Driving

[Ishihtzuknot]

I live in an area where there are constantly lorries and vans driving around so 9 times out of 10 I am stuck behind one on the already busy school run. My problem is that I can’t see a thing when I’m behind them, my car is a tiny Peugeot, and I’m scared of crashing. I try to keep back as much as possible so I have time to brake when they do but I find it scary I have to rely on them braking to know when I need to brake. I have angry people behind me bibbing as I’m driving slower or leaving a big gap and it’s making me lose confidence. I feel like I’m constantly using my brakes in fear of not stopping in time. I have been driving for a year and have never had an accident but after witnessing a car hit the back of a truck who slammed their brakes on at a red light it’s made me realise how real and dangerous it is. Does anyone have any advice please

I know it's not easy, but forget about what the drivers behind you are doing and focus on your driving, the more you focus on what you're doing and the less you worry and care about the people behind you the easier you'll find it and the more confident you will get.

I'd also suggest going for drives at other times of the day to get used to the roads as well as conditions, as the more familiar you are with the route the easier it will be.

This is all coming from someone who suffers from major road rage when it comes to people not using their speed (by that I mean the speed limit in the correct conditions) I've learnt to accept that the person in front of me has as much right as I do to be on the road and that they are driving to their own risk assessment, which confidence and familiarity dependant is different to everyone.

You've got this!!

Totally ignore those behind who don’t like the speed you are going, none of their business. I stick to the speed limits (I’m usually right at the limit when the conditions are right) yet I still get tailgaters right up my backside. I just flip my mirror up (to stop their lights dazzling my eyes in the dark) and pretend they aren’t there. I’m not going to let other drivers intimidate me into doing something that doesn’t feel safe or may be illegal, fuck that. You keep on doing you, OP.

If you were a new driver, I would give the same advice as above. But you've stated you have been driving for a year and so it seems these issues have become a 'thing' and the reaction has probably developed with that.
I would say you need to take some additional driving lessons to learn how to cope when you can't do a full risk assessment of what is in front of the lorry. You need someone with some serious experience to show you how they deal with it.

Thank you for the kind replies. If no one is behind me I feel calm and in control and leave a slightly wider gap but as soon as I see cars behind me I feel like I’m doing something wrong as other drivers don’t seem as phased by the giant truck in front of them blocking their view.
Outside of rush hour there isn’t as many vans so on weekends and school holidays I don’t have these problems it’s just on the school run and journey to work. I used to go a longer route to avoid them but there is roadworks there now so I have to drive this way hence it suddenly becoming a problem.
I always drive the speed limit where safe to, I just don’t build up to it immediately to give the gap. I just can’t work out how people know when it’s safe to go when they can’t see the other traffic or lights ahead or trust the lorry driver is actually safe to rely on for braking etc.