People are nuts out there, man. A driver's license doesn't guarantee someone isn't a total psychopath. Jalopnik editor-in-chief Matt Hardigree got a taste of that when he ran into a pack of angry Virginia rednecks while roadtripping in the new 911 Carrera S.
My craziest incident with another driver went down like this: I'm doing about 80 in the left lane of a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. Guy comes up from behind me pretty fast, so I try to move right to let him by. He tries to pass me on the right at the same time and nearly hits me. I honk my horn and give him the finger.
This causes him to completely lose his mind, apparently. He tries to sideswipe my car, blocks me from passing, brake checks me a bunch of times and points out the window as if to say, "Let's pull over and settle this with a round of fisticuffs."
Since I forgot to do bath salts that day like him, I'm like, thanks but no thanks. I slow down, make him think I'm pulling over, then blow past him after he comes to a stop. I don't know if he came after me. The whole ordeal was honestly pretty scary. It helped that I was in a WRX and he was in some mid-90s Nissan sedan.
Since then I've stopped flipping the bird to other drivers, and I've learned to just let things slide more. You never know who you're gonna run into or what they're prepared to do.
So what's your worst roadway encounter? It could be with an overly aggressive driver, or someone who crashed into you and split, or some other vehicular nightmare. Share your story in the comments below.
Photo credit Getty Images.