Boy, 6, is shot and killed in car booster seat 'after his mother gave other driver the finger on California freeway for cutting her off'

[drgrant]

Introspection plus the privilege of a nanny-state license
to exercise a Federally-guaranteed civil right conditioned upon continuing suitability
may summon Massprudence.

This isn't a massprudence thing its an everywhere-prudence thing, road rage by default is viewed by courts as 99 out of 100 times being a retard conference where both people are at
fault. A DA or prosecutor would love to indict both parties for (insert some stupid shit here) and watch them get chewed to bits by the system.

Part of the problem is every jury in america has this default worldview of road rage- Ever witness a full blown roadrage incident? I've seen a couple that went fullest of retard. Most of them involve acts of mutual aggression. It's very common to see one driver get pissed off and the other just ignore it pretty much, and have it self-deescalate. (yes, sometimes one douche driver will just keep escalating, but smart people will just "train" them right to a police station like a trained mob in a video game. Then miraculously even then 999 out of 1000 times the douche guy decides "oh wait, this is not going to work in my favor...." aaaaand.... gone! like a flash.

I don't flip people off because I care about my LTC or blasting idiots. I don't flip them off because I don't need 4, 5, 6 figures worth of legal aggravation (and thats on a good day) with jail on a bad one. Eff that noise. I'll take the cheap way out, please.

ETA2: the other happy fun ball is what if the guy or lady you flip off is a piece of garbage that has /little or nothing left to lose? I'd much rather not "trigger" them. I'd rather than get aggravated, realize the futility of escalating (when you dont reciprocate the retard gestures, they feel empty and despondent lol) , and proceed onward. Hopefully when they get home their abused teenage son or daughter will finally put a cueball in a sock and frag them when they sleep off their afternoon drunk or heroin nap or something. I'd much rather those people be SomebodyElses's problem (tm).

 

[Ron Jablonski]

You might just flip off the wrong person one day.

I stopped flipping people off when I started carrying a gun, and also realized it is pretty childish lol

Agreed, recently I was in the passenger seat while my wife was driving and she got into some road rage shenanigans and I straight up told her to slow down and let the guy pass us. She looked at me like I was crazy and said WTF, I had to politely remind her that I was carrying and I don't need this in my life right now.

 

[AHM]

Lol so another words you were camping

To be specific...


(NES: 99% English, with just a little Egyptian lingo thrown in).

 

[AHM]

This isn't a massprudence thing its an everywhere-prudence thing,

True (all) that.

I'm only saying that LTCs place a premium on Gray Man life.
ETA:
Or to put it another way,
it's maybe a teentsy bit more obvious to subjects of the PRM who've scored an LTC
that an armed society is a polite society.

 

[FalArAk]

True (all) that.

I'm only saying that LTCs place a premium on Gray Man life.
ETA:
Or to put it another way,
it's maybe a teentsy bit more obvious to subjects of the PRM who've scored an LTC
that an armed society is a polite society.

Not at all.

Seems some people look at getting a gun as a license to all the sudden become brave.

I carry a gun as the absolute last resort.

Takes more skill to de escalate a situation than it does to hit center mass 3 yards away.

Some years ago a typical NES gun nerd was talking about how he never used to go to a certain 7-11 because of the clientele that is hanging around there. Dude gets his LTC and he brags about how he now goes to the 7-11 without fear. This is a pussy with a gun who for the first time in his life got a license to be brave.

 

[Tinkermatic]

I drive in and around Boston daily for work. This of course means that I see blatant acts of stupidity daily as well. If I took them all personally and flipped them all off or honked, I’d never get any work done. I’ve taken to assuming that they’re either late for church, or a family member is in the hospital. 99 out of 100 times they’re just being pricks, but you never know. Getting upset in traffic takes too much energy and what’s the reality? Delayed by a few seconds or minutes? Or, pissing off some psychopath having a William Foster (Falling Down) kind of day? Not worth it.

I do sometimes throw a thumbs down around. It gets the point across while being less aggressive and it confuses the hell out of people. They don’t know what to do!

 

[Kicker96FS]

When I worked in Boston daily I too saw some crazy things but one stuck in my mind as the funniest I have ever seen and yet to see better.
I was at an intersection in South Boston, it was a 5 way nutty one that could take you to the USPS building. I was to head down Broadway and the light had changed but this moron going out of southie decides it was a suggestion. In front of me was this drop dead gorgeous blonde that had to stop right in front of him because of his actions. He starts yelling and out of her window I see both hands come out, expecting to see a double bird I instead see her index fingers and she does the shame shame finger rub and she says "naughty boy!"
I almost pissed myself laughing. Everyone turned their wheels and went on their way.

 

[kalash]

I definitely started keeping my middle finger down after getting an LTC. Flipping some road raging douche the bird is just a step in the wrong direction, it escalates the situation. If the other guy gets royally pissed off at my gesture, he'll escalate even further... Eventually we get to the point where I'm drawing on him? And then I have to deal with silver bracelets? Why put myself in that position?

The best case scenario and the most successful resolution to a road rage conflict is when everyone goes home safely - why not aim for that right from the start?

 

[namedpipes]

I am normally the guy that smiles and waves while your flipping me off, now I'm thinking in this current world I will be 10 and 2 and just mumble what I feel to myself.

RIP little boy, 6 isn't even the surface of starting your life, sad all around.

Smile and a wave is more of a trigger than flipping the bird

How are you alive?

 

[AHM]

Takes more skill to de escalate a situation than it does to hit center mass 3 yards away.

True dat.

You can even nope away like a Nope Spider,
secure in the knowledge that the rager has no clue about what they're missing.

 

[AHM]

Seems some people look at getting a gun as a license to all the sudden become brave.

P. S. Note well the "introspection" part of the original observation.
Those people aren't braining.

 

[MisterHappy]

Hopefully when they get home their abused teenage son or daughter will finally put a cueball in a sock and frag them when they sleep off their afternoon drunk or heroin nap or something.

DrGrant, you DO have a way with words!

 

[jkelly1229]

If you think about it, road rage is one of the most idiotic things imaginable. "Hold on to your pacifier, kid - daddy has to make a point to a total stranger that he'll never see again, which will probably sail right over his head anyways. We might get into a crash with or get shot at by a crazy person, but that's the risk I'm willing to take in order to prove to myself that my balls are yuuge."

Or I guess in this case replace "balls" with "tits".

Road rage is completely normal...

 

[LLF]

I definitely started keeping my middle finger down after getting an LTC. Flipping some road raging douche the bird is just a step in the wrong direction, it escalates the situation. If the other guy gets royally pissed off at my gesture, he'll escalate even further... Eventually we get to the point where I'm drawing on him? And then I have to deal with silver bracelets? Why put myself in that position?

The best case scenario and the most successful resolution to a road rage conflict is when everyone goes home safely - why not aim for that right from the start?

But wouldn't it be great if dueling were still allowed? "Pistols at dawn" or something like that...

 

[kalash]

But wouldn't it be great if dueling were still allowed? "Pistols at dawn" or something like that...

No, not really.

 

[Come and take]

The mothers inability to control her emotions got her son killed unfortunately. Sure. Don’t shoot people on the highway. But also don’t lose your shit with your 6 year old in the backseat by flipping off a car full of gang bangers high on meth on a CA freeway.

The blame on the mother who flips the bird is absurd.

We have all been there done that.We have all been in a situation where we flip off the perp

To take offense and shot another is not normal. We all know that this person is scum.

A kid is dead because of a person who took it personal that another gave them the finger.

The level of reaction to pull out a weapon and shoot is not normal over the situation. Obviously the person who took the shot is a deadbeat to society.

 

[safetyfirst2125]

The level of reaction to pull out a weapon and shoot is not normal over the situation. Obviously the person who took the shot is a deadbeat to society.

Totally normal in CA. Happens all the time. Road rage gets you dead at the end of your driveway after you get followed home. Not saying it’s right or justified. Just that it’s pretty common in parts of CA.

 

[AHM]

But wouldn't it be great if dueling were still allowed? "Pistols at dawn" or something like that...

No, not really.

 

[Frizzle Fry]

Had a buddy who's idea of a good "Road Rage" (or regular rage) response was to yell "YOU LOOK LIKE YOU NEED A HUG!" with a stupid look on his face.

I've seen it in person exactly twice, in both cases the offender skidaddled VERY quickly... when asked why, he says "Find me a cop, DA, judge, or jury who will with a straight face decide that telling someone they look like they need a hug is a threat". Being that he's 6'6" and dressed like he's an extra in the Matrix doesn't hurt either. Not my bag of chips but it's funny to see it happen.

 

[meh]

The blame on the mother who flips the bird is absurd.

We have all been there done that.We have all been in a situation where we flip off the perp

To take offense and shot another is not normal. We all know that this person is scum.

A kid is dead because of a person who took it personal that another gave them the finger.

The level of reaction to pull out a weapon and shoot is not normal over the situation. Obviously the person who took the shot is a deadbeat to society.

That's all true, but it doesn't mean that it's OK to flip people off. It's like a teenage girl saying she has a right to walk down a dark alley alone in the middle of the night. That's true, but it's also irrelevant from a personal safety standpoint. There are scum among us, and there will always be. The issue anyway is not guilt for the murder. Everybody knows that she isn't guilty of that. But she has a responsibility to protect the child, and provoking another driver into a potential road rage incident is not consistent with that responsibility. I certainly agree that the response was abnormal, but there is a spectrum of more normative responses that could potentially put the child at risk because an aggressive action precipitated an accident. Yeah, we've all flipped people off, but I don't think I've ever done it with my full complement of IQ points in play.

 

[Lucas McCain]

I remember years ago. I was driving along, minding my own business, enjoying some metal at the appropriate volume.

Some a**h*** comes up behind me and is inches from my bumper, so close I couldn’t see anything but his windshield. It was obvious he wanted me to get out of the way but he was being an a**h*** so I just kept going as I was already doing 80.

After a while, I heard some weird buzzing noise I couldn’t make out because my radio was so loud so I turned it down. Coming from his car was a loudspeaker saying “pull over, PULL OVER!“.

At this point I realized it was a state trooper who had been tailing me, f***ing furious, for about 5 miles. I changed lanes, fully expecting to get a ticket and a screaming by an apoplectic statie. He just shot past me like a bullet and I never saw him again, he must have gotten a call right before he was going to roast me.

Are you sure it wasn't Jeremy Dewitte?

 

[mwalsh9152]

Lot of victim blaming in this thread. Crazy.
In what world is flipping the bird justificatiin for drawing a firearm?? And then shooting, at a car, on the highway, with kids in it.
That’s what I call a ****** move. (The N word)

I'm not blaming the victim, but as being a parent of a 6yo myself, WTF are you doing flipping people off with the kid in the car with you? I've definitely mellowed out as Ive gotten older, but if someone pisses me off in the car now, I will just point it out to her and make fun of their stupidity in a fun way with her. Lead by example people!

I definitely dont flip anyone off in traffic anymore either. Way too many whackos out there now days. I don't even partake in my favorite activity of smiling and waving when someone would flip me off in traffic. I used to LOVE to watch their brains melt with rage when I would respond that way.

 

[safetyfirst2125]

I'm not blaming the victim, but as being a parent of a 6yo myself, WTF are you doing flipping people off with the kid in the car with you? I've definitely mellowed out as Ive gotten older, but if someone pisses me off in the car now, I will just point it out to her and make fun of their stupidity in a fun way with her. Lead by example people!

I definitely dont flip anyone off in traffic anymore either. Way too many whackos out there now days. I don't even partake in my favorite activity of smiling and waving when someone would flip me off in traffic. I used to LOVE to watch their brains melt with rage when I would respond that way.

I absolutely place some of the blame on the mother of the child victim in this case. She didn’t pull the trigger but she made her kid a target. Stupid, emotional, uncontrolled and irresponsible. Control yourself when you have children in the car. The satisfaction you seek in “sticking it to em” has no place when you are putting children’s lives at risk. Suck it up princess. Be the adult.

 

[namedpipes]

The blame on the mother who flips the bird is absurd.

We have all been there done that.We have all been in a situation where we flip off the perp

To take offense and shot another is not normal. We all know that this person is scum.

A kid is dead because of a person who took it personal that another gave them the finger.

The level of reaction to pull out a weapon and shoot is not normal over the situation. Obviously the person who took the shot is a deadbeat to society.

I'd say danger to society, but otherwise, spot on

(Still not bright to provoke strangers, but the BLAME should be on the shooter)

 

[June4th]

The society is so much on edge after the year and half of what we've had, I wouldn't engage anything confrontational with a stranger over anything other than the topic of voter fraud.

 

[In God We Trust]

Where I use to live, on the main road there way an on-ramp to 495. The ramp wasnt marked, but it was clearly the intent as the road widened there. It was a really long lane also for some reason and the tail gaters and impatient ragers I used to pick up on my commute would always pull into the on ramp lane and blast by me ( I wasn’t getting on the highway) and either flip me off for driving the speed limit while they were late for work and just jam the horn or give me a dirty look.

Now, If you were in the on-ramp lane, (again, it wasn’t marked) and instead of turning onto the ramp, just continued straight you would just stay on the main road. I would do this every time some doosh was riding my ass and being generally aggressive because he was late for work.

As soon as they realized I wasn’t turning and had deprived them of the satisfaction of romping on the gas and blasting by me on the way up the on ramp, they would LOSE it. Yelling, cursing, throwing birds and racial slurs, jamming the horn.... NOTHING topped this petty act when it came to triggering road rage retards.

 

[namedpipes]

Where I use to live, on the main road there way an on-ramp to 495. The ramp wasnt marked, but it was clearly the intent as the road widened there. It was a really long lane also for some reason and the tail gaters and impatient ragers I used to pick up on my commute would always pull into the on ramp lane and blast by me ( I wasn’t getting on the highway) and either flip me off for driving the speed limit while they were late for work and just jam the horn or give me a dirty look.

Now, If you were in the on-ramp lane, (again, it wasn’t marked) and instead of turning onto the ramp, just continued straight you would just stay on the main road. I would do this every time some doosh was riding my ass and being generally aggressive because he was late for work.

As soon as they realized I wasn’t turning and had deprived them of the satisfaction of romping on the gas and blasting by me on the way up the on ramp, they would LOSE it. Yelling, cursing, throwing birds and racial slurs, jamming the horn.... NOTHING topped this petty act when it came to triggering road rage retards.

Similar ish technique is useful for springing speed traps. Bottle up the ragers by camping in the fast lane. Keep them at or below the speed limit for a couple miles, then (ideally when waze shows a speed trap ahead) let them through.

 

[fishgutzy]

I was road raged by a guy driving a car in Princeton, NJ. He was unhappy I was driving only ~40mph in a 35mph zone, in the right lane. He tailgated me, then shot around me and brake-checked me, before blasting through a right turn on red corner.

It turns out we were both headed to my NJ company office. I saw him park and recognized him. We chatted pleasantly in the cafe buying coffee - I never mentioned the event as he was quite an aggressive, opportunist snake 2-levels up from me in management. Clearly, he was not in a rush to get to work - just a habitual assh*le driver in a BMW.

If you have been a pedestrian in almost any city, you probably noticed that a disproportionate number of luxury car drivers drive as if their time is more valuable than the lives of pedestrians and other cagers.

 

[AHM]

Similar ish technique is useful for springing speed traps. Bottle up the ragers by camping in the fast lane. Keep them at or below the speed limit for a couple miles, then (ideally when waze shows a speed trap ahead) let them through.

If the rager is in a VW, when you pass the traffic stop
you experience fahrvergnügen and schadenfreude simultaneously.

 

[namedpipes]

If the rager is in a VW, when you pass the traffic stop
you experience fahrvergnügen and schadenfreude simultaneously.

That's quite the gravy toss!