Anxious and upset over driving error

[ExhaustedBeyondBelief22]

First off I want to start by saying I was at fault here - and I hold my hands up and admit that. I'm very fragile at the moment with a 5.5 month old that hasn't slept in weeks and a 3.5 year old who's been ill and in our bed every night too.

I am exhausted and made an error at a roundabout, cutting in front of another driver - I completely misjudged their indication and cut in front of them at the exit. My baby was asleep in the back and I wasn't paying attention. As soon as I realised my mistake I put my hazards on and held my hand up to the mirror in an apology - the driver then proceeded to drive very close to my bumper the whole way down the road, flashing and beeping at me. By this point I was in tears, she then proceeded to pull up alongside me shouting and swearing, took a picture of my car and drove off. I was shaking and very distressed. I pride myself on being a very careful driver and I had tried to apologise as best I could. I'm so upset and feel as though I've been very aggressively harassed. I'm also feeling very anxious and vulnerable about the picture - I don't understand why she took it or what she plans to do with it. I know I was unreasonable in my error, but am I being unreasonable in feeling as though this was a very extreme/aggressive reaction? I know I'm opening myself up to some harsh comments here, please can I ask you be kind in your responses - honesty is great, but I've had more than enough aggression and vitriol directed at me today.

She was a complete arse. Everybody makes mistakes sometimes, nobody is perfect. Try not to think about it anymore.

Yes, but if your anger at the error is partly due to concern for the baby, why would you then endanger the baby by driving so aggressively close?

Something similar happened to me
On a Sunday morning I can out of the gym and a van was parked in a bus stop
I set of ,and the next minute it was right up my behind, practically touching my car , beeping and going mental on the horn ..it did that for a while the pulled in front of me and slammed the breaks on .
Luckily I managed to keep calm and carry on driving,and it got fed up and drove of .
I definitely didn't pull out in front of it ,as it was completely parked in the bus stop.
Some people are just unhinged completely
Don't take it to heart op ,there's idiots everywhere

There is absolutely no courtesy on the roads today.
Nobody knows how to act.
Nobody can control themselves and they resort to middle finger and swearing.
They just let themselves down.

I don’t know. But OP was the one endangering her baby.

Doesn’t mean someone else should endanger it some more.

OP YANBU. Regardless of the unintended error you yourself committed, once it’s happened its happened. Thereafter, you make sure you acknowledge it and refocus on driving carefully especially with a little one in the back. However, the other driver is the most unreasonable one here. Instead of just responding to the unexpected situation safely and again just staying focused on continuing their journey safely, they made it their mission to tailgate you and continuously beep at you potentially causing a distraction. Everyone who’s a driver will have done something accidentally stupid whilst driving and also been on the receiving end of idiot mistakes but we just have to suck it up as grown ups as this is the reality of the road. Some people unfortunately just have tantrums and behave completely unreasonably. Who knows why she took the photo, maybe to post on FB or those neighbourhood apps to warn others as I’ve seen that done a few times. Just ignore, reflect on why it happened and stay focussed ♥️

You made more than just a mistake OP. You were reckless and irresponsible to drive exhausted. Its the same as driving drunk! I hope you get more sleep.

Do you honestly think though someone sees a 'Baby on Board' sign and says 'OMG George, you'd better slow down, they have a plastic sign stuck on their back window?!?' 🙄

I agree the other woman was a dick and there was no need for her aggressive behaviour.

We were driving on a motorway. DH hadn't cut in front nor made the other car break, just following the traffic at the regular speed. This guy was flashing his lights then undercutting us- speeding up and slowing down. As he passed us, he gestured with his fingers in the shape of a gun that he was going to shoot us. Far scarier than someone taking a photo IMO.

We all make errors of judgement and may cut people up. It happens. A beep of the horn is all that is required from the other driver.

But aggressive driving is just not on and that is on her - taking a photo whilst driving is actually illegal (use of phone at the wheel) so I doubt anything will come of it.

Crikey OP. Her reaction seems a little unhinged to me.
We’re human, we all make mistakes and you acknowledged your error. No one was hurt which is the most important thing - despite her reckless and dangerous actions. Try not to dwell on it too much longer and don’t let it spoil the rest of your weekend. Take care of yourself ❤️

Maybe OP should’ve been more careful.

She slid off the high ground into the wrong.

We all make mistakes.

Stop thinking about this.

But try not to drive when you are tired, it is dangerous .

It was a mistake and there's nothing you can do about it now. The other driver seems to have reacted badly, though that might have been due to the fright you gave them. Not an ideal reaction on their part.

Mistake or not you say you pride yourself on being a very careful driver, but you knowingly drove when you admit you were exhausted. Perhaps you need to consider your lack of sleep before driving in the future.

And we all do this. It's not helpful to point out that she did something wrong, she knows. Roundabouts are sometimes difficult, one finds oneself in the wrong lane, some idiot doesn't indicate what they are doing, some people think you have to indicate left as you enter the roundabout (you should not), some don't know what lane they want to be in. The best roundabouts are traffic-lighted but the number of times I have had people pull out in front of me is numerous. I didn't tail gate them and swear at them. I know they made a mistake and we all make them. Small children are draining. She needs more sleep. Give over. Unless, of course, you have never done this...

She was a total cow to you. It wasn’t as if you picked on her and cut out in front to spite her. She didn’t need to take it so personally.

you shouldn’t have been driving so tired you couldn’t make safe decisions.

Don't worry about the picture she was using her phone while in control of a vehicle so could be fined and be given points on her licence which shows just how much of an idiot she is.
Just be grateful you're not her, she sounds like a complete numpty.

You made a mistake (we all do) and apologised
she chose to be intimidating and aggressive.