To be just weary of all the aggression on the roads??

[JukkaSarasti]

Last week I was called a "wanker," a "cunt" and a "stupid fucking bitch". Just bad temper, no accidents or anything remotely close to one.

I drive a small nippy car, I'm genuinely courteous and very watchful. I try to let people out/in and always say thank you. I mean, what is it? I'm so, so tired of the unfettered aggression. Is it me or is it getting worse out there? There was a guy last week who was clearly lost/in the wrong lane, so I just slowed down to let him in and the guy in a van behind me started honking and then accelerated to overtake us both while screaming out of the window! It was in a village, by a school.

What would it be like if pedestrians were like that? We'd all be kicking shit out of each other every five minutes! I mean, I'm no Driving Miss Daisy but jeez people, why all the unbridled fury!? Or maybe I'm just hormonal this evening and taking it all too seriously....

^ The accident was caused by an elderly lady who didn't understand give way markings, by the way. Nothing to do with aggression. She cut right across my path to turn right up a side road, and said she thought she was going straight on

Try being female, blonde and driving a two seater soft top convertible. A 3.0l Red rag to many a bull. Seems to be an affront to many male drivers. I can see them racing up behind me, engines going like the clappers, the overtake me, cut me up and then look all smug...until I overtake them or pull up along side at the lights or a roundabout and leave them standing when I pull away. I also drove a KA, that brought out all manner of aggression from other drivers. DH finally understood what I'd been telling him for years about being behind the wheel of a small car when he drove it. The frustrating thing was when the other drivers realised a man was behind the wheel they tended to back off.

I think a lot of the tossers like to intimidate people in smaller cars. No idea why. I noticed when I started driving a bigger car the tosser ratio diminished rapidly

There are people who genuinely think that because they drive a bigger or more expensive car, they have more right to be on the road than those in smaller or less expensive cars. I feel invisible at times, although to be fair I haven't experienced a road rage incident for a bit, I just get fed up by people pulling out in front of me all the time. I see cars overtaking cyclists on blind bends on a regular basis - there's no way they can know that nothing is coming!

Someone on a local FB group published dashcam coverage of their wife being subject to a roadrage incident last night. And last week two local girls were killed by an allegedly drunk driver while out running with their athletics club.

I also can't understand people getting furious at someone who clearly has made a minor mistake. It is easy to do and we have all done it when driving to a new place. People seem to think that they have never made a mistake in their lives.

I also had people beeping at me when my car broke down and wouldn't start in an awkward place. No, I didn't choose to stop my car for half an hour and stand on the verge of a busy roundabout just for the fun of it.

claresch someone posted on a local FB page about that too - they'd broken down and instead of getting out to help, people started beeping.

???

Pedestrians are suffering too! I was called a fat cunt by a young hoodlum in some souped up GTI in my naice village last week. I was already crossing the road when we appeared over the bridge of a hill and wanted to turn left up the road I was waddling across (36 weeks pregnant). He held down his horn, and while I tried to waddle out of the way he wound his windows down and called me a fat cunt. I bet his mum is dead proud!

I have just moved back from forrin land where the standard of driving is really poor. I had been looking forward to more civilized motoring but it seems our standards have slipped since I last lived in the UK.

I agree that evwryone should have a dashcam fitted. We do, after someone lied to their insurer after driving into my DH on a roundabout.
I think people do this shit because they can get away with it. If everything is being recorded and people know it is, they will be on better behaviour.
Roll on driverless cars. Too many humans are psychologically unfit to drive.

I agree that aggression on the roads has increased in recent years. I have to deal with 2 roundabouts which have yellow hatched areas to get anywhere from my house and am beeped at at least twice a week by self important twats who think I should block them. Boils my piss.

I am pedestrian and have noticed and experienced this as well.

There are also a lot more adult cyclist on just footpaths - which is I supposed understandable though not supposed to happen but a significant proportion of them are aggressive and rude to pedestrians.

A family member and a friend were separately injured but car drivers doing stuff they weren't meant to - obvious to road full of witnesses, in one case cctv and by very location of their cars - seeing a person they had injured and in pain got out and starting hurling insults and blame their way rather than call for ambulance. Witnesses stepped in both times.

For family member who was on motorbike insurance stuff dragged on for months despite it being clearly other drivers fault. In both cases the police response was oh it a bad stretch of road - other than I assume increase insurance premiums there was no impact on the car drivers - while friend and family member had months of medical treatments for injuries and lost work time.

Ahh yes, the dash cam. As it turned out for me (and I've told this on here before) it was bloody useless.

Driving home I'm going straight across at the roundabout. My route is clear. Traffic turning right is backed up around the roundabout and as I cross a woman swerves out of this queue into my path. I manage to veer, brake and pip the horn to warn her. She takes exception to this and as she finishes completely cutting me up is waving the V's at me.
Fair enough, I conclude woman is a moron and don't react.

As we get to the other side of the roundabout my turnoff is via a right hand lane so I move into that lane. At this point mad woman veers in front of me in my lane and slams on. I have nowhere to go. My passenger side wing hits her rear end. Out she gets ranting and raving. I remain quite calm and point to my dash cam. At the side of the road is a bus stop with several people in it. I speak to them and get details. All confirm there was no reason for her to stop and they thought she'd stalled.

This enrages her and she calls the police. At this point it becomes apparent that she actually has a kid in the back. Police attend, I show them the video. They potter off back to mad woman and eventually she drives off. I'm told to contact my insurance.

Now here is the kicker. Despite my dash cam showing her swerve and slam on, despite it clearly showing her pull out on me and then give me abuse, despite 3 witnesses in the bus stop all confirming what she did, it went down as a fault claim.
The only small bit of pleasure I took from it was my NCB was protected so it's not affected my insurance, and she hasn't dared to claim for the damage to her (then) brand new car, because there is no way she can explain why she braked.

To this day I'm baffled as to why a woman with a child on board can be so bloody stupid.

YANBU - it is awful. I drive a lot in London and have lost count of the times I have been aggressively hooted at by other drivers when I have done nothing wrong. Case in point: last week I was waiting to turn right out of a T junction with a stream of traffic coming from the left. There was no way I could safely have pulled out until the traffic had passed. The person behind me came up really close and hooted multiple times, even though there was CLEARLY no way I could pull out. What did he expect me to do? People also seem very reluctant to let you over if you try to change lanes, even if you indicate in plenty of time.

It all seems totally unnecessary to me - why be a dick for no reason? Is your life really going to be ruined if another driver holds you up for a few seconds? The irony is that it's making me a less confident driver and therefore more likely to hold people up!

YANBU. I live in a small quiet rural area, and am constantly amazed at the rudeness of drivers. Particularly at roundabouts, it's as if most don't know how they work - they either drive across you from the left without even looking, or they're waiting on your right, not knowing what to do. When someone cuts in front like this I always beep them as it's really stupid and dangerous - often get the finger, even from little old ladies.

YANBU

My Dragon's Den idea:

An LED display which could display lighted messages in your back window. Series of buttons by the steering wheel so you could choose the appropriate polite message for the situation:

"I'm sticking to the legal speed limit so please stop tail-gating me"
"Peace and love man, peace and love"
"Have you considered seeking therapy for your anger problems?"
"Your manhood won't shrivel up and fall off if you give way to a woman driver love"

Anyone like to invest?

Beeping someone who has made a driving mistake isn't appropriate use of your horn if you are not using it to warn of your approach.

Your horn is not there to enable you to express your opinion of other people's shit driving! you need one of my LED displays for that, £54.99 to you dear, mumsnet discount

Where I am we have far too many mini roundabouts and there are so many people that don't seem to have any idea of how the principles of roundabouts work! They just seem to think that it is a four way crossing and that you just wait until there is space then go! Or the other side of it those who just pull out with no regards for anyone else or the rules!

I really think driving has got worse, I used to enjoy driving but can feel myself getting increasingly angry and stressed. I don't shout or show it just mutter under my breath

I live in a quiet neighbourhood in a small city, so I don't encounter many road-hogs and their relatives. However, on the main roads, many drivers seem to think the posted speed limit is the minimum speed, not the maximum.

Sorry, tailgating is not going to make me speed, even if you are driving a bigger vehicle than me. What are you going to do, drive over me?

I cover over 300 miles a week for work and almost never experience incidents of road rage. Tail-gating when I'm doing 30 in a 30 limit, yes, I experience that a lot. People driving in lanes 2 or 3 of the motorway, even when lane 1 is clear? I see that a lot too. People screeching to a halt on otherwise free-flowing roads in order to "flash" others out? Yep, experience that a lot too and it is blooming dangerous at times. But road rage? People being aggressive or shouting insults or banging on car windows? I think I've experienced that approx twice in over 25 years plus of driving.

Twice in twenty years. And your point is??

Twice in 25 years actually.

My point is, is it the area e.g. London, where drivers are just much more aggressive, or is there a reason why some people experience road-rage all the time and others not at all?

Genuine speculation on the issue. I'm not an aggressive driver myself, but shouting at other drivers and banging on windows? That's unusual circumstances, not daily experiences surely outside of London?

Lol ME TWICE TWENTY YEARS

Doesn't make me better

ACTUALLY

I'm sorry, you are not making much sense. Could you please clarify? You seem like quite an angry person, speaking in caps etc.

Minifinger I would like one of those only mine would not be so polite. A kind of rude version of the one unmarked police cars have! An old man once said to me" it is better to be twenty minutes late in this world than 20 years early in the next" I always used to say this to my older kids when they laughed at me sticking to the speed limit.

My point is, is it the area e.g. London, where drivers are just much more aggressive, or is there a reason why some people experience road-rage all the time and others not at all?

That's what I don't get. As I said, I commute to London daily, as a woman, in a relatively small car, and I don't recognise this aggression at all.

Glad it's not just me, Zoe. Sorry, I missed your post, I assume it's not particularly a geographical area thing then?