this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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No Stupid Questions

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Like, if you accidentally cut someone off, and they get mad and honk, how do you apologize?

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[–] Crazyslinkz@lemmy.world 103 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Zonetrooper@lemmy.world 43 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This. It says, "I acknowledge you are upset, and accept blame."

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Instructions unclear. Ended up doing the wave (like you see at baseball stadiums) alone in a car.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] MantisToboggon@lemmy.world 50 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I have a huge purple dildo. I just start beating myself about the head and shoulders.

[–] UndulyUnruly@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago (2 children)

What about the “sorry, my bad” while driving though?

[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago

You can do that at the same time as beating yourself with the purple dildo

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[–] Rhoeri@piefed.world 14 points 1 week ago

Otherwise known as a catholic penance.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Mantis starts beating off with a purple dildo

Me: "...the fuck is he doing?"

[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Found the saints row player

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 27 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I think the fact that there isn't a good way I think escalates a lot of otherwise defusable road rage situations.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Many people who get angry at strangers easily see someone apologizing as legitimatizing their anger, and people not apologizing as not understanding they are wrong. I don't think there is a good solution if people can't just accept that other people make mistakes and move on without any needed follow up.

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[–] BenderRodriguez@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Sorry? Hell naw. Double down. Make it their fault. Get even more mad than them. Brandish your gun. Then brandish your second gun. Fire a warning shot towards their vehicle. Finish your beer in case you need to get out of the car. Challenge other driver to fisticuffs. Lose. Go home and explain to wife why you lost another fight. Get sad. Go to bar. Get really drunk. Pass out on stoop of the Wayne County Building. Miss work for the 3rd time this month. Get fired. Get kicked out of house by wife. Move into bachelor apartment. No artwork on walls. Only Kroger brand bread, condiments, and cheese slices in fridge. See kids every other weekend. Start going to AA meetings on a whim. Find new job. Hit the gym. Find new hobbies. Meet new girlfriend. Come to terms with faults and find peace through meditation and mindfulness. Experience growth. Drive to work one day. Accidentally cut a guy off. Double down...

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[–] KumaLumaJuma@feddit.uk 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Flash the hazards twice, also works as a thank you for letting me merge in or whatever, it’s pretty common in the UK.

I have gone to using a single hazard flash when people are in front of me as well instead of flashing high beams(reserved as the head tap equivalent for cars) because I hate when people blind me at night trying to thank me… high beams are way brighter than they used to be.

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[–] sik0fewl@piefed.ca 18 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I usually just honk “SORRY” in Morse code.

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[–] Septimaeus 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (8 children)

(Edit: real answer) For most acknowledgements, I double-tap a light — beams, brakes, or hazards depending on current lighting conditions and relative position of other driver — because most things I would say to them are two beats long:

  • “Thank you”
  • ”Sorry”
  • “My bad”
  • ”Go on”
  • ”Nice drift”
  • ”You drunk?”
[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I once got an A on an anthropology paper by analyzing body language in vehicles and different driving cultures in different places.

[–] Septimaeus 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Rock on. Were there any instances of local parlance you found peculiar or surprising?

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

One insight was the different behavior when a light turned green with someone at the front making a left turn.

Where I grew up that person would just have to wait, but in the city where I went to college they’d let one car turn left before opposing traffic started.

It was a bit of a culture shock being honked at for obeying the actual law.

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[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I remember reading a while back that the hazards twice = thank you.

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[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 week ago

Just hit their car slightly with yours. You know, a love tap, to show them love and appreciation. Then show them your extended middle finger, signifying that you are standing with them in solidarity of thinking you’ve made a mistake. If you have a weapon with you, you can hold it up and show them to indicate that you are aware you could be perceived as a threat, but are making the effort to indicate that you aren’t.

[–] Aremel@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I flash my hazards for a sec. I also use that to say thank you.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 week ago

This is the only correct answer.

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[–] joyjoy@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 week ago

Can't go wrong with the classic 🖕. 

[–] slothrop@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago

I pretend to shoot myself in the temple.
Then I put the gun back in the glove box.

[–] tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago (8 children)

Here in the UK, turning on your hazards for a couple of flashes means either "Thank you" or "sorry" to the car following, depending on context.

Someone let you merge in? "Thank you!*

You cut someone off? "Sorry!"

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[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

Back of the hand high and visible through the rear window, fingers and thumb slightly apart to reduce the chances of them thinking your giving them the middle finger (or two fingers in the UK).

[–] MutantTailThing@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

Honk louder to assert dominance.

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

Like this 🖕

[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Middle finger possibly brake check

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[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I roll down the window and do the Sorry/ThankYou Wave. 👋

Especially if they DIDN'T honk.

[–] dellish@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

This. I will forgive most driving indiscretions if I see a wave/acknowledgement of wrongdoing.

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[–] MrRandom@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

raise your hand?

had a brain glitch on a roundabout, nearly forgot to break for a passing car.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

🚬😎🖕

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 6 points 1 week ago

Brake check them

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I don't, because being polite while driving is being unpredictable and that makes things more dangerous.

Instead I do what I want others to do which is just do a better job of paying attention and driving consistently. Making mistakes happen, just refocus and avoid making more.

[–] Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

This was me when I got off work today. I was trying to pass someone in front of me on the highway and signaled to move into the left lane. Did my usual couple seconds, saw nobody in my mirrors, and proceeded to move. Ended up cutting someone off that was in my blind spot. They honked and tried to run me off the road in response. I just kept driving like normal cause what happened happened. Dude followed me all the way back to my exit, so I decided instead of going home I'd drive through town. He eventually gave up and turned around to get back on the highway.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have a 52" screen mounted to the tailgate connected to a laptop on the passenger seat with a bunch of PowerPoints queued up.

Sorry.pptx SorryNotSorry.pptx Thankyou.pptx NiceDrivingDipshit.pptx YouBlindMotherfucker.pptx Appreciated.pptx ILoveYourSprinterTruanoAE86ItsJustLikeTheOneFromInitialD.pptx

Not all of those get a lot of use. I've never used SorryNotSorry.pptx, for example

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[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] Rhoeri@piefed.world 5 points 1 week ago

Lean into it and just flick them off. Unless you’re in America, because there, that shit will let you killed.

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Look ashamed and maybe do a single flash of my hazards.

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[–] Gullible@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If I have some free time, I’ll follow them to their destination and knock on their window before they manage to slip away, and then apologize. Many seem like they’re in a hurry, despite just arriving, so I’ll just shout out my apology as I knock on their window. Depending on how bad I felt, I might try to repeat the apology next week, seeing whether I can find them on the road or their destination at the same time

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Slam on the brakes to assert you are a power bottom, hope for a love tap

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Wave like an idiot, and pray they don't have a gun.

[–] BenderRodriguez@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

spoilerTHEY DO

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago

I remember not feeling in a good mood and I was sitting in the passenger seat and I pressed the steeing wheel to do the BEEP thing, cuz the car in the front wasn't moving when they're supposed to (like I think maybe red light just turned green or something and I was tired and wanna go home), and my parents was like "don't fucking do that, Americans are crazy, they get easily pissed off and they'll fucking shoot us dead"

[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

One hand vertically in from of sternum, wry expression.

[–] FrChazzz@lemmus.org 4 points 1 week ago

Here in Hawai'i it is likely that we will give a sheepish shaka as the driver passes. Might get a tense shaka in response. I am in no way kidding about this.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 4 points 1 week ago

I usually wave at them as though I think they're a friend of mine just saying hello.

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