THE WILD WEST
ASSHATS ON THE TRAIL
Colorado Trail Rage…
ITS A REAL THING!
Almost everyone understands that there’s a reason for etiquette guidelines and rules for good manners in our society. Throughout our lives, people face behavior rules and the consequences of ignoring them.
Without proper etiquette, society would be a mess with free-for-all behaviors that would have rude people dominating those who care and infringing on everyone’s rights by having them taken away.
Bad trail behavior is no different…it makes all of us… including dirt bikers, atv riders, 4×4’s and all other forms of motorized trail vehicles look bad.
Our trails are in danger of being closed due to the irresponsible acts of a few. To stop this bullshit…it starts with YOU…it starts with some good ” Trail Etiquette” while out in the backcountry. Just a little common sense and common courtesy will go a long, long way in helping to protect our available trails for future motorized recreation.
We all know about “Stay The Trail” and “Tread Lightly”….. these organizations are at the forefront. What I’m talking about is behavior. My take on how to handle the Asshats misbehaving and trail raging out on the trail …. First ….”Stay Calm”. Trail Rage …is a real thing!!! Here are a few pointers on how I’ve dealt with these people….
The first step to avoiding becoming the victim of trail rage is to make sure you’re driving safely, calmly, and not provoking anyone else. Examples of aggressive trail driving include yelling at other drivers, excessive horn honking, trail tailgating, bad passing behavior, not yielding to other drivers and excessive trail speed…. In extreme cases, it can escalate into intentionally ramming other SxS’s or even a physical confrontation.
Trail rage is often a cycle (just like Road Rage) — one driver provokes another who responds aggressively until things escalate beyond reason. Even if another driver is doing something dangerous or inappropriate, do your best to calm your anger on the trail and avoid aggressive behaviors and rude gestures.
About 80% of my experience with trail rage drivers is they are usually in a hurry, so get out of their way without engaging. Once they pass, you can go back to driving normally.
If the angry driver won’t pass you but instead decides to trailgate you, avoid eye contact. Angry drivers may want to intimidate you or could be seeking out conflict. Ignoring them and focusing on the road can encourage them to move on.
If the driver insists on harassing you, contact the authorities to report the dangerous behavior if it’s safe to do so. Be vigilant and observe… just in case.
take discreet pics and video if you can. Be prepared to provide any identifying information, including a description of the offending vehicle, its license plate number if it has one, as well as your location and direction of travel.
If the other driver follows you or engages in more aggressive behavior like invading your space, ramming you, or continued verbal harassment, don’t go back to your camp (if your camping). Instead, drive to a busy public site with witnesses … like a staging parking lot.
If the other driver is especially persistent, they may follow you to the public place you’ve stopped at. If they get out and approach you, don’t engage directly. Honk your horn repeatedly or do anything to get attention from witnesses.
I think that when some people get into the backcountry, they think it’s the Wild Wild West…. lawless! And they can just act however they want!
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Disclaimer: The above article is just my opinion…I’m not a legal beagle or anything the like…. this is what I agree on from doing research about this topic, stories from other people’s experiences and my own trail rage experiences. I’m not saying don’t defend yourself or your loved ones or your property…what I’m saying is use some common sense…! The other thing I can say ….. in my experience most of these asshats know that most people take pictures and video out on the trail…. they don’t want to be a Star on your social media …. by exposing their behavior. This is how we police this problem ourselves. It starts with each and every one of us!
I personally have no problem exposing dumbass people out on the trail doing stupid stuff… most are uneducated, and I have had tremendous success just having a non-threatening conversation educating them. (When there isn’t a language barrier…I only speak English. Sometimes I have had good luck with someone interpreting). I have also had success stopping bad behavior by simply getting my phone out… video can be a huge deterrent. But like I said…use common sense.
Be safe out there..
GET OFF THE COUCH, GO RIDING