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AIBU?

Road rage

41 replies

CruCru · 23/04/2017 18:17

A couple of days ago, I was driving back from a children's tourist attraction. To go where I was going, I had to turn right onto a country road (one that has a 60 speed limit but where you wouldn't go at 60 for much of it).

There was a massive gap between cars so I pulled in and accelerated. Once I'd got to nearly 40, the car behind me came right up behind me and then tried to overtake but there were cars on the opposite side of the road so he had to pull in again (with some screeching brakes).

Once he came up behind me, I didn't accelerate any more as it was clear that he wanted to overtake.

Once the road was clear, he overtook and did the "wanker" gesture. Then got to the temporary traffic lights so he had to sit at those for a couple of minutes with me right behind him (he did that thing where he sat with his head turned so it was obvious that he was glaring at me in the rear view mirror). He had a dented old Mazda so I assume that he's had a few scrapes in it, unless it belongs to someone else.

Afterwards, I had wondered whether I had done something wrong (mainly because his reaction was so extreme) so I asked a friend who had been in the car behind me (also turning right from the tourist attraction) whether she saw him and she said "Fuck yes, he was a lunatic. Driving really fast and trying to overtake in the face of oncoming traffic". She is a good enough friend that she would tell me if I'd been driving recklessly so that did make me feel better.

However, I've still been pondering it and it's making me feel bad. AIBU? When you experience other people's road rage, do you brush it off or does it stay with you?

OP posts:

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ThreeLeggedHaggis · 23/04/2017 18:27

Sometimes it stays with me, mostly because of the damn injustice of it! You're driving perfectly fine but some twat wants you to break the speed limit and tries to bully you into it.

Do I read it right that you were going at 40 down a 60mph road because you knew he wanted to overtake? If so, that's not great driving; doesn't excuse road rage, but still not great. If you were going 40 because it wasn't safe to do 60 then that's a different matter.

olliegarchy99 · 23/04/2017 18:32

if the OP meant she was going slower to get rid of him tailgating her - she was not so unreasonable.
There is no such thing as a 60mph road - it was a NSL road which may or may not be suitable/safe to be doing 60 on. I travel on a local B road frequently where there are so many pot-holes, nasty corners and hidden junctions most sensible local people stick to around 50 mph - 60 would be foolhardy.

khajiit13 · 23/04/2017 18:32

Yanbu on the face of it. I'm pretty good at judging distances and speed and I've pulled out at junctions before just to have the car behind me speed up and get all arsey. Obviously we weren't there so we don't know, did you look properly and think you had more than enough time and think he purposely sped up? Or did you badly judge it?

Regardless sounds like a lunatic

CruCru · 23/04/2017 18:34

I was going at 40 because that's the speed I'd got up to when he came up behind me. If he hadn't tried to overtake, I would have accelerated to a slightly faster speed but not much more because there was a corner coming up and then the temporary traffic lights.

OP posts:

khajiit13 · 23/04/2017 18:34

Haggis, i wouldn't intentionally speed up of i knew a car behind me was set on overtaking me. I'd let them get on with it, and it's easier and safer for them to ovet take if you're not building up speed

CruCru · 23/04/2017 18:36

I thought that, if he was going at a reasonable speed, the gap was big enough that both my friend and I could have pulled out. It is possible that I underestimated how fast he was going but it must have been well over 60 for him to have come up so fast behind me.

OP posts:

highinthesky · 23/04/2017 18:37

Sorry to jump on this thread but I experienced similar lunacy yesterday (pasted below) - not sure that's going to make you feel any better though, OP! I reported it via 101.

Any comments in the following?:

I was subjected to an attempt at road rage this afternoon. I wasn't scared but was cross at the behaviour of the driver that first tried to drive straight into the side of my vehicle, and then tailed me dangerously closely for a stretch of road, which would possibly have been caught on CCTV.

I've reported the incident to 101 as this driver is an angry accident waiting to happen and I suspect not licensed / insured. What happens now? I don't expect the police to have the resources to follow-up non-emergency reports, but for dangerous driving, is record of the complaint held, and if so for how long?

Fruitcocktail6 · 23/04/2017 18:38

Tell me about it. I passed my test a few years ago but only started driving properly last week when DP and I bought our first car.

Today I did a right hand turn onto a very busy A road in south London. Had I gone at any time before I did I would've crashed or hit a group of cyclists, yet I got beeped by the nutter behind me, who then preceded to overtake then had to stop at the lights with me right behind her. Glad you got your destination so fast, love

peukpokicuzo · 23/04/2017 18:38

You're much safer with a lunatic in front of you racing away from you than you are with the lunatic stuck behind you trying to overtake. Slowing down is very sensible.

Fruitcocktail6 · 23/04/2017 18:40

However I wasn't so bothered as the above as I was today when turning around in a train station car park! Mum gazing lovingly on while toddler wandered around the cars

Driving has opened a whole world on lunacy to me.

PossumInAPearTree · 23/04/2017 18:45

Some people are crackers.

Two years ago I was on a main road in slow moving traffic towing my caravan in the traffic jam. There was a side road with cars waiting but I didn't wave the first car out because I wanted to make sure I cleared the junction with my caravan.....anyway although it's nice to let cars out you don't have to.

Bloke obviously got out after I'd gone past and came past me in the outer lane (dual carriageway) making wanker signs which I ignored. Traffic speed picked up a bit. He got in front of me and spent the next three miles speeding up then doing emergency stops in front of me. Never seen anything more dangerous in my life. I slowed right down hoping he would go away but he would crawl along at 15mph in front of me. Have now got a dash cam.

ThreeLeggedHaggis · 23/04/2017 18:49

If somebody is tailgaiting then slowly slowing down is a good idea.

But it isn't a good idea to drive 20mph under the limit because somebody a safe distance behind you wants to overtake...

khajiit13 · 23/04/2017 18:53

Did you read the OP haggis?

I had to turn right onto a country road (one that has a 60 speed limit but where you wouldn't go at 60 for much of it).

I know very few country roads you can go 60 on, I doubt 40 was unreasonable

BoneyBackJefferson · 23/04/2017 18:57

he shouldn't be making rude gestures (and was wrong to do so) but technically if you have caused him to slow down you are in the wrong.

A friend of mine failed their driving test because of this.

TittyGolightly · 23/04/2017 18:57

Technically you shouldn't cause anyone else to brake, so if you pulled out into a space you knew you'd only get up to 40mph in with him in sight going faster, YWBU.

CointreauVersial · 23/04/2017 19:05

Some people are just arses - don't dwell on it. As Peukpokicuzo says, people like that are much better in front of you, where you can see what they're doing.

Karma will get him one day.

highinthesky · 23/04/2017 20:03

A friend of mine failed their driving test because of this

Failed his test for making rude gestures? I should thanks so too!

peukpokicuzo · 24/04/2017 06:22

Causing other road users to slow down by going at 25mph on a 40mph road would fail you as you'd be choosing a speed inappropriate for the road.

The scenario in the OP was on a National Speed Limit road which is very different. The fact that the overall speed limit is 60 does not mean that you should aim to go at 60 in order to avoid slowing down other road users. The OP said there was a massive gap between cars so it wasn't a case of diving into an establish traffic stream. It's not the OP's fault that by the time Mr Speedster drew up behind there was oncoming traffic on the other side of the road.

Accelerating up to 60 when there is a red traffic light ahead that you'd need to brake for anyway would also get you marked down on a driving test (not sure if it would be a fail)

CruCru · 27/04/2017 16:46

Thanks all. I feel a bit more philosophical about it now. I'm inclined to think that it wasn't really my issue - I presume that Angry Driver gets angry about all sorts of things, all the time.

OP posts:

wasonthelist · 27/04/2017 16:58

A lot of people seem to either judge the speeds and gaps badly or not care about giving way to vehicles already travelling on the major road - none of this is an excuse for road rage.

I have had some corkers over the years - mostly these make me smile now.

BrandMombie · 27/04/2017 17:00

Think you were in the right, and you did the right thing OP. Just because a country road has the NSL does not mean you should drive at 60mph.

I'm guilty of having road rage now and then though. There's a road that has the NSL (60mph), as you come off an A road. Perfectly safe to do 60 as there are no slip roads etc, and it is a long straight road you can see clearly ahead. Most people do 50, which is fine. Some people amaze me and do 30-40. I have to overtake pretty often on that road. I once looked in as I overtook (safely) a woman, she was doing 30. She was on the phone, and talking to the passenger (not looking at the road at all). I was so angry, I beeped after I'd over taken her. I looked in my mirror, and clearly it had scared the shit out of her, she didn't even see me over take by the look on her face.

ohifonlyicould853 · 27/04/2017 17:10

I have experienced the opposite of this.

Driving on country roads where conditions are dry, visibility is good and the road is straight and in good nick: car in front of me steadfastly does 40mph. Okay can accept that someone may do 50mph especially if they don't know the road, but I don't think it's acceptable to stick at 40mph in this situation (unless you're a learner or in a slow moving vehicle).

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wasonthelist · 27/04/2017 17:13

and I've pulled out at junctions before just to have the car behind me speed up and get all arsey.

I bet they didn't speed up. No excuse for arseyness though.

Elendon · 27/04/2017 17:28

I don't understand why people cannot slow down and have to tailgate you all the time. Tailgating is not good for overtaking anyway. I would add that those who do it are angry all the time. It's not you, it's not me, it's not anyone only those angry people who choose to do it.

Go at your own speed. The amount of traffic on the roads now is horrendous, you never know what's around the corner.

Elendon · 27/04/2017 17:32

Technically you shouldn't cause anyone else to brake

What tosh and nonsense. Coming up to a junction and turning is technically meaning those behind you have to break.

Coming to a traffic light is causing those behind you to break.

Coming to a roundabout is causing those behind you to break.

The list goes on.

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