Illustration by David Stroud. Click image for enlargement.

One finger is all that's usually needed to express your ire at bad drivers and their behind-the-wheel antics. Mark Buckman is hoping to instead get folks using all their fingers to register their disgust and anger.

No, we're not suggesting that you get out of your car and slap the cretin in question across their face. Rather, Buckman would rather see you use your digits to snitch on the miscreant by typing in your angst at PlateWire.com, a Web site the suburban Washington, D.C., man co-founded with his brother-in-law earlier this year.

The site allows users to post the license plate numbers of bad drivers, good drivers and even cute drivers they'd want to meet, along with any comments about those drivers and their driving.

The service is free, and simple. You log on and pick a category: an "award" for a good driver, a "flag" for a bad one, a "wink" to flirt with a passer-by or a "hazard" for a car that's not roadworthy.

Then you select the plate's state of origin, choose from images of that state's standard and specialty plates, enter the plate number, and then add your comments. That's pretty much it.

"There are so many people out there who care about driving good. They pay attention. When they see somebody who doesn't, it offends them," Buckman said. "These are the people we're trying to reach.

"Not to sound like a goody-goody, but I think we've hit on something, and we hit it at the right time," Buckman said. "We struck a nerve."

The site started out with a few hundred hits a day. Now, it's getting as many as 10,000 viewers a day, with 10,000 driving entries, or "wires," entered into its database.

Most of the wires are from the Washington area, Florida, parts of California, Oklahoma and Michigan, with word-of-mouth -- which is how I found out -- making people aware of the site's existence.

But Buckman hopes the site will gain traction nationwide, and it's already found some fans among Southern Nevada drivers. Like the driver who last month reported "Wrong Way Walter," who was spotted driving around the Las Vegas Valley in a Ford Taurus.

"Congratulations! It only took you a few moments to realize you were going West in the Eastbound lanes on Lake Mead Boulevard. Glad you could make the correction before someone got hurt!" the wire said. "Maybe you should stick with the country roads."

Then there's the report on a white Volkswagen along U.S. Highway 95 (bad grammar included):

"I was driving NB 95 heading to the ER and this driver almost took the front of my car off so i honked at him to not move over he did any way i had to slam on my breaks he started flipping me off and honking when i moved to the other lane he was just nasty he was slowing down in the fast lane he's just a bad driver. it's ok karma's a bitch."

Another driver reported "Harry Honksalaot" in a Pontiac in North Las Vegas: "Dude! Lay off the horn and learn patience! This 'Happy Honker' toots his horn at everything that appears to be in his way."

Buckman said the concept for the Web site came to him after a harrowing drive home with his in-law and business partner, Luke Sevenski. It was a time when the duo were brainstorming for a problem-solving Internet concept.

"On that ride home when we were talking, we were almost killed five times" by errant drivers in their path, Buckman said. "When we got home, we were just frustrated." And so shaken that Buckman pointedly hugged his kids.

Then it dawned on the pair: Others are similarly frustrated, lack a socially acceptable place to vent and probably know how to type. Thus, the site was born.

The hope is that the site will become so well-known, drivers will think twice about acting like so-and-sos while on the go if there's the threat of a good old-fashioned shaming for the world to see.

"They have a place to get things off their chest, but most importantly, we want people to take a look at themselves and take accountability for their actions," Buckman said.

"They've forgotten the plain fact they're driving a two-ton vehicle. In a split second, they can take their own lives and that of others," Buckman said. "Our intent is to have more accountability, to open up the door for anyone to communicate" about bad driving. "The deterrent is now just taking baby steps out of its infancy."

Buckman doesn't want the site to trump a call to 911 if drivers see dangerous or criminal driving: "(The Web site is) for the times it's something that you just want to get off your chest."

But not just the bad things.

"Surprisingly enough, a good amount of wires we're receiving are awards. We've actually had a few people flag themselves" and offer apologies for their road rages.

Are there imperfections? Sure. I have no idea if any of the wires are true, exaggerated, or somebody's spiteful attempt at payback against a foe. Buckman said he'll pull any defamatory wires. But any disputed ones would be settled "by the community," though I'm not quite sure what that means.

Still, it's something to consider the next time you're feeling like raging on the road. Drive stupid on your local freeway, and you might look stupid on the information superhighway.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail him at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or OSofradzija@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.

NEW LAS VEGAS MARATHON TRAFFIC TROUBLE

Expect closed streets, detours and slow-going traffic on central Las Vegas Valley byways today as the Las Vegas Marathon's 15,000 runners weave their way around town.

The 26.2-mile course and an accompanying 13.1-mile half-marathon route is expected to obstruct traffic inside a "box" bordered by Rainbow Boulevard to the west, Paradise Road to the east, Cheyenne Avenue to the north and Russell Road to the south.

And 18 Citizens Area Transit bus routes will see delays or detours for the 6 a.m. race, which will result in street closures from no later than 5:30 a.m. to as late as 1:30 p.m.

Drivers are being warned to plan ahead, expect longer-than-usual commuting times, and to plot detours around the race, which will use portions of Las Vegas Boulevard, Main Street, Industrial Road, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Smoke Ranch Road, Torrey Pines Drive, Twain Avenue and Frank Sinatra Drive, among other central valley streets.

Police will let traffic through closed intersections and between packs of runners at their discretion, but it's expected most intersections will be entirely closed.

Blocked intersections will be set up to allow U-turns, and detours may be posted.

Drivers can cross through the "box" unimpeded by using Interstate 15 or U.S. Highway 95, though there will be closures of I-15 ramps at Sinatra and Martin Luther King; northbound I-15 ramps at Flamingo Road and eastbound Charleston Boulevard; and the northbound U.S. 95 ramp at Martin Luther King.

Bus routes likely to be affected between 2 and 11 a.m. include "The Deuce" route on the Strip and Routes 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 214 and 215.

For more information on the race, call race headquarters at 731-1052 or go online to www.lvmarathon.com. Maps of the marathon routes are available online.

For more information on bus service, call 228-7433 or go online to www.rtcsnv.com.