ypsi~dixit

I think it will actually lower road-rage if it really catches on. It seems that road-rage comes from the anonymous nature of driving.

On the one hand, people get frustrated at not being able to correct improper behavior ("Excuse me, but there's a long line of us trying to get by this truck, would you mind speeding up or getting over?") and so they resort to the only communication available to them: driving like jerks. On the other, people don't behave as nicely as they would if they were interacting with people on a personal level, say in a crowd.

Give someone a way to express themselves and give bad drivers a way to find out that they get a disproportionate number of "back off" messages from other people, and I think things will get better.

But the pessimistic argument has merits too; it's pretty telling that there's no "Sorry" message pictured.

George: You have more faith in human nature than I do. :)

OK, if we MUST have this gadget, then the messages should be limited to ONLY the following:

1. Sorry!
2. Excuse me.
3. Thank you!
4. Nice of you
5. Appreciate it

I was thinking of including "Nice car" but there's the danger of ironic use of that message.

One more message: "Put your stupid phone down and drive!"

teehee!
this instantly reminded me of this crazy thing one of my mom's friends had in her car. it was probably 1978 or so...
it was this bright yellow paddle (like the kind with a rubber ball attached via elastic). on the paddle were various messages that you could flip the pages of to get to the message you wanted. it being the 70s and all, they read like this:
Hey, baby, what's your number?
Going my way?
What's your sign?
I can't remember any of them being mean.
too funny!
My mean side would want a message that reads: Did you REALLY need that SUV?
oh, i'm bad.

I'm not totally convinced it's legal. Isn't there some traffic regulation about what kind of lights vehicles can display? It won't sell if it gets its users pulled over.

Dan: That's a good point. In addition, you can see it also produces another blind spot making it more difficult to see cars coming up from the right rear, such as from a highway on-ramp.

Amanda: I've seen those paddles, even in modern-day Lillian Vernon catalogs, which I always peruse out of curiosity to see exactly how many copper arthritis bracelets and foot massagers and miracle scalp restorers I don't need.

Doug: Amen. I wish it were illegal. How did we all survive driving places without yapping on the phone 5 years ago? One of my pet peeves.

I think the emoticons will help enhance road rage.If he/she gets upset with the driver behind them,they can truly communicate how they truly feel and can cause some real anger stir up. Also if the driver up front stirs up some real anger in the driver behind him/her and they rear end or tailgate to closely and cause an accident. If it is taken to court,both parties could be held responsible. The person who provoked the driver and the person who caused the accident. I'll bet the lawyers could have a hey day in court with such a device. Laura,your right it should die a quick and quiet death!

Tim: that's a good point; there's language in the law about "fighting words" and their role in provoking conflict, so, you're right, this device could land some folks in court. I agree with you; it's an ill-advised gadget.

although I've *always* wanted to be able to tell cars in front of me "Use your cruise control!!"

I knew I should have filed a patent on this when I had the same general idea about 5 years ago!

Suzie & Scott: It's just as well that this device is not available to crabby cyclists; otherwise I would have been sideswiped long ago.

I agree with Laura: limit it to the smiley face and five comments, and no more. This gadget otherwise has abuse written all over it.
   I have often toyed with the idea of paddles with words like ‘Thank you’ written on them.