New driver, I misjudged a gap. Shaken

[anxiousmumy]

Turning right at a busy junction.. I misjudged the gap. The car from the right honked me continuously. It was close, but I felt like they sped up rather than slowed down but still my fault . It's one of those horrible junctions where sometimes you have to edge out or you're sat there for 15 minutes. I had a car up my rear end gesturing angrily at me and jusr felt pressured. I feel so bad and wish I could apologise to the driver.
I am worried they might submit the dashcam footage and I could lose my license. Has anyone else ever done this? Did you get better?

Oh god, seriously? You’re worried that you’re going to lose your license? For what?

Jeez.

Honestly it must happen to most drivers at some point in their driving career! As long as it’s not a regular occurrence there’s no need to worry. It can be scary but don’t let it put you off driving.

Do you have P plates on your car? If not get some.

This is why new drivers are expensive to insure because you make mistakes like pulling out in front of people.

Don't fret about it, no one was a great driver from word go

You made a slight error of judgement. No one is hurt or damaged and no one died. People get cross on the road for the slightest thing so try to move on but grow a little thicker skin for when you are on the road?
In the kindest way it's aggressive out there, although it really shouldn't be.

You'll be 100% fine and this sort of thing will happen dozens of times over the next few years. It's normal.

Chalk it up to experience. Nothing bad happened and you know for next time. Ignore other drivers if you can. You are the one in control of your car and you will go when it's safe.

Let them honk, wankers. Staying safe is the main thing.

Of course you won't lose your license. Don't be silly. You need to drive as much as possible and become an experienced driver. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.

What’s your point？ To make the op feel worse? She’s an anxious new driver, no need for you to be unpleasant.

Don't worry about it, just learn from it. The most important lesson to learn is to ignore people behind you, only pull out when you feel comfortable, just not worth it. Far too many aggressive drivers out there but learn to take a deep breath and don't feel pressured. It does get easier. I think it's a mistake many of us have made when first passing our test.

Don’t EVER feel pressured to pull out/ overtake etc because of other drivers. Take your time and wait til you’re confident that it’s safe. Those impatient people will just have to be patient.

It has happened to us all! Don't fret, chalk it up to experience and don't let it affect your confidence. You need to just get back in your car asap, and carry on driving.

I remember being quite antsy when I'd first passed, it took a while until it felt like I 'belonged' on the road if you see what I mean!

My driving instructor told me not to let impatient drivers (like the one behind you) bully me. Easier said than done!

You don’t say how much damage was done, but I’m sure you won’t lose your licence for something minor.

With more experience you’ll be able to judge distances better and ignore rude drivers.

I hope you’re OK.

Oh OP.

I've been driving for 20 years and pulled out on someone just last week at a roundabout. I could have sworn they had an indicator on to say they were turning left but apparently not (or they turned it off just as I went but either way my fault).

They did honk the horn and I shouted sorry through the open window. He gave me the thumbs up so likely heard.

It did shake me up though as I could have caused an accident

So go ahead and make a thread about the near miss and feeling nervous etc. We’ve all been there and you can chat it. But to actually think she could lose her license? That’s a level of anxiety which isn’t normal. Nothing happened? What is she losing the license for?

Not necessary

I feel you OP. I get very very stressed with people waiting behind me and the the pressure of pulling out and judging the gap. Genuinely in the those scenarios I sometimes just turn left! Safer than making a pressurised mistake and you can usually find a roundabout or side street to turn round. Better 2 mins later to your destination than in a crash

I think it would be pretty unlikely for the driver to report you to the police. He may also not have a dash cam, I wouldn't worry about losing your license. You are allowed up to 6 points in the your first two years.
But I can totally relate. As a relatively new driver I went into a two day spin after my partner ran a traffic light in my car. Even though, it is his offence, the wording on the prosecution notice was so harassing that I immediately imagined going to prison for letting him drive my car.
Going forward, I would absolutely ignore anyone who is at the back of you. They can go around if they don't fancy waiting. You must never feel under pressure as you are the one who can see what is happening at the junction, the car behind you can't.

Please don’t worry and feel bad. It may well be the person beeping you was being unreasonable and a bully. I had someone beep at me continuously up the high st when I turned out on to the high street from a mini roundabout as a car coming down the street was turning right across his path. He had to give way to the car turning across in front of him. He was so aggressive, absolutely raging. I think he was showing off too to the young girl next to him. There are some really unpleasant people out there who drive very aggressively.

There are kinder ways of phrasing this. Of course an experienced driver knows they won't lose their licence over this. The OP would almost certainly have realised this too, once the initial panic was over.

OP- don't worry, these near misses happen to everyone and all you can do is learn from them. As others have said, don't feel pressured by other drivers and ignore aggressive beepers as they are generally idiots. Well done on passing your test!

EVERYONE misjudges a gap occasionally. Which is why you're taught to be aware of cars coming out of side roads.

So don't listen to the arseholes telling you that you're a bad driver. You didn't do anything that could cause you to lose your license.

If you can, stick your arm up or flash your hazards for a sec to acknowledge to the car behind that you got it wrong and move on.

My first solo drive I misjudged the gap when going past a tractor on a back road and scraped my wing mirror down the back of it's trailer. Shit happens.

I've never understood these. You've either passed your test and competent to drive or you're not, everyone should show each other courtesy whether they've recently passed or not

Deep breath. As a new driver, you've got the theory and technical stuff behind you, now you learn how big your car is and how best to drive by making mistakes and watching others make them and keeping that in mind as you go forward. Today is one of those. You'll be shaken up but a better driver for it.

All drivers have done things like this. You will again when you drive somewhere unfamiliar and end up in the wrong lane at a junction. Congratualtions on passing your test and having the conscience to be shaken up by a near miss.

Oh do go away with the nastiness. You were a new driver once too you know and a bit of kindness wouldn't hurt? Jeez 🙄

Op we all do daft things to begin with. I promise you will learn from it and won't repeat it. Nothing awful happenned so be kind to yourself now

People who pass their tests aren't competent drivers though. Getting a license is a kind of idiot filter. Aside from protocols most genuine learning happens after you've passed and you go out and make mistakes like this