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Original poster

2 'road rage' incidents in 1 day! Am I a crap driver or were they?

77 replies

BubbleGirl01 · 06/02/2015 00:32

This morning, driving along a straight road, road is blocked on my side with parked cars so I am driving on the right at that moment, nothing coming towards me. A car approaches from the side road on the right indicating to turn right into the road where I am currently driving on the side that they would be turning into. I see the woman looking to her right to see that the road is clear, which it is as that is why I am on the side of the road so she turns straight into me. I emergency brake just she turns into me and she clocks me then hooting her horn frantically. We avoid a collision by literally millimetres. In fact I expected for an impact. She then winds her window down and say's it was my fault as I was on 'her' side of the road swearing away.

Later on, I am driving up another straight road approaching a mini roundabout which I want to turn left at. There is a bus in the opposite lane just before the mini roundabout stuck in stationery traffic. Seeing that the bus is waiting to go straight on and will not be turning right in the direction that I am going to go, I turn to my left at the mini roundabout. Suddenly a car jumps out from behind the bus, zooms into their right hand lane and turns right into the direction I am going so I almost collide with it on the mini roundabout. I beep at the woman in the car as I emergency brake. She had DC in the car and so do I and I am bloody furious as she was going very fast. We are actually going to the same place so we park up while she is giving me evils and I tell her she was in the wrong as we pass each other into the building. She insists that she had the right of way as she was turning right at the roundabout and it didn't matter that the bus was in the way. After 5 minutes of her telling me that I need to read the highway code again we agree to disagree!

I am starting to lose my confidence in my driving anyway due to anxiety so was I in the wrong on either of these incidents?

OP posts:
jerryfudd · 06/02/2015 12:55

How can anyone say you were wrong in the first instance?! You had cars on your side of road so had to overtake on incorrect side of road or never pass?! You were established on major road. She had a duty to check the road was clear IN BOTH DIRECTIONS before emerging from the side road. I would have gone ballistic at her if she'd tried to shout that I was in the wrong.

DeWee · 06/02/2015 12:55

You do sometimes get a couple of incidents on a journey which aren't your fault, as long as that's not a frequent occurance, then you can probably take it as one of those things.

Last week I had a short (10 minute journey) in which I had to do 2 quick stops, one emergency, one just sharp.

First case, on an A-road, speed limit 50, I'm doing about 40 and dog runs out of the woods straight onto the road in front of me. Emergency stop plus squiggle (having checked it was clear) and we missed. Not quite sure how. Hope the owner saw and puts it on a lead next time.

Second stop was coming up a main road through the village and a car pulled out about 5 yards in front without looking. Thankfully I was driving at

IceBeing · 06/02/2015 12:56

Just to add another voice to the "carol are you smoking crack" choir.

If the main road was clear then you have to make progress by driving on the wrong side. People pulling out of side roads ALWAYS need to check BOTH ways. There can be someone stopped just to your left on the main road in perfectly normal situations, and only looking right would not alert you to them.

BobbyButtons · 06/02/2015 13:01

Both times, the other drivers are at fault

wanttosqueezeyou · 06/02/2015 13:03

Carol
It is not her reposnsibility to check

It is most certainly the responsibility of a driver pulling out of a side road to check!! For vehicles (stationary and moving) and people.

NerrSnerr · 06/02/2015 13:05

Bloody hell Carol. Will you give us some warning as to when you're out on the roads so we can avoid? Of course it's the driver pulling out's responsibility!!!!

OnceUponATimeAgain · 06/02/2015 13:09

"but you should also have been indicating whilst overtaking."
Nope - she shouldnt, as whats her other option, driving through the parked cars?

" either stopped or used your horn to alert her you are on the wrong side of the road. It is not her reposnsibility to check (although a sensible driver would)"

Yes - she could have used her horn, but the other driver should have paid attention to the hazards (parked cars) on the road and ensured the road was fully cleared before pulling out

Sidge · 06/02/2015 13:18

You were in the right for the first incident. You had priority as you were on the main carriageway. She should have looked both ways before pulling out of a side road and waited until the carriageway was clear before pulling out.

"but you should also have been indicating whilst overtaking."

Not necessarily. When overtaking a line of parked cars, if you had indicated right the other traffic may have thought you were indicating right to turn into the road that driver was waiting to emerge from. That would have really confused her!

NancyJones · 06/02/2015 13:20

Carol you are wrong because it actually doesn't matter that the op was I the other side if the road overtaking. By already partaking in the manoeuvre she had established priority as she was already there using the road. You must always give way to drivers already on the road you are pulling into unless give way signs indicate otherwise.

angeleyes72 · 06/02/2015 13:22

when you turn into a road you need to ensure road clear so you were right op.

Theoretician · 06/02/2015 14:33

I wonder if Carol is in another country where roads were built for cars? In London where most were built for horse and cart, it's quite common for roads only to be wide enough (after allowing for parked cars) so that both directions are effectively sharing the same space for most of the length of the road.

MrsGoslingWannabe · 06/02/2015 14:48

Just a question: if 2 of you are opposite each other at a mini-roundabout & one is turning left and other is turning right (so same exit), who has right of way?

YellowTulips · 06/02/2015 14:56

First one I don't think the OP was at fault.

If the other driver was joining from a side road into the main road it was her duty to ensure the road was clear and the OP actually had right of way - even on the wrong side of the road.

Original poster
BubbleGirl01 · 06/02/2015 15:01

Thank you. I had another incident this morning where I was cut up at a roundabout I was going straight across at (double lane and I was in the outside lane) by someone jumping in at speed from the inside lane.

Think I just live in a town full of twats Hmm.

MrsGosling I was taught always to give way to the right at a roundabout. Obviously I would have in my 2nd situation if there had not been a stationery bus there which was waiting to go straight across, (single lane road). My issue was with the woman jumping out from behind the bus coming down in the wrong lane. I did not see her until she was almost upon me. There were a lot of school children crossing the road I was turning into so I was waiting for it to be clear for me to turn. The other woman obviously didn't give a shit about them.

My confidence in everything is shot to pieces so it is good to know I'm not as shit at driving as I thought.

OP posts:
Sunnysideup5883 · 06/02/2015 15:08

The first incident she was at fault because you were already on the road - she wasn't on the road but was turning onto the road

If the bus road was directly opposite on the roundabout, who ever got on the roundabout first had priority.

If the bus road was slightly to your right and you were both waiting at the roundabout at the same time, she had priority. If you were already on the roundabout as she approached the entrance to the roundabout, you had right of way

RufusTheReindeer · 06/02/2015 15:10

I can't work the 2nd one out as my brain has stopped working but the 1st one you are not at fault

caroldecker · 06/02/2015 18:33

Sorry all, but the highway code says:

DO NOT overtake where you might come into conflict with other road users. For example
approaching or at a road junction on either side of the road

Therefore, if you choose to overtake and drive on the wrong side of the road in this circumstance, you are responsible for avoiding collisions (sp?).

zfactor · 06/02/2015 18:37

Good grief, that does not apply to overtaking a long line of parked cars. If you don't get that, you really shouldn't be driving.

FatimaLovesBread · 06/02/2015 18:42

Carol she wasn't overtaking! She was driving round the parked cars. That part of the Highway Code is for overtaking a moving vehicle. If it was for driving round parked cars then she would never be able to go round them as the junction is always going to be there so she would have to sit there indefinitely just in case someone approached the side road junction?
The mind boggles

Scabetty · 06/02/2015 18:45

Carol shall I send you a bus timetable? It may be safer for the rest of us.

Silvercatowner · 06/02/2015 19:02

I think the confusion has arisen with the word 'overtaking'. I'm not sure that technically the OP was overtaking, I think she was driving passed parked cars. Bizarre notion - if you follow Carol's version of the Highway Code, a road with parked cars down one side would become undrivable down!

MrsGoslingWannabe · 06/02/2015 19:05

I wasn't trying to have a go Bubble, its just something I've wondered about. I know its 'give way to the right' but surely you'd both be giving way then?! I turned right in

front of someone in a supermarket carpark mini-r'bout once and the silly cow got in a right strop but I couldn't understand what I'd done wrong! I think I braked anyway and we were only going 10/15 mph!

caroldecker · 06/02/2015 19:09

She was overtaking, the fact the cars were parked is irrelevant. My point is you are responsible for the road being clear if you are on the wrong side.

What if the other car had been coming over the brow of a hill?

wanttosqueezeyou · 06/02/2015 19:11

Carol - are you suggesting the OP should just have waited until the parked cars moved?

imonaplane · 06/02/2015 19:14

So she should have just waited there all day in case some idiot decided to pull out of a side road without looking both ways?

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