Road rage alternative

Chance coming to vent your road rage
Friday December 22, 2006

Two frustrated American commuters plan to set up a version of their United States website for dobbing in errant motorists."We are working to get the New Zealand version going," website owner Luke Sevenski said. "We plan to launch in New Zealand and Australia by the end of January."

Mr Sevenski, 27, and his business partner, Mark Buckman, 32, run www.platewire.com, a US website which has attracted 43,000 subscribers since launching in May. They say it is aimed at motorists tired of idiot drivers, allowing them to vent a little without resorting to road rage such as ramming the offending vehicle.

Platewire was "born out of frustration from years of driving alongside drivers who seem to have no concern with anyone's safety, including their own", Mr Sevenski said. It allows motorists to take down the number plate; write an angry email, including the plate number and time, date and place where this all happened; and send it in to Platewire.

The information is posted on the website and responses from other viewers can be added. Some transport experts favour this use of the internet and say venting online is better than leaning on the horn and ending up with death or injury on the road.

Mr Buckman and Mr Sevenski created the site after a particularly eventful 27km drive in February to work at a high-tech outfit in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Mr Buckman said: "One guy was steering with his leg while he was looking for a file in a file folder box in the backseat. When we looked over at him, he flipped us off.

"Then there was a woman applying makeup while talking on the phone who drove right into our lane and ran us off the road. Then an older man cut across three lanes of traffic to make his exit, right across our front. We got home and I hugged my kids. I was literally shaking."

After launching the website in May, the two men quit their jobs to work full time on the site, financing it from savings. They have already turned down a buyout offer of US$250,000 ($363,689) and are starting to make money from advertising on the site.
- NZPA

I just read about this site, and thought about posting the story because of the expansion into NZ. But alas, I am slow on the draw.

My problem with the idea of posting a bad driver story with a license plate number is this: what sort of bad driving must I do in order to make note of the plate number? Most of the bad drivers I encounter are gone before I can do more than notice what color and shape of car they're driving.