much they pissed me off.

Road rage of any kind is more than a symptom, it's a very serious problem. It's like calling domestic violence a mere symptom of spousal stupidity or inattention to the needs of the other.

Having driven on the "Highway to Hell" (northbound Broadway Extension) more than a few times, I know that if One is driving only 60 mph (the "speed limit"), then One has no business in the left two lanes.

Despite what the government, AAA, and the like say, the safest speed to drive on the highway is the average speed of the traffic on that highway. Driving 10 mph below the average speed, even if it is the speed limit, is as dangerous to everyone as the joker driving 10 mph over the average speed.

You said you were passing someone. Were you just creeping by them? It takes quite a while to close "more than a dozen car lengths" unless the other car was going 95-100.

Yes, she should not have acted that way. She should've just blown by you and rocketed on her unmerry way. Yes, the police need to patrol that road more to cut the average speed down from 75 into the mid-60s.

I've been on both sides of the Roadrage issue, and neither side is lily-white. Most ragers need to be iced down, but the "victims" of the rage are rarely true victims; often they did something illegal to instigate the rage.

Driver ignorance, driver apathy, time mismanagement, and stress are the true causes of roadrage incidents. Everyone being attentive to their surroundings and being fully educated in vehicle operation is the only cure for the problem.

It's astounding how quickly people assume facts not in evidence when jumping to conclusions and making errant observations based on faulty conclusions.

First, at the time of this incident, traffic flow was moving 55 to 65, depending on which lane you were in. It was peak rush hour on southbound Broadway Extension, which depending on the conditions, can go as fast as 70 or as slow as 20.

Second, the section of the Broadway Extension that we were on at the time of the incident is actually FOUR lanes and I was in the inside RIGHT lane, trying to move into the outside RIGHT lane to pass a line of vehicles doing at least 5-10mph slower than the other three lanes.

Third, I am not a slow driver and am always on the leading end of the flow of traffic, not the dragging end. Ask anyone who knows me, I'm not the slow poke on the highway.

Finally, while I do not claim to be "lily-white" or without any fault — the chief of which was simply changing lanes at a reasonable speed consistent with the flow of traffic in front of someone who thought the far right lane was apparently the fast lane for driving at considerably faster than everyone else in congested rush hour traffic. I am confident beyond all reasonable doubt that I did nothing illegal.

Even if I did cut in front of her, her dangerous behavior was completely reckless and totally unacceptable. What surprises me most is how easily some people so casually dismiss or try to explain away such outrageous behavior. Is it, perhaps, because it so closely mirrors their own?

Yes, slow drivers, inattentive drivers and rude drivers can be frustrating, but nothing justifies such a disproportionate response that literally puts people's welfare in jeopardy.

...i just spent several minutes writing a logical and balanced response to mr. neese's points both valid and invalid. then i read his petty passive-aggressive follow-up on his blog that proves he would not have listened. so i'll just agree with dan b's point that, "Driver ignorance, driver apathy, time mismanagement, and stress are the true causes of roadrage incidents. Everyone being attentive to their surroundings and being fully educated in vehicle operation is the only cure for the problem." perhaps both the hot-feet and the goody-two-shoes of the world will take that advice.

All else being equal, I'd rather take my chances with the hotshoe types, there being at least a measurable possibility that they might actually know what they're doing.

Then again, how often is all else equal?

Brad, when you leave out pertinent facts, you force us to jump to our own conclusions. Bear that in mind the next time you knot your knickers for everyone assuming facts not evident.

ohhhh I can write volumes on this behavior, I've been driving since 1976. and the main thing to consider on a multi-lane merging situation is the overall SMOOTHNESS of your own vehicle's speed, always match it to the conditions, so SLOW DOWN if there is congestion. Leave "a cushion of air", as our Maryland MVA terms it, in their driver's manual. I see needless accidents every day, and there is generally a string of 6-7 cars all slammed together, in clear conditions and with a beautifully designed and maintained road. 100% driver error, but probably not even those drivers, someone ELSE cut through -in a way that I see some commenters admire- leaving behind deadly eddies of brake-slamming that become chain-reaction accidents. The real culprit is long gone. There is a hierarchy to driving. #1. make way for TRUCKS, both uphill and downhill. #2. be very considerate of motorcycles, and don't allow yourself to create a deadly blind spot for them (follow at the right distance). When people cooperate, the ENTIRE flow of traffic actually goes FASTER, there have been plenty of studies that prove it. When people play "chicken" it becomes more herky-jerky for everyone, and leads to stop-and-go conditions. It is like pouring liquid from a narrow-neck bottle, use finesse. And it doesn't matter if they build 8 or 12 lanes, we will still be congested, so it's time to adjust our methods to being part of a big pack. And one more tip, there is NO REASON to accelerate if you can SEE the congestion /or brake lights/ or a RED LIGHT at the intersection. There is nothing gained, although many try. Some people live a desperate life all around. The worst driving I've ever seen are people who are jockeying for position to get to the "Hollywood" movie rental. You'd think it was some real emergency ! people, get over yourselves, and learn to cooperate, we are tripling our population and, "Land, they're not making any more of it." Here's some great advice from George Washington, count to 10 and if that's not enough, count to 20. I apologise on behalf of everyone, that noone respects a considerate driver but ACCUSES him of bringing on his aggressor. That is shameful. She was clearly out of line, DRIVING ON THE SHOULDER to bypass the lanes and get in a position to confront and antagonise the other driver. At any point, if she needed driving space, it was available to her. She only wanted to show her disapproval in a very deadly way. I could exactly understand the flow of events from the original posting. Anything else is being willfully obtuse.

Okay, we have a huge inconsistency in this story. Brad was passed on the right, the lunatic was driving on the shoulder, but Brad also had a shoulder immediately to his left. This would be consistent with a one-lane one-way road, but the entire length of northbound Broadway Extension (I-44 to Memorial Rd) is 3- and 4-lanes.

I think the only conclusion we can come to is that Brad's communication skills need work.

As for zigzag, the only way you could understand it fully is to be a pal of Brad's (and are thus accustomed to his reporting style) or to have been present at the event (maybe driving the other car involved). For the rest of us the inconsistencies lead to confusion, and then frustration the story-teller has shown at our questioning of his story.

Dan, I don't make any claim that my story-telling is up to par with professional story-tellers and I can understand why some may feel like certain important details are being left out, although there seems to be plenty who understood the story, as it was written, without the same difficulties certain readers seem to have. On the other hand, it's amazing that with such "inconsistencies" and perceived lack of information, some still felt they could leap those communication gaps, filling them in with assumptions (and we know the old adage about assuming), to come to what they perceive as "informed" and "reasonable" judgments on the merits of my story.

First, this was a story I was relating to my readers, which Mr. Hill apparently thought was interesting enough to share with his readers. I was not publishing it as a thoroughly documented journalism piece for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post or New York Times. I was not writing it at the time thinking it would be held to the same standards as a peer-reviewed academic journal article. I was relating a personal story about the events that happened to me just a couple of hours prior.

Second, I first reacted to one reader making judgments about who was "really" at fault based on mistaken assumptions. I then reacted to another reader challenging the credibility of the story based on more mistaken assumptions. In retrospect, I shouldn't have responded to any of those faulty assumptions and conclusions because no amount of reason or facts was going to change their minds. However, to hopefully correct any misperceptions I may have created, I will share my final comments on this subject in this forum to try to correct these perceived "inconsistencies" and/or communication gaps that seems to be distressing certain readers seem.

One: I was traveling SOUTHbound on the Broadway Extension on my way FROM Edmond TO Downtown Oklahoma City.

Two: The incident began between Hefner Road and Britton Road while traveling SOUTHbound on Broadway Extension, where there are four lanes — two left lanes and two right lanes.

Three: Since we were still moving throughout the duration of the incident, we eventually found ourselves on the section of Broadway Extension that narrows from four lanes to eventually TWO lanes as you approach 63rd Street.

Four: The shoulder-driving portion of the incident happened around the I-44/Broadway Extension Interchange where there is an exit-only lane between the 63rd Street on ramp and the I-44 exit ramp, then comes a brief stretch of shoulder (in the "lane" between where the first exit lane turned west toward I-44 and where the second exit lane begins for I-44 travelers heading southbound onto Broadway Extension and Broadway Extension travelers heading eastbound on I-44). During this time, I was in the left lane, next to the cement wall center divider, which has only a couple of feet shoulder space. There was another, innocent vehicle to my right in the right lane. The "lunatic" drove through the first exit-only lane, did not follow that designated lane onto the WESTbound I-44 ramp, continued in the "lane" onto the shoulder, continued forward into the second exit-only lane (for those wanting to head EASTbound on I-44), then proceeded to cut in front of the innocent car in the right lane next to me and traveled across that lane into my lane (the left lane next to the cement wall center line divider), cutting me off.

And that's what I said in my description, just not in quite that many words. Others understood it, so I didn't see a problem until a couple of readers complained about my "inconsistencies."

I don't doubt that I failed as a communicator. But I wonder if perhaps the reader didn't do his/her part to understand what was written.

By the way, if zigzag is a pal, it's a pal I don't know about. I don't know anyone in Maryland.

So, I'm done now. Skewer away.

For the record, "zigzag" is a reader and email correspondent from the D.C. metro; if she's anyone's pal, she's mine.

So much blogger rage, so few topics ... whatsa reader to do?