'You're an Idiot,' And Other Festive Holiday Greetings

He suggests just forgetting and moving on. But that's easy for him to say. James doesn't have to drive across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge twice a day.

That's where Mika Larson's "Road Rage Cards" come in. The cellist-turned-entrepreneur sells a book of signs designed to send more immediate messages.

Messages such as "GET OUT OF THE FAST LANE, MORON!" and "YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" and "I HOPE THAT CELLPHONE GIVES YOU CANCER" are among the more family-friendly signs.

She came up with the idea for the cardboard signs after being frustrated with drivers "who didn't seem to have anything in their heads, not using their blinkers, littering," she said. "I did my fair share of screaming at them through my window. To no avail."

For those who want to upgrade from cardboard, http://www.gadgetuniverse.com sells a "license plate billboard" for $39.95 that allows you to display four different greetings on a small LED sign tucked under a rear license plate. You could say "hello" -- or tell the driver of that tricked-out Honda on your tail to back off.

If you really want to get creative, $199 buys the MobileLED MD-550, which plugs into a car cigarette lighter and comes with a small keyboard that allows you to type any message on a large electronic display board mounted inside your rear window.

These are all terrible ideas, said Fairley Mahlum, spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

"Your job is not to teach others how to drive," she said. "Your job is to get to your destination."

Anything that responds to aggressive or rude driving makes matters worse and could lead to a confrontation.

"By responding and reacting, you are being just as aggressive," she said. "It's understandable that people are getting frustrated. But it's all in how you handle that frustration."

Police officers with decades of experience on the roads say the same thing: Don't react. Don't escalate. And if someone's actions on the road are really threatening, pick up your cellphone and dial #77, the non-emergency number for police.

But for a furious driver who was just cut off, that often is not good enough.

"When people call in, they are hot and they want justice," Virginia State Police Sgt. Terry Licklider said. "They say, 'I want you to go out and arrest that person or give them a ticket.' But the justice system doesn't work that way."