Increased aggression in (male) drivers

[LikeTheFruit]

I live in a major city with lots of roadworks going on at the moment. So there's lots of changes to lanes unexpectedly and temporary traffic lights popping up everywhere. I've learnt to expect the unexpected at times including people changing lanes last minute, doesn't stress me out at all.

In the last few weeks/months I've noticed a huge increase in aggression from other driver (virtually all male) and wondered if this was a nationwide thing or perhaps just related to the (very annoying) roadworks in our city centre currently.

A couple of example from the last week or so. This morning driving across at a junction, box junction. I slowed as I crossed as queue of traffic close to the lights on the other side. There was a man waiting to turn right coming towards me and when I started to slow starting shouting, swearing, gesticulating wildly at me. Last week, I was the last person through a set of lights (were still green when I went through) so was at the back of a queue of cars. A man turning right to join onto our road starting shouting, waving wildly, shaking his head at me and continued to do so for the next 5 mins or so he followed me. Now I can only think that he assumed I jumped a red light as I was the last cat but I'm honestly perplexed as to what I was supposed to have done wrong.

I've several other example of similar, high levels of aggression - red faced, clearly shouting, hand gestures etc over what se to be extremely minor things (not just to me, but to pedestrians and other drivers). Has anyone else noticed this?

Just to also say I'm a very self critical person but do think I'm a good driver before someone says I've been in the wrong. I've ruminated on each episode (a lot 😂) as that's my personality and honestly don't think I had done anything wrong on these occasions. I'm generally very calm and courteous but do get annoyed at times in car but don't shout at/gesture wildly at others.

I’ve seen the standard of driving and number of ‘incidents’ with road rage creep up - I drive for a living and it’s annoyingly common.

Nowhere near all men here though - today’s incident was some witless bint who forgot which way roundabouts work and then tried to blame me for their ineptitude 😅

@VeniVidiWeeWee

@fissty obviously meant “gammon”, (look it up), not “gannon”, (typo!).
I found her post perfectly coherent.

Me too

Did you get a response @fissty ? I once emailed a housing association because one of their vans was being driven aggressively and cut me up. Never got a response.

I have become quite sweary so I guess I’m guilty of being intolerant, but I don’t gesture, I just mutter under my breath and wonder how it will sound if it’s played in court anytime because some idiot has smashed into me. Someone nearly T- boned me as I was going round a roundabout last week, that made me swear like a trooper!

There was a very scary story on our local Facebook page today of a woman who was tailgated by a Range Rover on a deserted road coming into our small town last night - the car eventually overtook her but she forgot to turn her high beams off for a few seconds - he was so incensed by this that he did a manoeuvre to try and block her in (essentially turned his car so it was sitting across both lanes) whilst screaming profanities at her. Fortunately she managed to squeeze past him using the grass verge and the car drove off in the opposite direction.

I sometimes meet a delivery driver on the school run, usually around the same place. He usually comes barrelling up the single lane road and ends up face to face with me with a horrible snarl on his face and clearly shouting something. Thing is he’s usually passed a couple of passing places but then has to stop and wait for me to get past. If he just stopped at the passing place I’d be by him in about two seconds but instead he just sits in the road and I have to climb round him. I don’t know whether it’s because I’ve got a 4x4 and he thinks I can therefore fly and jump through hedges but it would be just as quick for him to wait!

Don't be a twat, it's obviously a typo for gammon.

Yes i agree, i said this exactly the same thing to dh this weekend, he disagreed with me but you have backed up what i said

Yes absolutely. A guy coming in the opposite direction to me did a U turn and pulled up behind me at the lights. He got out of his car and berated me for ‘pulling a face at him’ and proceeded to kick my door and punch my wing mirror. He looked like a body builder and must have been on steroids. I have no idea why he was so angry

More men than you would think are on steroids or meth. I wouldn't be winding them up.

Never heard anyone call someone a gammon before!!!

Is it a regional thing?

Yes, aggressive drivers everywhere, men and women TBH. Some very intimidating van drivers but there are some rough female drivers with children too who swear and gesticulate rudely even when they're 'in the wrong'. I think people are less inhibited, it's all about 'me me me' and for many there is no sense of community or decency, it's quite frightening.

Gammon came from the red faced, angry brexiter stereotype. It is the perfect word for a certain type of male.

Men tailgating, for sure. As I said some female drivers are thick and aggressive too but increasing number of male driver are incredibly and unashamedly aggressive.

I generally think that there is much less respect for women now than there was before, probably because porn and violent game culture plus drugs and alcohol. 😒

@Thepossibility what makes you think that many are on meth? I have wondered this too but it's just a gut feeling.

Ah @CalistoNoSolo that makes sense!

Round by me it is newly passed young females that are aggressive and terrible drivers so anecdotal evidence of mine doesn't back you up.

There is a lot of drug driving around here, but as there are no police around, it's pretty much a free for all. I drive a lot and rarely see a police car, even more rare to see anyone pulled over by a police car.

I did a motorway commute 2011-2016 and noticed significant deterioration in the behaviour of other drivers. I switched to train commuting. The pandemic seems to have worsened driving. I think the fact that cars on average have got larger and more powerful is contributing, plus the complexity of roadworks, LTNs, in London more charges etc etc.

I wonder if aggression awareness needs adding to speed awareness. People (men) may not always realise how intimidating they are being. Although some obviously do. But part of aggression is feeling safe in your giant tin cave. Perhaps the course could involve driving round in a Twingo.

"What's a gannon?

Or is your complaint as incoherent as your post?"

Unnecessary, dickhead comment. The post was perfectly coherent.

Yes I’ve noticed the increased agitation and aggression.
many a shouty boiled ham face complete with obscenities and frantic gesticulation.

doesn’t even seem confined to men driving vans as it used to.

the fact I normally have a bigger faster car than them and ignore them when they lose their shit for absolutely no reason to do with an actual Highway Code or driving violation seem to tip them over the age 😆

Yes, I drive a 'mans car'. It seems to really wind some men up, like they think a woman driving a pick up truck is an insult to their manhood. Bizarre.

I noticed this coming out of lockdown. And in my experience it's men. I've had so much crap from male drivers shouting at me, beeping me, tailgating and God knows what else. It seems a lot of people have forgotten what's in the Highway Code and have no idea about speed limits.

I agree with this. The increasing size of many cars does seem to be a factor as some drivers seem to feel protected/superior or just plain oblivious in their tank. Whether it's deliberate or not, they use their size to intimidate other road users regardless of right of way / Highway Code. It used to be mainly van drivers who did this but with so many people (needlessly) driving 4x4s, it's becoming more and more widespread.

I’ve been driving for 20 yrs and male driver aggression/intimidation of female drivers has been higher during the last 3 years than in all the other 17 years put together.

Last week I had a man tailgating me (and my child) and beeping angrily at me. My crime? Driving at 29 in a 30mph zone. He eventually overtook, beeping and angrily gesturing as he did so, and roared off over the horizon doing 40-50mph, presumably feeling very self-righteous and oblivious to the irony of that.

There has been a huge rise in male hatred of women across the world. It’s more obvious in the Middle East where the Taliban have put women under house arrest and the Iranian government kidnaps and tortures its female teens. But I see it also in the UK where masked men break up female-led talks about domestic violence and hully femaale lecturers from their jobs, in the incel movement coming out of America where some female politicians are tweeting that sex is a male right, in men in skirts saying that lesbians have no right to refuse penis, and the passionate hatred of many men in the West for the most successful woman in the world, JK Rowling. British schools are now telling little girls who like trousers and football that they may be “in the wrong body” and lesbians and autistic girls are being sterilised.

Life was a lot better for women in the 1990s.

I wonder if aggression awareness needs adding to speed awareness. People (men) may not always realise how intimidating they are being. Although some obviously do. But part of aggression is feeling safe in your giant tin cave. Perhaps the course could involve driving round in a Twingo

I think everyone should have to ride a bike before they're allowed to drive a car.

I got my bike out to cycle to parkrun on Saturday. I have to use the main road for a short stretch and then I can turn off left. There is a set of lights before I turn, but I can't signal left at the lights because there is a car park and everyone will assume I am going there as it leads onto a path. So I have to wait until I get past to signal left. Last week I deliberately moved into the middle of the road to stop the car behind me squeezing past me and the traffic island by the lights before I turned (it's 3-4 seconds) and he still went past. Even the bus behind him tried to intimidate me. What is wrong with them?