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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Not to get why people get angry about being overtaken?

65 replies

tigerdriverII · 21/02/2013 21:03

I have seen this a bit but....

Today, I overtake a car on the way to work. It was safe and legal to overtake. I drive this road every day and know that if there is no one in front of you you can make good progress (country B road). I don't mean speeding, I mean just driving safely but not hanging about.

The driver (middle aged woman like me) speeded up and stuck herself to my bumper. Fine. Then there is more traffic in front of us than normal so of course I drive according to the road and traffic. Ie I can't fly over the cars so drive behind them normally. No chance for me to ver take nor could she have done had she been in front of me.

Get to a t junction with a STOP sign. So guess what? I stop. Cue beeping horn behind me for the whole 5 seconds I am stopped (if that).

A couple of miles later I turn off the road at a point where about half the local traffic turns off. There is no way I could have driven faster at this point and the one or two overtaking opportunities weren't safe if I'd wanted to take them. Cue massive beeping etc. When I got to work I checked the car just to make sure there was nothing hanging off it that they were trying to tell me about. Nope. Can only assume that this lady didn't like being overtaken and spent about 15 minutes in a state of total road rage seething over it.

Don't get it at all. AIBU?

OP posts:
greenplastictrees · 21/02/2013 21:33

I do hate tailgaters though! I just don't understand it. By going up someone's arse it won't make you get anywhere quicker! In fact, if it's my arse you are up, I'm more likely to slow down as I feel less safe with you right there!

CarpetBagger · 21/02/2013 21:33

Yeah it could lead to pretty nasty stuff thats for sure....

But then some people really do seem oblivious = for those who want to over take me in a really dangerous fashion, I am actually frantically looking round for somewhere to pull up so they can get past.

" Hang on a sec and I will let you pass, give me a chance to pull up, in the mean time - BACK OFF MY BUMPER BASTARTD"

CarpetBagger · 21/02/2013 21:34

Dr Johnson,

Ok I guess I am a teeny bit martyred as well, but at least we are safe.

Yes me too Green, if someone is up my arse - i slow right down.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 21:36

No worries carpet! Smile

I'd hate to think I'd insulted anyone by suggesting they drive something as useless as I do. Grin

I am happiest on the roads when people just do everything with a bit of good humour - it goes a long way. Doesn't matter if it's overtaking or what.

The rest of the time, yep, I wish I had one of those message boards.

Original poster
tigerdriverII · 21/02/2013 21:39

specialsubject. I wasn't trying to drive as energy efficiently as possible. I was trying to do my journey as efficiently as possible. Like many people I have to balance getting my DC to school with getting to work at a reasonable time. My journey from school gate to work is 30 mins if the roads are clear, and 45 mins plus if not. Of course I want to do the journey quickly if its safe and legal to do so. I don't want to hang about behind slower cars but equally I was quite surprised to be hassled for a legal manoeuvre. I really don't get why people are actually offended by being overtaken. I would say its a pissing up the wall issue except this one was female!

OP posts:
drjohnsonscat · 21/02/2013 21:44

I think special's point was that on most journeys, you're better off not bothering to overtake because you end up slowing anyway and the slow and steady one behind you gets to the same point at the same time for less petrol. It's not really about driving with energy efficiency in mind - it's about the general speed of the road. But then, as I said, I'm in London where there is absolutely no point in overtaking ever - and people still do it.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 22:03

I think women are just as likely to do 'pissing up the wall' type stuff, unfortunately (or should that be fortunately? Confused I suppose at least it's gender-equal).

The single nastiest experience I've had was when I'd recently passed my test. I was driving at a comfortable 70 and passing a steady stream of lorries doing 50-60. A woman in a huge landie came and sat on my rear bumper. Honestly, I've never since seen anyone drive that close, she must have been about six inches from me the whole time. I couldn't pull in because of the lorries and I couldn't speed up because every time I did, she accelerated and, having just passed my test, I was terrified of speeding too much. Eventually we got down to the roundabout and she gave me the finger then sped off, laughing, in the other direction.

I still shudder a bit. What an utter, utter wanker.

superstarheartbreaker · 21/02/2013 22:08

I am quite a new and therefore slow and doddery driver. I am getting better but what I HATE is when I am going at maximum speed limit and then someone overtakes me and continues to speed up. Surely that is ILLEGAL? It makes me feel sooo cross , almost like they are beyong the law. Tailgaters are hidious too; especially when the vehicle behing is a lorry or a HUGE truck. Have they not heard of stopping distances?

superstarheartbreaker · 21/02/2013 22:08

beyond

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 22:09

Tailgating bothers me more than anything else. It's just horrible.

LightbulbSoup · 21/02/2013 22:22

LRD that woman's behaviour was disgusting and I would have found that quite unnerving. I've had tailgaters but nothing as close as that.

I don't care if people over take me. I usually pull in to the left a wee bit so they can see the road ahead a bit more and it lets them know I'm letting them past. Usually get raised hand to say thanks.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 22:25

Well, there are always going to be some idiots out there, right?

I'm with you - I'll happily pull in, and I love it when people wave thanks for that or anything else. What the OP describes doing wouldn't bother me at all.

Isn't it a pity we can't have the equivalent of a MN scarf for cars, so we could all know where nice polite drivers were?!

Sparklingbrook · 21/02/2013 22:29

Packet of Pom Bears stuck in the back window. Wink

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 22:31

That would do it. Smile

Sparklingbrook · 21/02/2013 22:32

I may do it tomorrow LRD. Smoky Bacon or Plain? Grin

LightbulbSoup · 21/02/2013 22:36

Ha I am so gonna do that tomorrow Grin

cumfy · 21/02/2013 22:36

Was she possibly pointing out that you have gained precisely nothing by overtaking her ?Grin

Sort of "Cooooey ... I'm still here. Precisely 1 second behind you. Coooey , still here in case you hadn't noticed ...." etc.

Sparklingbrook · 21/02/2013 22:37

Can you still make the badges out of Crisp packets. i could make a Pom Bear one. Grin

LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 22:37

Smoky bacon every time! Naturally!

Sadly, tomorrow, I shall be on a train, since long-ingrained habit has persuaded me that driving 250 miles leads to my car conking out.

I quite fancy a nifty personalized numberplate when I get the cash though. MNHQ should fit in neatly.

cumfy · 21/02/2013 22:40

Also did you overtake just at the transition from a 30 to a 60 ?

Some people can be a bit anal about waiting til the precise point of the transition prior to accelerating. [baffled]

Original poster
tigerdriverII · 21/02/2013 22:53

cumfy. I couldn't have avoided noticing her since she she was so close to me eventually that I could barely see her in my wing mirrors. No it wasn't a 30 to 60 job either. She was just narked that I passed her, true - as it turned out - I didn't make the progress I expected to do. In the end I am feeling half amused by her bonkers ness and half sorry for someone who can get so angry over nothing. And half sorry for me not getting to work as quick as I'd hoped!

OP posts:
LRDtheFeministDragon · 21/02/2013 22:57

Yeah, cos it made such a huge difference to her that you were in front instead of behind. Confused

Honestly, she sounds mad.

Go on, fuel our stupid preconceptions - what was she driving? I warn you, if it was a slightly dodgy Mazda 2, I shall appeal to MNHQ to have my posts deleted and I'll start to argue she was utterly right. Honest.

ConfusedPixie · 21/02/2013 23:37

It makes me laugh when they do that. Both DP and I either slow down more and then pull over to let them overtake if they keep it up. I'd rather have a twat hit me at a slower speed if I have to emergency stop than at a faster speed! I always go the speed limit, which causes problems when everybody else doesn't seem to understand the concept Hmm

On a similar issue, why is it that middle lane hoggers speed up when they realise that you are in a position to under cut them? Driving home last weekend on the M23 and M25 we had this numerous times, where we were going 70 in the slow lane (clear roads) and a middle lane hogger was going slower, then when they realised we were faster they would speed up before slowing again once they'd passed us, only for a repeat a few minutes later! Just pull into the slow lane you stupid fuckers! That's what it is there for!

gaelicsheep · 21/02/2013 23:43

I would never behave like the woman described by the OP, but I do get annoyed at being overtaken. Normally because I am driving appropriately for the road and the conditions, and some wanker generally overtakes on a bend and whizzes off at 80 mph.

Overtaking is dangerous and usually pretty pointless as it saves so little time in the long run, so yes it pisses me off when people do it. I don't want to be the one coming the other way.

MrsLouisTheroux · 22/02/2013 07:57

So overtaking her really was pointless if she ended up right behind you for ages! You didn't make 'good progress' after all.

I actually slow down to let people overtake me. I then smile at them when I catch them up, due to the traffic, later on!