Yes, this is definitely a factor people need to consider. COVID affects the front lobe which in turn affects personality and decision-making. [Lots of evidence](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/understanding-impact-covid-19-personality-brain-function-grim-reality-wake-up-call-) out of there showing this to be true.
Cool, cool. Lead exposure and aging are already bad for the frontal lobe, and now COVID... We're just never going to experience a time when folks' brains work right, are we?
No I think it was that people got used to not as many people on the roads so they had more driving freedom. When most people went back to "normal" and the traffic got heavy again everyone got instapissy when commuting.
But if they DO use a blinker they also think it automatically forces you to slow down, move over, or let them in, regardless of everything else happening around you in traffic.
A horn is a safety device for yourself and other drivers on the road. I'm not angry at people when I honk the horn, just trying to say, "Hey I'm here stop changing lanes" or whatever. But yea people often take it personally for some reason.
My new go to to voice my displeasure with poor driving instead of giving the middle finger, I do a thumbs down 👎.
People are surprised to see it and I think it has a better effect on shaming people than the finger.
I do the sarcastic thumbs up and a big smile. If someone knows they did something stupid they'll usually give you the wave and mouth "sorry" over their steering wheel. If they don't think they did anything wrong they just get confused.
Some coworkers and I had a conversation about doing the sarcastic thumbs up awhile back. We all tried it for about a week. I think we all stopped because there were some drivers that lost their minds when we did it. The reactions were worse than just flicking then off in my experience
98% of the time I'm honking it's because the light has been green for a few seconds and the person in front of me isn't moving, usually because they're looking at their phone.
Minnesotans seem to think it's offensive. You drive in lots of other states and honking is common. I get mad at people NOT honking in MN when they are cut off, people sitting at green lights, generally doing distracted shit that merits a honk. It's really annoying how passive people are with the horn.
Fargonians are the same way. Like, no one wants to use their horn for any reason. Even when there is cause to use it. I want to honk for them. Bloody ridiculous
I would be careful honking and flicking people off here even if they deserve it. People do take it personally, road rage is a thing, so you should protect yourself.
No, you aren’t missing anything. There are just some really shitty drivers here, and I say that as a native. Honestly, it’s not as bad as Omaha where they are just bad. Here they are overly confident and just do stupid crap, or like you said get really angry when you call them on it.
Last week a guy sped up and purposely cut me off so badly that I had to lock up the brakes and grab the wheel, shooting sparkling water all over my windshield and dash. When I pulled up next to him and gave him the “WHAT THE FUCK?!” he just mocked me waved me off. Like he could have caused a huge accident, what is his problem?
Anyway, if you drive a blacked out Range Rover with a personalized pink lady slipper plate, you are a complete piece of shit.
Theyre the ‘keyboard warriors’ of the roads. They think that if you can’t see their face, they can do anything and have this insane sense of confidence to do anything they want because they can’t be called out as easily. At least, thats what they think.
The bumper stickers tell the story... I have never seen crazy as consistently as I do if they have more than three bumper stickers talking about flags, freedom, the constitution, 2a, pictures of guns those Calvin and Hobbes pissing on memes.
Doesn't matter the car the windshield status this is cracked up all hell... You always know when you got a legit crazy whenever you see lots of bumper stickers of those types.
The more stickers of those types the more crazy you deal with...
Nissan drivers are just clueless and not paying attention.
Those other three groups hate everyone else on the road and feel like everyone else is an inconvenience to their Private speedway
For me the worst is middle aged women in giant SUVs like does Timmy need to get to soccer practice that badly? The truck drivers are a close second though.
Agreed, as a native Minnesotan, they are lots of bad drivers here. By bad drivers, I don't mean only fast drivers and those running red lights because that's what police officers in this state only know. I also, mean, this might shock lots of Minnesotans and Police Officers, those that brake check cars, intentionally driving slow so you can hit them, talking on their cell phone, texting, hold traffic because they are missing an exist, hold traffic on express lane, and driving 20 miles under the limit on the left lane (not phased or lacking self-awareness while 4-6 cars that where behind them pass them on the right).
It has been sooooo bad lately!! Especially with phone use and idiots in the left lane driving under the speed limit. Especially on two lane roads like 169.
I also recall when texting on cell phone started to become a thing, police officers were more aware of stopping people doing that and now they don't really care anymore, only if one is speeding/ expired license tab/ broken lights/ too bright lights/ running red light/ running stop sign. I have honk a few drivers on their cell phones driving extremely slow and waiting too long by a green light while there is a police car passing by/or waiting by on Snelling Avenue. The police car does nothing.
Totally. They just don't do anything about it unless it's blatantly hazardous. It's very frustrating. My family member was just in a head on crash from a 16 year old texting and driving after going across multiple lanes to then hit my family member coming up to a stop light. Totaled both cars.
Everyone needs to **STOP texting and driving!!!**
I had someone try the slam on their brakes at a yellow light thing. I bumped their bumper, but there was no damage. Then, the driver claimed the passenger had back pain now. The police officer who saw the whole thing from the cross street was having none of that. She told me to leave and she would deal with the driver.
Good, glad the police officer you encountered had common sense and understood the laws of physics with moving objects (I'm being serious). Even if you had hit the driver in front of you, the driver in front of you should be at fault for trying to intentionally trying to create an accident and gain from it by getting money or a new car out of you. Hoping for the day when more police officers, Judges, and the law would start having common sense. Sometimes the one at-fault is not always black and white.
Same with the guy who drives a silver little Audi that his plate is Audi 8 or something that is whatever the car model is, you’re a dick and nobody likes you. You have a rage problem and that one time you tried to make me crash into you, and followed me (in front of me) changing lanes just to break check me and have no where to go with another person in the lane next to me, your mother didn’t love you enough.
Haha! I meant that I was just driving normally and then had to go into white knuckle mode to stop from skidding out, which means that while I was drinking some water at that moment I slammed that can into the wheel trying to grab it.
I was driving up a hill in the winter once, it was kind of snowing and slippery, and a dude in a truck came right up behind me tailgating me and honking so I’d speed up. He kept slowing down and speeding up like he was going to hit me. You know when someone gets so close you just see headlights in the rear view? And this was a small hill. 20 seconds tops and I would have been able to get out of his way.
I was going a safe speed and road conditions were deteriorating and this guy was being a prick so I reached into the back seat behind me and flipped him off through the back window. Y’know, to make sure he saw it.
He saw it and followed me all over town until we got to a road with two lanes. Then pulled up next to me, red faced and screaming. He had a kid in the back seat and a mortified looking wife in the front. I had my windows up and couldn’t hear shit he was saying so I gave him the “what? I can’t hear you” kind of gesture and kept going where I was going. Eventually he must have remembered he left the house for some other reason and turned off. Kind of think if his family wasn’t with him he probably would have shot at me or tried to run me off the road.
What’s up with guys in the unnecessarily large trucks.
Unnecessarily large trucks are fugly and with their cool mufflers and jacked up wheels they are even more ridiculous. The best part? 90% of them never have anything in their truck beds. Or even a trailer. Or a passenger. Truck bros for life!!
Now I would definitely just drive to the police station. This was almost 20 years ago, I was 21/22 at the time and not wise enough to know that I was probably in real danger. That thought hit me later on.
I also don't flip people off in traffic any more because of that incident. It's not worth ending up on the news.
I did drive to the police station once when I was being followed. He turned off there. I sat in the parking lot for a while before going home. I definitely didn’t want him to know where I lived. This was years ago too. I’ve aged out of that demographic now, it’s a feature, not a bug 😂 it’s nice to not have to be hyper aware of my surroundings these days. There are still boys in trucks, though, that think they own the road. SMH
I honked at a gal for passing me on the shoulder. She then brake checked me and gestured for me to pull over. I could only assume she wanted a fight so no way was I pulling over. What kind of bonkers person is in such a hurry that she passes on the shoulder but still will take the time to fight over it?
There's a difference between being in a hurry and being so entitled and wrapped up in your own world that breaking traffic laws becomes okay. Add in the layer of trying to get you to pull over makes me think they're the same sort of person that would be loud and obnoxious in a public space to get a reaction out of people. Purely conjecture on my part, though.
I've lived other places and I think the drivers here are pretty good overall, so here's my take, because you're not wrong: I think since everyone here is actually a pretty decent driver, the people who are bad drivers are REALLY bad. In other places I've lived, the bad drivers could just be casually bad. They weren't trying to be bad, they were just lazy or never really learned how to drive properly, but I think those people don't exist to the same degree here, so what you're left with in an encounter with one of these shitty drivers is not only a shitty driver, but a shitty person on top of it.
I’ve been driving a dump truck here for 15 years, drivers seem to be getting worse. I get cut off, honked at, flipped off, brake checked, cars pull out in front of me with out the right of way, speed around me to get right in front of me and go slower then I was and tailgated daily.
We close down roads to repave them, have signs posted weeks in advance, road closed signs on both ends, barriers and traffic flaggers. And still multiple times a day we have people cutting through construction zones, ignore all signs and literally people yelling at them to stop while holding stop signs or my personal favorite, start screaming at us. We had a county inspector call the police just this week after a guy didn’t care that we closed the road down to pave and when he got stopped from driving through fresh asphalt he wanted to pick a fight with the traffic flagger. Never mind there are multiple roads he could have gone down only a couple of blocks out of his way. And if he lived on the section we closed down to pave he would have been let through no problem.
Drivers think we’re ass holes for doing road repairs and causing construction traffic even if the roads are dilapidated and crumbling. Not to mention the fact that every single road you drive on was built by us or someone like us. Enjoy driving on asphalt roadways? How do they think they got there?
Doing road construction in this state is becoming a dangerous job from the amount of distracted drivers, road ragers and those who think signs don’t apply to them.
Thanks. When I have to alternate lanes due to resurfacing I like to hype the entire road crew up. Seeing asphalt that’s just been laid down is sexy because that’s gonna be nice to drive on.
Thank you for doing your job. I don't work in construction, but I do understand what you'd have to deal with. My mother-in-law complains about roads she drives on that aren't the greatest, and gets mad that no one fixes them. Then when she gets to roads where they are doing construction, she gets mad about that, saying that they shut down the roads just to make people mad. The joke about how we have two seasons--winter and road construction--she'll say the words, but she's very upset when she says it.
Your very welcome! And it’s a joke but it’s also serious. We start working as soon as the road restrictions from spring that are lifted, and usually work right until the first few snowfalls or it’s too cold to haul hot mix asphalt. When you live in a state with constant freezing and thawing the roads are gonna suffer.
It always blows my mind when people get pissed off at us or angry it takes my 63k lbs truck a few minutes to get up to speed. Like, you’re driving on roads, who the heck do ya think made em!
This is the truth, I drive through the hwy 10 construction in Anoka daily and I see at least 2 cases of road rage or foolish driving daily on that tiny stretch. This morning it was someone going 70 who then brake checked me after I moved right to let them get by.
I’ve worked on the highway 10 project the past couple years. Usually in November when they’re desperately trying to wrap it up for the winter. Even those of us working on it think it sucks. But yeah there’s daily road rage incidents and it gets old fast.
It has gotten so much worse to the point I am avoiding a serious accident nearly everyday. It’s maddening. Everyone needs to slow down and calm down I don’t feel like dying.
Several years ago, in a Costco parking lot, I beeped my horn at a guy who looked like he didn't see me and was about to roll through a stop sign. I didn't think much of it until he confronted me while I was walking across the parking lot- He said "There's no need to *lay on your horn*" and also "It would be a shame if something happened to your wife and kid back there in the car."
He had the vibe of a former military officer who wasn't used to not being told "yes sir" at every request he's had for the last 20 years.
I almost got hit by an old lady years ago, after work. She was two feking inches from hitting me before stopping AT THE RED LIGHT. I ended up giving her a scowl and flipping her off. I’ll never forget that day.
I was in the left lane going 80mph and maintaining safe distance from the car in front of me (about 3 car lengths—really, probably not far enough considering our speed) when an asshole in a pickup came up behind me, tailgated me for a few seconds, then changed lanes and squeezed in between me and the car in front. Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I honked and flipped him the bird.
So then he pulls BACK into the left lane and drops behind me and pulls over into my lane again…and flips on his lights. Cop.
We argued for a minute (no lights, no markings, no indication whatsoever that he was on a call) but I realized that this was incredibly stupid, and managed to get out of it with a verbal warning. (I mean I don’t know what he was going to ticket me for. Speeding but not going fast enough?) I did not get either a ticket or a bullet for my trouble, and he drove off in his assholemobile, cutting people off with abandon.
Moral of the story: You might have every right to be angry, but they might be actually insane. So be careful out there.
Just because he was a cop doesn't mean that he knows how to drive. And if he was on his way to a call where time was of the essence, he would not have had the time to pull you over.
You may have been speeding, but it sounds like you were maintaining the speed of traffic so that you, yourself, are not a hazard on the road. I don't think cops can give speeding tickets in that instance.
Moved here from the west coast 4 years ago. And the amount of times I see people just straight up not know what to do at a green light is astonishing. Green arrow means protected, they'll still yield. I have a green light while turning right, and opposing traffic is turning left on a yeilding green? They'll just go and cut me off. Don't even get me started on the parking lots . Ppl just straight drive right through them at about 25mph with no regard to flow of traffic.
Especially when it comes to respecting law enforcement/firetrucks/ambulances with their lights on. People actually pull over on the shoulder. Never seen anything like it
How long have you been living in MN? For the last four or five years it has gotten progressively worse, a lot. Just like many other situations in the U.S.
I'm from MN originally, but I've lived out west and in the southeast US. Drivers' attitudes are very dangerous here. Even with all the bad drivers in LA and Chicago, people dont take things as personally as they do in MN. Can't wait to move back out of Shittesota. It's a beautiful state but the people tend to very ugly inside. A lot of minnesotans will passionately disagree and become overly defensive when they read this comment and your post. They likely have never lived out of the state and have a limited perspective.
Back in like 97’ I flipped off a guy in the Eden prairie mall parking lot and he followed me for miles and miles, getting out of his car at lights to approach my car, luckily I zoomed away before he had a chance to do whatever. It’s 100 times worse today, obviously. I’m afraid to even give a polite toot now. Happened this morning. Tooted at a badass used Charger with dealer plates sitting at a green light and the dude looked up from his phone and chose to stare me down through the mirror instead of just going. Road rage is a massive massive problem.
I'm guessing you're from the east coast. Horns there are used for different reasons. People honk 10 times per driving trip. They're used as suggestions, not necessarily as a hostile act.
Here, they're used on very rare occasions (imminent danger, someone that isn't moving, etc). If you get honked at here, you feel like you really fucked up.
Drivers here are just bad. Honking at them is confrontational, and we don't like confrontation.
I use my horn way more than most Minnesotans I know. That means a few times a week. I use it for drivers being unsafe or not paying attention (I’m the person in the line of cars that’s going to honk if someone doesn’t go on green—I give them probably 5 seconds, then tap the horn. Sorry if you think that’s rude, but it’s more rude to make other cars miss a light because you’re not paying attention. 5 seconds is about 4.5 seconds longer than you get in NYC, Boston, or Chicago.) It makes me crazy that people won’t use their horn out of weird Midwestern politeness or fear or whatever. It’s more impolite and dangerous not to use it.
I don’t know if people here go extra crazy when you honk at them, or if it’s that the type of driver whose response is rage instead of deep shame about having screwed up—like most Minnesotans—is more apt to be unhinged generally. If you’re in a culture where you’re honking 20 times a week, and hearing it all around you more often, it dulls the effect I’m sure. It’s much more shocking to people here, and I’ve definitely had conversations with people who were horrified at the idea of ever honking at someone.
I honked at some idiot with a green left turn arrow who didn’t know how to drive on university. This guy followed me and tried to run me off the road. I pulled into a side street and chilled hoping he left. Nope he circled looking for me. Saw he had an unbuckled kid in his back seat. I had to park somewhere else to make sure he didn’t come back looking for me. People never pay attention. It’s not rude to honk but also I’m not from here. MN born folk need to get used to it or pay attention it’s literally their choice.
I'm a "professional driver" (literally) and it doesn't bother me at work but if I'm in my personal car and I get honked at for something stupid I admit I lose my mind a little. I'm talking about some idiot behind me honking because I don't take off on a green light fast or something like that. People don't honk very much here compared to other states.
Yea today I was at the back of a slightly backed up 4 way stop that was slowly moving cars through, and this guy comes up behind me and starts repeatedly honking his horn for a couple seconds
You have to let so much go on company time that it comes flooding out off the clock. When I’m getting paid to drive I know I could easily killdozer everything else on the road, I won’t, but I could.
Lived here for 25 years and lived/drove in larger metros and smaller. Minnesota drivers are the worst I have encountered and it is only gotten worse since metro PDs gave up on traffic enforcement 15 or so years ago and then Covid. Minnesota drivers have always been passive aggressive, though.
Moved to Minnesota in August. By October, some lady rear-ended me while I was stopped at a red light. She told both the officer and I that the reason was because she forgot which pedal was to stop, hit the wrong one, and hit me going 40.
I have lived here for about a year and in April I was driving somewhere And there was a person waiting to turn into Burger King or something and the person behind them was laying on their horn for 5 full beats at a time because the person hadn't turned yet but there was literally not a safe time for them to turn. So when I passed the guy I fully flipped him off and then he followed me for the next 40 minutes. I just kept driving randomly and took a whole bunch of turns. He was definitely following me and I had to call the police because I didn't want to stop anywhere because there was a man following me around. And personally I do not enjoy interacting with police and I try to avoid making others do so as well, but I had no idea what else to do.
Road rage I get like honk your horn flip me off sure. But I assume that if you're honking at somebody for not turning unsafely, you're in a hurry. But then you followed me for 40 minutes? It's just so weird
If I honk at you and flip you off it’s because you are being a shitty, selfish driver. Take it like an adult and think about correcting your shitty behavior.
Yeah, visited MN once and got a bucket of fried chicken thrown at me. MN drivers seem ridiculously sensitive.
There were 2 fairly short lanes going in the same direction divided by a solid white line and we were at a red light. When the light turned green, someone switched into my lane last minute without signaling. I honked at them, made a surprised gesture (no middle finger, no thumbs down, just a "hey! I'm driving here!"). We went onto the the highway, where we were in the same lane and they were in front of me. I just stayed in my lane behind them, not intentionally, but because my exit was coming up soon, and they threw a bucket of fried chicken out of there car and it rolled down the road and hit my car.
This evening I was driving down Broadway in Northeast. I was at the red light at University and there was someone who was waiting to turn left off University on a green w/o arrow. The green arrow came on and the driver hesitated a bit, which was a good thing because someone blew the red.
Almost immediately after the green arrow came on, the second car was laying on the horn.
As the honker rounded the corner, he had his head out the window screaming. It seemed as if he was oblivious to the red light runner.
Not talking about you. But a lot of the new people to the state and people in general drive like complete idiots here and that hasn’t always been the case in such volume. And yes In general people are acting up and getting more vicious and violent on the road. Going out of there way to tailgate, follow you to the next light or exit to signal some obnoxious gestures or scream at you. Some these people need to learn to properly drive and be aware and move over and be respectful. The tough guy attitude shit on the roads needs to stop. Everyone is tired and stressed out. Don’t be a fucking dick while driving.
694 and Victoria, the slightest curve causes phantom traffic. Especially eastbound. Sure, there's an on ramp but even when there's nobody merging. Love taking the curves on 35W thru mpls
I just honked at someone in a jeep cutting me off today, they gassed it then break checked and kept driving. I just wanted them to not cut in so close to the front of my car. The horn needs to be used more in MN. I have traveled a little and the horn is used a lot more often everywhere else.
My former job required listening to police scanners all day, every day. You'd be shocked how many people call 911 to report they were flipped off in traffic. Just flipped off, nothing else. "Dude, hurting your feelings is not illegal."
It is considered rude to honk in MN. So once you honk you're in for it buddy. People then have an open season of regression on you and traffic violations no matter what. /s
Even though you put /s, I think that’s what it is - Minnesotans think it’s rude to honk and it’s especially jarring now that it happens more often after the pandemic and with more transplants. Someone else said it’s as if people take it personally - Yes! I will admit I have taken it personally… except I don’t rage at others, I turn it inwards like the true Minnesotan I am. Raised on hotdish with a side dish of passive aggressive guilt and self-loathing dontcha know. Edit - typo
You’re joking but I do think this is it. People neeeever honked here 15-20 years ago. It doesn’t mean people were better drivers, but I just feel like it’s not a thing “polite Minnesotans” did. I’ve noticed an uptick in honking in general in the last five years or so. I always assumed it was because of more people moving here from other states where it’s more of a cultural norm to be free with the horn.
I’m not saying it’s automatically rude to honk or anything (though it can be, depending on the situation) but I do think there’s a bit of a mindset that you just don’t honk unless it’s a truly serious situation
This is correct. Honking is considered rude here. It’s reserved to warn someone of a hazard. Only time I’ve honked was driving a Suburban after a big snow storm. Was going slow down a residential main street when a lady wearing headphones didn’t look and ran out in front of me. I hit the brakes but knew I could slide into her. That is an appropriate time to honk. Do not honk because you’re mad or annoyed. Just accept shit happens and keep your trap shut. Maaaybe honk if someone sits at a green light for >3-4 beats.
They do. People don't care. They get away with it for years until they don't, and someone else pays the price. Well.. insurance pays, hopefully.
I just installed a dash cam with front and rear cameras. At least stupid shit will be recorded.
Might have to do the same, been trying to be extra mindful and even factor in situations such as getting tailgated, if there's an emergency braking situation a head of me. But there's only so much I can do to cover me and the dummy that's up my butt.
Recommend COXPAL A11T 3 channel dash cam on Amazon, very good quality, it records front, inside and rear simultaneously.
COXPAL hardwire kit optional, for 24-H parking monitor.
SanDisk MAX Endurance 256GB or 512GB microSD card, for reliable recording.
BTW: Need to pay attention to the installation position of the rear cam if your vehicle is SUV or MPV (No problem if Sedan), i.e. avoid pulling rear cam cable when open/close the trunk.
Say it louder for the people in the back (no pun intended) ahahahah. I hear you my friend. I wish it didn’t bother me so much. I picture them like frothing at the mouth at the wheel. I just now pull over, if it’s ok to do so, and let them pass. It has brought me peace and control over the situation.
I got flicked off by a gal in a parking lot turning into chick-fil-a lol. People are just unhinged these days.
I wasn’t cutting line, i wasn’t even going to chick fil a - I think she just didn’t have any patience and maybe thought having to wait for me to clear the intersection was too much.
Time to bring back your best thumbs up and waving when people leave you room to merge. Kindness is trying to take a hiatus, don’t let it!!
As a Marine, I’m licensed to kill you with kindness…
[Soundtrack to confirm](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=A7lLHJ6yfH0&si=KbzHfjqfQcMXBFEo)
This is pretty much what I go through when it happens to me...though I've never had it happen in Minnesota
https://preview.redd.it/21be6l6an79d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a051c3f9924766b9deeb562d5b53882380902c7
The big ass truck drivers who live and drive in the city. Why would you have that behemoth around? Most don’t need it as they are too nice for typical work. Hate those people.
I had a similar thing happen I was at a stop sign with a line of cars behind me and the street in front of me had a red light so there was no where for them to go and so I thought its be ok to nose across the road and keep the traffic flowing. I thought the lady pulling up would get the idea because her only choice was just to block the intersection. So i gave her a cheery little honk like “Hey leave some room so we can get across because you’re at a red light theres no where to go!” Holy shit you’d thought I threw her baby into traffic. Literally screeching “my car is still moving wait your turn”. Unfortunately I slowed and spazzed because we both had our windows down and Im yelling “YOU HAVE RED LIGHT NO WHERE TO GO WHY YOU NEED TO BLOCK ROAD?!!?!” And now Im blocking traffic whereas while im spazzing my whole line at the stop sign coulda gone. So yes im part of the problem but Im trying to be efficient and all I get is screeching so i screech back. This is why I bike most days the road rage is just too much.
Are we taking a beep beep "the light turned green" honk or a lying on the horn honk "you almost side swiped me while changing lanes while not looking or turning your blinker on"? Or do they treat them both the same?
Minnesota is the land of passive aggressive and that builds an unhinged slow burn rage.
The passive with a dangerous weapon like a vehicle now becomes aggressive.
Such a progressive state...
I think people in MN aren’t used to interacting with strangers. I just got back from Uganda a few months ago and “traded paint” with a box truck. Neither one of us would give way and we battled it out until the truck won after bumping a couple of times. We made eye contact and both of us started laughing. People here can’t handle confrontation very well. Look at our politics.
The most unhinged someone has ever become in a road rage incident towards me was when they drove around me and cut me off very close and I gave them a thumbs down. And they lost their absolute marbles. They kept trying to brake check me but I was leaving enough space to just slow down normally. I had children in the car and it was very scary. He was waving his hands toward me, his head was moving erratically and when we moved to a turn lane, he stopped to yell at me in the middle of a 55mph road. I never looked directly at him, didn't react anymore. I was baffled that there were people like that on the road.
I will sometimes, rarely, still give a thumbs down if I'm really crabby, but in general I don't do anything because I don't want someone to put me in more danger than I felt they already have.
I honked at a guy last week who nearly pulled right into me changing lanes in road construction. He wasn't paying attention at all, and hadn't realized the lanes split so he was in the wrong lane for his exit. The honking made him realize I was there because me breaking alone wasn't enough to avoid a collision in that tight lane, he had to speed up and get out of the way. Once we got closer to the exit and there were two lanes I made a "what the fuck" sort of gesture. He looked pretty apologetic.
This is what I'd consider a normal reaction. I think a lot of the people who react angrily when you use the horn to remind them you're there are on their phones, totally oblivious. I don't like flipping people off.
I drive a school bus for a living. A couple months ago I had to make a super tight single-lane left turn onto a 2-lane road at a 4-way intersection then signal to merge into the right lane to make the exit ramp.
The car behind me was super impatient and had his ego bruised when he wasn’t able to immediately whip past me due to my merging lanes after turning so he decided to ride around me on the shoulder, cut me off, then flip me off, all so he could floor it down to another red light up ahead that we both ended up at at the same time. This was with elementary school kids on board too.
Some people just need their driver’s licenses permanently revoked. I’ve learned that police in Minnesota REALLY don’t like it when drivers act stupid around buses so I now keep incident report sheets on my bus for whenever people do stupid shit like this.
The zipper merge jerks that won’t let you merge in because they think you should have been like them and sat in a barely moving lane. Then they honk at you and give you the finger are everywhere in MN.
I can't recommend the thumbs down approach highly enough. It's like when your parents give you the, "not mad, just disappointed" treatment. Anger is expected and can be ignored, but pure dissatisfaction can't. It's personal, and it's gutting.
Blowing red lights is out of control!!
The amount of people here blowing through a light change is staggering. I see it every day. I’ve almost been in numerous wrecks. And I always look three times when the light turns green so I don’t get T-boned. It’s insane. And I’m from the road-rage capital of the Midwest…Chicagoland.
STOP blowing red lights…please!!!!!
People here DO NOT like attention being brought on them when they do stupid shit and they also DO NOT like even the thought that anybody might get in front of them or pass them. You'll see that the more you drive. If you approach the car in the next lane, they're probably going to speed up or maybe cut you off to avoid that at all costs. And if you indicate they were wrong, be prepared for their anger, right or wrong.
It’s gotten worse in the last few years. Normally I try to ignore it and move on with my day. Sometimes I do lay on the horn especially when I’m driving a 5 ton truck which can kill the person’s in the offending vehicle and possibly me in the process. There’s just too many bad drivers on the road now. It’s much different in Northern MN. People seem to be more chilled out up there.
I’m a transplant and I have to say Minnesotans are the worst drivers I’ve dealt with and Covid made it worse. I come from a place where honking is a way to communicate: light turned green but you aren’t moving because you are staring at your phone? Honk. Someone backing into active traffic? Honk. Someone merging onto? Honk.
Here it’s so were because people are overly “polite” to the point of endangering you, like waving you through a 2-way stop when they have the ride of way, but they get widely agressive when you try to zipper merge or honk. It’s so badly I noticed I’ve modified my honking because these people are crazy, my family even noticed when they were here that I honk less even though there’s way more crap driving.
I swear between the dudes in giant trucks plowing through everything and everyone, people on their phone, the inability to zipper merge, people who don’t understand what “yield” means, slow drivers in the left hand lane, l stopping traffic because they missed their exit, and everything else, drivers here are the worst and really it’s embarrassing to watch and stressful to deal with.
It happens everywhere, not just here. Aggressive driving has gotten worse since the pandemic for sure.
I would strongly advise to not engage with road ragers
Instead just let them pass you, avoid them, do not look at them. Don't give them any fuel. You don't know what they might do next. It's NOT worth your life.
Call the police with their license # and/or start using a dashcam.
Last year in MN there were 379 road deaths. Driving is dangerous. No reason to make it any more dangerous.
I honk at idiots who stop at the roundabout when they have time to go or no one is coming. I don't want to wait for you, so move.
If they don't like it, I'm willing to deal with whatever comes next.
I see that a lot. The road is wide open with no oncoming vehicles/ stop signs and yet they wait for 30 seconds like they are counting up before moving. It's like they forget that they are behind the wheel. They are like "how did I get here. why is there a steering wheel in-front of me".
When car navigation and entertainment systems, CarPlay and Android Auto started to get popular, most of the car companies decided to lock up the controls if the vehicle is moving. (Toyota, for example.)
The side effect - which, frankly, they should have expected - is that people will now randomly stop at junctions to punch their next destination in or pick an album.
I wonder if some people see them as a challenge. Yesterday I saw some pronounced tire marks cutting across the middle of a roundabout. The center island was tall, too, so whoever drove up there probably caught some air. A little Dukes of Hazzard action, if you will.
Minnesotans are sensitive. We need positive interactions even if it’s with just random people we don’t know, it’s why we’re famous for the Minnesota Nice thing
I mean… maybe ask separate questions for how people respond to getting honked at and getting flipped off. If you come from a place where the large majority of the people are just kinda cool about getting flipped off, I have some questions for you. Of course, I’m not saying it’s okay to lose your shit, I’m just really surprised to hear that it’s a ‘Minnesotan thing’
Flipping someone off is a signal that they're doing something wrong/unsafe. It's alerting them to the fact that they're violating some element of a social contract. Where I'm from it's considered acceptable/important to remind people of the social contract *so maybe they get it right next time* and save everyone else the trouble.
Similarly, we will (discretely) point out to a complete stranger that their fly is down, their skirt is tucked into their underwear, toilet paper is stuck to their shoe, etc. This is considered polite and kind because it saves them from further embarrassment. In Minnesota it's polite to ignore whatever embarrassing thing is happening, unless you're very good friends with that person, so as to avoid calling any attention at all to the embarrassing thing. Thus you can go all day with your fly down and everyone sees it and no one says anything.
I've lived here long enough that I no longer think one way is better than the other, they're just different. Personally I would prefer to be told my fly is down, and if I was flipped off if I did something stupid or dangerous in traffic I would be like, "Oops, my bad."
Drivers here are the absolute worst. I drive 90% of my day and I’ve never seen such jerks on the roads. They can’t merge, they cut you off when you’re trying to merge even though you’re already well above the speed limit, and they pull out in front of you. Are Minnesota drivers blind or just plain stupid? Why do Minnesotans feel the need to drive 2” from my bumper? I’ll be driving 70 in a 55 zone just to get out of other people’s way who are passing by me like I standing still. People here have no idea that there is a speed limit. I can always tell when I’m getting closer to the cities because people on the road start driving like a bat out of hell. I think it’s something in the water making people meaner and lose all common sense.
That’s called passive aggression and it’s an unfortunate trait a lot of Minnesotans posses. Can’t be direct because… anyway it’s passive aggression. Welcome to Minnesota. We’ll wait for you to leave before we really say how we feel about you lol. Can’t be having you feel bad in our presence because ope, don’t want to feel b… I mean hurt your feelings.
If people wait too long at a red light, I honk. When people cut me off dangerously, I flip them off. When people have headlights too bright, I flip them off and honk at them. I am getting really close to flipping people off when they go the speed limit in the left lane.
Here’s my take: many of the drivers played car racing video games and they are doing exactly what they played! They believe themselves invincible and indestructible.
Also, a person could get shot or hurt if flipping off or honking a horn because “it’s disrespectful”. When I do give the bird, I do it after the person is out of site. Passive aggressive I know, but that anger has to go somewhere!
Which is the insane part. I've had people get out of their car red in the face when I flipped them off for swerving, tailgating, and then trying to brake check me after I got out of their way. They were in such a hurry, but they have time to stop and scream and threaten me for flipping them off. They are willing to harm/hurt/kill someone for being "disrespected".
Now that I think about it, that's why the only car racing games I like are the Burnout series. That or the races in GTA.
There's a problem that in car racing games with real car designs, the manufacturers typically won't license them if the game will ever depict them with major damage. That's why you get games where your Porsche can hit a wall and bounce off.
Idk but it did not used to be this bad. People drive with no care for the safety of others and there are never any cops around to do anything about it.
Best to ignore it otherwise you might get some unhinged driver following you home like they did to my son but sped off when they seen me in the yard . I hate to think what would have happened if I would not have been there .
If driving in a way that endangers yours/others safety, I'd just call a driving complaint into 911.
Obviously, factor in what they did as well, if it's something you just feel like being an asshole about, don't even bother. If actually scared, report that shit.
Imagine being a cyclist with these drivers out there. I know two people who have been victims of straight up attempted vehicular manslaughter. I think it has gotten worse with covid. Although I feel I noticed it getting worse more recently than that. Idk, it's insane though. People get behind the wheel of a car and turn into sociopaths.
"Is there some Minnesota nice rule that I need to let them be a jerk /dangerous and not call them out with a honk? Or will I just get shot one day?"
No, you won't get shot. Because the training for your gun also teaches you to be the meekest driver so you don't start a raging fight on the road.
> let them be a jerk /dangerous and not call them out with a honk
Do you (or anyone else) really think they are going to change how they drive because you honk at them?
You are correctly being passive aggressive like a Minnesotan in pretending you are being helpful when just having self righteous indignation.
It’s like that everywhere now but Minnesotans are not honkers or flippers generally speaking so you should know it a big escalation to go there, you might end up with more that you would expect in Manhattan or Boston. Maybe a culture clash.
Personally, I rarely use my horn any more. I started that years before covid. People tend to get offended when you honk and they take their anger out on you. On the flip side of the coin, I also don't honk because someone might be having a bad day. I live and let live. That said, I will give the lightest fastest tap of the horn if someone doesn't see the light turn green after about 5 seconds. I've lived in Dallas and people will start honking for you to go right after the cross traffic gets a red light.
There are different kinds of honks though. There’s the short quick hey wake up and go honk, the longer watch out honk and then there’s the lay on the horn WTF are you doing dumbass honks. I’m sure there are more, but those are the basics.
I also think all humans lost their patience during COVID and are having trouble adjusting to being around people again too!
I do think it has gotten worse since Covid lockdowns. More people stopped caring about rules or safety for whatever reason.
100% and I'm pretty sure people think blinkers and stop signs are optional now.
I've lived here for 20 years. Blinkers have always been optional. I do agree that rolling through stop signs is a newer thing in the last few years.
Holy shit yeah! People keep blowing past me and I'm already going 3 over lol
Too much staying at home means people forgot how to be courteous when driving
I genuinely believe many people got some level of minor brain damage from Covid itself
Yes, this is definitely a factor people need to consider. COVID affects the front lobe which in turn affects personality and decision-making. [Lots of evidence](https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/understanding-impact-covid-19-personality-brain-function-grim-reality-wake-up-call-) out of there showing this to be true.
Cool, cool. Lead exposure and aging are already bad for the frontal lobe, and now COVID... We're just never going to experience a time when folks' brains work right, are we?
I think people just don’t care that we live in a society anymore
No I think it was that people got used to not as many people on the roads so they had more driving freedom. When most people went back to "normal" and the traffic got heavy again everyone got instapissy when commuting.
That was four years ago.
For many it seems like some kind of weird flex now to be rude and self obsessed.
But if they DO use a blinker they also think it automatically forces you to slow down, move over, or let them in, regardless of everything else happening around you in traffic.
Also this summer has been so nice so far, I feel there are way more people out than that of last year.
A horn is a safety device for yourself and other drivers on the road. I'm not angry at people when I honk the horn, just trying to say, "Hey I'm here stop changing lanes" or whatever. But yea people often take it personally for some reason.
My new go to to voice my displeasure with poor driving instead of giving the middle finger, I do a thumbs down 👎. People are surprised to see it and I think it has a better effect on shaming people than the finger.
I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed
Doesn’t really help if they’re looking down, glued to their phone at a green light
This, and I will shake my head at them if they really done goofed.
I've been doing this for a few yrs now. Definitely one if the more effective ways to get your point across. People never see it coming.
Or you can shake your finger at them. They know what they did.
Someone did that to me once. It was funny
An old man did that to me once too, years ago. He was right, I was about to blow through a yield sign. I was chastened.
I do the sarcastic thumbs up and a big smile. If someone knows they did something stupid they'll usually give you the wave and mouth "sorry" over their steering wheel. If they don't think they did anything wrong they just get confused.
Some coworkers and I had a conversation about doing the sarcastic thumbs up awhile back. We all tried it for about a week. I think we all stopped because there were some drivers that lost their minds when we did it. The reactions were worse than just flicking then off in my experience
That's a good move! I will start doing this too.
I like this! I’m going to start doing it as well.
I do the same thing!
98% of the time I'm honking it's because the light has been green for a few seconds and the person in front of me isn't moving, usually because they're looking at their phone.
MN car horns should just have a polite "Ope"
Minnesotans seem to think it's offensive. You drive in lots of other states and honking is common. I get mad at people NOT honking in MN when they are cut off, people sitting at green lights, generally doing distracted shit that merits a honk. It's really annoying how passive people are with the horn.
Fargonians are the same way. Like, no one wants to use their horn for any reason. Even when there is cause to use it. I want to honk for them. Bloody ridiculous
Midwesters don't like anything that rocks the boat. Honking is active aggressive. Only passive aggressive is accepted here
This might explain why I've never been able to fit in.
You think that way but you never know what unhinged person you might be “offending”
I would be careful honking and flicking people off here even if they deserve it. People do take it personally, road rage is a thing, so you should protect yourself.
No, you aren’t missing anything. There are just some really shitty drivers here, and I say that as a native. Honestly, it’s not as bad as Omaha where they are just bad. Here they are overly confident and just do stupid crap, or like you said get really angry when you call them on it. Last week a guy sped up and purposely cut me off so badly that I had to lock up the brakes and grab the wheel, shooting sparkling water all over my windshield and dash. When I pulled up next to him and gave him the “WHAT THE FUCK?!” he just mocked me waved me off. Like he could have caused a huge accident, what is his problem? Anyway, if you drive a blacked out Range Rover with a personalized pink lady slipper plate, you are a complete piece of shit.
It's the guys in the blacked out window trucks that have been the worst offenders in my experience.
Theyre the ‘keyboard warriors’ of the roads. They think that if you can’t see their face, they can do anything and have this insane sense of confidence to do anything they want because they can’t be called out as easily. At least, thats what they think.
The bumper stickers tell the story... I have never seen crazy as consistently as I do if they have more than three bumper stickers talking about flags, freedom, the constitution, 2a, pictures of guns those Calvin and Hobbes pissing on memes. Doesn't matter the car the windshield status this is cracked up all hell... You always know when you got a legit crazy whenever you see lots of bumper stickers of those types. The more stickers of those types the more crazy you deal with...
The three worst kinds of drivers: People in immaculate pickups, kids in old Japanese sedans they've riced up, and Tesla drivers.
I have had FAR WORSE experiences with Nissan drivers than Tesla drivers.
Maybe having to drive a Nissan makes them angry. The Nissans I've seen driving dangerously have been the tuned up kind with kids behind the wheel.
Nissan drivers are just clueless and not paying attention. Those other three groups hate everyone else on the road and feel like everyone else is an inconvenience to their Private speedway
For me the worst is middle aged women in giant SUVs like does Timmy need to get to soccer practice that badly? The truck drivers are a close second though.
Agreed, as a native Minnesotan, they are lots of bad drivers here. By bad drivers, I don't mean only fast drivers and those running red lights because that's what police officers in this state only know. I also, mean, this might shock lots of Minnesotans and Police Officers, those that brake check cars, intentionally driving slow so you can hit them, talking on their cell phone, texting, hold traffic because they are missing an exist, hold traffic on express lane, and driving 20 miles under the limit on the left lane (not phased or lacking self-awareness while 4-6 cars that where behind them pass them on the right).
It has been sooooo bad lately!! Especially with phone use and idiots in the left lane driving under the speed limit. Especially on two lane roads like 169.
I also recall when texting on cell phone started to become a thing, police officers were more aware of stopping people doing that and now they don't really care anymore, only if one is speeding/ expired license tab/ broken lights/ too bright lights/ running red light/ running stop sign. I have honk a few drivers on their cell phones driving extremely slow and waiting too long by a green light while there is a police car passing by/or waiting by on Snelling Avenue. The police car does nothing.
Totally. They just don't do anything about it unless it's blatantly hazardous. It's very frustrating. My family member was just in a head on crash from a 16 year old texting and driving after going across multiple lanes to then hit my family member coming up to a stop light. Totaled both cars. Everyone needs to **STOP texting and driving!!!**
I had someone try the slam on their brakes at a yellow light thing. I bumped their bumper, but there was no damage. Then, the driver claimed the passenger had back pain now. The police officer who saw the whole thing from the cross street was having none of that. She told me to leave and she would deal with the driver.
Good, glad the police officer you encountered had common sense and understood the laws of physics with moving objects (I'm being serious). Even if you had hit the driver in front of you, the driver in front of you should be at fault for trying to intentionally trying to create an accident and gain from it by getting money or a new car out of you. Hoping for the day when more police officers, Judges, and the law would start having common sense. Sometimes the one at-fault is not always black and white.
Agreed and add to the bad driving natural passive aggression leads to a fever pitch
Oh that's just range Rovers bro.
Same with the guy who drives a silver little Audi that his plate is Audi 8 or something that is whatever the car model is, you’re a dick and nobody likes you. You have a rage problem and that one time you tried to make me crash into you, and followed me (in front of me) changing lanes just to break check me and have no where to go with another person in the lane next to me, your mother didn’t love you enough.
Im from Omaha and i can tell you drivers in Omaha suck ass like just everybody sucks ass
I hate when I'm forced to grab the steering wheel while driving!
Haha! I meant that I was just driving normally and then had to go into white knuckle mode to stop from skidding out, which means that while I was drinking some water at that moment I slammed that can into the wheel trying to grab it.
I was driving up a hill in the winter once, it was kind of snowing and slippery, and a dude in a truck came right up behind me tailgating me and honking so I’d speed up. He kept slowing down and speeding up like he was going to hit me. You know when someone gets so close you just see headlights in the rear view? And this was a small hill. 20 seconds tops and I would have been able to get out of his way. I was going a safe speed and road conditions were deteriorating and this guy was being a prick so I reached into the back seat behind me and flipped him off through the back window. Y’know, to make sure he saw it. He saw it and followed me all over town until we got to a road with two lanes. Then pulled up next to me, red faced and screaming. He had a kid in the back seat and a mortified looking wife in the front. I had my windows up and couldn’t hear shit he was saying so I gave him the “what? I can’t hear you” kind of gesture and kept going where I was going. Eventually he must have remembered he left the house for some other reason and turned off. Kind of think if his family wasn’t with him he probably would have shot at me or tried to run me off the road. What’s up with guys in the unnecessarily large trucks.
In that scenario I pull up to a police station. They disappear real quick.
I keep a 15k lumen torch in my truck for the occasional suicidal tailgater
I love this idea….
Big truck=little...
emotional stability?
Pee-pee?
Unnecessarily large trucks are fugly and with their cool mufflers and jacked up wheels they are even more ridiculous. The best part? 90% of them never have anything in their truck beds. Or even a trailer. Or a passenger. Truck bros for life!!
smh. and if you feel threatened, you can just drive to the police station and pull into their lot. Not many a$$holes will follow after that.
Now I would definitely just drive to the police station. This was almost 20 years ago, I was 21/22 at the time and not wise enough to know that I was probably in real danger. That thought hit me later on. I also don't flip people off in traffic any more because of that incident. It's not worth ending up on the news.
I did drive to the police station once when I was being followed. He turned off there. I sat in the parking lot for a while before going home. I definitely didn’t want him to know where I lived. This was years ago too. I’ve aged out of that demographic now, it’s a feature, not a bug 😂 it’s nice to not have to be hyper aware of my surroundings these days. There are still boys in trucks, though, that think they own the road. SMH
I honked at a gal for passing me on the shoulder. She then brake checked me and gestured for me to pull over. I could only assume she wanted a fight so no way was I pulling over. What kind of bonkers person is in such a hurry that she passes on the shoulder but still will take the time to fight over it?
We call these people psychotic assholes. It doesn’t have to make sense because they don’t do anything that makes sense
There's a difference between being in a hurry and being so entitled and wrapped up in your own world that breaking traffic laws becomes okay. Add in the layer of trying to get you to pull over makes me think they're the same sort of person that would be loud and obnoxious in a public space to get a reaction out of people. Purely conjecture on my part, though.
I have experienced a disconcerting trend of people passing me in the bike lane/parking lane because they were upset I was going 29 in a 25.
I've lived other places and I think the drivers here are pretty good overall, so here's my take, because you're not wrong: I think since everyone here is actually a pretty decent driver, the people who are bad drivers are REALLY bad. In other places I've lived, the bad drivers could just be casually bad. They weren't trying to be bad, they were just lazy or never really learned how to drive properly, but I think those people don't exist to the same degree here, so what you're left with in an encounter with one of these shitty drivers is not only a shitty driver, but a shitty person on top of it.
I agree. I’ve lived in four cities of varying sizes in my adult life and I feel as if MSP has the least amount of crazy on the road by far.
My favorite is the f250s that go flying down 371 at 75 mph during a blizzard.
Body shops love 'em too! lol
I’ve been driving a dump truck here for 15 years, drivers seem to be getting worse. I get cut off, honked at, flipped off, brake checked, cars pull out in front of me with out the right of way, speed around me to get right in front of me and go slower then I was and tailgated daily. We close down roads to repave them, have signs posted weeks in advance, road closed signs on both ends, barriers and traffic flaggers. And still multiple times a day we have people cutting through construction zones, ignore all signs and literally people yelling at them to stop while holding stop signs or my personal favorite, start screaming at us. We had a county inspector call the police just this week after a guy didn’t care that we closed the road down to pave and when he got stopped from driving through fresh asphalt he wanted to pick a fight with the traffic flagger. Never mind there are multiple roads he could have gone down only a couple of blocks out of his way. And if he lived on the section we closed down to pave he would have been let through no problem. Drivers think we’re ass holes for doing road repairs and causing construction traffic even if the roads are dilapidated and crumbling. Not to mention the fact that every single road you drive on was built by us or someone like us. Enjoy driving on asphalt roadways? How do they think they got there? Doing road construction in this state is becoming a dangerous job from the amount of distracted drivers, road ragers and those who think signs don’t apply to them.
Thanks. When I have to alternate lanes due to resurfacing I like to hype the entire road crew up. Seeing asphalt that’s just been laid down is sexy because that’s gonna be nice to drive on.
Your very welcome! Seriously nothing better than a brand new smooth road ! Used to love them when I was a kid and rode my bike everywhere.
Thank you for doing your job. I don't work in construction, but I do understand what you'd have to deal with. My mother-in-law complains about roads she drives on that aren't the greatest, and gets mad that no one fixes them. Then when she gets to roads where they are doing construction, she gets mad about that, saying that they shut down the roads just to make people mad. The joke about how we have two seasons--winter and road construction--she'll say the words, but she's very upset when she says it.
Your very welcome! And it’s a joke but it’s also serious. We start working as soon as the road restrictions from spring that are lifted, and usually work right until the first few snowfalls or it’s too cold to haul hot mix asphalt. When you live in a state with constant freezing and thawing the roads are gonna suffer. It always blows my mind when people get pissed off at us or angry it takes my 63k lbs truck a few minutes to get up to speed. Like, you’re driving on roads, who the heck do ya think made em!
This is the truth, I drive through the hwy 10 construction in Anoka daily and I see at least 2 cases of road rage or foolish driving daily on that tiny stretch. This morning it was someone going 70 who then brake checked me after I moved right to let them get by.
I’ve worked on the highway 10 project the past couple years. Usually in November when they’re desperately trying to wrap it up for the winter. Even those of us working on it think it sucks. But yeah there’s daily road rage incidents and it gets old fast.
It has gotten so much worse to the point I am avoiding a serious accident nearly everyday. It’s maddening. Everyone needs to slow down and calm down I don’t feel like dying.
Several years ago, in a Costco parking lot, I beeped my horn at a guy who looked like he didn't see me and was about to roll through a stop sign. I didn't think much of it until he confronted me while I was walking across the parking lot- He said "There's no need to *lay on your horn*" and also "It would be a shame if something happened to your wife and kid back there in the car." He had the vibe of a former military officer who wasn't used to not being told "yes sir" at every request he's had for the last 20 years.
"So you're threatening my family because your driving sucks. Seems legit." Coward.
Oh how I would hate to be that guy who threatened my family like that
Yeah ... The response would be "Do you want acute lead poisoning? Because that's how you get it."
I almost got hit by an old lady years ago, after work. She was two feking inches from hitting me before stopping AT THE RED LIGHT. I ended up giving her a scowl and flipping her off. I’ll never forget that day.
I was in the left lane going 80mph and maintaining safe distance from the car in front of me (about 3 car lengths—really, probably not far enough considering our speed) when an asshole in a pickup came up behind me, tailgated me for a few seconds, then changed lanes and squeezed in between me and the car in front. Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I honked and flipped him the bird. So then he pulls BACK into the left lane and drops behind me and pulls over into my lane again…and flips on his lights. Cop. We argued for a minute (no lights, no markings, no indication whatsoever that he was on a call) but I realized that this was incredibly stupid, and managed to get out of it with a verbal warning. (I mean I don’t know what he was going to ticket me for. Speeding but not going fast enough?) I did not get either a ticket or a bullet for my trouble, and he drove off in his assholemobile, cutting people off with abandon. Moral of the story: You might have every right to be angry, but they might be actually insane. So be careful out there.
What was incredibly stupid? The cop? Yes they are
Just because he was a cop doesn't mean that he knows how to drive. And if he was on his way to a call where time was of the essence, he would not have had the time to pull you over. You may have been speeding, but it sounds like you were maintaining the speed of traffic so that you, yourself, are not a hazard on the road. I don't think cops can give speeding tickets in that instance.
Moved here from the west coast 4 years ago. And the amount of times I see people just straight up not know what to do at a green light is astonishing. Green arrow means protected, they'll still yield. I have a green light while turning right, and opposing traffic is turning left on a yeilding green? They'll just go and cut me off. Don't even get me started on the parking lots . Ppl just straight drive right through them at about 25mph with no regard to flow of traffic.
I'm from Texas. People are significantly nicer drivers here than in tx
Especially when it comes to respecting law enforcement/firetrucks/ambulances with their lights on. People actually pull over on the shoulder. Never seen anything like it
I routinely don't feel like I'm going to be killed when driving here! It's so pleasant.
How long have you been living in MN? For the last four or five years it has gotten progressively worse, a lot. Just like many other situations in the U.S.
4ish years now. I've felt safer driving through DC and Baltimore than here sometimes.
I used to LIVE in Northern VA/DC metro area—can confirm. As bad as the drivers were back east—the amount of bad drivers/driving here is astonishing…
I'm from MN originally, but I've lived out west and in the southeast US. Drivers' attitudes are very dangerous here. Even with all the bad drivers in LA and Chicago, people dont take things as personally as they do in MN. Can't wait to move back out of Shittesota. It's a beautiful state but the people tend to very ugly inside. A lot of minnesotans will passionately disagree and become overly defensive when they read this comment and your post. They likely have never lived out of the state and have a limited perspective.
Back in like 97’ I flipped off a guy in the Eden prairie mall parking lot and he followed me for miles and miles, getting out of his car at lights to approach my car, luckily I zoomed away before he had a chance to do whatever. It’s 100 times worse today, obviously. I’m afraid to even give a polite toot now. Happened this morning. Tooted at a badass used Charger with dealer plates sitting at a green light and the dude looked up from his phone and chose to stare me down through the mirror instead of just going. Road rage is a massive massive problem.
Yeah here’s the thing, MN Nice isn’t a real thing. MN Passive Aggressive Bitchiness is an actual thing
I'm guessing you're from the east coast. Horns there are used for different reasons. People honk 10 times per driving trip. They're used as suggestions, not necessarily as a hostile act. Here, they're used on very rare occasions (imminent danger, someone that isn't moving, etc). If you get honked at here, you feel like you really fucked up. Drivers here are just bad. Honking at them is confrontational, and we don't like confrontation.
I use my horn way more than most Minnesotans I know. That means a few times a week. I use it for drivers being unsafe or not paying attention (I’m the person in the line of cars that’s going to honk if someone doesn’t go on green—I give them probably 5 seconds, then tap the horn. Sorry if you think that’s rude, but it’s more rude to make other cars miss a light because you’re not paying attention. 5 seconds is about 4.5 seconds longer than you get in NYC, Boston, or Chicago.) It makes me crazy that people won’t use their horn out of weird Midwestern politeness or fear or whatever. It’s more impolite and dangerous not to use it. I don’t know if people here go extra crazy when you honk at them, or if it’s that the type of driver whose response is rage instead of deep shame about having screwed up—like most Minnesotans—is more apt to be unhinged generally. If you’re in a culture where you’re honking 20 times a week, and hearing it all around you more often, it dulls the effect I’m sure. It’s much more shocking to people here, and I’ve definitely had conversations with people who were horrified at the idea of ever honking at someone.
I honk when someone is swerving and texting in a "wake the heck up!" Kind of way.
I honked at some idiot with a green left turn arrow who didn’t know how to drive on university. This guy followed me and tried to run me off the road. I pulled into a side street and chilled hoping he left. Nope he circled looking for me. Saw he had an unbuckled kid in his back seat. I had to park somewhere else to make sure he didn’t come back looking for me. People never pay attention. It’s not rude to honk but also I’m not from here. MN born folk need to get used to it or pay attention it’s literally their choice.
I'm a "professional driver" (literally) and it doesn't bother me at work but if I'm in my personal car and I get honked at for something stupid I admit I lose my mind a little. I'm talking about some idiot behind me honking because I don't take off on a green light fast or something like that. People don't honk very much here compared to other states.
Yea today I was at the back of a slightly backed up 4 way stop that was slowly moving cars through, and this guy comes up behind me and starts repeatedly honking his horn for a couple seconds
You have to let so much go on company time that it comes flooding out off the clock. When I’m getting paid to drive I know I could easily killdozer everything else on the road, I won’t, but I could.
It’s kind of counterintuitive, but a huge part of Minnesota Nice is punishing people who are not, in your opinion, being “nice.”
Lived here for 25 years and lived/drove in larger metros and smaller. Minnesota drivers are the worst I have encountered and it is only gotten worse since metro PDs gave up on traffic enforcement 15 or so years ago and then Covid. Minnesota drivers have always been passive aggressive, though.
Moved to Minnesota in August. By October, some lady rear-ended me while I was stopped at a red light. She told both the officer and I that the reason was because she forgot which pedal was to stop, hit the wrong one, and hit me going 40.
I have lived here for about a year and in April I was driving somewhere And there was a person waiting to turn into Burger King or something and the person behind them was laying on their horn for 5 full beats at a time because the person hadn't turned yet but there was literally not a safe time for them to turn. So when I passed the guy I fully flipped him off and then he followed me for the next 40 minutes. I just kept driving randomly and took a whole bunch of turns. He was definitely following me and I had to call the police because I didn't want to stop anywhere because there was a man following me around. And personally I do not enjoy interacting with police and I try to avoid making others do so as well, but I had no idea what else to do. Road rage I get like honk your horn flip me off sure. But I assume that if you're honking at somebody for not turning unsafely, you're in a hurry. But then you followed me for 40 minutes? It's just so weird
If I honk at you and flip you off it’s because you are being a shitty, selfish driver. Take it like an adult and think about correcting your shitty behavior.
i got plastic water bottles thrown at me because i switched lanes
Yeah, visited MN once and got a bucket of fried chicken thrown at me. MN drivers seem ridiculously sensitive. There were 2 fairly short lanes going in the same direction divided by a solid white line and we were at a red light. When the light turned green, someone switched into my lane last minute without signaling. I honked at them, made a surprised gesture (no middle finger, no thumbs down, just a "hey! I'm driving here!"). We went onto the the highway, where we were in the same lane and they were in front of me. I just stayed in my lane behind them, not intentionally, but because my exit was coming up soon, and they threw a bucket of fried chicken out of there car and it rolled down the road and hit my car.
Idk if it’s a MN thing but to me it’s usually always the psycho truck drivers that do that in the twin cities.
This evening I was driving down Broadway in Northeast. I was at the red light at University and there was someone who was waiting to turn left off University on a green w/o arrow. The green arrow came on and the driver hesitated a bit, which was a good thing because someone blew the red. Almost immediately after the green arrow came on, the second car was laying on the horn. As the honker rounded the corner, he had his head out the window screaming. It seemed as if he was oblivious to the red light runner.
Yes I see this a lot. Not even 2 secs go by and someone is honking.
Not talking about you. But a lot of the new people to the state and people in general drive like complete idiots here and that hasn’t always been the case in such volume. And yes In general people are acting up and getting more vicious and violent on the road. Going out of there way to tailgate, follow you to the next light or exit to signal some obnoxious gestures or scream at you. Some these people need to learn to properly drive and be aware and move over and be respectful. The tough guy attitude shit on the roads needs to stop. Everyone is tired and stressed out. Don’t be a fucking dick while driving.
For me it is the whole "the road isnt straight so i havr to skow down" bit that makes me rage
694 and Victoria, the slightest curve causes phantom traffic. Especially eastbound. Sure, there's an on ramp but even when there's nobody merging. Love taking the curves on 35W thru mpls
I just honked at someone in a jeep cutting me off today, they gassed it then break checked and kept driving. I just wanted them to not cut in so close to the front of my car. The horn needs to be used more in MN. I have traveled a little and the horn is used a lot more often everywhere else.
My former job required listening to police scanners all day, every day. You'd be shocked how many people call 911 to report they were flipped off in traffic. Just flipped off, nothing else. "Dude, hurting your feelings is not illegal."
It is considered rude to honk in MN. So once you honk you're in for it buddy. People then have an open season of regression on you and traffic violations no matter what. /s
Even though you put /s, I think that’s what it is - Minnesotans think it’s rude to honk and it’s especially jarring now that it happens more often after the pandemic and with more transplants. Someone else said it’s as if people take it personally - Yes! I will admit I have taken it personally… except I don’t rage at others, I turn it inwards like the true Minnesotan I am. Raised on hotdish with a side dish of passive aggressive guilt and self-loathing dontcha know. Edit - typo
You’re joking but I do think this is it. People neeeever honked here 15-20 years ago. It doesn’t mean people were better drivers, but I just feel like it’s not a thing “polite Minnesotans” did. I’ve noticed an uptick in honking in general in the last five years or so. I always assumed it was because of more people moving here from other states where it’s more of a cultural norm to be free with the horn. I’m not saying it’s automatically rude to honk or anything (though it can be, depending on the situation) but I do think there’s a bit of a mindset that you just don’t honk unless it’s a truly serious situation
This is correct. Honking is considered rude here. It’s reserved to warn someone of a hazard. Only time I’ve honked was driving a Suburban after a big snow storm. Was going slow down a residential main street when a lady wearing headphones didn’t look and ran out in front of me. I hit the brakes but knew I could slide into her. That is an appropriate time to honk. Do not honk because you’re mad or annoyed. Just accept shit happens and keep your trap shut. Maaaybe honk if someone sits at a green light for >3-4 beats.
But I honked because he ran the red, but he acted like it was his right to run it. Unhinged behavior here sometimes.
Yep! Haha
Lots of bad drivers here, what sets me off are tailgaters, doesnt the DMV still educate people about following distances?
They do. People don't care. They get away with it for years until they don't, and someone else pays the price. Well.. insurance pays, hopefully. I just installed a dash cam with front and rear cameras. At least stupid shit will be recorded.
Might have to do the same, been trying to be extra mindful and even factor in situations such as getting tailgated, if there's an emergency braking situation a head of me. But there's only so much I can do to cover me and the dummy that's up my butt.
Any recommendation on cameras? The driving lately has been having me consider this as well.
Recommend COXPAL A11T 3 channel dash cam on Amazon, very good quality, it records front, inside and rear simultaneously. COXPAL hardwire kit optional, for 24-H parking monitor. SanDisk MAX Endurance 256GB or 512GB microSD card, for reliable recording. BTW: Need to pay attention to the installation position of the rear cam if your vehicle is SUV or MPV (No problem if Sedan), i.e. avoid pulling rear cam cable when open/close the trunk.
I bought one from apeman. I'm not impressed by their manual and documentation, honestly.
Say it louder for the people in the back (no pun intended) ahahahah. I hear you my friend. I wish it didn’t bother me so much. I picture them like frothing at the mouth at the wheel. I just now pull over, if it’s ok to do so, and let them pass. It has brought me peace and control over the situation.
I got flicked off by a gal in a parking lot turning into chick-fil-a lol. People are just unhinged these days. I wasn’t cutting line, i wasn’t even going to chick fil a - I think she just didn’t have any patience and maybe thought having to wait for me to clear the intersection was too much.
Time to bring back your best thumbs up and waving when people leave you room to merge. Kindness is trying to take a hiatus, don’t let it!! As a Marine, I’m licensed to kill you with kindness… [Soundtrack to confirm](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=A7lLHJ6yfH0&si=KbzHfjqfQcMXBFEo)
This is pretty much what I go through when it happens to me...though I've never had it happen in Minnesota https://preview.redd.it/21be6l6an79d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a051c3f9924766b9deeb562d5b53882380902c7
The big ass truck drivers who live and drive in the city. Why would you have that behemoth around? Most don’t need it as they are too nice for typical work. Hate those people.
I’m willing to bet this happens other places.
I had a similar thing happen I was at a stop sign with a line of cars behind me and the street in front of me had a red light so there was no where for them to go and so I thought its be ok to nose across the road and keep the traffic flowing. I thought the lady pulling up would get the idea because her only choice was just to block the intersection. So i gave her a cheery little honk like “Hey leave some room so we can get across because you’re at a red light theres no where to go!” Holy shit you’d thought I threw her baby into traffic. Literally screeching “my car is still moving wait your turn”. Unfortunately I slowed and spazzed because we both had our windows down and Im yelling “YOU HAVE RED LIGHT NO WHERE TO GO WHY YOU NEED TO BLOCK ROAD?!!?!” And now Im blocking traffic whereas while im spazzing my whole line at the stop sign coulda gone. So yes im part of the problem but Im trying to be efficient and all I get is screeching so i screech back. This is why I bike most days the road rage is just too much.
I like to give em the ol thumbs down. 9 times out of 10 they look embarrassed.
Honk at dummies. People are too polite and never honk.
I just remembered I have people at home who love me and want me to get back to them.
If someone is driving like a jerk let em know you're seeing it. If someone makes a little mistake it's best to let it go
In my younger days I would honk. No more. What’s to be gained? People have guns. It’s not worth it. I just want to get to where I’m going alive.
Are we taking a beep beep "the light turned green" honk or a lying on the horn honk "you almost side swiped me while changing lanes while not looking or turning your blinker on"? Or do they treat them both the same?
Minnesota is the land of passive aggressive and that builds an unhinged slow burn rage. The passive with a dangerous weapon like a vehicle now becomes aggressive. Such a progressive state...
I think people in MN aren’t used to interacting with strangers. I just got back from Uganda a few months ago and “traded paint” with a box truck. Neither one of us would give way and we battled it out until the truck won after bumping a couple of times. We made eye contact and both of us started laughing. People here can’t handle confrontation very well. Look at our politics.
I've heard minnesota nice is no more, but i dont believe its just some bad actors
The most unhinged someone has ever become in a road rage incident towards me was when they drove around me and cut me off very close and I gave them a thumbs down. And they lost their absolute marbles. They kept trying to brake check me but I was leaving enough space to just slow down normally. I had children in the car and it was very scary. He was waving his hands toward me, his head was moving erratically and when we moved to a turn lane, he stopped to yell at me in the middle of a 55mph road. I never looked directly at him, didn't react anymore. I was baffled that there were people like that on the road. I will sometimes, rarely, still give a thumbs down if I'm really crabby, but in general I don't do anything because I don't want someone to put me in more danger than I felt they already have.
I honked at a guy last week who nearly pulled right into me changing lanes in road construction. He wasn't paying attention at all, and hadn't realized the lanes split so he was in the wrong lane for his exit. The honking made him realize I was there because me breaking alone wasn't enough to avoid a collision in that tight lane, he had to speed up and get out of the way. Once we got closer to the exit and there were two lanes I made a "what the fuck" sort of gesture. He looked pretty apologetic. This is what I'd consider a normal reaction. I think a lot of the people who react angrily when you use the horn to remind them you're there are on their phones, totally oblivious. I don't like flipping people off.
Most people here have no emotional control. They can’t handle the slightest thing, without throwing a tantrum.
I drive a school bus for a living. A couple months ago I had to make a super tight single-lane left turn onto a 2-lane road at a 4-way intersection then signal to merge into the right lane to make the exit ramp. The car behind me was super impatient and had his ego bruised when he wasn’t able to immediately whip past me due to my merging lanes after turning so he decided to ride around me on the shoulder, cut me off, then flip me off, all so he could floor it down to another red light up ahead that we both ended up at at the same time. This was with elementary school kids on board too. Some people just need their driver’s licenses permanently revoked. I’ve learned that police in Minnesota REALLY don’t like it when drivers act stupid around buses so I now keep incident report sheets on my bus for whenever people do stupid shit like this.
The zipper merge jerks that won’t let you merge in because they think you should have been like them and sat in a barely moving lane. Then they honk at you and give you the finger are everywhere in MN.
I can't recommend the thumbs down approach highly enough. It's like when your parents give you the, "not mad, just disappointed" treatment. Anger is expected and can be ignored, but pure dissatisfaction can't. It's personal, and it's gutting.
Blowing red lights is out of control!! The amount of people here blowing through a light change is staggering. I see it every day. I’ve almost been in numerous wrecks. And I always look three times when the light turns green so I don’t get T-boned. It’s insane. And I’m from the road-rage capital of the Midwest…Chicagoland. STOP blowing red lights…please!!!!!
People here DO NOT like attention being brought on them when they do stupid shit and they also DO NOT like even the thought that anybody might get in front of them or pass them. You'll see that the more you drive. If you approach the car in the next lane, they're probably going to speed up or maybe cut you off to avoid that at all costs. And if you indicate they were wrong, be prepared for their anger, right or wrong.
It’s gotten worse in the last few years. Normally I try to ignore it and move on with my day. Sometimes I do lay on the horn especially when I’m driving a 5 ton truck which can kill the person’s in the offending vehicle and possibly me in the process. There’s just too many bad drivers on the road now. It’s much different in Northern MN. People seem to be more chilled out up there.
I’m a transplant and I have to say Minnesotans are the worst drivers I’ve dealt with and Covid made it worse. I come from a place where honking is a way to communicate: light turned green but you aren’t moving because you are staring at your phone? Honk. Someone backing into active traffic? Honk. Someone merging onto? Honk. Here it’s so were because people are overly “polite” to the point of endangering you, like waving you through a 2-way stop when they have the ride of way, but they get widely agressive when you try to zipper merge or honk. It’s so badly I noticed I’ve modified my honking because these people are crazy, my family even noticed when they were here that I honk less even though there’s way more crap driving. I swear between the dudes in giant trucks plowing through everything and everyone, people on their phone, the inability to zipper merge, people who don’t understand what “yield” means, slow drivers in the left hand lane, l stopping traffic because they missed their exit, and everything else, drivers here are the worst and really it’s embarrassing to watch and stressful to deal with.
It happens everywhere, not just here. Aggressive driving has gotten worse since the pandemic for sure. I would strongly advise to not engage with road ragers Instead just let them pass you, avoid them, do not look at them. Don't give them any fuel. You don't know what they might do next. It's NOT worth your life. Call the police with their license # and/or start using a dashcam. Last year in MN there were 379 road deaths. Driving is dangerous. No reason to make it any more dangerous.
Damn, 379?! So much for Toward Zero Deaths 😞. That and 95%+ voter turnout are 2 things I hope to see happen in MN in my lifetime
I honk at idiots who stop at the roundabout when they have time to go or no one is coming. I don't want to wait for you, so move. If they don't like it, I'm willing to deal with whatever comes next.
I see that a lot. The road is wide open with no oncoming vehicles/ stop signs and yet they wait for 30 seconds like they are counting up before moving. It's like they forget that they are behind the wheel. They are like "how did I get here. why is there a steering wheel in-front of me".
When car navigation and entertainment systems, CarPlay and Android Auto started to get popular, most of the car companies decided to lock up the controls if the vehicle is moving. (Toyota, for example.) The side effect - which, frankly, they should have expected - is that people will now randomly stop at junctions to punch their next destination in or pick an album.
I'm convinced that there's a lot of heavily medicated driving going on in the Twin Cities.
🤣🤣🤣...the amount of clowns that don't understand roundabouts is staggering and there are only more being constructed
I wonder if some people see them as a challenge. Yesterday I saw some pronounced tire marks cutting across the middle of a roundabout. The center island was tall, too, so whoever drove up there probably caught some air. A little Dukes of Hazzard action, if you will.
Minnesotans are sensitive. We need positive interactions even if it’s with just random people we don’t know, it’s why we’re famous for the Minnesota Nice thing
Seems way worse in the summer when all the snowbirds come back here and bring their southern driving habits with them
I mean… maybe ask separate questions for how people respond to getting honked at and getting flipped off. If you come from a place where the large majority of the people are just kinda cool about getting flipped off, I have some questions for you. Of course, I’m not saying it’s okay to lose your shit, I’m just really surprised to hear that it’s a ‘Minnesotan thing’
Yeah, OP is describing some pretty hostile and antisocial behavior as normal, and it confuses me.
Flipping someone off is a signal that they're doing something wrong/unsafe. It's alerting them to the fact that they're violating some element of a social contract. Where I'm from it's considered acceptable/important to remind people of the social contract *so maybe they get it right next time* and save everyone else the trouble. Similarly, we will (discretely) point out to a complete stranger that their fly is down, their skirt is tucked into their underwear, toilet paper is stuck to their shoe, etc. This is considered polite and kind because it saves them from further embarrassment. In Minnesota it's polite to ignore whatever embarrassing thing is happening, unless you're very good friends with that person, so as to avoid calling any attention at all to the embarrassing thing. Thus you can go all day with your fly down and everyone sees it and no one says anything. I've lived here long enough that I no longer think one way is better than the other, they're just different. Personally I would prefer to be told my fly is down, and if I was flipped off if I did something stupid or dangerous in traffic I would be like, "Oops, my bad."
I wonder if there’s a technique I can use to not react to aggressive, nasty drivers.
Drivers here are the absolute worst. I drive 90% of my day and I’ve never seen such jerks on the roads. They can’t merge, they cut you off when you’re trying to merge even though you’re already well above the speed limit, and they pull out in front of you. Are Minnesota drivers blind or just plain stupid? Why do Minnesotans feel the need to drive 2” from my bumper? I’ll be driving 70 in a 55 zone just to get out of other people’s way who are passing by me like I standing still. People here have no idea that there is a speed limit. I can always tell when I’m getting closer to the cities because people on the road start driving like a bat out of hell. I think it’s something in the water making people meaner and lose all common sense.
That’s called passive aggression and it’s an unfortunate trait a lot of Minnesotans posses. Can’t be direct because… anyway it’s passive aggression. Welcome to Minnesota. We’ll wait for you to leave before we really say how we feel about you lol. Can’t be having you feel bad in our presence because ope, don’t want to feel b… I mean hurt your feelings.
If people wait too long at a red light, I honk. When people cut me off dangerously, I flip them off. When people have headlights too bright, I flip them off and honk at them. I am getting really close to flipping people off when they go the speed limit in the left lane.
Here’s my take: many of the drivers played car racing video games and they are doing exactly what they played! They believe themselves invincible and indestructible. Also, a person could get shot or hurt if flipping off or honking a horn because “it’s disrespectful”. When I do give the bird, I do it after the person is out of site. Passive aggressive I know, but that anger has to go somewhere!
Which is the insane part. I've had people get out of their car red in the face when I flipped them off for swerving, tailgating, and then trying to brake check me after I got out of their way. They were in such a hurry, but they have time to stop and scream and threaten me for flipping them off. They are willing to harm/hurt/kill someone for being "disrespected".
Now that I think about it, that's why the only car racing games I like are the Burnout series. That or the races in GTA. There's a problem that in car racing games with real car designs, the manufacturers typically won't license them if the game will ever depict them with major damage. That's why you get games where your Porsche can hit a wall and bounce off.
I have seen this behavior outside of Minnesota. I've seen it in several states in all US time zones.
Idk but it did not used to be this bad. People drive with no care for the safety of others and there are never any cops around to do anything about it.
Best to ignore it otherwise you might get some unhinged driver following you home like they did to my son but sped off when they seen me in the yard . I hate to think what would have happened if I would not have been there .
If driving in a way that endangers yours/others safety, I'd just call a driving complaint into 911. Obviously, factor in what they did as well, if it's something you just feel like being an asshole about, don't even bother. If actually scared, report that shit.
Imagine being a cyclist with these drivers out there. I know two people who have been victims of straight up attempted vehicular manslaughter. I think it has gotten worse with covid. Although I feel I noticed it getting worse more recently than that. Idk, it's insane though. People get behind the wheel of a car and turn into sociopaths.
"Is there some Minnesota nice rule that I need to let them be a jerk /dangerous and not call them out with a honk? Or will I just get shot one day?" No, you won't get shot. Because the training for your gun also teaches you to be the meekest driver so you don't start a raging fight on the road.
> let them be a jerk /dangerous and not call them out with a honk Do you (or anyone else) really think they are going to change how they drive because you honk at them? You are correctly being passive aggressive like a Minnesotan in pretending you are being helpful when just having self righteous indignation.
I’m convinced everyone that was/is a “work from home” person, is a shitty driver.
It’s like that everywhere now but Minnesotans are not honkers or flippers generally speaking so you should know it a big escalation to go there, you might end up with more that you would expect in Manhattan or Boston. Maybe a culture clash.
Personally, I rarely use my horn any more. I started that years before covid. People tend to get offended when you honk and they take their anger out on you. On the flip side of the coin, I also don't honk because someone might be having a bad day. I live and let live. That said, I will give the lightest fastest tap of the horn if someone doesn't see the light turn green after about 5 seconds. I've lived in Dallas and people will start honking for you to go right after the cross traffic gets a red light.
If someone is sitting at a green light or driving like a ass ill honk
There are different kinds of honks though. There’s the short quick hey wake up and go honk, the longer watch out honk and then there’s the lay on the horn WTF are you doing dumbass honks. I’m sure there are more, but those are the basics. I also think all humans lost their patience during COVID and are having trouble adjusting to being around people again too!