Confirmation that People Really Are Insane

I just witnessed a Dodge Caravan attempt to force a Chevy Cavalier into a cement divider.

This is nuts. I was driving about 200 feet behind the Cavalier when it drifted into the right lane slightly. Stupid, mind you, but it never got within 6 feet of the Caravan next to it, because the Caravan had been hugging the white line the entire time it was on the bridge (long before the Cavalier got near it). The Cavalier's driver caught herself, and pulled back to her lane right away. The Caravan responded by attempting to force the Cavalier across two other lanes into the cement divider. The Cavalier escaped because it had much better acceleration than the Caravan (this is an old square Caravan). The Caravan began chasing the Cavalier, I began chasing the Caravan (one other person attempted to also, but couldn't keep up because they were driving a big old truck). I got behind the Caravan just as it attempted to make another push, fully expecting to have to put my car between the van and the Cavalier (2400 lb. aluminum Cavalier vs. bridge abuttment or my 4000 lb. steel-reinforced boat of a car [which still has a damn smashed in side...] vs. Caravan - not a hard choice). Fortunately, the driver of the Dodge mistook me for a cop (my car looks a great deal like a police cruiser at night when I'm behind people - they always slow down which is sort of irritating) and broke off. The Cavalier shot away and escaped at the next exit - an exit which myself and the other person who had caught up managed to block the van's access to. This pissed the guy off, but I guess he thought better of taking on a heavy duty work truck (I think it was a Silverado) and a Thunderbird.

These people... are aboslutely... insane. There was no real harm in what the Cavalier did. Stupid? Yes. I'd have yelled, gestured, or layed on the horn.. but NEVER would I consider retaliating against someone like that. What in the HELL is wrong with these people???

Sorry... had to get this off my chest. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush

Haha! ROTFL! Where did this happen? I-81? Near which exit?

What, were the guy in the van or something?

I haven't actually traveled 81 in nearly a year... since they started that damned construction near the Harrisburg exits That damn cattle-chute across the bridge is a suicide run with those trucks racing through it.

road rage, gotta love it.

Heh.. it didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

Half that story is total BS. Basically, everything after the "I drove up behind the van" is a load of crap. The real story: a cavalier drifted across the middle lane partly into the right hand lane then jumped back. The guy in the van got pissed and swerved into the middle lane, forcing the cavalier into the left lane.

My marketing class got me thinking about this a few days ago: A couple of years ago I sold things door to door. Basically, my job was to sell things no one needed to people who already had gotten them for free elsewhere: I sold coupon books. To test our "skills" (and for a laugh sometimes), we would come up with absolutely absurd, off-the-wall stories to tell each other. If you could convince seniors that your story was true, you were pretty good. I thought I'd give it a try here, but only two people bit, and I don't get the impression that either one of them really bought it. Usually, the stories were baited with some tiny level of truth just to get you thinking "welll... mayyybe." The more seriously you could tell the story, the more likely you were to get a sucker.

Oh well.. guess I lost my touch..

Joe: actually, it was up on 83 coming across the South Bridge headed toward Camp Hill (though I can see why you'd think it was 81 )

The biggest help in selling any story is one of two things a) body-language or/and b)vocal stressing.
Neither of these can be accomplished here. I use to have to do something similar when I was an independant contractor (one of my more interesting jobs, I repaired funeral home equipment) where you had to be a saleman as much as a mechanic.

Chris, I don't usually drive on that part of 83, in fact I have only been up there once by myself. Usually, I drive on 81 when I am (1) going to/from school, (2) going to work, or (3) going to visit my mom up in good 'ole PC (hick country ). I only drive on a small part of 83N when I am going to work over in Union Deposit. I am a cashier at the Office Max over there. Yes, I hate the cattle shoots too, and they scare me every time I have to drive through them — especially w/ truck and buses!

PC, you mean Purry County? Home of the one stop light county, and where the only women that aren't pregnant are the ones that can run faster than their brother, and a double-wide is a mansion?

Heh... purry county still doesn't have ANY permenant lights. And they're damn-tootin' proud of it. Y'all learnt folks needn't be stickin' youse noses where they ain't welcome!

Joe -

What route do you travel? There's got to be a better way than 81 (but 83 ain't it - up toward Union Deposit where it splits into 322 and 283 the road's still a disaster ).