SheridanHow do you communicate "sorry, my bad" when you make a mistake while driving?
FelixCressIf they honk and get mad? Usually with the middle finger.
Hand up, and bow head.
ZonetrooperThis. It says, “I acknowledge you are upset, and accept blame.”
leadoreI have a huge purple dildo. I just start beating myself about the head and shoulders.
UndulyUnrulyWhat about the “sorry, my bad” while driving though?
actionjboneYou can do that at the same time as beating yourself with the purple dildo
Mantis starts beating off with a purple dildo
Me: “…the fuck is he doing?”
Akasazh
ThePowerOfGeekBack of the hand high and visible through the rear window, fingers and thumb slightly apart to reduce the chances of them thinking your giving them the middle finger (or two fingers in the UK).
Honk louder to assert dominance.
So take both hands off the steering wheel?
What if I have no arms or legs?
Do you have a mouth the scream in the off chance you might want to?
“Witnesses say they saw you with your arms crossed as you plowed into the building.”
“Officer, I had my knees on the wheel. This was clearly the fault of a car malfunction.”
I get ya, though.
That’s why I only drive automatics, one hand adjusting the radio, one hand flipping people off, one knee driving.
That’s the American way.
BenderRodriguezLike the Black Panther?
Wave like an idiot, and pray they don’t have a gun.
SPOILER ALERT:
spoilerTHEY DO
「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」 | (aka: 鳳凰院 凶真 Hououin Kyouma)I remember not feeling in a good mood and I was sitting in the passenger seat and I pressed the steeing wheel to do the BEEP thing, cuz the car in the front wasn’t moving when they’re supposed to (like I think maybe red light just turned green or something and I was tired and wanna go home), and my parents was like “don’t fucking do that, Americans are crazy, they get easily pissed off and they’ll fucking shoot us dead”
I think the fact that there isn’t a good way I think escalates a lot of otherwise defusable road rage situations.
Many people who get angry at strangers easily see someone apologizing as legitimatizing their anger, and people not apologizing as not understanding they are wrong. I don’t think there is a good solution if people can’t just accept that other people make mistakes and move on without any needed follow up.
Hard disagree, everyday life is full of defused accidental escalations because pointless escalations benefit no one.
It is the same with animals and humans.
I live in Hawai’i and, as far as I can tell, we have far fewer road rage incidents than other parts of the US (but not zero). I honestly think a lot of it has to do with us having a third hand-gesture: the shaka (I mention this elsewhere in this discussion). The shaka is truly amazing. You give it when someone lets you in the lane AND you can give it when you mess up and everyone understands that it’s you admitting your mistake. Might even get a shaka in response for giving the penitential one. It’s awesome.
Telling people in New England to use the Shaka hand gesture is gonna end up a lot different.
Best case scenario, they think it’s the “I love you” hand sign. 🤟
No no no. First you do the walk like an egyptian dance. Then flash your hazzards. Then play peekaboo.
illi
slothropSlam on the brakes to assert you are a power bottom
Tokyo drift around in circles while fliffing out Benjamins.
Can’t go wrong with the classic 🖕.
TropicalDingdong
ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠It’s a big cliche and doesn’t work anywhere else…
But in Hawaii you can literally do anything you want on the road, as long as you throw up a shaka after.
South Park - Shaka Brah
Sorry? Hell naw. Double down. Make it their fault. Get even more mad than them. Brandish your gun. Then brandish your second gun. Fire a warning shot towards their vehicle. Finish your beer in case you need to get out of the car. Challenge other driver to fisticuffs. Lose. Go home and explain to wife why you lost another fight. Get sad. Go to bar. Get really drunk. Pass out on stoop of the Wayne County Building. Miss work for the 3rd time this month. Get fired. Get kicked out of house by wife. Move into bachelor apartment. No artwork on walls. Only Kroger brand bread, condiments, and cheese slices in fridge. See kids every other weekend. Start going to AA meetings on a whim. Find new job. Hit the gym. Find new hobbies. Meet new girlfriend. Come to terms with faults and find peace through meditation and mindfulness. Experience growth. Drive to work one day. Accidentally cut a guy off…
Just hit their car slightly with yours. You know, a love tap, to show them love and appreciation. Then show them your extended middle finger, signifying that you are standing with them in solidarity of thinking you’ve made a mistake. If you have a weapon with you, you can hold it up and show them to indicate that you are aware you could be perceived as a threat, but are making the effort to indicate that you aren’t.
Mount one of these in your rear window? Neon style LED wall art script saying “chill”
Real answer: double tap a light (beams, brakes, or hazards) because most things you would say to them are two beat’s long:
- “Thank you”
- ”Sorry”
- “My bad”
- ”Go on”
- ”Nice drift”
- ”You drunk?”
I remember reading a while back that the hazards twice = thank you.
I’d certainly interpret it that way if it fit.
The only issue I’d see with that convention is that in many scenarios in which you’d use it — other driver makes room for you to merge, brakes early to let you turn left, and so forth — you (should) already have half of the hazard lights actively repeating, which could muddle the message. But otherwise I like it.
Another random convention I learned early on was rapid triple-tap beams (i.e., like a strobe) = “speed trap ahead”
Boomer Humor DoomergodI once got an A on an anthropology paper by analyzing body language in vehicles and different driving cultures in different places.
Rock on. Were there any instances of local parlance you found peculiar or surprising?
One insight was the different behavior when a light turned green with someone at the front making a left turn.
Where I grew up that person would just have to wait, but in the city where I went to college they’d let one car turn left before opposing traffic started.
It was a bit of a culture shock being honked at for obeying the actual law.
If you mean that the way I think, in Los Angeles when you’re going to make a left turn at a light without a red arrow, AND there’s enough clear road ahead on your left for you to turn into, you’re expected to “post up” into the intersection while you wait for opposing traffic to clear. Which often it never does until the light turns yellow, or even red. Then you’re expected to make your turn on the red, and the car behind you is allowed to follow you if they’ve got their front wheels over the line into the intersection. The cross traffic has to wait until you’ve cleared the box. “Two cars on a red.” Of course if it’s an especially large intersection, it’s possible for the first car and second car to post up so far that a third car can get those wheels over, and all three can make their escape from the box after the light changes. But the cross traffic considers this rude.
I don’t think oncoming traffic “lets” the first car go. It’s more that if the person in the front of the left turn queue is on the ball and ready to go, he’ll scoot out while the oncoming drivers are typically looking up from their instagram or TikTok or whatever and understanding that they need to drive again.
I’ve done that before when I’m in a hurry, but this was actually people waiting for that initial left turn.
Also this was back before smart phones, so things may have changed. Culture evolves.
because most things I would say to them are two beats long
LOL. Doesn’t that mean it’s completely ambiguous? There’s plenty of awful things you could say in 2 beats.
I imagine that people flash twice because once could be a mistake, twice demonstrates intent. Three would make me wonder whether it’s an ongoing flashing light.
Elgenzay