Was this driver justified

[Anxious404]

New driver, had a guy tailgating me doing 32 in a 30. I could see him and his passenger, a woman, gesticulating angrily behind me and the car was swerving in and out behind me but they couldn't overtake due to traffic. I didn't feel there was a safe area to pull over to let them pass.

When we got to a junction on red lights a bus was waiting to turn right so as the lights changed to green I set off slowly and flashed the bus through, which I now know probably wasn't the right thing to do. The bloke started blaring the horn and shouting stupid bitch at me and shaking his fist. This continued all the way down this road and then when I turned off almost in tears he was still going and flipping me off.

It's really shaken me up.

OP A word to the wise - Never ever post about a driving incident on MN, whatever happened it will be your driving that will be pulled apart and the driving of the twat largely ignored.

I'd have done the same except I'd have been smiling and laughing to myself the more angry he got.

He was an arsehole

You need to toughen up.
If you're being tail gated try and pull over to let them past, if it's safe.

The reason for slowing down when being tailgated, btw, isn't to further annoy the tailgater but to increase the stopping distance in front of you to lesson the severity of a potential crash.

Buses have right of way now.

Why not just let him pass.

I'd also look at the threshold of prosecution as going slower than the flow of traffic is as dangerous as driving too fast.

Most people sit at 10% + 2/3mph. I have a GPS Speedo and the difference between that and the car is scary in some cars, so can see why they end up with performance cars (I find they are closer to the true reading) on their rear.

Flashing your highlights to someone else is against the Highway Code in this situation. Your duty of care is to the traffic behind you.

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.

I would have but I have been known to stop and check my car when someone has repeatedly flashed at me that made them really cross and had the other drivers in stitches (he could get around me easily enough he was just flipping out at this point)

@Anxious404 You say you're a new driver. Do you have 'P' plates on your car? Unfortunately, some drivers see these and drive even more aggresively/inconsiderately than normal.
My advice would be to remove them. My sons never displayed them on their cars.

You'll encounter alot of this at all stages of your driving life. It's because many people are total arseholes.

I once had a guy get out his car and come up to my window because I stopped to give someone space to turn across our queue of stationary traffic

You should give way to buses that are indicating to pull away from a bus stop, but don't try to cede priority at junctions where you have a green light to go straight ahead. That is not normal and you risk causing an accident. Drive predictably.

You should really stop this. It's unhelpful to traffic, you're at traffic lights, it's about getting as many people through as possible. You've stopped all the cars behind you for one bus, who would have been able to turn when the lights changed anyway. Now those cars don't get through the light and wait much longer than the bus would have, and the line of traffic gets longer and starts affecting other junctions.

Obviously the guy was an aggressive arse and was bang out of order. But in future don't stop the traffic behind you, whether setting off from traffic lights or just driving at normal speed in moving traffic, not so that nasty aggressive arseholes don't shout at you, but becuase it's actually unhelpful and creates traffic and potentially accidents to stop moving traffic.

That's not the situation here.

He was an utter arsehole, OP. Unfortunately there are lots around.

Please in future don't get a tailgating twat make you feel that you need to go over the speed limit. That increase the risk for everyone. Stick to the limit. They can do whatever they want. You do you and do the right thing/ legal thing.

I wouldn't have let someone go at a signalled junction, better to just follow the signals.

The man was an arse though. People like him shouldn't be allowed on the road. Even as far back as the fifties, people have been turning into morons as soon as they're behind the wheel:

I would have done the same, except that I would have gone even slower and beeped him back. As you get older, you give less of a 💩 about random idiots.

Slow down for tailgaters - they can pass more easily or if they don't at least it's safer.

At lights always follow the lights don't let anyone out. To be honest as a new driver it's best to just take priority if it's yours, be predictable, don't be kind. It's easy to miss a cyclist or pedestrian or cause confusion leading to an accident. Don't flash anyone. Once you have a couple of years driving experience you get a feeling for when is a good time to let someone go against their priority. Letting out a bus that is indicating right in front of you is fine though. Just not at the lights

Despite what you are saying, you were wrong to flash that bus through. The bus would have had no problem making their turning, they aren't relying on people like you 'flashing them through'.

In the future, just concentrate on driving your own car.

Small dick syndrome. Arsehole.

Some day he'll start a row with the wrong person.

No you were not in the wrong. He was a twat. I fucking hate people like that.

They're never that hard when challenged. I was behind a learner once who stalled at the lights. Whatever we all have to learn. Guy behind me went nuts. Leaning on the horn shouting abuse. Poor learner stalled again.

I was in a bad mood, it had snowed, I'd had to dig my car out and I snapped. Got out, grabbed the spade out of the back, went up and told him to shut the fuck up unless he wanted to get out of his shit car and settle up. He didn't.

They're all just arseholes, whatever you did would've been wrong.

He was a nasty bastard and people like him are a danger.

You shouldn't have stopped to flash the bus out, but other than that he was driving aggressively. Perhaps build up your confidence on the road if someone this trivial has bothered you though.