road rage murder

bivenator · 10-21-2010, 06:24 AM

I knew this guy. He was my bro in laws best friend and business partner for many years. He will be missed, senseless and tragic.
When the killers woke up the day after, what did they feel? Remorse, elation, nothing? I feel angry and frustrated.

Houston police look for suspects, motive in 'road rage' death | Ultimate Alief

stomachmonkey · 10-21-2010, 06:27 AM

Senseless.

Sorry for your loss.

They will catch the bastards and they will pay.

masraum · 10-21-2010, 06:32 AM

Wow, really horrible!

My condolences.

Zeke · 10-21-2010, 07:48 AM

That is tragic. I don't honk anymore. That stuff happens weekly in SoCal.

Dottore · 10-21-2010, 07:58 AM

Really tragic.

I hate to make the argument for gun control here....

stomachmonkey · 10-21-2010, 07:59 AM

But you did.

Still time to edit out and start a different thread.

sc_rufctr · 10-21-2010, 08:00 AM

I don't know what to say. What a terrible loss... You have my condolences as well.

Geronimo '74 · 10-21-2010, 08:16 AM

Tragic.

I hope they find them quick.

GothingNC · 10-21-2010, 08:20 AM

That is sad, my condolences to your friend.

My best friends husband was beat up during a road rage incident near McKinney TX a few years back. He was fortunate that some a couple of other commuters intervene and saved his life.

Perp's excuse was that he was fed up with traffic and lost his cool.

Jeff Higgins · 10-21-2010, 08:28 AM

It's just beyond my comprehension that anyone could get this pissed off at another guy in traffic. Especially two someones, complicit in such an act. Unbelieveable.

I'm as guilty as anyone of honking and flipping off the occasional ass hat. Nothing more than I would do face to face, on a more personal level, if someone chose to be equally rude to me outside of their cars. Most won't, of course - there is something about the anonymity of traffic (or the internet, for that matter) that seems to bring out the worst behavior in people. I know I need to just ignore this behavior and not escalate it with a response (on the road or the internet...), and I'm working on it. At least no one can shoot me through my computer, yet...

I did actually have a guy chase after me about a decade ago. I guess I more or less "started it" by flipping him off over my shoulder. I was in the carpool lane, on my bike, in rush hour traffic. Guy pulls up behind me in his lifted psuedo monster truck, and climbs right up my ass. There is nowhere to go, with traffic in the other lanes backing up and going much slower than the diamond lane, and a line of cars right in front of me in it. Guy creeps closer and closer, flashing his high beams at me, so I did the right thing - I flipped him off.

Now he backs off a bit, but only to take a run at me. I honestly think he was trying to hit me. I dove into a gap in the fast lane, hit the brakes, and he went sailing by and swerved into it in front of me, then tried to brake check me - full lockup, tire smoke, the whole deal. WTF? I went around him, and the chase was on through the now breaking up traffic. At the next backup (at the next interchange) I split lanes to get the hell out of there. He went on the shoulder to try to keep up. Luckily, about half a mile further on, we went over an overpass that was too narrow for shoulders and he had to fall back in line. Pretty damn fightening.

Anyway, I just don't get it. How can someone get so pissed off over traffic? To fire out their windows, or to use their vehicle as a weapon, just defies my understanding. Traffic can really suck, yeah, but the rest of us deal with it.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dottore

Really tragic.

I hate to make the argument for gun control here....

Like hell.

Every other thing you post is trying (feebly) to make an argument for the liberal control-freak agenda you apparently believe in so passionately.

But that's okay, I'll gladly and vocally make the argument for concealed carry here. I'd be willing to bet if Mr. Mitsakos was a CCW holder and properly trained, he'd likely be alive today and perhaps it'd be the aggressors who might have gotten the short end of the stick - deservedly.

Bivenator, I'm sorry to hear this - very sad and unnecessary. I hope they catch those guys and they're charged & convicted of capital murder (TX does still have the death penalty, right?)

BeyGon · 10-21-2010, 08:42 AM

I carry a camera in my car, last week a guy cut me off on the on ramp, ran me into another lane on the freeway, I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of him, I pulled up beside him and he was flipping me off, when he saw the camera he pulled his finger back in and backed off. Later people told me I should have called 911 and claimed I thought the guy was drunk, I had his license number and could have done it. Maybe next time.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

IIRC, the first test case of TX's CCW law was a guy who was being beaten to a pulp in a road rage incident and put a stop to it by shooting the attacker.

bivenator · 10-21-2010, 09:14 AM

Thanks for the thoughts. I only knew Ted on a casual basis but the thought of my BIL losing his best friend is really playing on me. I cherish my friends, they are like family only better because you choose to make them part of your life.
Gun control laws? How is that working for Chicago? Quite a few homicides there in the petri dish of gun control laws, most involving illegal guns I would speculate.
Man, I need a drink.

speeder · speeder's Garage

A gun, (concealed or not is irrelevant once you are using it), could be helpful in this situation with a lot of big IFs:

IF he could get far enough away from them to stop somewhere and use his truck for cover and

IF they stopped and were threatening his life within his shooting accuracy range and

IF they were not better shots, etc...

Most gun experts will tell you that cover is the most important thing and that if you can simply escape the threat, that is best. If I was driving a PU truck and this happened to me, (being chased), I would use my vehicle as much as possible as a weapon, especially the rear end of it. Standing on the brakes and forcing their grille into my rear end is the best tactic in this scenario. (Being chased). it is damn near impossible to disable a large PU truck with rear impact but not too hard to bust a radiator in a frontal impact. Might also involve some strategic ducking if they are shooting at me.

I realise that none of this might work in the heat of battle but I'd be trying it. The truck he was driving was the best weapon at his disposal if used correctly.

Sad story if he was truly an innocent party in this...

Dottore · 10-21-2010, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

IIRC, the first test case of TX's CCW law was a guy who was being beaten to a pulp in a road rage incident and put a stop to it by shooting the attacker.

You're making my point really. When was the last time anyone was shot in a road rage incident in the UK or Canada?

Jeff: As to reactions to flipping someone off—much of this can be cultural. If you try this in some macho culture like Greece (or the near east) for example—people will try run you off the road and do you harm. I had this happen to me once in Crete and once in the former Yugoslavia. The finger is a slur against pride and family, and you flip someone off and they will try to fuk with you.

I also saw this happen here in Canada once when an unsuspecting young Canadian lad flipped off some obvious recent immigrants from the Levant. These guys pulled a u-turn in traffic with their Explorer and repeatedly rammed the poor kids car at a traffic light at one of the busiest intersection in Vancouver before taking off down a side street. I watched this all from a Starbucks.

dtw · 10-21-2010, 09:52 AM

So sorry to hear this. Please give our condolences to your BIL.

Road rage is one of the symptoms of our overstressed, overstimulated, overworked rat race culture. The fact that it is now ending up in murder is chilling.

Haven't talked about it much, told a couple friends about it, but I had a guy go completely mental on me 3-4 years ago. He was doing everything he could to kill me with his car. The only reason I made it through was that he was in a blown-out Olds with bad shocks, and I was in my E39 sport. I managed to dodge every time he made a run at me, at 8-100 mph in rush hour traffic. He very nearly killed other drivers in his moves to get me, that was the worst part.

Sorta hit home that road rage is no joke. People will snap and try to end you.

Gun control....really, you brought it up in this thread? Really poor taste. For such a worldly fellow I'd expect a bit more taste/tact. And we all know, gun control means a tight consistent grouping.

stomachmonkey · 10-21-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dottore

When was the last time anyone was shot in a road rage incident in the UK or Canada?

Police lay charges in road rage shooting

This one is particularly interesting since he made the gun himself. Let's see you control that.

BBC News - Kent road rage shooting man jailed for 10 years

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dottore

You're making my point really. When was the last time anyone was shot in a road rage incident in the UK or Canada?

No, I'm not making your point. The shooter in the TX case was the VICTIM and he was exonerated. Had he not been armed, he'd have been beaten to death. Remember, our gun death stats don't distinguish between bad guys and good guys. Bad guys get shot all the time when their shooters (often cops), had they been unarmed, would have otherwise died.

Dottore · 10-21-2010, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtw

Gun control....really, you brought it up in this thread? Really poor taste. For such a worldly fellow I'd expect a bit more taste/tact.

I guess I don't get that. Have I offended some obscure rule of political correctness?

If this thread were about someone who just died from cigarette induced lung cancer would it be in "really bad taste" to comment on ways to stop smoking?