To be really sad at the way my 17 year old DD was treated when she broke down at a roundabout

I have been driving 41 years) got my licence in NZ when I was 15, it's not like that now there)

I'd HATE to be an adult (or teen) learner now. Anyone learning to drive now has my admiration, especially adults!

It must be those others posters who are shit drivers & are in a world of their own!

The standard of driving has gone down dramatically & increase in ridiculous behaviour has gone up hugely.

you used to be able to assume most drivers were sensible & fairly 'predictable' but now you're forced to assume they're all going to drive like dickheads.

its a whole different experience these days 🙄🥹

OMG your poor DD, that must have been terrifying for her.

Was she ok getting back to driving?

Awful about her back & the police not charging him!!

@Greyhoundmad83 your poor daughter too, since the covid lockdowns the driving/drivers have become absolutely awful. I'm glad the bloke stopped to help her, I hope your car gets sorted & DD's confidence isn't too knocked by this, get her back out there (maybe with you alongside) ASAP xx

When I was very young someone drove into me. He was being an arsehole and trying to blame me even though I was stationary. Fortunately a lovely group of men were having a smoke outside the probation office where they'd been visiting their probation officers and had witnessed everything. Not only did they offer to sort out the other driver for me they also called the police and waited with me until they arrived. Heartwarming!
Hope your DD is ok.

Some people are awful when they’re driving, it’s a bit like the keyboard warriors who say stuff online they’d never dare say to someone’s face.

I hope your DD isn’t put off driving.

I once saw a woman trying to push her broken down car out of the way from the middle of a junction. Not being ageist but she was a stereotypical little old lady, how anyone thought she’d manage on her own I don’t know. I stopped and helped and we got it to the side but the number of people who just drove around was shocking.

My 17 year old is currently learning to drive. I have been surprised and dismayed at how many people beep their horns if she stalls, or rev aggressively behind her, or laugh nastily and make hand gestures. It's awful. I had to get out of the car and swap places with her at a roundabout once because the white van driver behind was so aggressive and she was in tears. He then overtook and cut right across me before I'd even got my seatbelt on.

Some drivers deliberately get right up behind her just to intimidate. I can't understand it.

Good old Britain. We definitely need a lesson in kindness.

That’s awful. 😞

Oh I’m so sorry for your poor DD.

just last week DH and I were driving behind a young woman whose car just died on a roundabout.

we stopped, the women immediately behind her stopped. Then pretty much everyone stopped

DH and another two men helped her push the car off the roundabout. Lots of offers of help - there are decent people out there.

So sorry for your DD OP. I don't know if it's just me, but as someone who doesn't drive people always think they're proper clever when they're in a car don't they? (I think its the safety of the car and being able to speed away). Hope it doesn't affect her too much but what a horrible way to treat a young girl who is just getting used to the roads! ❤️

That’s so horrible. Hope your brother is ok now and don’t have any long term issues.

Sorry to hear about your DD’s experience. Was it during rush hours? People get so frustrated with any delays in their journey, they lose that human touch.

Nevertheless, it was very unkind of people to laugh at her.
I remember I was very young and just finished learning to drive. On one of my practice drives in neighbourhood, I couldn’t stop the car as I got confused between break and accelerator in my nervousness. The gentleman whose car I drive into was so kind to me. It wasn’t a major accident but I scratched his car and caused a dent, he took my number in case any issues with his insurance but never contacted me. This was in India.

I wish there are more people like him on the road. Kind and forgiving for minor offences.

Hope your DD is okay.
To be honest people were like this years ago as well.
I've broken down in the car many times and have had laughing from people, abuse, swearing, beeping the horn etc... both men and women.
The odd time I was helped once by a lovely man named Dominic, he phoned recovery and invited me and my passenger in to his house for a cuppa and a biscuit to calm down.
Another time, at Christmas time same thing happened, only a group of lads give the car a push to the side of the road, to safety.
You get idiots who knock you when your down. You also get some lovely genuine people who will help you in your hour of need.
Hope your DD is okay OP xx.

I am not surprised. Things are accepted when behind the wheel that are not in any other situation.

Jeremy Clarkson and other petrolheads condone or almost support such behaviour.

I’ll do you one better op. My Db was 17 and in a car wreck. He broke his back and banged his kidney. He was really in a bad way. People drove up the kerb to get past the wrecked car and injured people. It took about 10 people coming by for someone to stop and call an ambulance to help the 17/18yos in the car.

I'm so sorry your DD had to go through this. There are some really awful people taking up precious oxygen on this planet!

At least some kind hearted person stopped to help. My DD is a couple of years older than your DD, so I completely understand how you are feeling right now.

I hope your DD is back on the road again soon.

Awful behaviour from the other drivers, but not surprising unfortunately. People are awful, even when there have been serious injuries. I remember reading about people taking photos of fatalities at a serious road accident. Why on earth someone would do such a thing is beyond me.

I’m not surprised your daughter is shaken by the experience op. The best she can do is try to put it down to people being utter arseholes.

I had a similar experience when I was in Uni and that was over 26 years ago. Bloke crashed into me and got out and went berserk. An older lady about my mum’s age went mad with him, gave me a bottle of water and collared a police man to get the psycho driver away from me.
Focus on that kind man OP. It’s scary to be in that situation though, very intimidating. I’d have helped had I been there, lots of people will. There’s kindness in the world- just far less of it.

I'm sorry this happened to your daughter. Unfortunately some people get behind a wheel and believe they own the road and everyone else is an inconvenience. It's not just drivers either, I was suffering from a bad back a few years ago and was moving very slowly through a busy train station. I could hear someone tutting behind me as they couldn't get past. Eventually she resorted to actually pushing me out of the way.

the public are arseholes, drivers even more so

the barriers and payment machines completely came to a halt the other day in the QPark I was in and folk were going nuts

yes, people just love to sit at barriers and machines for entertainment these days 🙄

My driving instructor told me not to get P plates when I’d passed as it has the opposite effect- people behave even worse instead of better.
She could’ve done with phoning the breakdown cover people straight away and if she was in a spot where she was causing an obstruction or potentially dangerous, the police.

People still behaved in a terrible way but she wasted time phoning you and waiting for a random man to help her.

Good advice about encouraging her to drive again as soon as she can.

Please ignore my first post above as I accidentally posted it on the wrong thread. I have asked for it to be deleted.

It's true, people are generally quite thick and jump to the wrong conclusion even when the correct one seems obvious

This happened to me very soon after I learnt to drive. A lovely man did climb into my car and drove it to a safe place for the breakdown service. I have never driven again and I’m in my 50’s now. The sheer panic and the abuse and beeping I got. I’m so sorry for your daughter. Please encourage her to get back behind the wheel so she doesn’t do what I did!