Husband Finally Snaps After His Anxious Wife Keeps Yelling “Stop!” At Green Lights And Panicking Over Every Brake Light
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Everyone has a backseat driver in their life, but few have one as intense as the one in this story.
One husband said his wife has an extreme phobia of being a passenger, and she spends every trip scanning for danger.
She yelled “Stop!” as he drove through a green light, convinced the cross traffic would ignore their red and plow into them.
She also warns him about every brake light and says he’s tailgating when he’s ten car lengths back, yet she routinely drives well over the limit herself.
After hundreds of calm talks, nothing changed, so finally, in the heat of another frustrating moment, he finally raised his voice.
She got defensive, and now he’s asking whether he’s the AH.
Keep reading for the full story.
AITA for yelling at my backseat driver wife
My wife has an extreme phobia as the passenger of a vehicle.
I recently raised my voice after she suddenly yelled, “Stop! Stop!” as I approached a green light. The light wasn’t changing from/to red. It was in the middle of the green cycle.
This seems to happen because his wife doesn’t trust other drivers.
As usual, she assumed the cross traffic approaching their red light was going to ignore their red and plow into the intersection and kill us all.
This happens pretty regularly at four-way stops. She just assumes other cars won’t stop.
But when it comes to her own driving habits…
She routinely drives 10-15 over, but says she’s nervous and wants me to slow down if I go 2 over. I’m following too close when I’m 10 car lengths back.
If anything, his wife is the one actively creating the hazards.
She panickedly informs me every time she sees a brake light go on in front of me (“Look out! They’re braking!”).
Sometimes her unnecessary panic can create real road dangers, as she screams like we’re about to be in an imminent crash and scares the crap out of me.
She is terrified being a passenger and spends every moment of every trip scared and visually scanning for danger while nagging me and dramatically reacting to false alarm dangers.
He doesn’t think he deserves the third degree about his driving.
I’m a pretty safe driver and have never been in an accident. I don’t speed excessively or drive dangerously. I follow the flow of traffic.
I’ve had hundreds of calm discussions with her about it, asking her to chill out and stop. I ask if she’d rather drive, and she says no.
Finally, the conflict is starting to come to a head.
This week, I raised my voice and chewed into her pretty bad over her screaming “Stop” as I drove through a green light. She got very defensive about me raising my voice, but I’m pretty done with this crap.
AITA here? Nothing is working to change her behavior.
Sounds like this couple shouldn’t be driving together anymore.
What did Reddit have to say?
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The real danger here is his wife.
This problem is potentially one that warrants serious therapy.
This commenter knows exactly how this feels.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman whose family wants her to spend way too much time redoing paintings to make them match.
This is a real hazard.
This husband has spent years dealing with a fear that can’t be reasoned with, and his patience finally cracked on a perfectly good green light.
At the end of the day, his wife is creating the very hazard she dreads, since a sudden shriek can make anyone swerve or slam a brake.
Sure, raising his voice wasn’t graceful, but it wasn’t totally surprising either.
A passenger who screams “Stop!” at a driver with a spotless record is more of a hazard than any other car on the road.
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