WEST BARNSTABLE – [HN PHOTOS, NOTES & MULLINGS ON THE MATTER] – Just before midnight last evening, police and firefighters responded to the top of the Exit 65 off-ramp from Route 6 (the old Exit 5), at the Route 149 rotary, for a woman reporting being pulled from her vehicle during some type of road rage incident. The woman had minor scrapes on her knee from some type of altercation. She was evaluated inside an ambulance, as well as in the front seat of her car. She was several times offered a ride to Cape Cod Hospital for further evaluation but ultimately refused.

The alleged victim claims she was exiting the highway when she heard something strike her vehicle. She told officers she had pulled over to the side of the road at the top of the off-ramp, and that’s when she was grabbed by her shirt and pulled from her vehicle by another woman. The other woman then returned to her vehicle, drove over the exit curbing and re-entered onto Route 6. The attacker was initially said to be in a black convertible, travelling westbound in the direction of the Sagamore bridge. But officers soon figured out, that if they were to believe the woman’s story, the escaping assaulter would have actually re-entered the highway traveling eastbound.

Something wasn’t adding up. Officers dug deeper and learned the alleged victim has a history of prior road rage incidents. The contrary theory is that the reporting “victim” engaged the other vehicle in some type of mutual road rage that had begun on the highway. Both vehicles possibly pulled over… or one was forced to pull over, according to the contrary theory… and there was a fight, and the woman who had called police had been on the losing end of the late-night road battle.

The whole scene ended when the woman who called police passed some field sobriety tests, got into her car and drove away, leaving cops and firefighters scratching their heads, wondering what, in the Wide World of Sports, really had just happened.

Here’s the lesson that can be learned from last evening’s story: DO – NOT – ENGAGE – WITH – OTHER – DRIVERS – IN – TRAFFIC!

I repeat, do not engage with other drivers in traffic! EVER!!!

Do not pull over. Do not flip the bird. Do not argue your point. Do not try to teach others the “right way.” Do not even yell at others from your own vehicle. Do not even yell to yourself. Just calmly avoid other drivers at all costs.

Slow down. Back off.

If all efforts to disengage fail, call 911… and remain calm. Your life depends on not engaging. People are very violent and unpredictable these days. One only loses by engaging. It takes two to have road rage.

PRO TIP: Get a good dashcam and avoid other drivers. DO NOT ENGAGE WITH OTHER DRIVERS! Master the art of not engaging. (It takes constant practice – DAILY – but it’s possible.)

The only way to win at “road rage” is to avoid it completely.

P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Topsy Chapman… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT!]

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