Other drivers

[Desperatetime]

I've noticed that everybody seems to he in a rush and some have a attitude I'm sick of people up my rear end when I'm doing the speed limit and hovering to overtake.
Last night around 11pm I had somebody up my rear flashing and blowing thier horn at me when I was doing the speed limit maybe just under aibu to think this behaviour is getting worse.

For some reason it seems worse in Surrey than anywhere else round here. Much prefer driving in central London.

Today I had a moron in a big black 4x4 lean on his horn because I gave way to a vehicle on the right at a roundabout. Apparently I should have pulled into oncoming traffic because he had some sort of masculinity problem.

I'm a really experienced defensive driver- I've driven in lots of developing countries known for crazy traffic- but for some reason I find it much more irritating in the UK, I think because I expect people to know and adhere to the rules, and they don't. Also see driving up my bumper doing 30 in a 30 limit zone. Ah yes, I am prepared to kill someone, lest you be late for your round of golf.

No, OP said "I was doing the speed limit, maybe just under". Wouldn't you assume that to mean that the speed might have dropped to 67 or 68 for a few moments? It's definitely a noticeable (and frustrating) decrease in speed, but your comment makes it sound as though OP said they were at 60 instead of 70 mph, which is quite different.

thatsabigtree I was doing 30 maybe a tad under and maybe if they are so impatient and stressed they shouldn't be on.the road anyway.
It was 11pm and quiet so if they get angry and stressed at that time of night then no hope for them

Also not giving way and hurtling down the wrong side of the road past parked cars and not driving carefully

We have a cut through from one town to another which is all windy country like lanes and they have put up average speed cameras (40mph road).

The other day, I had a Range Rover tailgating me as I couldn't overtake 3 cyclists as you can't see around the bends, he overtook me on a blind corner, obviously didn't realise there were 3 cyclists not 1 and the car coming the opposite direction had to slam their brakes on and stop in the road.

Every single day I see something idiotic whilst on the roads.

Dd has her driving test next week so I am taking her out in my car most days. What is it with L plates that makes grown men think they can bully 17 year olds and almost force them off the road! Tbf there have been lots of nice drivers who give dd lots of space and time.

Mostly men isn't it

YANBU. I actually reduced my speed from a generous 70mph to 50mph. Halved my petrol and arrived at work way less stressed.

It's such hard work being angry with people driving slower than you. We all need to chill a bit

In addition, my journey time increased from 35 to 40min and the lorries that drive aggressively up my ass before overtaking reach my final roundabout at the same time as me.

What is the speed limit of the road? I'm wondering why driving at 70 mph is "generous".

I’ve noticed a huge increase in drivers veering over the middle lines and onto the other side of the road, especially on bends but on straight narrow roads too. Is it because cars have got bigger (they’re still certainly not too big for their own side of the road!) or have people got worse at judging the space around their cars?

I'm confused, is it the impatient tail gaters who are the baddies, or the middle lane dawdlers?

Up until a year or so ago, I would have said yes. Don't get me wrong, I am still tailgated and flashed by apoplectic men in vans no matter how fast I'm going, but I'm seeing a rise in fucking horrendous driving by women in high-end SUVs. Really aggressive, erratic driving with zero use of indicators.

Of course there are shite drivers in all demographics, these are just the most common two around here.

As an aside, the lack of indictors seems to be a general trend and it drives me batty. Particularly at roundabouts - 90% of people don't indicate that they're exiting 😒

It's because they're all-round shit drivers who don't actually give a fuck about being good at driving. Actually, probably most of them think they are indeed good drivers, and wouldn't even be able to see what they're doing wrong if their life depended on it. They are probably also stupid. Recently, I've realised that most people are stupid.

Oh, yes, my favourite – still indicating right even as they're now exiting. People don't understand how that doesn't make sense, indicating one direction while driving in the fucking opposite direction.

One of the specific behaviours the OP mentioned was cars behind flashing their lights.

To be clear, there is one scenario that is entirely legitimate - if you're on a dual-carriageway or motorway and are in an overtaking lane but not overtaking.

Doing it just because you want the car in front to speed up is thuggish and rude.

Do you mean accidentally crossing the white line?

Or do you mean that in situations where it is safe to do so, they take a line through the corner which uses the whole of the road?

The former is poor driving, the latter is good driving.

I don't understand the scenario you are suggesting. If I'm in the second lane of a dual carriageway, driving at 70 mph, approaching a car that could move over to the first lane but has chosen not to, I can legitimately flash my lights at them to encourage them to move over?

Merging gets me stressed. Why leave it to the last second? Why make it a game?

It’s literally what the Highway Code tells you to do. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Highway Code states:

"Rule 110. Flashing headlights. Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users."

And:

“Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users. Never assume that flashing headlights is a signal inviting you to proceed. Use your own judgement and proceed carefully.”

So, OK to let someone know you are there in the scenario you describe. But nothing else and definitely NOT repeatedly which will count as aggressive driving.

While I'm on the subject of flashing headlights, it counts as obstruction of a police officers duty to flash drivers warning them of police monitoring traffic speeds under Section 89 of the Police Act 1997. This should not be happening.

It means I may have often (completely accidentally) gone a tiny bit over

What gets me is that the dangerous drivers rarely kill themselves. They always end up killing other people. How does that happen?

Traffic is supposed to merge like a zip!

It works and makes sense yet far too many UK drivers don't seem to understand it. It also reduces traffic congestion further back, hence you go right up to the end THEN merge in turn.

The trick is just to relax, and that goes for those getting apoplectic about someone doing 45 on a country road when you think they should be going faster. It really doesn’t matter.

You're winding us up right?! You do know that NOT merging at the end is completely the wrong thing to do? You are supposed to use all of the available open road until the end and then merge in turn like a zip.