To feel shaken about this driving incident?

[Art3misZeee]

So, I’m a relatively new driver (R). Passed my test and had a gap of five months before getting my car (production error).

I’m still learning, I make stupid mistakes sometimes but I learn from them. Though this one really got me.

Was on the way back from dropping the kids off at specialist unit daycare on the left on a two lane one way road, not busy but there’s a huge truck in front of me that stopped suddenly and switched the hazard lights on.

Ok, I break but I’m a little close to the truck, reverse a little because the road is so narrow and hard to get around even more so with the size of the truck. Indicate right to go around truck, inches out a little and do all checks, fine and as I’m half way round truck the only other car who is a white Audi and a good bit away speeded up as soon as he saw me in order to not let me pass first.

This didn’t exactly work because if I accelerated to get around quicker I would have hit the truck but this guy came right up the back of me and started beeping. I literally had no where else to go. I pointed to the truck and motioned about reversing. He was having none of it so I was stuck between the truck and his car, which he kept moving forward.

I don’t know where he thought he could go to get around me because there was literally no room. So I had to go forward, when we got moving he moved into the left lane beside me and rollered down the window to start screaming at me. Saying I almost crashed into him 3 times. I drove on to the traffic lights ahead and he sat beside me in order to continue calling me a stupid bitch and how I needed to “Wise the fuck up and get off the fucking road”.

He sped off before I could compose myself enough to say anything. Honestly, who was wrong here? I understand he had priority but I had dictated and inches out early on, he was far enough away that I would have gotten around the truck in time so he wouldn’t have needed to slow down. It was only when he saw me he speeded and went right up the back of me this all happened.

I do have bad anxiety so this is going to be stuck in my head all day and i’ll more than likely agree with him that I shouldn’t be on the road because I feel shit.

There will always be unpleasant people on the roads, I'm sorry to say. Whenever you find yourself in a situation that is a bit 'iffy' ask yourself what your instructor would do and you shouldn't go too far wrong. Always give more leeway to buses and lorries so that you can pull out safely from behind if necessary and that way you can avoid this sort of thing happening again. You passed your test so you have every right to drive. Don't fall into the trap of 'well, everybody else does it' thus lowering your standards. I've had daft drivers beeping at me because they don't like me sticking to the speed limit.

Duchy there was no oncoming traffic. All 3 vehicles were travelling in the same direction. Both OP and the Audi driver made bad decisions. All OP needs is more time behind the wheel. Additional training might be a solution if she finds she is always meeting Audi drivers....

It sounds like perhaps you were a bit hesitant and perhaps he was a little fast and tried to get round you quickly so he didn't get stuck behind you? He then proceeded to be a cunt, whoever started off in the right is no longer important and he was definitely wrong. Hope you're ok OP

There are some real dicks on the road unfortunately I had a young lad pull out in front of me on a roundabout and then abuse me when I had to do an emergency stop to avoid smashing into his side.

What does piss me off is the silly attitude about what car people drive (no I don’t own an Audi) if someone is going to drive like a dick it doesn’t matter what badge their car has on the front. I watched a teenage girl in a battered old Peugeot carry out an extremely dangerous manoeuvre this morning that could have a got herself and others killed if she’d been in an Audi, BMW etc everyone would have been up in arms ....

You encountered a fully fledged road rage nutcase looking for an argument, saw a relatively new driver in a tricky situation and made the most of it.. Its horrible but all part of the driving experience. I hope that you kept your windows shut and doors locked. Chalk it up to experience and try not to worry about it. As Lost in the early 90s said. Forget this creep. I've had some nasty experiences like this and now if I see a nutcase or wierdly driving driver, I tend to slow up or otherwise avoid them. No harm done in the end. Best of luck.

I still cannot quite picture what happened, but in any case all road users should be aware of what is going on- so instead of the Audi speeding up when he saw you he should have been mindful of what was going on and react appropriately. Even if you were in the wrong, it seems you had a good awareness of what was going on e.g. were aware of the Audi in the distance; so you have the skills it may just take time to build some confidence and you will deal with 'unforseen' circumstances better. He shouldn't have shouted at you though, and at least everyone is safe so please try not to let it knock you too much.

I often think Audi must be using some kind of material or chemical in their cars which causes anyone sitting in the driver's seat to drive like an utter twat.

Bloody hell I think you had a run in with my ex! Wasn’t in Somerset was it?

Audi driver is a total prick with a small dick.

Try to let it go and move on, I have been driving 30 years and am a very confident driver but the amount of abuse I get for driving to the speed limit it ridiculous - be a duck - let the water run off your back to cheer you up

If you had to reverse first in order to pull out from behind the truck, you were definitely driving too close or reacted to slowly to stop in time.

When the truck stopped, you should have been able to either pull out into the right hand lane (if clear), or if not clear slow down / stop behind the truck until safe to pull out.

If you saw the Audi in the distance, I’m guessing you may have underestimated how much space/time you had to pull out from a stationary position (a common mistake). You have pulled into the Audi’s path. If he did accelerate then obviously this is dangerous but I can see why he is annoyed. He is a dickhead to shout at you like that though.

Is it possible he could see you didn’t have time to pull out infront of him so speeded up a bit so you could get out after him? Lots of drivers to this.

saw the white Audi in the distance who also saw me and what I was intending

Never, ever assume another car has seen you or knows what you are intending to do. That’s how accidents happen.

Even if he did see you and knew what you were intending, he has no obligation to let you out.

It sounds to me like you misjudged the speed of the Audi. It doesn’t mean he had the right to give you a lot of abuse, but it does sound like you could have caused an accident.

He was driving an Audi! Say no more! Wanker!

Please don't worry about it OP. The Audi driver was being an arse, probably because you had P plates on and you were a women.

Audi driver. Say no more. Thinks his dick will drop off if he has to slow down or defer to another driver. We have them here in France, too. Don't take it to heart - you have every right to be on the road.

Sorry, been reading and going through the situation to try to get more out of it in my memory as I was frazzled when sitting so I apologize if I wasn’t clear.

It was as Curious stated, a dual carriage way - 2 lanes in one direction albeit quite a narrow carriage way with truck taking up a small portion of right hand lane.

I not realize I was too close to the truck, I admit my mistake. But like I said it stopped suddenly and didn’t seem to be moving (and had hazard lights on) so I checked mirrors and indicated right in order to pull out to go around. I did do this slowly but only because of how tight the turn was with the truck. I really didn’t want to hit it.

I did check first and saw the Audi but he was further away and had seen me + indicator. At this point he sped up in order to go past me (How I know he upped the speed was because he really WAS a good distance away and at his original speed I would have been able to pass without causing him hassle) But instead staying at his current speed and letting me go past he sped up to the point where he was right up the back of me because he wasn’t able to get past like he wanted.

Again, can I mention I did not reverse. I motioned (with my hand)to him about reversing for him but couldn’t because he A) Was too close to me and B) Kept shouting and inching forward.

Audi driver was completely out of line. When you have driven a bit more, you will realise there is a certain degree of correlation between Audiness and wankerness

I don't think you did anything particularly wrong here. Trust me, it can be far worse. When I was a newly qualified driver I went the wrong way down a motorway slip road by accident. Fortunately, I realised very quickly and the road was totally clear so I just turned around, but it was a huge error and totally and utterly my fault!

You were in the wrong to some extent as shouldn’t have been so close to the lorry that you needed to reverse, and even though there was some time left between Audi arriving if he hadn’t sped up, should have waited for him to pass. However, he was a horrible person who felt the need to act aggressively towards a woman. Nearly all of us make mistakes when driving occasionally and you can normally tell the difference between mistake/bad decision and total selfish dickhead decision/manoeuvre so dangerous you should be genuinely shaken up. People who feel the need to be unforgiving and vicious to those who make mistakes like the former really shock me.

Yes, when a car treats me like rubbish, 8/10 times it’s an Audi. The other two times it’s a BMW or a white van. I am a little woman driving a little car and it is like road bullying sometimes!

He was a cock to give you a load of abuse, but it sounds as though your driving left a lot to be desired:
You were driving too close to the lorry (or not paying attention/ slow to react) if you had to reverse to pull round it after it stopped.
You should have been thoroughly and repeatedly checking your mirrors before pulling into the right hand lane to go round the lorry, and thus not pulled out into the path of the audi. If he had to brake sharply because you had pulled out in front of him (especially slowly and tentatively, and then stopped) then I'm not surprised he was angry.

It doesn't really matter who was at fault, he was out of line behaving that way. No one was hurt, nothing was damaged. The most he should have done is huffed to himself and got on with his day. People aren't always perfect and everyone should be mindful and understanding of that.

But the OP judged the situation for the Audi driver's speed - he chose to speed up, presumably because he wanted to sweep past. He should have slowed down on seeing an incident in the road ahead, and a car with P Plates about to manouevre out. Trying to squeak past was wrong.

Btw my FIL drives an Audi and doesn't indicate or giveway at zebra crossings.

Everyone makes mistakes when they are a new driver. Obviously the Audi driver wasn't to know that you were a new driver (not that he'd have cared even if he did), and he had right of way and no obligation to let you in. But deliberately speeding up to stop someone from getting round an obstruction and then verbally abusing them afterwards is sheer arseholery.

He might have had right of way, but a big part of being a good driver is paying attention to what is going on ahead of you, and if you see a potential hazard such as someone pulling out, you slow down.

Or so I was taught when studying for the hazard perception test.

You don't sound very good at calculating speed and distance. You were indicating right to change lanes but you didn't have priority over the Audi.

There's plenty like him, unfortunately. Fancy car but no class.

I'm currently learning to drive, done a few thousand miles with my DH, and there's always one who wants to put me in my place. They used to really get to me, now I just laugh at them.

Like the prick in the BMW who cut me up in town only to be stopped at the red lights in front of me seconds later. He had his arm hanging out the window with a lovely pink heart tattoo on it. Maybe he can't afford air-con for his pussy wagon. Twat.

Don’t worry OP I have awful anxiety too but am a driver, give yourself time and you won’t care if you make little mistakes while driving. Literally everyone does now and then!

Just assume everyone else on the road is a knobhead and you’re golden