Posted on 03/28/2014 7:22:34 AM PDT by servo1969
This happened to me on SR 41 in Tampa on Monday March 24th. This pathetic excuse for a human being tailgated me for about three minutes. After about a minute, and me shaking my head, I pulled out my phone and started recording. I couldn't move over because there were trucks in the right lane, and I sure as heck wasn't going to speed on a rainy day with the roads being as slick as they were. I was turning left in about a half-mile when this happened. Now bear in mind, that this guy had already passed a truck in a left turn lane, was tailgating and driving recklessly on a wet slick road, wasn't paying attention, and all in all being an ignorant ass. Not once was I mouthing off, I never brake checked him, and in fact until I watched the video after the accident I didn't even know he shot a bird at me because I wasn't looking at him at all, I was paying attention to the road while holding the phone up with my right hand. I've recorded circumstances like this before, catching idiots doing stupid things, but never ever had this happen.
He initially fled the scene of the accident, but thanks to this video he has been caught and charged. Massive props to the Sheriffs Department and most especially the Highway Patrol who responded to the scene. This moron could have easily killed somebody with his moronic behavior, and my laughing at the end would have been replaced with tears. Needless to say though, I've never seen Karma come back so fast.
*****EDITED TO ADD******
WOW! I go to work and come back to over 600,000 views and find it's on theblaze.com and various other media sites. I'm flabbergasted! (love for an excuse to use that word). I'm also a little saddened and shocked at some of the comments. After the umpteenth death threat and billionth time being called a b!#$h/c$%t/whore/slut/add whatever epithet you want... I am extremely amazed at how rude people are.
Apparently people seem to think that they were right there and know exactly what was going on. You weren't there. You don't know what happened other than the truth that I told. And apparently I did get a comment of someone who he had done this same thing to... thank you for that.
I appreciate the comments of those that, even if they disagreed with me, they didn't resort to bullyish behavior, they stated their response and I respect that. To those that wished death upon me, I truly hope your life isn't as miserable as you portray online. Because some of those comments belong to people that belong in a psycho ward, or at the very least, anger management/therapy. They were rude, uncalled for, and just downright mean.
So because of those hateful warmongers, I have disabled all commenting on this video. Have fun talking about me in your forums, and on Reddit, or wherever else you talk smack on. Just know... I won't be there. I think my ears are itching... somebody must be talking about me. Where's my Q-Tip?
Goodbye and have an awesome and amazing rest of your day. I'm gonna go pet my dog, feed my fish, watch some TV, and sit my "fat" self on my sofa ;)
You would be breaking the law in CO, and a lot of other states.
We got tired of sanctimonious drivers like you, and passed laws.
I'll still say I would be plenty pissed off
And there's the problem right there: drivers who get pissed off.
Anger and driving mix badly. If you find that other drivers are causing you to feel anger ... check your attitude, or surrender your license. You can't control the behavior of idiots. You can control your own behavior. You can control your reaction to idiots.
What a pompoius idiot. I travel about 40,000 miles a year and I hate these idiots who think the left lane belongs to them.
I urge states to enforce their left lane for passing laws. If they did, this crap wouldn’t happen.
The truck driver was an ass too. But this chick is a douche who deserves to be rear ended.
When I am on my mc behind these people they get a wide berth.
For being a left-lane bandit, maybe, but the moron in control of the pedals and wheel in the pickup is 100% responsible for his final situation.
Well, I would say you need to calm down, because you’re making a lot of assumptions here that are way off base.
I drive about five miles over the speed limit. We have no interstate highways in this area, so that means I routinely do about 60 in our 55 mph zones, and I usually stay in the right lane where I belong.
But if I have to pass, I want to lay on the accelerator and DO it. I don’t want to be trapped in a long line of traffic, or stuck next to a rolling semi because you think you have to right to hog the left lane and teach patience to everyone else.
It is a fact that there are jerks who drive too slow and jerks who drive like maniacs. Even though it’s sometimes hard to get into the left lane to make a left turn, it’s just a fact that the left lane IS for passers and faster drivers. So if you have to get over there, have that turn signal on to let others know you’re turning....but you MUST speed up. If you get over there and drive slowly, you’re breaking the law.
Did you bother to notice the speed of the trucks in the right lane?
She was passing them.
Looked like everyone but the truck that lost it knew not to drive fast on that road when it’s wet.
Years ago I-45 north of Houston was the same way.
If you tried to do anything over 55 in the rain you would probably loose it.
People that drove it all the time knew it and kept it 55 and under when wet.
“The Left Lane is for passing or turning only” applies to any multiple-lane highway not just for Interstates.
See my response #46
In her short video, there is a truck to her right, and she also states she's going to be turning left.
That being said, if this whole thing occurred over several minutes, then she had plenty of time to get out of the way of the dipwad. However, she is in no way responsible for the outcome of the last actions of the dipwad.
Wow. Such disdain for the filmer from a lot of angry FR drivers. If I know my route and know I need to make a turn in a few miles I will drive in whichever lane I want that makes sense. It is not my responsibility to weave in and out of traffic for the convenience of someone behind me, especially when I know I have to turn soon. If you have to wait a precious 30 extra seconds too bad. Especially when it’s raining. The truck guy was a reckless driver, tried to brake check her, and could have really hurt somebody. Even IF the filmer was going slow purposely, which she wasn’t as demonstrated by her passing cars and driving at 60, she was not endangering anyone. And before you point out she was holding a camera make sure to bash everyone who was holding a camera in the car when they find cops doing something illegal or stupid.
What other traffic did you see on that road? She sat beside the flatbed in the left lane, not passing, for how long? She was occupying the left lane, made a habit of it and made a habit of recording it. She deliberately provoked this.
Everyone in a rush gets caught behind a slower driver sometimes. It happens to all of us. The truck driver could’ve just passed in the right lane and left it at that.
But, no, instead, he decided to pull in the right lane, then speed by, then slow down, then speed up again just to flip the driver the bird. And then he sped up to pass her and lost control of his truck (which supports her claim that the roads were wet and slippery).
He so deserved what he got. I laughed at the end of the video myself.
I have a story myself: Once I was driving the speed limit (25 mph) on a lonely road that we locals knew was notorious for speed traps - I was issued a ticket there myself once. One day, a driver behind me was tailgating. Then the driver decided to pass me - across the double yellow line - you guessed it - right in front of the police cruiser that he never saw. (lol) I leaned out the window to wave at the officer. It was so much fun to watch the cop car take off, sirens wailing, after the driver who’d just passed me. :-)
Video taking driver is a jerk and a lane hog. The left lane is a passing lane. Pass, and get out of the left lane.
Should the driver have gotten over? Maybe. But I saw her going over 55 and passing cars on the right. Was she passing “fast enough” for the jerk behind her? Should she have even cared if she was passing fast enough for some jerk tailgating her?
I could go on but hopefully the point is made. But even if my point is still something someone disagrees with, then consider this: in the end she indeed got the last laugh, figuratively and literally. Everyone should remember that next time anger starts to well up because the person in front isn’t passing traffic “fast enough”, whatever that means. Otherwise you may end up being the next laughing stock for your out of control temper.
I’d wager that for every post blaming the woman who shot the video, there’s a frustrated guy who bought a “get-outta-my-way” pickup, an “I’m-a-man-hear-my-truck-roar” pickup...and found that it doesn’t always work as advertised.
:-)
A quick look at google maps shows that Highway 41 in Tampa isn’t a limited access highway, just a regular road in Tampa with 4 lanes. Cruising around in street view shows that the road doesn’t seem to have speed limit signs, but, it is rather congested. I drive on a similar road every day, and you have to set up that left hand turn a mile back to make sure you get into the lane in time.
I think the driver of the vehicle in front did no wrong in driving in the left lane here as indeed she was setting up for a left turn and appeared to be passing the trucks in the right hand lane as was her right. She did do wrong in video (unless she was the passenger. I wasn’t sure from the video or article.
Guy in the truck was a total jerk and Karma will win out.
Nope. Right there with you...
OH and I see she was indeed driving and video. She is lucky she didn’t kill anyone also.
No visible signs like this on the road, at least on Google street view. Not much in the way of signs at all that I could find.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.