Men and road rage/aggressive driving

[Stickybackplasticbear]

This is a bit of a moan and a question insured by something on the way home. Does anyone else find being a woman in the world a bit exhausting?

I had an incident in the way home today where I was in a bit of traffic on the motorway at 4pm ish so building to rush hour. The traffic was maybe 50mph ish but fairly full of cars if this makes sense.

Right hand lane of 2 lanes (shit motorway) a fella behind me was driving too close and gesturing aggressively. I'm genuinely not sure what he thought me moving would do, he's be in the same slightly slow traffic but a few meters ahead. It's not like I was driving slow and hogging the lane, which would be annoying. I don't drive a van, a normal small car, he could absolutely see there was traffic in front of me.

He basically tailgated me and tried to intimidate me for miles. I have a theory on this being a man / woman thing. Now I've never seen this behaviour from women. I also only have experience of living as a woman, but I know lots of woman who also say they have negative experiences like this with men and driving.

I suppose my aibu is do people think just some people are aggressive twat drivers of all genders? Or do you think it's more of a man thing?

This is coming of the back of a few twatty man incidents and I'm just feeling done with how men are in the world.

I pretty much agree with this and this is what I've seen. Obviously there are people saying they see aggressive driving or road rage from women or do it themselves. But then lots are actually talking about bad driving. Such as not paying attention or pulling out when it's not safe. I suppose pulling out or going to fast could be seen as aggressive in that it's assertive or too forward/ pushy. But I meant aggressive to others.

I'm def not perfect, my mum lives along a long road with a variable speed limit and I always seem to get behind somone who doesn't realise and goes at 30 the whole way.
I do feel annoyed, I suppose feeling and acting are different to me. And of course aill beep when people cut me up or whatever.

I suppose somone going kind wild over me being part of slightly slow moving traffic just feels like it's coming from a different place to those kind of frustrations.

Use your washer fluid if they are getting too close. Will piss them right off.

Trying to play the female victim card is ridiculous. Of course irate drivers don't wait until they make sure you are female to become aggressive and dangerous, give us a break.

Why do you say it wouldn't have happened if you were a male? You pretend that there's no road rage directed at men? That's a new one.

I also maintain that women are just as bad as men. I have seen so many ridiculously aggressive and intimidating female drivers, especially on motorways. It is true that they tend to be younger, I haven't personally witnessed any road rage from an elderly woman.

You don't even need to join a motorway, just stand in front of a primary school at drop off for 10 minutes, and you will see who the road rage drivers are!

I think in the last few years sheer nasty aggressive and dangerous driving has definitely become more common, with, around here, a 30/70 split women/men.

Time was when you might go out and have a horrible experience maybe once a month. Now it's 50% of the time some twat is risking lives by being a dick. Tailgating, pulling out without even looking,overtaking on bends, ect.

When i've got my DD in the car with me i worry so much for our safety sometimes. We live in the countryside and often there's nowhere for miles to pull over to escape tailgaters so you're stuck with the wankers. I refuse to do the speed they obviously want to do - 70mph on little lanes - and for safety i slow down a bit. This is sometimes taken as an aggressive move and they drive so close then that i can't see the front of their car in my mirror! Funny how they back right off when it becomes obvious you're both heading to the same small village. Embarassing for them to be a workman coming to YOUR house! (this has happened)

While i'm here - the thing which weirdly fascinates me are the ones who drive right up the arse of big lorries for miles. Tapping their brakes all the time. Inches from the lorries bumper. The rest of the line of traffic just following along with a good gap between us all. I mean ... what are they hoping to achieve? They can't overtake like that cos they can't see. The lorry driver prob doesn't even know they're there let alone feel any pressure to go any faster 🙄

If you do this - please explain! 🤔

I experience this more when my husband is not in the car with me, usually men. Having said that I’ve experienced this a few times from women, usually in white cars…. Lol. Think white Audis, white mercs. Money can’t buy class as they say.

I find men and women to be equally road- ragey.

Yes absolutely it's men being more aggressive when driving. But no one is allowed to say so. Cos NAMALT and in general men are innocent unless proven guilty (am sick of them and their aggression and violence towards living beings, tbh so am rather biased)

To be fair, this is a whole thread of people saying that men are mainly the aggressors (although not always just at women).

No you are conflating the situation I'm talking about and the idea that women do not experince things which they would not if they were men.

Nor did I say there was no road directed at men. I said road rage comes from men in my experience. Do you often try to straw man an argument to win it? Ain't going to work here.

I'm absolutely happy to discuss if this is a male / female issue. Pp's have said they see aggression in women don't but it's just chat about driving.

However my point, which you've ignored, was that by talking about the hatred of the idea of people saying it wouldn't have happened if they were men. You deny the millions of women who in fact do have experiences that would not have happened if they were men. Outside of the situation I'm talking about.

You seem to want to use your disagreement of how I feel about male road rage to make out women play 'victim' in the host of situations where they experince things men do not.

Though honestly I'm not fully sure you've understood what I was saying as you seem to think I've claimed men don't experience road rage from other men. You're also ignored or not understood what I said about women's experience outside of driving. So I'm not sure we're going to get far

I think this was how I was feeling when I posted. Or in life in general.

I've just had a few things lately where men are aggressive and just awful. Yes not all men! I have a wonderful one. But this pervasive male aggression and violence in the world just gets a lot. So actually driving up my arse is probs the least of it! It's just a symptom if those behaviours I guess!

Having been done for speeding before, I use the speed alert thing in the car now, which warns me if I am exceeding the limit. Which leads to a lot of getting tailgated. If it gets on my nerves too much, I dab at the brakes on and off, and that usually gets them to back off a bit. And/or I slow right down when it is safe to overtake and let them piss off to meet their maker.

I got tailgated on the way home today along a stretch of dual carriageway. Twat in a BMW 8 series that clearly thought the roads should part like the sea to let him through the car in front of me in the right hand lane was doing 75mph so not slow, and I couldn't pull over to the left hand lane as it was a merging lane from the motorway and busy. He flashed his lights, beeped his horn and nearly smashed into my boot twice. I was fuming as I had my dogs in the back. There's just no need for it.

do you even know what NAMALT stands for?

No one is saying men are not guilty of road rage, some of us are saying WOMEN are guilty too. It's not making men "innocent", it's making women just as bad.

I said road rage comes from men in my experience.
and i am saying road rage comes from both men and women in my experience.

Are you saying because you somehow haven't seen it, it doesn't exist? ok then...

Nearly everyone gets angry at some point or other when they're driving. Some people express this and low level things like swearing and gesticulating are common enough amongst men and women.

The only times I've ever been in fear of my life though, or any extreme expression of road rage involving threats of violence have been men without fail though. Once in the motorway at about 2am a bloke in a big BMW who was pottering down the fast lane at 50mph just decided he was going to "play" with us. Matching alongside us then moving to about an inch from the car. Pulling in front and braking , dropping behind and coming up inches behind us. I tried slowing down, I tried speeding up, I was in a 1L polo and he was in a 5 series BMW so my options were limited. There was 2 of us in the car and we weighed up stopping but were worried we were gonna get stabbed. I knew the motorway up ahead would get busier because there's always royal mail trucks there so pressed on until we came to some lorries and I stuck near them until he got bored and hooned off. Utter psycho

Male and females can drive like this, but yes majority of my run ins with drivers have been males. I find people in general are just more aggressive and rude now, even worse since covid!