Who was in the wrong? (Driving related)

[PookieDo]

Car A and B are driving down a dual carriageway that has a section of 50mph speed limit and the rest is 70

Car A comes out of the 50 section in the left lane and picks up speed, coming up behind car C still going 50. The road is pretty empty bar car B which is in the right hand lane some distance behind - at least 20 + car lengths who has also just come out of the 50 zone and picking up speed

Car A sees car B in mirror but due to speed of car C either has to brake or overtake Car A pulls out and overtakes car C quickly going back into left lane but does not realise car B is going 90mph.

Car B is very angry and had to slam on brakes although car A does not stay in right hand lane for any longer than needed to overtake 1 car

Car B driver flashes lights beeps horn multiple times even once has passed car A, then makes offensive gestures pulling level with car A then at the next roundabout opens window and shouts at car A driver for being a stupid ***

Clearly car B did not react very well but was this proportionate to what car A did, a normal driving manoeuvre making the assumption that car B was going around 70mph and therefore had plenty of time?

Argh for the final time I was gaining on C but not about to slam into the back of it. It wasn’t so close to me I couldn’t have made a reasonable adjustment. I just chose option overtake and not slow myself down - my error.

I don’t need an eye test either so stop. I already said I made an error with the speed of the car, and therefore in turn the gap obviously. This isn’t gammy eyeballs or being doddery, I think you can become complacent about making driving assumptions, that’s why. Road is 70 I drive at 70 max so assume everyone is driving 70 max or slower. I KNOW I WAS WRONG. But I also think B was wrong for the sheer ridiculous speed that could have killed us all even if I hadn’t over taken out of sheer idiocy to drive like that and be so aggressive. I don’t take full responsibly which is why I posted as unsure but very mixed reviews/legal advice/childish insults have taken place which has made this totally boring now so I won’t come back

When I pulled out had no intention of trying to slow car B down on purpose or any of the other speculated reasons except I was going faster than C, saw a gap to overtake and did so realising too late

The end

Car A - should have exercised better situational awareness/judgement

Agree with this.

Car B - is breaking legal speed limit

We don't know this. If A was driving around 50, even 70mph would seem faster than it was.

C - should at least be driving to the limit if it was possible in that particular traffic flow.

Not always. It can depend on so many circumstances.

Personally, I'd give the bulk of the blame to Car A. Should have been paying attention to traffic in the outer lane, while monitoring their own speed behind Car C so they didn't need to brake.

car B which is in the right hand lane some distance behind - at least 20 + car lengths who has also just come out of the 50 zone and picking up speed

Car B has just come out of the 50 zone too, and was 20 + car lengths behind, why are people responding as if car b was close?

Interesting thread. I've always wondered what drivers who pulll out right infront of you were thinking...

pulll out right infront of you were thinking

Op's situation won't offer you any help as the other car was 20+ cars behind. Sigh.

20+ car lengths behind is nothing if the car in the right hand lane is going at least 20mph faster than you.

Car B was going too fast. Car A should have waited. You’re both daft

OP - if you know you were wrong what are you trying to gain from this thread? All it’s going to do is wind you up. Just learn from what happened and move on. AIBU really isn’t the place to find peace of mind

Basically, Car A couldn't be arsed to brake so made Car B break instead. Very bad. B's speed/behaviour shouldn't overshadow that. Car A could see car C and would have had farrrrr longer to react than Car B seeing and reacting to Car A.

It's often considered very difficult to judge the speed of another car. In this situation, we have Car A slowing down behind Car C, while Car B is picking up speed, possibly rapidly. If Car A is going at 50, then Car B will still seem very fast if they are going at 70, a difference of 20mph.

So Car B's speed is irrelevant, the only bit that matters is that they were going much faster than Car A. Car A pulled out causing B to brake, which is the wrong thing to do. I see this often enough on my daily commute, and it's busy enough that I have no chance of breaking the speed limit. (Some drivers I've seen would do well to remember that sticking your indicator on is NOT giving you the right to just pull out willy-nilly.)

My dad once told me that any gap between cars should always be considered variable as it totally depends on the speed of the car closing that gap. 20+ car lengths is great at low speed but nothing when that car is coming up at a higher speed.

Of course, Car A being in the wrong doesn't excuse the behaviour of the driver in Car B.

If you're 20 car lengths away from a car that pulls out (bear in mind in this scenario there was 20mph diffs) and you feel that's not enough time to react you shouldn't be driving.

I'm always having to slow down when in the outside lane. I anticipate it. I don't assume I should be able to maintain a constant speed.

None of us are perfect drivers OP. Just learn from it and move on. We have all made a judgement of error at some point, don't worry too much about it.

Car A

despite car B being a CF

its Car B's responsibility to "mirror, signal & maneuavour" in time

sorry !