Idiot Gladiator Owner Road Rage Incident

[ShadowsPapa]

After having several close calls with idiot drivers, I sold my motorcycles as well.

If that Jeep driver isn’t dead, good, nobody needs to die in a car accident….

But you are not welcome here.

It's an antique by now but I had a fantastic, smooth, great bike I also sold for that reason (and the fact it's Iowa - either windy, hot as hell, raining water buffalo and lions, or snowing).
My wife was concerned, I could tell. Yeah, she road with me various places and we took it to work now and then, but it was just too crazy around here with people like that. They figure a bike is small so they can squeeze in next to it or 1 foot ahead, or tailgate so close if you had to stop fast and/or lay it down, you'd be under them before your handlebar hit the pavement.

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[Lunentucker]

While we're all being super duper investigators, where's the evidence that the video posted is the same crash that's in the article previously linked?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I don't even understand the Jeep driver's hurry to get back in the lane so quickly. What a stupid thing to do.


Maybe read the thread again. Innocent driver died.

Just a guess here - he was possibly wanting to cut the car off really close and miscalculated his JT's abilities to do such maneuvers.
It's not an autocross vehicle by any stretch. You're gonna hit the pylons.
i could have slid my Javelin in so close I'd have crushed the fly on the guy's bumper but not touch the bumper (not that I would!!) but the JT? Naw.

 

[Lunentucker]

Just a guess here - he was possibly wanting to cut the car off really close and miscalculated his JT's abilities to do such maneuvers.
It's not an autocross vehicle by any stretch. You're gonna hit the pylons.
i could have slid my Javelin in so close I'd have crushed the fly on the guy's bumper but not touch the bumper (not that I would!!) but the JT? Naw.

Possibly, or the upcoming left turn theory is accurate, and they got pissed off because they lost their spot at the head of that line. Rushed it back over to get ready for that turn.

 

[Samsons Wig]

This happened in my corner of the world. Road rage happens everywhere of course, but in Austin, we're living through insane growth with transplants from all over the country moving here. The result is lots of different driving styles all fighting for dominance.

Before Austin turned into the place half the country wanted to live (something I still don't understand based on the incredibly terrible weather alone - not to mention one of the worst spots for allergies in the country) the driving style of the city was very laid back, with the joke always being that everyone was too high to drive fast and had nowhere to go anyway. Now that we're fully infiltrated with tech bros and coastal transplants, things have picked up the pace a bit. It's pure chaos out there for now.

EDIT TO ADD: The road the crash happened on is not a split highway and has businesses on both sides of the road that people turn left into. There is no expectation of staying in the right lane except to pass on that stretch of road.

 

[Rahkmalla]

While we're all being super duper investigators, where's the evidence that the video posted is the same crash that's in the article previously linked?

from video:

from news article (note location and orientation of victim's car):

From video:

Reddit post claims it happened on 620 in Austin. News article states it happened on 620 in Austin.

We're not in "beyond a reasonable doubt" territory here, but we've certainly met the "preponderance of the evidence" burden of proof

Crash happens near an intersection right as the median turns into the turn lane on the same road

 

[Lunentucker]

from video:

from news article (note location and orientation of victim's car):

From video:

Reddit post claims it happened on 620 in Austin. News article states it happened on 620 in Austin.

We're not in "beyond a reasonable doubt" territory here, but we've certainly met the "preponderance of the evidence" burden of proof

Crash happens near an intersection right as the median turns into the turn lane on the same road

Is posting a Reddit link against the rules here?

 

[sharpsicle]

Is posting a Reddit link against the rules here?

No? Why would it be? I mean, it's been posted already.

I could suggest you take your own advice and "Maybe read the thread again"...

 

[Tommyd]

“It’s all about me” nowadays!!

You said it!!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I think that all Americans need to, as a part of driver's training, need to spend 1 week driving in Israel and 1 week driving in Korea.
They'd soon change their attitudes.
Americans are spoiled and have no clue what REAL traffic and congestion is - and how to drive NICELY in such congestion.
It's a whole different world out there.
I took a lot of pics in Israel, and noted that probably 90% of all cars (even taxis and buses) have dents in bumpers and fenders. Small fender-bender fix-it shops are all over the place. Accept it and move on. It's crazy there and people literally force their way in, driving over sidewalks, shoulders, through medians or whatever and push in even if there's a foot less space than their car needs to fit - they WILL get in unless you are on the bumper of the car ahead of you.

In Korea, the cars have no dings. You don't see dents and dings and people cut in not because they are rude but because it's necessary. They do it politely and carefully, but still cut in because there's no choice the traffic is so heavy with no gaps.
Most intersections in cities have no left turn. If you need to make a left at an intersection, you drive past it to the middle of the next block and take the "u-turn" area - there will be a sign for a u-turn. You make the u-turn, go back half a block or so then take a right. You have now made your goal.
Bumper to bumper 5 and 6 lanes both directions as far as you can see.
Granted, that's not all the time and all places, but you do need to know how to "drive Korean" to survive there.
(My son fit right in)

 

[Rahkmalla]

1 week driving in Israel and 1 week driving in Korea.

Ooh, i like this game
How about:
1 week in Paris, with significant focus on the area around the Arc de Triomphe. You'll learn to appreciate the concept of knowing when to yield even without a sign
1 week in Cairo. You'll learn to appreciate that we have rules enforcement over here.
1 week in Hanoi. You'll learn to respect motorcycles (though Paris helps with this)
1 week in Mumbai. You'll learn to appreciate what traffic really is. And also have an unsatiable desire to carry a pair of long reach dykes for snipping the horn of every idiot around you at all times. They all just honk... all the time. They honk at red lights. It's insane.

 

[CreepyJeepy]

So sad that something as simple as a traffic issue would cause someone to put several life's at risk. My son this last fall was driving his Gladiator in Denver,Co when a guy wanted to get around him but was to much traffic so he rode my sons bumper for 6 or 7 miles threw downtown Denver finally it came to our exit we get off the highway this idiot follows us we get to a stop light the guy gets out of his 4runner comes up to my sons window screaming at him starts beating on his window telling him he was going to kill him my son couldn't drive off so after a couple minutes of this I jumped out of the Jeep pulled my 45 and told him to go back to his car he took of running and may still be running today cop's showed up in about 5 minutes and impounded his car. Not sure what would have happened if I wasn't along and armed I have a ccp for 35 years first time I had to pull my weapon!

There is a fantastic pod cast by the ASP crew.
I listen to it often. Please reach out to them (send an email) they will get you on the podcast.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Ooh, i like this game
How about:
1 week in Paris, with significant focus on the area around the Arc de Triomphe. You'll learn to appreciate the concept of knowing when to yield even without a sign
1 week in Cairo. You'll learn to appreciate that we have rules enforcement over here.
1 week in Hanoi. You'll learn to respect motorcycles (though Paris helps with this)
1 week in Mumbai. You'll learn to appreciate what traffic really is. And also have an unsatiable desire to carry a pair of long reach dykes for snipping the horn of every idiot around you at all times. They all just honk... all the time. They honk at red lights. It's insane.

Yeah, if drivers would get out of their head that driving is a game and you get points for being first. That only counts at the track, and then at the drag strip in brackets, you may LOSE on a breakout by being too fast.

My former boss has said much the same as you - he used to do bike rides around some of those places - Egypt, China, most of Europe and so on.
Hanoi is likely similar to parts of Korea where the stands on the sidewalks and in certain what we call parking spots are for bikes of any type - scooters, small motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles It's the easiest way to get shorter distances there as when cars are stopped, bikes can get through. And they are respected there.
Racks are everywhere and if there's not a rack, bikes of all types are parked against trees.

Like you pointed out, we just don't know what it's REALLY like.

 

[JarHeadLV]

Im late to the party here, but I'm going to guess the driver may have been under the influence of something to be driving like that. The Gladiator is not a sports car and shouldn't be driven like so as in this accident. The Gladiator got T boned HARD! Completely unnecessary accident.

 

[sharpsicle]

Most intersections in cities have no left turn. If you need to make a left at an intersection, you drive past it to the middle of the next block and take the "u-turn" area - there will be a sign for a u-turn. You make the u-turn, go back half a block or so then take a right. You have now made your goal.

Bogotá is just like this. And boy did it take me a while to get used to that. Major road in the city? No left. Go across and make 3 rights instead. Many times the roads are one-way and organized to facilitate this. It's weird. But once I got the hang of it, it made driving there much easier. And the traffic there is certainly chaotic compared to the US, yet they make it work. Those who don't follow the rules or don't know what's going on are the troublemakers. It's all about being clear and predictable with your actions, and being a decent person.

Sadly I feel that we aren't either of those in the States, we act like we "own" the whole road and have a right to do whatever we want whenever we want. The posts and comments you see from Americans like "we can trade paint, it's up to you" really drive this home. We are not considerate. We do not work together on the road. Not at all. We are very aggressive and self-absorbed.

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