The latest Netflix hit TV series 'Beef' has highlighted an extreme case of road rage; two Aussies share their WTF road rage experiences with us.
‘Beef,’ just so happens to be the most hilarious, entertaining and surprising show to have aired on Netflix in a long time; With twists and turns that will make even the least motion sickness-prone people feel queasy. And it all begins with an experience that most of us can relate to, road rage.
Without giving away any spoilers (you’re welcome), the show’s premise centres around Amy Lau (Ali Wong) and Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) whose meet cute (if you can call it that) involves a road rage incident in a carpark which escalates in a BIG way as both characters seek to enact revenge upon the other.
But like the weirdest, most wonderful and outright crazy things in life, Beef’s creator and showrunner, Lee Sung Jin told Today.com that it was a real-life road rage incident that inspired the series.
He told the publication that he had a “typical” road rage interaction where a fellow driver was “honking, cursing… and then drove off.” But in this case, Jin decided to follow the other driver “for some reason.”
“I was like, ‘I’ll follow you.’ I justified it (as) ‘I’m commuting home and this person happens to be in front of me and if we go in different directions, I wouldn’t follow them.’ But we happened to be going the same direction home, for like miles and miles,” he said. “It was like 30 to 40 minutes. So, I’m sure in his mind … it felt like I was just a wild lunatic stalking him.”
Although nothing else happened, it did give Jin the idea for ‘Beef.’
“Here we are in our literal bubbles that you drive around in and very much trapped in our subjective realities…And so I thought that it’d be fun to explore.”
Just like Jin, many Australians have also found themselves in some beefy situations according to a 2021 Budget Direct survey.
In fact, 45% of Australians surveyed have admitted to showing signs of road rage and aggression toward another road user in the previous year and around 72% of Australians have had another driver shout, swear, or rudely gesture at them in the previous 12 months.
Two Australians who have been at the receiving end of these types of road rage shared their experiences with carsales, and in doing so, highlighted exactly why having ‘beef’ isn’t ever a good idea.
Tim, Melbourne
“I was driving home after a day at work and it just so happened that the car in front of me at the first intersection I stopped at after I’d left the car park, was also taking the same route.
“We had stopped at the same lights and made the same turns for about twenty minutes and then once we were on a residential street the driver put his arm out the window indicating for me to pull over. I stopped my car thinking that perhaps he needed help, but the driver got out looking quite angry, stormed over to my window and demanded to know why I was following him, also telling me he’d call the police. The reality, which I told him, was my house was the next block up and it was just a coincidence. He ultimately apologised and with a very red face returned to his car.”
*Lilly, Newcastle.
“About ten years ago now, a driver cut me off on a main and busy road. I honked my horn and mouthed a few words on the inside of my car at him (which I shouldn’t have done) and he put his middle finger up at me.
“A few minutes later we were both side by side at some traffic lights and it was clear that he was still annoyed at me for honking, despite him being the one who cut me off. As he wound down his window yelling things at me, I just looked ahead and ignored him. Once we were going again, I pulled off into a petrol station, but he followed me.
“After parking next to me, he began knocking on my car window and swearing at me but unbeknownst to him some police exited the store and witnessed it all. He ended up with a fine and stern talking to and I left believing in karma and realising that road rage is never a good idea.”
*Names have been changed at the request of the road rager.
Keyword: You got beef? It turns out that many Aussie drivers do