Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why this driver beeped his horn at me?

241 replies

HangingBasketCase · 10/12/2014 13:47

Driving home from work I decided to overtake a van in front of me that was going really slowly. It's a 60mph road but the van must have only been doing 40 at the very most, I was almost bumper to bumper with it and I was doing 40! So I waited for a long straight stretch of road that's known locally as the straight mile, indicated and overtook him. It was perfectly safe to do so, nothing was coming in the opposite direction, no double lines in the middle of the road, perfect driving conditions but for some reason the git started beeping his horn at me as I passed him! Then once I'd passed him I could see him shaking his head in my rear mirror!

Now I'm really questioning myself. I use this I road daily, I've been overtaken by other drivers on it myself, no problems. I was always under the impression that overtaking is perfectly legal as long as it safe to do so. Which from where I was sitting it was? What did I do wrong? I felt a bit intimidated if I'm honest, which probably sounds stupid. But there you go.

OP posts:
Original poster
HangingBasketCase · 10/12/2014 14:18

Did you put your hazard lights on when this happened Blueberry?

OP posts:
AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 10/12/2014 14:18

What a pity that vehicle in front of the OP wasn't an unmarked police car Smile

bonzo77 · 10/12/2014 14:19

By tail gating you cannot see his brake lights or indicators. You cannot see past him to see it's safe to over take. You have less space to accelerate to overtake quickly. Oncoming traffic only see you aesthete come very close or pass you. Very very dangerous. Admittedly the horn should not be used to remonstrate but to warn of the vehicle's presence if the driver believes they have not been seen. But that does not excuse your dangerous driving.

PurpleSwift · 10/12/2014 14:21

You were tailgating. It doesn't matter why he was driving slowly. You were the dangerous driver here and I can see why he is pissed at you. Yabu.

SantasBassoon · 10/12/2014 14:21

His van must have been fitted with a BDD (Bad Driver Detector). The horn sounds whenever someone drives like an arsehole within 20ft of the vehicle. My car has one.

Nelehwelly · 10/12/2014 14:21

Oh, and as a public service, could you post the make, model & reg no of your car so we all know to pull over and let you pass if we happen to find ourselves on the same stretch of road as you?

CantBeBotheredThinking · 10/12/2014 14:22

Did you put your hazard lights on when this happened Blueberry?

You do need more lessons because it is an offence to use hazard lights in a situation like Blueberry's

Tsoukalosy · 10/12/2014 14:22

Op your behaviour is very self righteous isn't it, now your trying to get one over blueberry

december12 · 10/12/2014 14:22

Yes, it will be the drivers around you that have prevented the accidents. This van driver slowed down to allow himself more stopping distance, avoiding the need to break sharply, should a child run our, there be debris on the road, or the person in front of him break sharply and give you enough time to break as you are too stupid to allow yourself that time.

Tsoukalosy · 10/12/2014 14:23

Anyfucker that would have been good!

itiswhatitiswhatitis · 10/12/2014 14:23

YANBU to over take (although I wouldn't have)

YABU to tailgate

SignoraStronza · 10/12/2014 14:23

Hazard warning lights are only for use when the vehicle is stationary an not for when it is being towed or travelling slowly op. Suggest a brush up on your highway code.

Chippednailvarnish · 10/12/2014 14:24

When you're in a hole OP stop digging. You're embarrassing yourself.

KatieKatie1980 · 10/12/2014 14:25

Santa knows you have been tailgating! Xmas Wink

sparklecrates · 10/12/2014 14:25

he had a sense of humour and was wryly teasing you for overtaking him you modern young spark you ..

december12 · 10/12/2014 14:25

Oh dear OP, you really do need to have another look at the Highway Code

"116

Hazard warning lights. These may be used when your vehicle is stationary, to warn that it is temporarily obstructing traffic. Never use them as an excuse for dangerous or illegal parking. You MUST NOT use hazard warning lights while driving or being towed unless you are on a motorway or unrestricted dual carriageway and you need to warn drivers behind you of a hazard or obstruction ahead. Only use them for long enough to ensure that your warning has been observed.
Law RVLR reg 27"

pictish · 10/12/2014 14:25

No...you need to get a grip OP. You were tailgating him and rightly got beeped for your rudeness.
Even if he was crawling along, you are not going to get past him any quicker with your nose impatiently up his arse, which is also fucking dangerous.
You hang back and wait for your opportunity. You do NOT get all up in their face.
Next time do better.

itiswhatitiswhatitis · 10/12/2014 14:26

I'm sure the OP will be back to declare the Highway Code wrong.

VitalStollenFix · 10/12/2014 14:26

It's really intimidating behaviour to drive right up someone's backside. It is intimidating and it is unsafe. If you have to do an emergency stop and the person behind you has not left a safe gap, then there will be an accident. The best driver in the world is still subject to the laws of physics regarding stopping distances. He probably beeped and shook his head because he felt that driving so close was harassing and unsafe.

It is possible to drop back a bit and keep pace with a vehicle, a gap between you doesn't mean you are going slower, just the same speed a bit further back, allowing for reaction time in the event the driver in front slams on their brakes or something. It also makes overtaking easier as it's a smoother manoeuvre instead of coming out sharply from straight behind them. You can also see better if you are a bit further back than if you are right behind them. The only reason to drive up someone's arse is to try to bully them into going faster than they are comfortable with. It's not acceptable.

You asked for opinions on why he beeped at you. You said you wonder why he beeped at you. You described the situation. You asked. Why are you getting angry because people are suggesting it's possibly because you were driving too close?

AnyFuckerForAMincePie · 10/12/2014 14:31

I know

Van Man fancied you! " That's it.

Icimoi · 10/12/2014 14:33

Wow, OP, I saw this thread in the early stages and was prepared to cut you some slack on the basis that maybe you were exaggerating when you said you were driving bumper to bumper. But it appears that you really weren't.

I simply not understand why you think you had no alternative but to do that. You were on a road with which you were familiar, therefore you must have known that you were approaching a stretch where you could overtake safely. All you had to do was to drive at 40 mph leaving a safe distance behind the other driver until you were in a position to overtake. Why is that an unreasonable thing to expect?

After all, if he had had to stop suddenly so that you drove into the back of him, the person found to be at fault would unquestionably be you, wouldn't it?

MistyMistletoe · 10/12/2014 14:34

Now I'm really questioning myself. I use this I road daily, I've been overtaken by other drivers on it myself, no problems. I was always under the impression that overtaking is perfectly legal as long as it safe to do so. Which from where I was sitting it was? What did I do wrong? I felt a bit intimidated if I'm honest, which probably sounds stupid. But there you go.

'BasketCase Yes I think you're right on questioning yourself. What you did wrong was tailgate the driver which as other posters have pointed out is dangerous and intimidating.

You asked 'where would you go' ? Perhaps booking onto an Advanced Driving course would be useful and might just save someone's life.

pictish · 10/12/2014 14:36

Icimoi - absolutely!

december12 · 10/12/2014 14:36

Only way Op's coming back now is to tell us this was a reverse, she's the van driver and the thing about the hazard warning lights was ironic.....

kungfupannda · 10/12/2014 14:37

I get very irritated at people driving substantially below the speed limit for no obvious reason. There's a woman on a moped who I quite often get stuck behind on my way to drop the kids off in the morning - she rides at about 15mph right through two 50mph stretches, a 40 stretch and two 30 stretches, and there is never anywhere to pass her, so the traffic builds up and up behind her.

But I just suck it up. I don't tailgate. It's dangerous and it makes you look like a massive twat. I pretty much always drive at the speed limit if it is safe to do so, but I quite often get arseholes driving right up my bumper, even if I'm following someone and couldn't go faster if I wanted to. If someone tailgates me I slow down until they sort themselves out and back off.

Tailgating is just a bit thick. No-one ever speeds up for tailgaters because everyone knows perfectly well they're not actually going to deliberately ram you, which is what it is clearly intended to convey!