Beware of Road Bullies; What Should You Do If You Meet One

Recently, a road bully was caught on camera—P-license sticker, number plate and all—reacting very badly to getting honked at, for what was his own aggressive driving in the first place. The dashcam video was first uploaded by the victim, a Mr Rico, who has since removed the video. But it is still available on Discover Subang Jaya's Facebook Page, which has racked up more than 120,000 views. Have a look if you have been living under a coconut shell and haven't yet:

The video has been the talk of the internet and various news media in the last couple of days. Of course, people are mad as hell and when keyboard warriors get mad, they react by spewing vitriol on social media and even digging up the vehicle owner's name and traffic offence records, which belong to the bully's father, not him. We won't repeat those details here, but if you scroll through the comments of the video, you'll find it (the internet is a scary place, people).

What many people do not know is that some time during the frenzy surrounding this, Rico has been in touch with Mr Bully, who explained his behaviour and apologised. Here is the conversation that Rico shared in the Low Yat forum:




We shall reserve our comments on the conversation because no doubt our readers will have plenty enough to say about it. What we do want to address here, which is more important, is what you should do if you find yourself in the same situation:-

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE A VICTIM OF ROAD BULLYING 

May the road gods bless you so you NEVER meet a road bully and, hence, never need these tips. But just in case...

1) DO NOT CONFRONT

Aggression begets aggression. It is best to drive on as normal and put as much distance between the aggressor and yourself. Do not acknowledge the bully and, especially, DO NOT flip him/her off.

2) DO NOT EXIT YOUR VEHICLE

There road bully might be brandishing some form of weapon (even steering wheel locks can cause harm. Remember this?) The safest place to be is inside your vehicle, with the windows up and the doors locked. Unlike what you see in the movies, it takes quite a bit of force to break a car window.

3) DRIVE TO A SAFE PLACE

Head to the nearest Police Station if you can, or the second best option, a crowded area like a petrol station, where there are witnesses and CCTV cameras.

4) MAKE A POLICE REPORT

If you managed to keep your cool during the incident, record the number plate of the bully's vehicle, and make a police report. You might think that it is better to move on, but "LET IT GO" doesn't apply here when the bully could do it again, and someone actually gets hurt.

top image: Huffingtonpost