Is my wife taking things too far?

[Anonymous]

So, long story short, I accidentally cut someone off today while driving and they began throwing their hands up and flipping me off. In anger at being disrespected I started throwing my hands up. Immediately the other drive changed lanes and sped up to get beside me and started staring me down. I could tell out of the corner of my eye as I focused on the road. They had their whole head turned in my direction not paying attention to what was in front of them. Still angry I gave them the middle finger and turned off. My wife made me stop before I got to her work exit and insisted on walking the rest of the way. When I picked her up from work she threatened to divorce me if I ever flip someone off again or act disrespectfully to another driver while I am driving.

[Oliverlogan263]

That's a tough situation man. Road rage can really heat things up fast. But your wife might have a point too - flipping people off isn't really worth escalating things, you know?

On one hand, I get why you were pissed at first with that other driver cutting you off. And them staring you down after wasn't cool either. But your wife's probably worried about your safety more than anything. Other people can react crazy on the road sometimes. What if they had followed you?

Threatening divorce is a bit much, but she just wants to make sure you're safe. Driving angry never ends well. Maybe have a calm talk with her, apologize for losing your cool, and promise you'll walk away from now on instead of responding to disrespect with more disrespect. Reassure her you won't put yourself in a dangerous spot.

Compromise is key - see it from her side too while also explaining your anger. With time to calm down, you'll both see it wasn't worth the risk. Just be more careful next time man, for your own sake and your wife's peace of mind. Road rage ain't worth your life or your relationship.

[slatyb]

No, she's not. Road rage is very dangerous. Nothing good can come from angering another driver, no matter who is at fault. And in this case, it was you. If I had done something like that, I would have made some conciliatory gesture.

What caused you to cut them off?

[Asker]

I went to turn right on red while they had a red light still. On their side of the intersection there was a turning lane turning left and a green arrow. As I approached the intersection their side had cars turning left so I assumed I was good to go right on red. Well it turns out I was approaching the intersection as the green light was turning to a red light and the regular light to go straight was turning green. As I was making my turn she got the green and gunned it immediately going decently fast. She didn't try to slow down. She just hit her horn at me as if I did something wrong instead of trying to prevent an accident by slowing.

[Anonymous]

That is too far but everyone has a trigger like this. I would talk to her more about it to understand why she was this upset over the whole situation. Explain ur point of view and hopefully she will understand; I would tell her you won’t do it again if it bothers her this much. It’s a small comprise in my opinion if everything else in the marriage is going well.
A situation that reminds me of this: my mom and dad were driving once and a lady cut my dad, he got mad and said “BITCH” and my mom asked him “how would u feel if someone called me that when I was driving” and he never called another driver a curse word ever again.
Another example: Once my aunt was driving and she was on her phone, someone opened their window and threw coffee on her windshield. My aunt took it as “they might’ve lost someone due to phone driving so I don’t blame them” even if anyone else would be super mad. Obv what they did wasn’t correct but you always should be the bigger person. There will always be bad drivers, however, don’t give them ur energy.

[ChicoFromThe305]

Divorce seems kinda extreme but maybe she's just very scared of confrontation, I think y'all should communicate with each other better

[Anonymous]

That's ridiculous. She's acting crazy and controlling and is showing you disrespect.