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?

@Theworldismadness It's not helpful to minimise it. Pulling out when it's not safe could cause an accident

OP, think about what happened and why, so you can reduce the risk of it happening again eg If you know it's a busy junction and you're not confident turning right into the traffic, then you might be safer to turn left, then right (to get off the main road), then left and left again (to get back onto it)

And, if it's not safe to go, wait. Never let a driver behind you bully you into turning into traffic when you don't feel it's safe. They can't see what you can see. And if it goes wrong, you'll be the one who ends up injured

A close shave like that is a horrible feeling. I hope you're OK

As a driver you need to develop a thick enough skin that an angry driver on the road doesn’t make you second guess your good judgement and do something you shouldn’t.

If you feel like he sped up, he probably did. You were at a junction where you have pull out in less than ideal circumstances otherwise you cause congestion behind you. You did that without causing an accident. You drove well. Stop worrying about the arsehole who beeped at you.

Also, there is no good way for a car driver to submit dashcam evidence about a minor traffic violation and get the police to follow up on it without an accident involved. Please stop worrying.

People would have to care though, which going by the rubbish driving I see daily, they dont

Some drivers are massively and aggressive. I would bet money that the driver who honked their horn continuously (which is just pure rage) most definitely speed up on purpose just to be a prick. They won't be submitting dashcam footage of you because that will be one of many angry interactions for them and they will have forgotten about you already. Please don't over think it. If indeed it was your mistake (and it might have just been the other car was speeding) so what. We all made mistakes when we were new drivers, I still make mistakes now when I'm tired or distracted. You learn from them and move on. Don't let it knock your confidence.

Everyone has mistakenly pulled out on someone at some point, you're not going to lose your licence.

You live and learn. Next time ignore the idiot behind pressuring you to move off the junction. You judge when to pull out based on your experience, how quick your car is, road conditions, speed of the cars etc etc as you'll be the one having to claim on your insurance if you make an error

I disagree.

Green P’s make other road users aware someone has recently passed their test and could be a little nervous and may be more inclined to hesitate.

You truly don’t learn to drive until you’ve passed the test and been in the car alone dealing with situations.

everyone should show each other courtesy whether they've recently passed or not. Absolutely, but many do not. Our roads are full of inpatient arrogant arseholes who speed, tailgate and use the horn. Travelling is part of my job and I see this as a regular occurrence

People can be arseholes. I had someone pull out from the left as I was going around a roundabout, then give me a nasty glare. Other people forcing their way past because they don't want to be behind a P plater. But equally, plenty of drivers being nice and helpful.

I passed my test not long ago, at a mature age, and still get lots of anxiety. Had one this morning about going through an amber light. Every day when I don't receive a nasty letter about some driving fault is an achievement!

Don't worry op, you'll have plenty of such incidents in the future, sometimes your fault sometimes theirs. Once you're a bit more experienced you'll just shout at them and turn the air in your car blue! 😆

Def get some P plates though for a few months, most drivers will give you a bit of extra consideration (and the arsehole that don't..... sod 'em!)

Don’t worry, you’re not going to see this driver again! Hopefully!! We have all made mistakes. Some drivers do speed up, I have saw it happen. Some drivers are arrogant and no patience. Over time you’ll realise this!!

DON’T get P plates if you don’t want to see more of this behaviour. Drivers will take the piss.

Forger about it OP, we’ve all been there. And there’s loads of dickhead drivers out there. For every one that would have slowed down for you, there’s 10 that are complete idiots.

It's happens to all of us and yes they likely speed up so to show their annoyance when they 'had' to brake. Makes some drivers feel smug that they are superior.

I disagree about the P plates - I think it makes some drivers ( like DH the impatient driver ) more patient
They are very common in lots of countries

I agree. Easier said than done but hopefully this minor scare will encourage you to remember not to be pushed along by other people. Tell yourself they’ll just have to wait for a few more seconds.

Absolutely everyone makes minor mistakes and has the occasional near miss. I get people pulling out in front of me all the time, but unlike the person you encountered I just let it go instead of making the situation worse. Please try to calm down and see this in perspective. Getting yourself so worked up that you think you’ll lose your licence over something that’s a very common occurrence in heavy traffic will just make you a nervous driver, and then you really will be at more risk of having an accident.

My point was that the people who are twats are going to be twats regardless. They aren't going to suddenly care if someone slapped a p on their car. The people who are courteous drivers, will be courteous regardless so it's a pointless waste of time to me

Don't worry about it.

Everyone misjudges a gap, occasionally.

No one is going to report you. The most that has happened is the driver that you pulled out on would have said some choice words and that'll be that.

The one thing I will say is to echo other posters in saying don't allow the drivers behind you to pressure you to pull out if you don't think it's safe. Focus on the road ahead and forget about them. They can wait.

Once you gain a bit more experience and confidence (and that comes with time) mistakes like this will happen less but you'll also be less likely to feel bullied/pressured by other drivers.

I remember when I first passed my test-and got my first car-I was sat in the car, driving it back and stopped at a red light-and when it turned to green-within a second of it turning-a taxi driver had beeped me. My dad was sat in the passenger seat and he was ready to get out of the car and have a go at the taxi driver for being an impatient swine 😂

Don't bother with P plates OP, for the sort of people you encountered today it will make you a target. It wouldn't surprise me if the driver on the right did speed up. Some people are like that unfortunately. What you need is experience. It will come, in time.

Absolutely
I've been waved out into obvious oncoming traffic by drivers "letting" me out. Or there's something I can see and they can't.

Would it kill you to be nice rather than being a dickhead or does making people feel shitty make you feel better about yourself?

Just forget about it but learn from it.
Never feel pressured by another driver to do anything, that's when accidents happen .

Get some p plates that way you can stop worrying about what other people think. They know you're new and so if you're being over cautious and they get aggressive you know they know and are just being a dick.

Don't beat yourself up

Nobody got hurt and from what you say, your car wasn't damaged so try and use it as a learning experience. We have a few junctions like that near us and I've had several near misses - both as the driver pulling out and the driver on the main road.

It does shake you up but try not to get upset when someone honks at you - they were probably shaken up too having nearly had an accident.

When I first passed my test, I was at a busy junction. On the other side of the road a white van driver tried to do a three point turn, ridiculous move!! couldn’t go anywhere as the junction was chock a block and couldn’t get out. He started shouting at me to feckin move, giving me the fingers. I started panicking and turned out the junction eventually. Him beeping. I went home and cried 😩. Now years on I wish I’d got his reg number and reported him. Now 13 years later, if it happened now, I would laugh in his face! Or ignored him completely. Don’t let anyone intimidate you into pulling out a junction. I learned that that day.

Don’t ever feel pressured to move when driving if you’re not comfortable. The others can bloody wait and if they beep it says a lot about them. This is one for the experience bank. Nothing broke, everyone’s fine, all is good.

All driving should be

Seems unlikely but you don’t live in Norwich do you? Someone pulled out in front of me this morning in the same way and I honked really aggressively at them. I felt like a bitch for ages afterwards as the driver looked really upset (so sorry if it was, I was just scared!)