Self Defense for the Road Warrior

December 18, 2007 by John Vesia · 6 Comments
Filed under: Guest Post

Hello everyone, this is John Vesia from Martial Views. BBM asked me to contribute something here while she’s mending herself after her ACL surgery. I’m flattered that she considered me for the task and I’m going to do my best to oblige. Enjoy!

What pushes your buttons? For many, it’s the (mis) behavior of certain types of drivers. The somewhat anonymous nature of driving combined with reckless tendencies can create a fertile ground for mindless road confrontations that can get pretty ugly (OK, that’s an oxymoron). The real tragedy is that the majority of times these events are totally avoidable. In the martial arts the best stratagems are borne of preventive measures, not some block-and-strike techniques.

If somebody is bent on cutting in front of you, let them have their way and give them plenty of room. Don’t tailgate. If an offensive driver attempts to engage you in some way, avoid eye contact, don’t make or return an obscene gesture or pull over to settle things. Road rage is always a lose-lose situation and judging from news reports it seems to be on the rise. All rageholics have adopted anger as a coping mechanism. They see flipping out as not only cathartic but justifiable. They lack compunction and common sense, but above all they’re dangerous. As long as you’ve developed the habits of a cautious and courteous driver you’re halfway home. If you do find yourself in the presence of a road rager, use a calm demeanor as an antidote to diffuse the situation.

Road rage is the result of aggressive driving, so it’s the latter we need to be cognizant of. Here are three groups that I feel fall into the aggressive driving category:

18 – 26 year old males

Cabbies and bus drivers (especially from New York)

Almost anyone on a Ninja motorcycle

Of course there are responsible drivers that fall under these headings, I’m just basing this on my own experience. The first group is a verifiable statistic. If anyone has taken a cab in Manhattan, you know what I’m talking about. One night when I was driving home from work I had a pair of those 2-wheel Ninja rockets pass me on the Bronx River Parkway doing about 150 mph, and that’s no exaggeration. Actually the speedometers for those bikes go up to 200. Maybe 150 is just cruising for these guys.

The holiday season is here, and this can be an uptight and stressful time for many of us. People rushing to and from the crowded malls to take care of last minute shopping and office partygoers who may have had a few too many can contribute to a special (i.e. risky) kind of traffic on our roads. Some people can become extremely indignant when they’re behind the wheel, so watch out for these nuts. In summation, I’ll leave you with a piece of driving wisdom my father once shared with me: “Idiots have the right of way.”