Am I going to get done by the cops?

[OopsUpsid]

Worried that this woman I pissed off on the road is going to report me and can't sleep for thinking about it.

I was on the road to a town and it goes into four lanes at lights - left, straight, straight and right. I want to go straight so am on lh straight lane. Lights change, move off, suddenly my lane ahead is going to be a bus lane with arrows to filter me to right, signal to change, car doesn't let me in, keep signalling, can't get in, at point of bus lane move front of car over to right as I am moving but have run out of road, white range rover behind on right bips madly, fingers, mad gestures etc, I give him finger, pull in front. At traffic lights there's more nonsense in my rear view mirror from him so I give the finger again, very ill advised I know.

As I go through town it's obvious he's following me, up my arse, the passenger has a phone and is filming. I decide not to go to my elderly parents (the reason I am there) , make a few detours, turn all the way round a roundabout, indicate left then go right etc, no he's still there. Pull into a parade of shops with the parking off street so I can turn around and leg it, no, he blocks me in, the wife/girlfriend runs out and stands in front of my car so I'd have to run her over to get out, stands there with her phone at me shouting "I can do this all day" so I lean on the horn, she just doesn't move, is shouting "you need to apologise for cutting us up, wind down your window" so I do because I can't think how else to get rid of her and say "I'd run out of lane and had to filter, now I'm calling the police" but before I do she gets back into range rover and goes.

Do you think she will call police on me? I know I shouldn't have done the finger at them or leant on the horn and she has footage of me.

No, she won't call the Police on you. They were trying (diccessfully) to intimidate you. If anything, they should be worried that you will call the Police about their behaviour.

*"Am I going to get done by the cops"
you sound like a 14 year old boy
*What on earth is (diccessfully) ?!

But I gave them the finger though. I was very cross.

True story bro 🥱

I'm confused. What did you do that was supposedly illegal? You got out of the bus lane in the only way you could.
It sounds like these lunatics stalking you and blocking you in were driving dangerously by following too closely, so it's their tits in the wringer if they report it.
All they have on video is you flipping them the bird by the sound of it. Not illegal.

I am sure the Police will take a very dim view of this😁

I'm honestly not a 14 year old boy! I am 50 but have only been driving for two years and it's a very steep learning curve. Not so much the laws of the road but the unwritten rules of the road like this one.

Eg what can I do when I have to filter right but the traffic doesn't let me?

I doubt they'll submit footage to the police if they were tailgating you, behaving aggressively, after clearly following you and blocking your exit with the intention of confronting you.

Would they even have footage of you pulling in front of them if she started filming after the incident? Of course they might have dashcam but then that will also show their behaviour too.

You lent on the horn to attract attention to the fact you'd been blocked in and by someone who has been behaving aggressively was about to confront you after following you to do so.

Personally I would have stopped and waited till someone let me in, if it was clear the range rover weren't going to, but then that's just who I am, I'll also let people merge in turn because I thought that's what you're supposed to do when markings/signs indicate to keep the traffic flowing.

I doubt that giving the finger would be viewed as badly as their behaviour and they'll know that so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

You’ll be fine op just chill

@HospitalitySux thanks, it's useful to have a different perspective on this. I've felt all day that I must be in the wrong but couldn't understand why. When she had her phone pointing at me and yelling she could do it all day it was like she was getting footage of a misdemeanor. I honestly thought I'd end up being one of those awful "Karen" (I hate that meme) videos or something

It’s not illegal to give someone the finger.

They’re hardly going to submit a video to the police of them following you. And if even if they did, the police have got better things to do than investigate this nonsense.

It’s rare that the police even turn up to a burglary or assault in a timely manner.

Their behaviour was aggressive and intimidating; they should’ve let you in - you didn’t have to enter the lane but I can understand why you did do. Chasing you around town seems madness - real road rage and I can understand your reaction - they appear unhinged.

The OP is clearly extremely anxious about what happened & some of these comments are a little harsh.

Has anyone on this thread ever replayed an event over and over in their mind making themselves feel sick with worry about the consequences? I sure have.

OP - these people were just nasty fuckwits who were trying to intimidate you. There's no way they would call the police. Stop worrying & get some rest. If anything it's you who should be filing a report against them for harassment.

If the police dealt with every single little road hiccup then they wouldn't have anytime left to deal with important crime, mistakes happen. I hope you manage to get some rest x

If you have to filter into another lane but traffic won’t let you then it’s a judgment call in the moment whether you can speed up and cut someone up or stop and wait for someone to let you in. It’s a tricky situation and most other drivers have made the mistake of being in the wrong lane at some point or other and the nice thing to do if you see someone in this predicament is to let them into your lane. These people sound horrible. You did nothing wrong except maybe giving them the finger, when perhaps you could have raised a hand apologetically for cutting them up.

You wait until someone lets you in, then you raise your hand in thanks.

OP, in the very rare case that it happens again, drive to the nearest police station. They will see what you are doing and drive on past. I promise.

I can’t comment on your driving because there are different types of merges but there is a good chance you didn’t do anything wrong.

And if you had done something wrong, well, they were ‘wringer’ in their reaction to you.

You said they were driving a white Range Rover. You will learn that certain types of cars promote certain types of driving. A disproportionate number of Range Rover drivers (note - not all, just a disproportionate number) drive liken dicks who think they own the road. See also: Audi drivers.

It seems Range Rover drivers are the new bmw drivers...
Don't worry, their behaviour was intimidating and aggressive. If they handed that footage into the police, it sounds like that Range Rover driver would have more to answer for than you.
Not a very nice experience. Some people are arseholes when they get behind a wheel.

You were not in the wrong and they massively over reacted / behaved badly and in a threatening manner. No one is coming for you.

Next time pull over to the side of the road or find the nearest hospital / police station and pull into the car park for 10 mins til they go.

Im' sorry you went thru this.

In the UK, road rage can result in criminal penalties for assault or more serious offenses against the person. The Public Order Act 1986 can also apply to road rage. Sections 4A and 5 of the 1986 Act prohibit public acts likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Section 4 also prohibits threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior with intent to cause a victim to believe that violence will be used against himself or another. (Statutelaw.gov.uk.)

If anyone's going to get done it will be the morons in the Range Rover.

Seconding the advice about next time driving straight to a police station - it should get them on their way. Honestly though OP, I think this might be a case of the night scaries where everything feels worse than it is. You did the best that you could in a situation that you weren't expecting, and it sounds really stressful. I have form for worrying and worrying about things after the fact but truly, I don't think she'll report and if she does, just tell the police what you've said here. It's likely they'd take a dim view of her intimidation anyway. It'll be okay

Eg what can I do when I have to filter right but the traffic doesn't let me

Stop and wait until someone does. It's not ideal but we can all end up in situations like you did if we are not familiar with the road.

Also in cases of an idiot like the one you encountered, don't stop. Drive to somewhere very busy like a petrol station and call the police. Or if you know there is a police station that has
staff on duty then go there. Also don't drive to your home (or workplace) and if you are already nearly at your destination then keep driving.

Oh my goodness thank you all for helping me to reframe this. From the get go of starting driving I was visibly older and female and I do think that this unleashes a certain amount of aggression in some other drivers - my instructor and indeed even the examiner I had (both male) also remarked on this. I've got over the nervousness to a large extent and have pushed myself successfully to drive at speed on motorways, country roads etc, way beyond my initial comfort zone but this incident today took me back to the months of being an unconfident older lady learner driver because it was so outside of anything else I've come across. But now I'm realising it's outside of most things that most people come across! And that these people are actually crackers!

Although, I won't be flipping anyone again any time soon - lesson learned to not provoke.

Get a dash cam.

Should something like this happen again, keep in mind that chasing you down, driving aggressively up your arse, blocking you from driving away and getting out of their vehicle to intimidate and threaten you is a FAR more serious crime than ballsing up a junction and giving someone the bloody finger!

If you have hands free (and you really should) you could call the police (yes, 999 if someones aggressively following and getting up your arse) and tell them an offence is in progress.

Hopefully it won't happen again, but its better to be prepared.

It should be you contacting the police for their behaviour. It's one reason why I have a front and back dash cam, so if something like this happens I have evidence. I hope you're okay OP.

You asked what you should ve done about the manoeuvre. They are obviously in the wrong but if you drove into the right hand lane forcing them to give way in a range rover (presume bigger than you) ,then you were being an assertive driver and relying on them to give in.
There are rude and idiot drivers who just won't give way. I'd have stopped and indicated amd waited for someone to give way, they always do. Said thank you and moved. No point in a confrontation with an aggressive driver, regardless of you being right. Had you tried to beat the queue by going down the left lane but then needed to pull over?