What would you have done in this driving scenario?

[Insidelaurashed]

I was driving down a narrow (two cars can pass, slowly and sensibly) country road. It's very near my house and I use it regularly. There are often parked cars on one side, so I drive along the road expecting I may need to pull in behind the parked cars to let oncoming traffic pass (when the obstruction is on my side) or that other cars may need to pull in to let me pass (when I'm on the opposite side) and I drive at a speed that is sensible for those conditions, ie a slow one.

Yesterday I was driving down the road, with about three or four cars behind me. There were cars coming up the road, and parked cars on the other side (so my side was clear, the opposite side was obstructed) I could easily get through my unobstructed side and did do, albeit very slowly because I'm not silly.

Mr dickhead in his massive 4 by 4 type car decided he wasn't going to stop behind the parked cars on his side, and instead he was going to drive through, meaning I would need to reverse or we'd both have to stop.

I did not reverse. I stopped, and waited for him to reverse back to the position he should have waited in, behind the parked cars on his side.

Immediately he got out of his car and came and banged on my window, which I wound down. He demanded I reverse back so that he could get through, and he was pretty aggressive about it. A few seconds later a second man appeared, driving another massive car, behind the first one. Second massive car also didn't wait behind the obstruction like he should have, and was also aggressive.

I politely explained that the obstruction is on their side of the road, that there wasn't room for them to drive forwards when they did, and they'd need to follow the rules of the road, reverse back to behind the obstruction, and wait. They did NOT like that answer, and got more aggressive, at which point I simply wound my window back up and put my handbrake on.

We were sat like this for about five minutes or so, with more men appearing, wondering why they couldn't get down the road. In the end a different, polite, man came to my car and suggested I squeeze next to a wall to let mr tiny dick and his friend past. I said I didn't think there was enough space and I wasn't scratching my car, he offered to stand next to the wall and help me move my car into the wall without scratching it. I, and I regret this now, agreed and did so.

Later I came the other way up the road when returning home. I stopped behind the parked cars so that oncoming traffic could pass, I moved around the parked cars and passed them when there was no oncoming traffic. My pause took about 30 seconds, and kept the road flowing.

Honestly, I am so sick of men thinking women will be intimidated into doing what they want. I have no doubt that they would not have been aggressive had my DP been in the car with me. I actually regret risking my car (and risking damaging a wall my insurance would then have had to pay for!) instead of standing my ground against the aggressive men.

What would you have done?

You were completely correct in terms of what the Highway Code says. But I don’t think it’s right to say that only men behave like this - there are just as many bad and dangerous women drivers on the road as there are men.

Yeah I think this one is probably half and half

if he was travelling uphill and reached the obstacle first you should probably have let him go. I have a road like this and yes sometimes people just carry on regardless and make you stop, other times it’s a bit 50:50 and someone gives way.

maybe you were right, but if you’d posted you were driving uphill, got there first, and the man refused to move you’d have loads of support.

banging on windows isn’t on though

The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident. If he was already committed and you could see him approaching before you reached the parked car you should have given way, you do not automatically get to go through just because the obstruction was on the other side.

In this case you should have reversed.

What would I have done?
Not sure about what I would have done at the time (I'd definitely have sat there for a while) but - after I got home - I'd have downloaded my dashcam footage and reported them for not following the law and also for threatening behaviour.
Every driver should have a dashcam, especially with bullies like these men on the roads.

Maybe part of it was you driving slowly and being careful. We have a single track road near us that's busy and honestly if you're going, you're going. You position your car in the middle and drive assertively to stop cockwombles doing what happened to you.