The effect of attitude

[treadlightly]

This isn't a gun story, but it illustrates the reaction some people have to others.

For reference, http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/10/20/driv ... cle-crash/

A couple out on a motorcycle, riding too aggressively, get attacked by a motorist in a car. If I understand the situation correctly, the car driver, going a little slow and starting to pile up traffic, hits the "boring" button on a sport motorcyclist who passes in a no passing zone. It looks like he had visibility to pass, considering his acceleration and the slower speed of the two cars he was passing, but he was out of line. He shouldn't have tried to pass there.

Which didn't give the slow driver any right to nail the guy, sending his girlfriend into surgery.

There's obviously some blame on the part of the motorcycle pilot. He passed illegally. But more to the point from an armed citizen perspective, it's probably a really wise idea not to be an irritant. It's also true the car driver crossed the same yellow stripes the motorcyclist did. Pot and kettle, perhaps a case of homochromatic cookery, but with overzealous fun answered by calamitous intent.

Keep calm, carry, maintain situational awareness and the skills to answer deadly threat with precision, and keep a smile on your face if there's not a reason otherwise. Grin and be sociable, if for no other purpose than to confound your detractors and confuse your enemies.

My takeaway - I shouldn't be a jerk, someone could put my girlfriend in a hospital, and she's the only one for me these past 30 years.

Don't overreact for the obvious moral reasons, not to mention the legal entanglements.

[RoyGBiv]

Motorcyclist committed an infraction.
Cage driver committed a felony, almost killing two people because he didn't like their driving.

I'm all for "not being an irritant", but, where do I draw the line between caring what other people think and living my own life the way I see fit, as long as I don't impinge on the freedoms of others? Heck, I irritate a whole segment of the population just by being a white, hetero, male. Doesn't justify the hating.

I would love to be called for jury duty on that motorcycle attack. Too bad it's a skosh outside Tarrant County.

[allisji]

I grew up in a rural area where traffic was never a problem. I was accustomed to driving 5 over the speed limit and if someone else was going faster then they would pass or if they were driving slower then I would pass and it was generally not a big deal. Living in the city people spend hours stuck in traffic and tension gets high and people get angry, etc. I have had to adjust my attitude. I make a conscious effort each day to not be in a hurry and to assume the best about my counterparts in traffic. I don't have the authority to judge another driver and I should never intentionally impede another driver either. While I may suspect that they are just overly aggressive drivers with road rage, I don't know where they are headed and why they are in a hurry. To intentionally slow them down is not only asking for trouble, it could be delaying them during an emergency.

It's hard sometimes to not respond out of frustration in traffic, but if more people take the message then the roads will be much safer and more friendly.

[MONGOOSE]

While it appears to me that the car driver may be guilty of a Felon , I wasn't there. I have no idea of his speed or if he was impeding traffic. I have no idea if he had set the cruise button (Which this lead foot drives by). I have no idea if he was bitten. Seems to be a large bias to the car driver. Now the motor cycle driver was obviously passing in a no passing zone (had a lot of concern for his girl friend). As far as I can tell the driver or his gf were not wearing Helmets I think the motor cycle driver needs to additionally be charged with reckless endangerment causing bodily damage. I think we need to let the courts figure this incident out.

[John Galt]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

[MONGOOSE]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

Had not read that.

[Taypo]

This is what happens when one idiot's sphere of stupid collides with another idiot's sphere of stupid. They're both wrong, they're both being punished and quite frankly, the only person I have an ounce of sympathy for is the poor girl on the backside of the bike.

[MONGOOSE]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

Had not read that.

Do you have a link? I find no evidence of that.

[John Galt]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

Had not read that.

One of them was interviewed on TV, stating that when he was a boy, the guy threatened him with a shotgun, because his golf cart made too much noise and interrupted his nap.

I think it was FOX channel 4 DFW.

[cb1000rider]

A couple out on a motorcycle, riding too aggressively, get attacked by a motorist in a car. If I understand the situation correctly, the car driver, going a little slow and starting to pile up traffic, hits the "boring" button on a sport motorcyclist who passes in a no passing zone. It looks like he had visibility to pass, considering his acceleration and the slower speed of the two cars he was passing, but he was out of line. He shouldn't have tried to pass there.

I've been on both sides of it. And if you've ever passed a slow-moving bicyclist in a no-passing zone with no shoulder, you've essentially done the same thing.

As a motorcyclist, I've passed people on a double yellow stripe. It's illegal. I knew it then. I knew it now. Would I do it again? Depends on the performance of what I'm riding, how far I can see in front of me, and the speed at which the vehicle I'm passing is moving. Not saying it's right or legal.

IMHO, an illegal pass does not give any driver justification for acting aggressively. And this is the 1:10,000 that was caught on video.

I'm generally a driver these days that pulls over to let faster cars pass, even if I'm at the speed limit.

I've been on the other side of this also. In Austin, it's illegal to come within 3 feet of a bicyclist while passing. So on a 10+ mile road that's windy, double yellow, no shoulder, and you're behind a bicyclist that has no intention of pulling over at an ingress point.. I've literally spent more than 30+ minutes waiting for him to make a reasonable decision. He didn't do anything illegal. Neither did I. I just sat back and chilled out wondering how far he'd actually ignore me. He was remarkably fast, at 20-25mph. My guess is that 99.5% of the population would have passed him - and if you did, you largely committed the same traffic violation that I have on my motorcycle.

[Glockster]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

Had not read that.

Do you have a link? I find no evidence of that.

Looks like in the video linked here the reporter is holding prior arrest reports for assualt, making terrorist threats, etc.

[Glockster]

A couple out on a motorcycle, riding too aggressively, get attacked by a motorist in a car. If I understand the situation correctly, the car driver, going a little slow and starting to pile up traffic, hits the "boring" button on a sport motorcyclist who passes in a no passing zone. It looks like he had visibility to pass, considering his acceleration and the slower speed of the two cars he was passing, but he was out of line. He shouldn't have tried to pass there.

I've been on both sides of it. And if you've ever passed a slow-moving bicyclist in a no-passing zone with no shoulder, you've essentially done the same thing.

As a motorcyclist, I've passed people on a double yellow stripe. It's illegal. I knew it then. I knew it now. Would I do it again? Depends on the performance of what I'm riding, how far I can see in front of me, and the speed at which the vehicle I'm passing is moving. Not saying it's right or legal.

IMHO, an illegal pass does not give any driver justification for acting aggressively. And this is the 1:10,000 that was caught on video.

I'm generally a driver these days that pulls over to let faster cars pass, even if I'm at the speed limit.

I've been on the other side of this also. In Austin, it's illegal to come within 3 feet of a bicyclist while passing. So on a 10+ mile road that's windy, double yellow, no shoulder, and you're behind a bicyclist that has no intention of pulling over at an ingress point.. I've literally spent more than 30+ minutes waiting for him to make a reasonable decision. He didn't do anything illegal. Neither did I. I just sat back and chilled out wondering how far he'd actually ignore me. He was remarkably fast, at 20-25mph. My guess is that 99.5% of the population would have passed him - and if you did, you largely committed the same traffic violation that I have on my motorcycle.

Regardless of the situation, as a motorcyclist I cringed when I saw that hit.

[treadlightly]

https://www.google.com/search?client=sa ... 8&oe=UTF-8

You and me both. You make decisions on a bike or in a car all the time. Not all of them will be of the same quality. I've chosen to pass and found the conditions a little different than I expected, and I think I generally err on the side of safety.

I'd hate to get taken out over a poor decision not intended to put anyone, much less myself, in harm's way.

[RoyGBiv]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

Had not read that.

Do you have a link? I find no evidence of that.

http://www.yourglenrosetx.com/article/2 ... /151019367

[MONGOOSE]

The driver of the car also has a history of threatening people with harm.

Had not read that.

Do you have a link? I find no evidence of that.

Looks like in the video linked here the reporter is holding prior arrest reports for assualt, making terrorist threats, etc.

Looks like he has quite the record.