“I Don’t Want To Even Look At Him”: Woman Shares How Her Husband Failed To Protect Her During A Road Rage Incident
Recently, an upset woman turned to the TrueOffMyChest community on Reddit to share the road rage incident she and her husband endured a few weeks ago. “We cut someone off in traffic and it pissed the other driver off,” the woman explained.
The car started following them: “it tailgated us, beeping its horn, and my husband kept trying to give the car room to go around us but the car would slow down with us and speed up with us and it followed us almost to our house.”
The tension rose, and since the author was 7 months pregnant, she “didn’t want the mysterious driver knowing where we live so we pulled into a petrol station instead.” The woman got out of the car, so did the stranger, and the story took a very vicious turn.
A pregnant woman gets viciously attacked by a driver in a petrol station while her husband sits in their car and does nothing
Image source: stevanovicigor (not the actual photo)
Image source: CristianBlazMar (not the actual photo)
Image source: voronaman111 (not the actual photo)
The author later added an update to the story
Image source: anon
Aggressive driving is a factor in 54% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
State laws consider speeding, improper lane usage, or tailgating as aggressive driving. If a person is being aggressive or you sustain injuries in an incident of road rage, there are vital steps to take in the aftermath. When a person is showing signs of aggression and road rage, the best move for the other driver is to remove themselves from the situation if at all possible.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are legal differences between road rage and aggressive driving. Aggressive driving can include anything construed as reckless: tailgating, speeding, weaving between lanes without a blinker, or blocking another car from passing.
Meanwhile, road rage is more serious. It often involves a violent intent towards another driver and includes behaviors such as using a vehicle to ram another car, physically fighting with another driver, or using a weapon to threaten or cause harm or even death.
“If someone is driving in a way you don’t think is appropriate, it can lead to becoming angry,” Brad Parker, the injury lawyer warns. “However, you never know what someone else is capable of or whether or not they have a weapon. Take a deep breath, and just let it go. I know it can be hard sometimes. It’s not worth losing your life over. There are loved ones at home who will miss you.”
She also answered some questions in the comments
And this is how people reacted to this whole story
I agree with the commentators who say it was a stupid decision to get out of the car and confront an obviously unhinged man, but her husband should've stopped his pregnant wife from making this mistake, not just sit there like it has nothing to do with him.
Agree. He could have simply locked the car and said 'no'. If he can't handle even that much of a confrontation, how is he going to handle a child who by default is going to get confrontational and will have to be stopped for their own good? By the way OP is wording things, I have to wonder if this wasn't a very dumb attempt on her husband's part to teach her a lesson on the consequences of being this hot-headed.
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Apparently, apologizing is “being confrontational and escalating a situation”. Stop victim blaming. If the husband was unwilling to get out of the car while his pregnant wife was getting hit, he should have at least called the cops. A bystander cared more than he did.
Not to mention, it's apparently "abusive" according to one comment. (WTF) The reason it's a bad idea to leave the car is because you can't reason with road rage a$$holes. If people cut me off, I honk at them. I don't follow them around the city. The wife is just too nice of a person who made the mistake of thinking that using her words like a grown adult would solve the problem. Her husband should've at least called the cops.
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Uhhh..you lay a finger on my lady and I'll be on the local news that night wearing an orange jumpsuit and not even think twice about doing it.
Yup. If somebody had slapped my wife I'd have grabbed anything in the car that could cause serious damage and gone for him.
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Pro Tip: IF you ever have an angry driver following you 1) DO NOT GO HOME OR TO WORK, you don't want this person knowing these things. 2) drive to the nearest police station, they will likely not follow you into the police station parking lot. My husband was locked out by his mom for being out too late, and then got into a road rage thing with a dude. Hubs knew he couldn't go home, so he drove to the nearest police station. Dude ddn't follow.
Personally I feel that would be the beginning of the end marriage wise. If he can’t defend his wife what makes one think he’d defend his child? What if the man was attacking their child, would he still sit there like a coward?
bruh. Okay there are multiple things that could play a factor in him not getting outta the car, but the dude laid his hand on your wife... cmon man
Some people in that reddit thread need to learn the difference between giving good advice (in the future, protect yourself and don't get out of the car!) and blaming the victim (you're mad because you're suffering the consequences of your actions). No wonder she didnt want to post again.
"he drives like a d**k and makes people angry." -- Dude's gotta learn how to drive better and stop pissing people off.
Here's where I'm at. Just because you're a woman doesn't mean that you're allowed to get out of the car and confront a grown man with the expectation that your husband will swoop in and protect you. You should have stayed in the car. How irresponsible OF YOU to do that knowing you're pregnant. I believe there are also details that have been omitted on your behalf. You started it. Should he have gotten out of the car and helped? Maybe, but had you not added fuel to the flame, the situation would have never escalated in the first place. Hope your children have more emotional intelligence than you do.
Oh yeah, apologizing is sooo adding fuel to the fire. He was following them.
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Did anyone else catch that misspelling of dangerous? Cos not gonna lie, "dangerpus" made me laugh. Like that should be the husband's new nick name lol. jk btw. Imo, he shouldn't have stopped, she shouldn't have got out. I do t necessarily blame him for not getting out at first but maybe after the dude slapped her a little help would have been nice. The very least he could've done was call the cops.
If he'll do stuff like this to you, he'll betray you child as well. Lose him - for your kid's sake
The husband is non confrontational person, and the wife is more temperamental. Basically me and my partner are the same. But, we both understand that we don't have to entertain people in certain situation. And if you want to wage the war, don't ask others to go your battle.
I weigh 2/3 of my SO and you can bet your butt that would defend him or tell him to stay in the car if it's dangerous. That guy is a wimp.
I say we stop judging her for getting out of the car. We do stupid things when we are worked up and/or scared. She's obviously a strong woman who can deal with confrontation. There are people who completely shut down mentally when faced with confrontation. I think if the husband got out of the car, the man would have probably beat him to a pulp. Everyone is concentrating on the wrong thing A MAN SLAPPED A PREGNANT WOMAN! That's all we should be talking about here. I hope they get the security tapes, splash his cowardly misogynistic face all over social media and put him in jail. Yes, the husband needs therapy to deal with his anxiety over confrontation, but it doesn't make him a bad person. He may have physically not been able to get out of the car when it was happening. Lighten up people, you all act like you would have turned into The Rock when this happened.
Really? Hitting a 7 month pregnant woman? Who do this?!? Even I would have defended her!
ATTENTION IF YOU ARE EVER BEING FOLLOWED IN YOUR CAR HERE IS WHAT TO DO 1. take 4 right (or left) turns so that you go in a circle. if the car is still behind you, then you know for sure you’re being followed. 2. call 911 (or the emergency number for your area) this is an emergency. 3. drive to the nearest police station (if for some reason you can’t go to a police station, go to a fire station, hospital emergency room, or anywhere with a sign that says “safe place”) 4. park as close to the entrance as possible, since this is an emergency don’t worry about parking in an actual space.
I really believe your love for your husband is seriously misplaced. What if someone is trying to hurt your child, or forbid, kidnap the child? I would seriously wonder if he would do anything at all. No way I would stay with a guy like this, pregnant or not.
My own recent "road rage" encounter in a parking lot at the supermarket in France: I don't know why I angered this guy, but after I parked at the supermarket, he pulled up next to me, got out of his car and started screaming at me and pounding his fist on my door. I locked all my doors and got out my cellphone to call the police, but I didn't know how to call the police in France, so I filmed him hitting my car and screaming at me until he left, when I hoped to capture his car's plates. After he left, I moved my car to the front of the store. When I got out of my car, he had returned and blocked my car. I was still running the video on my cellphone and managed to capture his plates and his abuse. Immediately inside the store, I notified the manager who got their security personnel in action. The driver had left, but I was escorted to my car. I went to the police station the next day with my video and the store has security cameras in the parking lot, but so far, no arrests.
That is some kind of a coward of a husband she has there. I understand if he gets annoyed with her being confrontational but the moment that man slapped her, it's gone too far and he needed to get out that car and stop him. I'm sorry but whether you are a wimpy man or not, it takes some kind of next level coward to just sit by and let your 7 month pregnant wife take a slap from a man. The fact that's she pregnant makes it way worse too. What was wrong with him allowing that? She's an idiot too though.
Wow, her husband's a giant pussy. Good luck with your stupid choice. Should never have had a kid with someone that can't even stand up for you. He's gonna be less than useless with a demanding child around.
this just sounds like a stupid couple in general - 1) why is she getting out of the car to confront a crazy road rager while pregnant? and 2) she's protecting her man-child of a baby daddy by defending his pussy-a*s for not lifting a finger to help in this situation. Y'all are just stupid with no common sense. Incoming wildly sarcastic comment here - so glad you idiots are procreating.
I would never be with a man like any from this story. The woman should have stayed in the car but her husband should have defended her. Even a good girl-best-friend would. I could never sleep with him again after this honestly.
Well, there usually are not that many police stations in the vicinity, are there?
you're just speculating. you don't know where this happened.
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Not a single smart decision was made here. Don't get out of the car. Don't try to calm down a crazy person. If they are following you drive to the nearest police station or make a call. And sure he should've reacted when she was slapped. Throwing fists? Some of the guys especially seem to think the smartest idea is to turn on the cave man mode and start swinging. What if the crazy person pulls out a gun? What if he kicks your heroic white knight a*s to the curb and causes you serious injury you can't recover from? What if in the heat of the moment you cause him permanent serious injury and you get to pay the damage and loss of income and whatnot? Thinking before acting is the smartest move. I've seen people suffering from serious brain damage after getting assaulted. It's not pretty. One hit can be enough when they take a fall and crack their skull. Best way to avoid that happening is to have a wall or at least slightly longer distance than arm's length from the aggressor.
Had a case of road rage on a highway at night. The car followed us for over 70km, we were in the middle of nowhere, no other cars but this sicko who kept driving right behind us flashing us with his far lights to blind us. We were two women in the car. My mother ended up gaining speed (thanks god our car was much better than of that sicko) and then turned off all lights and drove off the road. We stayed silent, sitting in the dark in a car behind some bushes for over an hour, just to be safe. Then drove off. Was scary as s**t.
her last statement that the people who commented were mean tells me that she didn't want to hear the truth. also, sounds like she may end up raising two kids. but, each to their own. for many of us, it would be the signal to leave. we can't condemn those who do not agree with us. my only hope is that she will be there if hubby fails to protect their child.
Have to pick your battle, and that takes discernment, which is the difficult part. We should not judge this woman or her husband based on what she described to us, as we were not there in this situation. My guess is that her husband is the nonconfrontational type by default and she cannot change that. I agree it is safer for her to just remain in the car and not even try to explain the situation to the other angry driver since she was not the driver. For her defense women get affected by hormone during pregnancy.
So. Man doesn't want to fight. For any reason. Wife gets out of the car, endangers herself and unborn baby, man freezes, and all the snowflakes in the world are hangint the man. You shouldn't get ouf the car and argue with clearly mental people. You escaladed that situation. Look in the mirror. Yes, your husbans should have done something. But getting out of the car and might getting shot or stabbed is extremely reckless behavior. And from the way you write about it, you have a tendency to pick up fights and then trhow a man into the situation to "handle it". What a c**t. It's not your husbands duty to enforce you to not to do stupid s**t like that. Every one is responsible only for their own actions. Man slapping you is a d**k and deserves to get punished by the law. But you are a total b***h.
She sounds like an incredibly toxic person who sought out a confrontation. When you have someone in your life who is not confrontational and will not pick a fight, you don't get to complain if you force them into that situation and they respond completely as expected. Regardless of whether or not he should get some more backbone, if she had his back, she'd have never put him in that situation.
Right. Because she chose to have some psychopath FOLLOW HER. The dude could have followed them home. He could have done something terrible to them, but let's just keep blaming her. You're part of the problem, the way you're completely victim blaming. Do better in the future.
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"Probably end him".. you might need some help before something like that ever happens.. just saying..
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I agree with the commentators who say it was a stupid decision to get out of the car and confront an obviously unhinged man, but her husband should've stopped his pregnant wife from making this mistake, not just sit there like it has nothing to do with him.
Agree. He could have simply locked the car and said 'no'. If he can't handle even that much of a confrontation, how is he going to handle a child who by default is going to get confrontational and will have to be stopped for their own good? By the way OP is wording things, I have to wonder if this wasn't a very dumb attempt on her husband's part to teach her a lesson on the consequences of being this hot-headed.
Load More Replies... Apparently, apologizing is “being confrontational and escalating a situation”. Stop victim blaming. If the husband was unwilling to get out of the car while his pregnant wife was getting hit, he should have at least called the cops. A bystander cared more than he did.
Not to mention, it's apparently "abusive" according to one comment. (WTF) The reason it's a bad idea to leave the car is because you can't reason with road rage a$$holes. If people cut me off, I honk at them. I don't follow them around the city. The wife is just too nice of a person who made the mistake of thinking that using her words like a grown adult would solve the problem. Her husband should've at least called the cops.
Load More Replies... Uhhh..you lay a finger on my lady and I'll be on the local news that night wearing an orange jumpsuit and not even think twice about doing it.
Yup. If somebody had slapped my wife I'd have grabbed anything in the car that could cause serious damage and gone for him.
Load More Replies... Pro Tip: IF you ever have an angry driver following you 1) DO NOT GO HOME OR TO WORK, you don't want this person knowing these things. 2) drive to the nearest police station, they will likely not follow you into the police station parking lot. My husband was locked out by his mom for being out too late, and then got into a road rage thing with a dude. Hubs knew he couldn't go home, so he drove to the nearest police station. Dude ddn't follow.
Personally I feel that would be the beginning of the end marriage wise. If he can’t defend his wife what makes one think he’d defend his child? What if the man was attacking their child, would he still sit there like a coward?
bruh. Okay there are multiple things that could play a factor in him not getting outta the car, but the dude laid his hand on your wife... cmon man
Some people in that reddit thread need to learn the difference between giving good advice (in the future, protect yourself and don't get out of the car!) and blaming the victim (you're mad because you're suffering the consequences of your actions). No wonder she didnt want to post again.
"he drives like a d**k and makes people angry." -- Dude's gotta learn how to drive better and stop pissing people off.
Here's where I'm at. Just because you're a woman doesn't mean that you're allowed to get out of the car and confront a grown man with the expectation that your husband will swoop in and protect you. You should have stayed in the car. How irresponsible OF YOU to do that knowing you're pregnant. I believe there are also details that have been omitted on your behalf. You started it. Should he have gotten out of the car and helped? Maybe, but had you not added fuel to the flame, the situation would have never escalated in the first place. Hope your children have more emotional intelligence than you do.
Oh yeah, apologizing is sooo adding fuel to the fire. He was following them.
Load More Replies... Did anyone else catch that misspelling of dangerous? Cos not gonna lie, "dangerpus" made me laugh. Like that should be the husband's new nick name lol. jk btw. Imo, he shouldn't have stopped, she shouldn't have got out. I do t necessarily blame him for not getting out at first but maybe after the dude slapped her a little help would have been nice. The very least he could've done was call the cops.
If he'll do stuff like this to you, he'll betray you child as well. Lose him - for your kid's sake
The husband is non confrontational person, and the wife is more temperamental. Basically me and my partner are the same. But, we both understand that we don't have to entertain people in certain situation. And if you want to wage the war, don't ask others to go your battle.
I weigh 2/3 of my SO and you can bet your butt that would defend him or tell him to stay in the car if it's dangerous. That guy is a wimp.
I say we stop judging her for getting out of the car. We do stupid things when we are worked up and/or scared. She's obviously a strong woman who can deal with confrontation. There are people who completely shut down mentally when faced with confrontation. I think if the husband got out of the car, the man would have probably beat him to a pulp. Everyone is concentrating on the wrong thing A MAN SLAPPED A PREGNANT WOMAN! That's all we should be talking about here. I hope they get the security tapes, splash his cowardly misogynistic face all over social media and put him in jail. Yes, the husband needs therapy to deal with his anxiety over confrontation, but it doesn't make him a bad person. He may have physically not been able to get out of the car when it was happening. Lighten up people, you all act like you would have turned into The Rock when this happened.
Really? Hitting a 7 month pregnant woman? Who do this?!? Even I would have defended her!
ATTENTION IF YOU ARE EVER BEING FOLLOWED IN YOUR CAR HERE IS WHAT TO DO 1. take 4 right (or left) turns so that you go in a circle. if the car is still behind you, then you know for sure you’re being followed. 2. call 911 (or the emergency number for your area) this is an emergency. 3. drive to the nearest police station (if for some reason you can’t go to a police station, go to a fire station, hospital emergency room, or anywhere with a sign that says “safe place”) 4. park as close to the entrance as possible, since this is an emergency don’t worry about parking in an actual space.
I really believe your love for your husband is seriously misplaced. What if someone is trying to hurt your child, or forbid, kidnap the child? I would seriously wonder if he would do anything at all. No way I would stay with a guy like this, pregnant or not.
My own recent "road rage" encounter in a parking lot at the supermarket in France: I don't know why I angered this guy, but after I parked at the supermarket, he pulled up next to me, got out of his car and started screaming at me and pounding his fist on my door. I locked all my doors and got out my cellphone to call the police, but I didn't know how to call the police in France, so I filmed him hitting my car and screaming at me until he left, when I hoped to capture his car's plates. After he left, I moved my car to the front of the store. When I got out of my car, he had returned and blocked my car. I was still running the video on my cellphone and managed to capture his plates and his abuse. Immediately inside the store, I notified the manager who got their security personnel in action. The driver had left, but I was escorted to my car. I went to the police station the next day with my video and the store has security cameras in the parking lot, but so far, no arrests.
That is some kind of a coward of a husband she has there. I understand if he gets annoyed with her being confrontational but the moment that man slapped her, it's gone too far and he needed to get out that car and stop him. I'm sorry but whether you are a wimpy man or not, it takes some kind of next level coward to just sit by and let your 7 month pregnant wife take a slap from a man. The fact that's she pregnant makes it way worse too. What was wrong with him allowing that? She's an idiot too though.
Wow, her husband's a giant pussy. Good luck with your stupid choice. Should never have had a kid with someone that can't even stand up for you. He's gonna be less than useless with a demanding child around.
this just sounds like a stupid couple in general - 1) why is she getting out of the car to confront a crazy road rager while pregnant? and 2) she's protecting her man-child of a baby daddy by defending his pussy-a*s for not lifting a finger to help in this situation. Y'all are just stupid with no common sense. Incoming wildly sarcastic comment here - so glad you idiots are procreating.
I would never be with a man like any from this story. The woman should have stayed in the car but her husband should have defended her. Even a good girl-best-friend would. I could never sleep with him again after this honestly.
Well, there usually are not that many police stations in the vicinity, are there?
you're just speculating. you don't know where this happened.
Load More Replies... Not a single smart decision was made here. Don't get out of the car. Don't try to calm down a crazy person. If they are following you drive to the nearest police station or make a call. And sure he should've reacted when she was slapped. Throwing fists? Some of the guys especially seem to think the smartest idea is to turn on the cave man mode and start swinging. What if the crazy person pulls out a gun? What if he kicks your heroic white knight a*s to the curb and causes you serious injury you can't recover from? What if in the heat of the moment you cause him permanent serious injury and you get to pay the damage and loss of income and whatnot? Thinking before acting is the smartest move. I've seen people suffering from serious brain damage after getting assaulted. It's not pretty. One hit can be enough when they take a fall and crack their skull. Best way to avoid that happening is to have a wall or at least slightly longer distance than arm's length from the aggressor.
Had a case of road rage on a highway at night. The car followed us for over 70km, we were in the middle of nowhere, no other cars but this sicko who kept driving right behind us flashing us with his far lights to blind us. We were two women in the car. My mother ended up gaining speed (thanks god our car was much better than of that sicko) and then turned off all lights and drove off the road. We stayed silent, sitting in the dark in a car behind some bushes for over an hour, just to be safe. Then drove off. Was scary as s**t.
her last statement that the people who commented were mean tells me that she didn't want to hear the truth. also, sounds like she may end up raising two kids. but, each to their own. for many of us, it would be the signal to leave. we can't condemn those who do not agree with us. my only hope is that she will be there if hubby fails to protect their child.
Have to pick your battle, and that takes discernment, which is the difficult part. We should not judge this woman or her husband based on what she described to us, as we were not there in this situation. My guess is that her husband is the nonconfrontational type by default and she cannot change that. I agree it is safer for her to just remain in the car and not even try to explain the situation to the other angry driver since she was not the driver. For her defense women get affected by hormone during pregnancy.
So. Man doesn't want to fight. For any reason. Wife gets out of the car, endangers herself and unborn baby, man freezes, and all the snowflakes in the world are hangint the man. You shouldn't get ouf the car and argue with clearly mental people. You escaladed that situation. Look in the mirror. Yes, your husbans should have done something. But getting out of the car and might getting shot or stabbed is extremely reckless behavior. And from the way you write about it, you have a tendency to pick up fights and then trhow a man into the situation to "handle it". What a c**t. It's not your husbands duty to enforce you to not to do stupid s**t like that. Every one is responsible only for their own actions. Man slapping you is a d**k and deserves to get punished by the law. But you are a total b***h.
She sounds like an incredibly toxic person who sought out a confrontation. When you have someone in your life who is not confrontational and will not pick a fight, you don't get to complain if you force them into that situation and they respond completely as expected. Regardless of whether or not he should get some more backbone, if she had his back, she'd have never put him in that situation.
Right. Because she chose to have some psychopath FOLLOW HER. The dude could have followed them home. He could have done something terrible to them, but let's just keep blaming her. You're part of the problem, the way you're completely victim blaming. Do better in the future.
Load More Replies... "Probably end him".. you might need some help before something like that ever happens.. just saying..
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