To feel intimidated by expensive cars whilst driving?

[malificent7]

A bit of a generalisation here but I often find BMW, Mercedes, Audi cars etc drive much faster than me...often tailgate me and overtake when I'm on Maxim speed limit.
I feel that a certain kind of go getting person has the money to buy such cars and this is a wflwcted in their driving. This makes no sense I know! I can't help feel intimidated when a beautiful BNW or Mercedes drives behind me. I gave a bimbly Honda jazz!/

While we are at it....it's never those bloody tail gaters who get caught speeding is it?!

I drive a small, old car - mix of being able to afford it and don't give a shit about what status a car has, and I am constantly treated like a nuisance by big cars - they pull out of side roads in front of me, tailgate and generally intimidate. I don't actually care as I know I'm not slow and doddery, or fast and stupid, safe driver - its actually quite sad. and a bit amusing at times.Worse are the big white new money Nissan quashquais - whatever they're called. Cars are a status symbol I suppose.

OP if you are tailgated that much then there is clearly something about the way you are driving that is annoying other motorists.

I have driven all sorts of cars, and have been tailgated in situations by all other sorts of cars.

I frequently get cars tailgating me in 30 zones simply because they cannot see the push bikes two or three cars in front of me. I ignore them as I am aware they are simply being unobservant. When I brake legimately or see the bike they stop tailgating.

However I have also given way to HGVs on national speed limit dual carriageways as some people think driving at 35-40mph in the inner lane in good clear conditions is a safe thing to do on them.

Likewise I have seen people stick to the outer lane when motorways have merged who have a line of cars behind them in that lane and a line of cars behind them in other two lanes, because they won't go faster than 40-50mph and won't move over even though other drivers are being patient and giving them plenty of space.

If you are a nervous driver on faster roads then take some extra driving lessons so you can keep at an appropriate speed. Otherwise you are at risk of causing and being involved an accident, that's if you don't end up pissing off the police who can pull you over for going too slow.

I do want to add that I've also observed owners of expensive cars driving normally. Some people are just aggressive drivers.

This is true. On my usual 40mph limit, windy roads route to work I get people tailgating often. But, To break the trend just last week, an expensive performance car caught me up, reduced their speed and stayed well back the rest of the way.
Not all drivers are twats.

It says something about a person who feels the need to own or lease these big powerful cars

The one we have on order is an MPV. What it says about us is my body is too knackered to get in a low down car. We wanted something more reliable than a Renault, our current Juke is crap and this BMW is nicer than a Golf Sv.

DH commutes 50 miles each way to work so we thought 'fuck it' and got something nice.

Been driving for 40 years and do find that there is a pecking order with cars. I have a medium sized car- and notice a huge difference is driver attitude compared to being in mine and when we are using Dh's car which is one of the big posh ones you are on about.

I get cut up sometimes on the road or men play stupid games with me on motorways, trying to stop me overtaking, or overtaking me as soon as I've overtaken them. This never happens with DH partly as he a man and also because he has a big powerful car with powerful lights on all the time.

I was once tailgated on the motorway in my car with DH as a passenger. I was doing 75-80 in a 2-lane stretch of the road. DH would never have been tailgated in his car.

I think some men have a terrible attitude to women drivers even in 2018.

I find using the washer fluid makes them back off
But why would this do anything? If your washer sqirters are set up correctly then the water would just cover your windscreen, not shower the car behind with water?

And there is definitely a difference in how other drivers treat you depending on the car you drive. When I had a Meriva (the true old man's car!) I always had drivers trying to overtake, etc. even though it actually went quite fast when it eventually go up to speed. Now I have an i30 I don't get treated like an old man as people presume I will drive quickly.

It says something about a person who feels the need to own or lease these big powerful cars

Yeah it shows that they want a nice car, what’s the problem there? Take a dickhead out of an Audi and put him in a Peugeot and he’ll still be a dickhead.

We have an Audi and ‘big black Range Rover’ in our household and neither of us drive like dicks, because we’re not dicks.

I drive an Audi and love it! OP your comments are rather a generalisation which is unfair to the ordinary Audi/BMW/Mercedes driver. I find the most annoying people on the road are young men or women driving old bangers, which have been souped up with two large exhausts and music blaring, who take great delight in overtaking any car on the road which is nicer/bigger/more expensive than theirs!

Well I'm not a slow driver...I try to stick to limits... I'm doing a speeding course soon in fact for doing 36 in a 30 zone!
I have a jazz as...yawn...they are economical...

For some reason I've never been tailgated by a Ferrari.

It just annoys me when I feel pressured to go faster when I'm on the speed limit.

I am gene raliaong...kind of tongue in cheek.

Generalising even!

Ah, Mummyoflittledragon, that makes sense, and is a little sad.

What surprises me is the people agreeing. I've been driving for nearly 25 years and in my experience arsehole drivers are not limited to one or two car brands. And I suspect any insurance company would agree with me.

In fact I encountered an arsehol driver on Thursday. Four lane round about, i was going to third exit. I was queued at traffic lights with other cars. My car is a 4x4. Middle aged Guy in a very small very old car pulls up behind me and starts tooting his horn repeatedly, I made rhe shrugs signal 🤷‍♀️ In the mirror. A bit bemused. I was in the right lane and behaving correctly.

He was in the wrong lane and needed to filter off. He pulls out into the right lane and then gets level with me and stops. I just looked at him. He was literally angrily opening his mouth to shout, then looked at me, shut his mouth, clearly changed his mind and drove off. Only wanted to be abusive to men apparantly.

I don't know what his problem was, but he realised he was in the wrong lane for the second exit, and so became very aggressive. In a very small old car.

Also my worst case of tailgating, that scared the crap out of me, was in the dark on a bendy country road, with a guy in an old truck, from the local traveller site. Plenty of examples, but for me, no one will convince me arsehole drivers are limited to more expensive car brands.

I used to drive a Honda Jazz. My husband used to get really annoyed when he drove it and insist everyone tried to overtake him at dangerous places and cut him up constantly and swore it was because it was people saw a Honda Jazz and would assume the person driving was doddery and old. I said he was being ridiculous until I started driving my husband's car. And it was true. I think most people are guilty of stereotyping cars and the drivers off those cars.

My heart sinks when I'm out on a country road and an Audi or BMW comes up behind (especially so if it's a white one) because I just assume they are going to drive 5 inches from my arse and try and bully me into going faster (I'm another one that scooshes tailgaters with my windscreen washer). But not all Audi and BMW drivers are twats. (Although quite a lot of them are) Some of them even know how to use indicators. I drive a Merc now and I'm not a twat (I like to think).

Wow, lots of stereotypes! Honda drivers are slow and old, Skoda and Nissan are driven by people who can’t afford anything better.

I used to drive an Audi TT and there was never a time when I pulled up at traffic lights, that the driver alongside made it a point of honour to ensure that they got away before me.

What drives me nuts is people dawdling along 30mph in a 50 zone

Why? Keep back & overtake them when you can.
My Mum is 70 and drives slow as does my 18 year old newly qualified driver DD.

That's not really how it works. Unless the road conditions dictate you can't reach 50mph then you SHOULD be there.

Age isn't a factor here, they either drive properly or not at all.

I agree it’s your car that’s the problem, not your driving which is probably perfectly fine. We’ve got two cars, one an oldish micra, and a newer Land Rover. I get tailgated and cut up all the time in the micra, and I think I’m a confident driver, get in the Land Rover and get a lot less of this behaviour. Obviously there are some numpties on the road that’ll do this in whatever car you drive. I would never get a micra again. Funnily enough though, my DH doesn’t have any problems in the Micra, though he’s probably driving like one of the aforementioned tailgaters!

Tbh my husband works for Honda and the vast majority of his customers that buy Jazz's are at the older end of the spectrum. But obviously this does not mean they will drive slow etc. We have a Jazz as a company car atm and they are quite nippy but obviously not as high powered as some of the cars mentioned. I don't think it's the brand of car as such but that certain cars are seen as a status symbol and are more likely to be driven by twats.

I realise I’ve just contradicted myself at the end there. I think there is a proportion of drivers who see a women in a small car and think they can cut them up, but wouldn’t do it to a man no matter what car they are in.

The other day I was tailgated along a local road with a speed limit of 40, I was following a cyclist and there wasn't an opportunity to pass them safely so I reduced my speed, knob in another car hurtles up behind me and sits literally on my bumper. Now this road also often has a speed trap on it. So I managed to get past the cyclist safely and Mr Knob does the same whilst still on my bumper, I then increase my speed but refuse to go over the speed limit much to Mr Knobs obvious disgust , so he overtakes me in one of those veer into opposite side of road , shoot forward and swing back in inches from front bumper shows of masculinity and superior driving prowess. He then speeds off over the small brow of the hill straight past the speed trap at I would estimate 10 miles over the speed limit , oh dear

A white BMW forced me onto the pavement yesterday, by ignoring a priority chicane. A bumfluffed little cunt with gelled hair, as is typical of those driving leased 3 series.

Conversely, my best friend drives a 120d, and a better human being you couldn't find.

I feel that a certain kind of go getting person has the money to buy such cars

Most don't, I have an expensive car bought in cash, the garage said 90% of their sales are leases, a few take a loan and almost no-one pays cash. They just lease and see it as an expense like sky.

Yesterday I was tailgated by an SUV which all I could see of in my rear view mirror was the bonnet and the driver's hand on the steering wheel. They were that close.

It did turn out to be an Audi SUV. It was incredibly intimidating and made me nervous despite usually being a confident driver (and my car has some grunt).

I've totally noticed that other drivers respond differently to me depending on what car I'm in. DHs car was described by the sales person as an 'executive saloon' and when I drive that, people are more courteous, let me out, don't tailgate etc. Mine is a newish hatchback and i swear has a big target on it somewhere. The amount of near misses I've had in it in the last year are unbelievable. Tailgating, people pulling out on me at roundabouts when I'm indicating and have right if way, pulling out metres in front of me at junctions etc - it never happens in DHs car. Ever. I can only surmise that they assume that my car won't pick up speed, or that as a female driver I'll be holding them up. Who knows.

We live in a rural area down a winding lane, which joins two main roads and Is often used as a short cut. There is a pattern of the type of cars which will pull over to allow both cars to pass each other safely and the type which will be sat on the middle of the road waiting for me to reverse because they've blocked the road. It's always those luxury vehicles, very often 4x4s, and usually white. Like they couldn't possibly get their car dirty or risk a bramble scratch by moving over toward he verge a little. And they can never reverse them, so they don't bother. Just sit there and waiting for others to get out of their way and damage their own cars.

One of those actually hit my car, despite my passenger tyres being on the verge, then got out and yelled at me for not stopping to let them pass! They were on the wrong side of the road!!

That's not really how it works. Unless the road conditions dictate you can't reach 50mph then you SHOULD be there.

I disagree.
People drive differently. Slow drivers ahead of me don't bother me. I go at their pace or overtake them.

That's not really how it works. Unless the road conditions dictate you can't reach 50mph then you SHOULD be there.

I disagree
People drive differently. Slow drivers ahead of me don't bother me. I go at their pace or overtake them.

Disagree of you wish. Doing 30mph in a 50mph zone under normal road conditions would be a fail on a driving test.
You said your mum drives slowly because of her age and your daughter drives slowly because she is a new driver. The Highway Code does not give allowances for age. You either drive correctly or you should not be on the roads.

People who have these cars dont always own them, a lot of the time they are company cars or lease cars. We have an Audi and BMW

My husband drives quick (not everywhere) he drives for living whilst selling cars too... high end prestige.
You would definatley shut your self if you had some of the cars come last you.
They don't get done for speeding much as they know the roads cameras etc, only problem is, is the crafty camera wanker vans!
I don't drive quick particularly but I do get pissed if at people who can't stick to the speed limits.
My husband really love the outside and middle lane joggers too