Why Are People Irrational on Roads?

p1 ama on 30/05/2018 - 21:43

I've always wondered why people act so irrationally on roads. This news story sparked my curiosity to ask on here:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/truckie-road-rag…

TLDR:

Mr Gevergizyan was arrested on Tuesday evening after he allegedly tailgated schoolteachers Leigh Mahady, 62, and Julie Dougherty, 60, as they drove at 80km/h through Strathmore along the Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne Airport.

The truck driver allegedly tailgated their car before he began repeatedly beeping the horn about 1.10pm on Saturday.

He then allegedly pulled up next to the women, side swiping them before pushing the car towards a concrete road barrier and damaging doors, a side mirror and tyres, police said.

—

Now, is this guy a dangerous lunatic? Of course. Should he be locked up? Of course. But I don't understand why the driver in front of him just didn't move?

Regardless of what the guy was doing, it was clearly unsafe to keep sitting in front of him like that. This situation clearly got out of hand and the guy is an absolute lunatic, but I see this all the time on the road. It's as if people view letting someone else speed off in front of them as some sort of an insult to their honour and that they're some sort of a hero for doing what they are. It's actually not heroic and they're just putting themselves and other drivers around them at risk.

So many times I've seen drivers block other cars from speeding off (yes, the other cars were speeding, but it's irrelevant here), and when I drive past, they have this smug look on their face, the "what are you gonna do about it?" face and attitude clearly wanting to piss off the guy behind.

In any case, I can't imagine this happening anywhere else. If you were just walking down the street and some hooligan started running towards you screaming (the equivalent of tailgaiting and honking), what would you do? My guess is that a sane person would just get out of the way and then continue on walking like a rational human, but when we're in a car, it just seems like we can't just be grown ups about it.

Also, let me be clear that I'm not supporting the actions of people tailgaiting or this idiot who's clearly a danger to society. However, my question is just why people behave differently in a car vs. walking down the footpath.

Automotive

Comments

  • Donaldhump on 30/05/2018 - 21:47
    +1

    Simple, they are angry gronks. Every country has some.

    • Gronk on 30/05/2018 - 22:07
      +14

      It wasn't me this time, honest!!!

  • Godric on 30/05/2018 - 21:49
    +3

    Because patience, no one has it

    • D C on 01/06/2018 - 00:45

      Bollocks, I do. I waited over 3 hours to make this comment.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/05/2018 - 21:50
    +4

    The majority of drivers that are on the road, shouldn't be. Period.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/05/2018 - 21:59
    +6

    Idiots on the road, idiots on the sidewalk, idiots in public places…

    There are idiots everywhere doing idiotic things. The difference is that when they're on the road, they are in a car and they cause greater damage.

    • SuckleMyWorm69 on 31/05/2018 - 12:28
      -5

      Sidewalk?

      Mate it's called pavement or the footpath, (profanity) off (profanity)

  • Gronk on 30/05/2018 - 22:22
    +2

    Common sense ain't so common these days…

    Not saying what he did was OK by any stretch, but I'm pretty sure given the choice all over again they'd have just gotten out of the way.

    It's definitely an extreme case though, most guys I know who know how to fight don't do drugs and don't carry on like twats.

  • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 30/05/2018 - 22:54

    May as well post something like 'Why are people irrational? Discuss'.

    • p1 ama on 30/05/2018 - 22:57
      +3

      Not quite the question I was going for - I'm interested to know why people act, on roads, in ways that they would not act, not on roads.

      Clear example given above - if you're walking along the footpath and a maniac comes running at you screaming, you'd likely get out of the way. People don't do that on the road, even though it's the same situation - you have a potentially dangerous situation which can easily be resolved by removing yourself. Why not do it?

      • iDroid on 31/05/2018 - 12:35
        +2

        Because they like the feeling of power but don't have the confidence or supporting strength when they are out of their car. This is their chance to be "the tough guy" pushing others around (until it goes bad like the OP example).

        It's a shield they use to protect them selves in while they act like a bully wallowing in sanctimony feeling all smug.

        While the retaliation of the driver was over the top (and criminal) I'd confidentially say the driver of the car likely deserved some opposition to her behaviour. Act like a bully or an inconsiderate ar$e, best hope you're not aggravating someone with low self control or this is what may happen (or much worse).

      • D C on 01/06/2018 - 00:54
        +1

        What iDroid said, plus this has been discussed for years, eg https://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/chapter_11_turn_sig.html

        Once inside your car you are shut off from the world, and of course from other people. So you miss the usual cues that lead to "Oops, sorry mate" "No worries mate", and just assume the other person is a dick.

        …and what do you do when someone is being a dick?

  • Simoneee on 30/05/2018 - 22:57
    +2

    Welcome to Australian Roads

  • Diji1 on 30/05/2018 - 23:59

    People go into fight or flight state while driving which means their capacity for reasoning is largely removed as the pre-frontal cortex shuts down.

    This is independent of intelligence or capacity for being rational otherwise. The man probably has regrets.

  • skimp on 31/05/2018 - 00:11
    +4

    The guy was withdrawing from ice. He attacked two cars that day with hammer, stick, and baseball bat. The article does not mention if the victim driver did or did not try to get out of his way. It would be presumptuous to think the victim was blocking the truck.

  • ozzpete on 31/05/2018 - 00:39
    +2

    But I don't understand why the driver in front of him just didn't move.

    People don't like to be bullied. Sure, some (perhaps most) might have moved. However if people stand up to bullies, that is how they are stopped.
    The nutter that ran em off the road, probably wanted to hurt someone, and do something crazy like that regardless. He likely would have kept doing that and similar things, driving closer and closer, until eventually he got opportunity to run someone off the road (or some other outburst to vent his frustration in life).
    It is good that the bully in the truck has been stopped, probably will get jail hopefully. Most likely never behind the wheel of a truck ever again. So by the person in article standing up to this bully, sure they put themself in danger, but the end result has been to get the truck driver bullying other road users off the road (and in prison).

    • cameldownunder on 31/05/2018 - 08:19
      +1

      And another 5+
      There should be more people like the driver in that car, and Australia would be a much better place.
      I regularly indicate people that they are in a non stopping area in front of the school, when I take my kid to school.

      • angelkulit025 on 31/05/2018 - 10:25
        -2

        but sometimes common sense should prevail. it's not worth risking your life just to prove your point to some idiots on the road.

  • Illian on 31/05/2018 - 01:19
    +1

    Are you seriously victim blaming?

    The people speeding are the ONLY ones in these scenarios creating danger. If they weren't speeding there wouldn't be any danger. Nobody has ANY obligation to help somebody else break the law. Only one person is in the wrong, and guess what, it's not the person who isn't doing anything wrong. If somebody wants to speed they will go around you, they obviously don't care about driving like an idiot so it's not an inconvenience to them.

    It's a well known fact a high percentage of the population shouldn't be driving. There isn't one thing on this planet everyone is good at, yet most people drive in spite of that. If I had a dollar for every (profanity) I've seen speeding and cutting between lanes a dozen times only to end up next to me at the lights 20 minutes later I'd be buying myself a PS4 Pro right about now, these people are dumb, don't go out of your way to annoy them but DEFINITELY don't in any way encourage their dumbness by appeasing them either.

    • burningrage on 31/05/2018 - 07:03
      +7

      It's not victim blaming. Not specific to this case but there are reason why you don't drive 60 in 100kms zone or 40 in 80kms zone while hogging the right lane. It's very inconsiderate and people have every right to be annoyed by being blocked.

      Being inconsiderate is often what predicates what you call victim blaming. When this sort of thing happens to me (and it does very often), I just give way. You may have saved him/her from going late to his/her interview or worse (touch wood), you may have saved that person from being delayed of something emergency.

      You are not an angel on the road and neither am I so better not to make things worse by blocking road just being you feel you are holier than thou.

      Give way and you may watch the temperature starts to go down fairly quickly.

      • jjjaar on 31/05/2018 - 08:45

        This section of road noted within the article has been undergoing works and is frequently reduced to 80km/hr. I’m not certain if it is still 80km/hr, but if it still is, the women weren’t driving too slow for the area and weren’t causing any danger/being inconsiderate to other drivers.

        • ThithLord on 31/05/2018 - 09:39
          +2

          The article specifically says they were travelling 80 Km/h and also goes on to say the freeway is 100 km/h, so, I dunno ¯_(ツ)_/¯

        • Ugly on 01/06/2018 - 12:48

          @ThithLord: But is doesn't say they were travelling in the right lane. If they were in the left lane, then how could they give way?

    • p1 ama on 31/05/2018 - 11:37
      +2

      How am I victim blaming? How many times did I say that the guy deserves to be locked up and is a maniac?

      I ask a simple question - if you're standing on a footpath and someone comes running at you screaming, you'd probably get out of the way. But on a road, when someone speeds up at you beeping their horn, you stay put.

      I just think that our responsibility on the road is to keep each other safe. Sure, this guy is a special case, but I'd say that many people who tailgate and get mad just want to go a bit faster. What's more dangerous? Someone going down a freeway at 130, or someone tailgaiting someone else, getting increasingly annoyed and following closer and closer? I think it's pretty clear.

      Idiots will be idiots, the law will deal with them and they will lose their license in time, the safest thing to do with an idiot is to not be near one to be perfectly honest with you.

    • iDroid on 31/05/2018 - 12:40

      Are you seriously victim blaming?

      You say that like all victims are innocent. That's just not the case and each case should be considered on its own merits.

      Being a victim does not excuse your own poor behaviour. It's a bit like saying "What I did is ok because what he did was worse. I'm a victim here and are therefore innocent". I think everyone needs to be accountable for their own behaviour.

      I'm not specifically saying the victim was at fault at all here - we just don't know and to assume either way is presumptuous.

  • ceebee on 31/05/2018 - 03:48

    We don't know that they didn't move or try to move or get away from the guy, and he didn't keep on them and intentionally harass them. I remember a long time ago, pretty late at night, my brother merged into traffic on a merging lane— all done within speed, legally, with indicators on, etc, and the guy behind just didn't want to be cut off, and beeped him. My bro waved him off dismissively, not aggressively or anything— but the guy completely lost his shit at us. Beeped more, tailgated us, yanked down the window and screamed at us. We tried to let him go in front of us; the guy didn't want to go in front of us at this point. He was livid— it was obvious the dude was unhinged. This was just a routine lane merge, a road we took every day, and we'd never encountered anything like this before. He didn't want the lane clear, he wanted to follow and harass us. He actually altered his route and started FOLLOWING US HOME, for about 2-3kms.

    My brother, who always drives a manual, basically had to use all his driving prowess to lose him— i.e. because he is good at gear changes, he was able to accelerate better at corners and lights which gave us a lead when we went to turn, etc, while I tried to think of police stations that may be open at that time so we could go there instead of lead him to our house in case we couldn't lose the guy. (It was late at night, and this was pre smartphones, so no internet in the car). It was ages ago, but I still remember it was terrifying, and the reasons we were targeted at all were really boggling— there were other cars that would have merged into his lane, so if not us then someone else. We did lose him, but I dread to think what he would have done to us if we hadn't.

    We learned not to react at all to people who beep and such, because you never know what will trigger someone, but ultimately, there isn't much we could have done— the narrative the guy had in his head about us was created by him, and when someone gets to that level like this guy in the article, there is nothing you can do to placate them. It sometimes doesn't take much, at all, and we don't know the circumstances. It could have been something super minor. I don't think blaming the people run off is really fair— in the end, this guy chose to escalate.

    • ESEMCE on 31/05/2018 - 08:02

      Unless something changed recently, I'm pretty sure the Tullamarine Freeway is multi-lane dual carriageway for its entire length.
      So it seems likely this was the case here.

    • Shadowsfury on 31/05/2018 - 10:35

      When I was a kid in Auckland we actually had something pretty similar happen so also pre-smartphone (don't even think we had mobiles yet).

      My dad did end up driving to to the police station near our house and the guy drove off once we stopped outside the station.

  • Ryanek on 31/05/2018 - 08:08

    Cars are two tonnes machines that have the capacity to kill you. People that feel threatened by others on the road either go on the defensive, or go on the offensive (road rage).

    It's all about human nature and their instinct to survive.

  • MathNerd on 31/05/2018 - 08:30
    +1

    Why Are People Irrational on Roads

    Because they never Rationalise the Denominator, their root is always at the bottom!

  • pegaxs on 31/05/2018 - 08:37

    As my brother always says when I am ranting about idiot, irrational road users…

    Don’t try to over analyse stupid…

  • jjjaar on 31/05/2018 - 08:43
    +1

    it was clearly unsafe to keep sitting in front of him like that.

    And

    He then allegedly pulled up next to the women

    How the hell did you make the assumption that the women were intentionally getting in his way and not letting him pass, when eventually he moved to the side to taunt them further?

    This has nothing to do with the women trying to be smug or be heroes for stopping him from speeding.

    ”…allegedly went on to swap vehicles and attack a second couple with a baseball bat hours later”

    This is literally just a maniac who wants to assert dominance over anyone he can. How dare you suggest that the women are at any fault in this.

    • p1 ama on 01/06/2018 - 19:12

      How dare you suggest that the women are at any fault in this.

      I never said they were at fault. You're the one who started using the word "fault".

      You know something, "fault" is the interest of the courts and the law, the gates of heaven know of no such thing. Whether you are at fault or not is irrelevant, if you are dead, then you are dead.

      This driver might not have been trying to be smug heroes on the road, but don't pretend like that doesn't exist. I've seen it with my own eyes. It's dangerous for the driver involved, it's dangerous for all else on the road. The road is not a place to be playing games and to be trying to pretend to be a hero. I've seen so many people give the "I'm going to annoy you, what are you going to do about it?" attitude on the road. The problem is, there is a lot the guy behind you can do and one day, you'll meet the sort of guy who's going to do what this guy did.

  • Baysew on 31/05/2018 - 10:14
    +1

    Elten Gevergizyan, a Muay Thai fighter, faces 17 charges relating to the alleged two-day, ice-fuelled spree.

  • cloudy on 31/05/2018 - 10:20

    People also have a sense of entitlement on the roads. Like, this is “my” lane.

  • GG57 on 31/05/2018 - 10:22
    +2

    I recall reading a scientific study (can't find it now, sorry) about personal space and how it varies between nationalities. The relevant part of that info to this discussion was that people who are in vehicles generally have a larger personal space or territorial 'area', and act differently than if they were, say, walking along a footpath.
    The study also found that if a driver was alone in a vehicle, their behaviour was more territorial / aggressive than if there were others in the vehicle (the theory being that the driver's personal space was diminished if others were present).

    Next time you drive alone, try to recall at the end of that trip how you behaved / acted. You may be surprised if you self-analyse.

  • HowDidIGetHere on 31/05/2018 - 11:35
    +4

    People think that they're untouchable in a car and won't be confronted.

    No sane human would hurl abuse at a random persons face.
    Put them in a cage where they can get away with it by rolling up a window or driving away and this is what happens.

    Always a good laugh when you see someone lose it behind the wheel, and for what? You'll get to the lights just as quickly as the person you red lined past.

    • waterbottled on 31/05/2018 - 11:46

      +1. probably one of the only two comments so far that actually answered the question.

    • p1 ama on 31/05/2018 - 20:28

      I agree - that was what I felt the issue is all about too.

      I honestly don't even care if people like to drive fast or redline their way from the lights. I completely get that there's more to driving fast than just getting to your destination faster.

      I just find it so overwhelmingly idiotic though, that people think they're untouchable in a car. It's literally the most dangerous place we spend any significant amount of time on during our day. The last thing I would want to do is to piss off some idiot (especially one in a truck) on a busy freeway. If it's a maniac in that truck, they lose the plot and swipe you, you're dead. I'd say you have a better chance of surviving a fist fight than you do any sort of collision on the road. It's just so illogical.

  • tight-ass on 31/05/2018 - 19:50

    High on meth

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