Would you turn in an idiot driver?

[paullud]

I was in St. Paul at Stockmens Truck stop and my wife was backing in a space opposite of a truck. The driver didn't like the fact that the van's headlights were shining on his truck so he decided to start flashing his high beams. The headlights on the van turn on as soon as the van is started so I can't turn them off when parking as I would like to. As soon as we were parked my wife shut the van off so of course the lights went out so I didn't see a problem. We were there for awhile to take care of some things and determine where we would relocate. Afterwards she started the van which caused the lights to come on and the other driver immediately turns his high beams on then starts pulling out and holds up his middle finger for a few seconds. We were leaving anyway so I told my wife we would just get his truck number and turn him in if he went the same way were. As soon as the guy pulled out of the truck stop he stopped partially blocking the driving lane jumps out and came over to me and said if I had a problem we could settle it right there. I said nobody has a problem and that I was getting his truck number to turn him in which I don't think he heard. He then went off about the fact that if I f'ed with him it would be a federal offense because he hauls air freight and hazmat. I told him that I couldn't do anything about the headlights and he started approaching the van and I told him I was just going to turn him in and he said he was turning me in, not sure what it would be for. He seems like he is a potential problem and I feel I should turn him in but I'm not sure. What do you guys think?

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[tbubster]

Id chalk it up to maybe the guy having a bad day.No harm no foul.Even if he was not having a bad day karma is a.......Well you know it will come back aroung to him.

 

[paullud]

Id chalk it up to maybe the guy having a bad day.No harm no foul.Even if he was not having a bad day karma is a.......Well you know it will come back aroung to him.

I was thinking of just letting it go because as soon as I said I was turning him in to his company he got worried and said he was turning me in to try and keep me from doing it. I would imagine not knowing what I will do and the waiting could be quite a punishment on it's own. I just figured he is a representative of the industry and if he is doing that on a public street he is making us all look bad, so I just wondered what others would do.

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[LDB]

If you have a GM van you can turn the knob to the parking lights position to kill the headlights. You can even do that before starting the van so the headlights never come on. I'd suspect other brands are similar but don't know for sure. I would probably have turned him in if it was as intense and threatening as it sounds from your narrative.

 

[paullud]

If you have a GM van you can turn the knob to the parking lights position to kill the headlights. You can even do that before starting the van so the headlights never come on. I'd suspect other brands are similar but don't know for sure. I would probably have turned him in if it was as intense and threatening as it sounds from your narrative.

My van won't, I'm not sure if someone changed something in the wiring. The guy seemed like he was looking for someone to act tough with and get into an argument. I would venture a guess that he thought he would express his anger and drive off but got concerned when he saw us coming out behind him. He decided to get aggressive and threaten me thinking it would be his way out of his stupidity. He was using stupid to protect himself from his stupidity, that's why I am referring to him as an idiot driver instead of a dangerous driver. He seems like he could be a problem especially if he came across someone like himself.

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[Moot]

Paul, what year and make van do you have?

 

[Moot]

As a common courtesy I always turn my headlights off when approaching a manned toll booth or guard shack. Also when driving through a dock area where trucks are backing up.

The guy Paul encounter sounds like a jerk that was trying to make something out of nothing.

 

[LisaLouHoo]

My van won't, I'm not sure if someone changed something in the wiring.

Jeff's 2005 GMC Savana has the option to turn the switch all the way left to kill the headlights, as did the 2006 Chevy van. The 2002 Ford cube had the old style "off " switch which overrode the DRL. My 2001 Impala had to be in neutral, park, or have the parking brake set to kill the lights. Maybe Google your vehicle's make, model, year to find out the headlight override procedure?

"Bruises fade and bones will mend-but a psyche can be ruined FOREVER" : LisaLouHoo, c. 2008

 

[paullud]

Paul, what year and make van do you have?

It is a 2006 Ford E350 with a 6L diesel. I know other Fords don't do this so I was thinking someone was playing with the wiring and crossed a headlight wire with an ignition wire somewhere. I actually did something similar when I was installing a CD player in a car without using the proper harness so I know it can be done by accident, but this is a stock radio in here. The 6L motors were used in ambulances and they all have a wire that you can rig up to give it a high idle switch. I looked around and didn't see anything that looked cobbled together like someone was messing with the harnesses trying to do that.

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[paullud]

Jeff's 2005 GMC Savana has the option to turn the switch all the way left to kill the headlights, as did the 2006 Chevy van. The 2002 Ford cube had the old style "off " switch which overrode the DRL. My 2001 Impala had to be in neutral, park, or have the parking brake set to kill the lights. Maybe Google your vehicle's make, model, year to find out the headlight override procedure?

"Bruises fade and bones will mend-but a psyche can be ruined FOREVER" : LisaLouHoo, c. 2008

We have an 06 Cobalt SS that you can just turn the DRL with the switch, I guess GM makes it easier to do. I was doing some research on it before and I got a couple ideas that I have looked at, some suggest cutting wires but I am trying to avoid that.

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[RLENT]

Seems like that mercy or sacrifice question comes up quite a bit in Life .......

 

[moose]

I think this is a prime example of how good a CDL driving school can be for professional drivers.
i choose to take the long way, and the full driving school experience.
we had a full day dedicated to aggressive drivers.
we learn what create aggression, what they are looking for, how to recognize aggression, our responsibility, and the reaction options we got.
it was over a decade ago, but yet i would have immediately recognize the danger, and follow what i'v learned in class.
did so many time over, god knows there's a lot of aggressive drivers around.

 

[greg334]

Call the cops, have a police report made saying he threatened your lives and remember to put the parking brake on when the van is idling.

 

[paullud]

Call the cops, have a police report made saying he threatened your lives and remember to put the parking brake on when the van is idling.

The parking brake has no effect and we weren't idling, the van was shut off as soon as we were parked.

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[Dakota]

Dont ya know you need to put a cover over the headlamps when parking

 

[cheri1122]

I think this is a prime example of how good a CDL driving school can be for professional drivers.
i choose to take the long way, and the full driving school experience.
we had a full day dedicated to aggressive drivers.
we learn what create aggression, what they are looking for, how to recognize aggression, our responsibility, and the reaction options we got.
it was over a decade ago, but yet i would have immediately recognize the danger, and follow what i'v learned in class.
did so many time over, god knows there's a lot of aggressive drivers around.

Yes, there are, and it's just going to get worse as congestion and construction increase.
I'm curious, how would you have handled the headlight situation?
I just ignore aggressive drivers, [reacting with anger is always a bad idea], but sometimes I wonder if that's why they continue: no one makes them acknowledge their bad behavior....

 

[greg334]

Cheri, construction and congestion are not the issue, a bad a**hole driver is always a bad a**hole driver and it is the people in this industry who need to stand up and do something about it, not accept the behavior.

 

[skipr4520]

As a common courtesy I always turn my headlights off when approaching a manned toll booth or guard shack. Also when driving through a dock area where trucks are backing up.

The guy Paul encounter sounds like a jerk that was trying to make something out of nothing.

I gotta agree with moot on this one, unfortunately this "guy having a bad day", targeted you and you wife to take his frustrations out on, but fortunately for him, as it seems to sound, you were the professional in handling this situation by not "settling it" right then and there. It possibly could have turned out a lot different, but because of YOUR actions, it didn't. "BRAVO ZULU" to you for handling that situation PROFESSIONALLY!!

 

[cheri1122]

Cheri, construction and congestion are not the issue, a bad a**hole driver is always a bad a**hole driver and it is the people in this industry who need to stand up and do something about it, not accept the behavior.

Agree, but delay is what usually triggers their bad behavior, and the primary causes are construction & congestion - aside from random individual behaviors, which is what happened in this case.
When the aggression is coming from a professional [and I use the term loosely, as it's currently applied], the easy solution is to report it to their carrier's safety dept.
The thing is, many of the aggressive drivers aren't professionals, and if their behavior doesn't merit a 911 call, [or one hasn't enough detail to identify the driver], how do we discourage it?
As I said, my own response is to ignore it, but that feels wrong, as if I don't care, when I would very much prefer to indicate disapproval of it instead.

 

[greg334]

I would sort of agree with you but an a**hole is going to be an a**hole regardless what you think can trigger them.

Being professional is a whole another thing. In this case, the cops should have been the first call, the carrier the second and without even saying a word to the driver. Lights or no lights, the problem is if some a**hole is so inclined to go off on a pair of headlights, imagine what he would do if something serious crossed his path?

I say until we as a whole profession start policing ourselves with simple things, we can't collectively complain when something stupid happens. As individuals, we have to be the ones to start dealing with this stuff, not let it go.