Anxious and upset over driving error

I've been driving for a long time and consider myself a good driver but we all make mistakes because we are human beings not robots. You did the right thing by apologising. She did the wrong thing by harassing you over something I can guarantee she will have done herself at some point. Had the police seen her ridiculous and potentially dangerous tailgating behaviour, more than likely they would have pulled her over. Don't let a momentary lapse effect your confidence. No-one was injured, no cars were damaged and you apologised. She behaved appallingly.

Everyone makes mistakes. She was outrageous, because if someone cuts you up and apologises, you leave it there. Only idiots won't leave it alone.
Try to relax, you know you won't do it again and the other driver will calm down. Yours was an honest mistake, hers was deliberate, so worse.

People’s personalities change when they get in a car, the mildest mannered person can become a raging ball of fury when they think they’ve been slighted on the roads. This is absolutely true.

You know that driving while so exhausted was probably not the wisest thing and I am sure you will take the proper steps not to let it happen again.

You made an error - you held your hands up to it and the other driver was just plain rude and responded with dangerous driving of her own.

She clearly did not know of your exhaustion that caused your error, and it may be that she too had some problem of which we are not aware that caused her behaviour, so best to simply put it all behind you - lesson learned. Just enjoy those little ones.

Take care.

I did that on one of my driving tests. Everyone waited patiently whilst I completed my ill-thought out manoeuvre.

You make a small error, OP, nobody was harmed. This woman taking a photo of you and then driving aggressively at you, is a dick who committed many. I also would bet that she wouldn't do that to a man.

You'll think about it for a while but please, give it it's due place in your 'daft things that happened this week' and stop dwelling on it. As soon as you like. It's all fine.

She probably took the picture to put the frightners on you and make you think she was going to report you. Personally I'd forget about it and move on. People experience these things all the time. I very much doubt your paths will ever cross again but when you haven't slept in weeks and are exhausted, avoid driving because your next mistake might not end with you cutting in front of someone. It might end with a pedestrian underneath your car.

..🙄always one!

I had this recently, although I didn’t make a mistake, I had a very aggressive and dangerous driver behind me very upset that I decided to stop to let someone out.

He then proceeded to beep constantly at me for 400m, swearing constantly. When I pulled over to let him past, he swerved to feign hitting my car and spat out of his window at my car. All while having a young child in the front with no seatbelt.

I rang the police to be told no crime was committed and I should work on my emotions if I was scared or intimidated.

Some people are just utter cunts. Please try not to let it ruin your day. I get it, it ended up ruining my day but he probably didn’t think about it again.

You can get out of the house with a toddler and a baby without driving when you're absolutely exhausted, though. She's very lucky she didn't cause an accident.

The toddler is poorly. She could’ve just stayed in. I’m sorry but when you’re driving you have a duty of care to passengers, and other road users. What if the woman she had pulled out on didn’t react in time and crashed into her?

I agree, but....if the OP started a thread saying that she was exhausted from night wakings and was considering sleep training she'd get jumped on for that. If she started a thread saying that she hadn't left the house for 3 days and her toddler was climbing the walls she'd be firmly told that everyone else with babies and toddlers manages, now get over yourself and take the kids out.

Etcetera etcetera 🙄

Someone did that to DH, fairly similar circumstances and she chased us for 30 miles on our tail on a country road until we got to town. She sat on the horn and up our bum right up until we hit other traffic. It was a huge 4WH and truly scary.

Yes, it was his fault but the scale of the aggression was worrying.

You made one split second error. She chose to drive badly and dangerously for an extended period.

everyone makes mistakes, no one was hurt, you apologised. Yes try to be more aware in future but mainly the lesson to learn from this is that the next time someone makes a mistake that you have to react to and rectify, be gracious about it.

Honestly since when is pulling out on someone on a roundabout while driving a “small mistake”? You’d have failed if you did it during your driving test, it is a major, not a minor mistake and could easily have caused an accident.

OP was lucky it didn’t, and the way the woman behaved wasn’t great, but don’t minimise what OP has done here as just a little mistake like forgetting to turn off your windscreen wipers.

So when you have had a ‘proper scare’ you give others a ‘proper scare’, how charming is that!

I'm so upset and feel as though I've been very aggressively harassed

Thats because you have been aggressively harassed. A ridiculous overreaction to a small mistake which everyone has made. Something seriously wrong with her if you ask me.

We all make mistakes. You apologised. No long term damage done. The other driver is clearly either crazy, or going through some major crap herself. Either way, she massively overreacted, so you shouldn’t give it another thought. When someone cuts me up I might give them the finger but that’s the end of it. Anyone who carries the anger further than the immediate moment must have something wrong with them!

Some of the posters here are dicks. I hope you pay them no mind. People make mistakes even when not exhausted. The other driver was out of order, and I have experienced similar road rage( been in receipt of it) chalk it up to experience and put it behind you.

They were a shit to you. I had similar last summer when I didn't realise the exit had two lanes and starting to position myself centrally to exit. Guy ( it's always bloody men) drove alongside me gesticulating and shouting at me. For what it's worth I always make sure I am behind other cars at roundabouts and not too close because people often get confused and inadvertently cut you up.

Edit to add, whoops, I see you had this issue with a woman. That'll teach me to make sweeping statements!

I see horrendous, lawless, aggressive driving every day. People tailgating, driving across lanes on the motorway like they’re in Wipeout, driving aggressively… that’s habitual behaviour. A mistake is something completely different. Who hasnt made mistakes when driving? The fact you apologised, realised what had happened, feel dreadfully about it etc shows how seriously you take driving.
The most important thing you can do now is put it behind you. I had 3 years of no sleep when I had my second child. It’s brutal. Take good care of yourself (or the best care it’s possible to right now.)

What a horrible experience for you.
She should not have behaved like that.
And you should not be driving while you are so exhausted. Suppose your babies had been injured, as could easily have happened. Please take this as a wake up call (as it were) and decide to stop immediately, then find other ways of doing the things you normally use the car for until you are safe to drive.

You shouldn't be driving if you're that exhausted - it's not safe.
She shouldn't be tailgating you and harassing you like she did, but I wonder if she was a bit shaken up and just reacted badly.

I doubt there is a single person out there who has never made a mistake while driving, don't beat yourself up.

In fact she was harassing you! Bet she wouldn’t have done it to a man!

I pride myself on my driving but we have all made mistakes. If you indicate remorse for an error then the appropriate thing for the other driver to have done is acknowledge it and perhaps steer clear. You made an error but the other driver was intentionally hostile and dangerous. I am sure that the police would have taken a very poor view of their behaviour.
However no-one was hurt, many drivers are arseholes and you need to grow a thicker skin.
Oh and try to get some more sleep. is there no-one around to help you?

I did, because she is being unreasonable to take a baby in the car when she’s so exhausted she can’t drive safely.

The other driver may have got a real scare/had to take evasive action to avoid a collision - and then acted out in an inappropriate way by intimidating you. It's understandable you were upset. Don't drive while exhausted - your decision making and reaction times will be impaired. My friends recently cancelled a weekend away as it was a 4+ hour drive to get there and they knew they couldn't do it safely as their child had had an awful couple of weeks of sleep and they were utterly exhausted. Disappointing but better to cancel than put themselves and others at risk.