Has anyone else noticed the sheer amount of road rage about recently?

[dinoma]

I do live in a city and one of the biggest issues is cars park on both sides meaning there’s only room for single traffic meaning a lot of cars meeting and reversing.

I have noticed the anger and rage, mouthing obscenities and hand gestures because someone else happens to be there.

I get the inconvenience of having to pull in or reverse back but I would never feel the need to aggressively stick my fingers up (or worse) or mouth something at another driver for simply using the same road.

I’m sure these people aren’t like this in their homes or businesses.

It's not "just keeping up with car in front". It's keeping with flow of traffic. Not keeping with the flow of traffic isn't a good craft.
When conditions are harsh, the traffic flow adjusts so no need to be the only car out of x to do 10-20 under.

lol if you say so! Most of the population must be unsafe drivers then because it’s not just me who moans about this very issue!

Exactly, alot of drivers get angry about nothing.

No they are getting angry at having to drive at ridiculously low speeds due to other’s inconsiderate behaviour….for nothing!

Everywhere dictates you cant be late. Late for UC appointment, sanctioned.
Late for work, bollocking/possible reduction in hours.
Late for school, detention.
Late for drs/dentist, wont see you.
Add in cost of living people are angry and unfortunately it comes out in their driving.
Then there's the state of the road themselves, most of the potholes round here you could abseil down.

I've certainly noticed a huge decline in driving standards, and a huge increase in road rage since lockdown. I said so even at the time. It was a really sudden change! What's most surprising to me is that drivers seem to so often risk their own lives these days - so much overtaking into blind bends. Really I'm amazed not to have witnessed a smash.

Driving standards have plummetted. Too many drivers on the road without valid driving licences, too many in cars that aren't insured, taxed nor MOT'd. Too many delivery drivers with poor training and not caring about the rules of the road or other drivers. All added to a police force who can't be bothered to enforce the existing laws/rules. No surprise that all adds up to so much road rage, so many accidents, etc.

Don’t get me started on delivery drivers! Had one block my road yesterday. He just stopped dead in the middle of the road, got out to deliver a parcel and then instead of moving his van, went down the same road to deliver someone else’s parcel. So people who were stuck behind him had to sit and wait!

It's always been bad, and it's 99% men, ime. I've seen such extreme acts of batshittery from them towards women that I have cursed many of them to death.

I walk my DCs to school every day and often walk alongside a queue of cars in slow-moving traffic approaching a mini-roundabout. It's easy to see into them.

I'd say about 90% of the drivers typing on phones are women. The ones holding them up to their faces to talk are all women. And the only two I've ever seen using laptops while at the wheel were both women.

I just don’t get how people can do this. There have been so many cases of phones being a factor in collisions and the press reports are heartbreaking. It’s illegal for a reason.

I must be lucky. I can’t remember the last time I witnessed any road rage. It must be years ago.

I’ve seen bad driving.

Allow more time for the journey?

Why are you in such a rush

I think it's to do with the fact that a lot of our interactions aren't done face to face now. What would have been seen as confrontational and aggressive face to face is being seen as acceptable through a screen, hence we've all become more aggressive generally, as if all interactions are virtual and therefore not consequential, people have always felt safe to be aggressive in their metal boxes, but compounded with the above results in poor behaviour behind the wheel.

Where have I said I was in a rush?

You mentioned 'ridiculously low speeds', which made me think you were in some kind of rush

I honestly do think this is the exact same thread as the one the other week about moving around people on the street or in shops and they both fundamentally boil down to the same issue that we have got really really bad at being around other people. That's literally it. We've completely lost sight of the concept of coexisting and accepting that we don't exist in isolation.

I don't know what the answer is but wanting everyone to basically fuck off out the way isn't it, or fuck off from hassling you to be quicker either. For perfectly good reasons people operate at different speeds. Tolerating and accepting that and building in a few extra minutes is the only way. In some of the examples people are giving, the resulting delay would be a tiny amount, 5mph difference for a couple of minutes is nothing at all.

Driving in bloody Birmingham is taking your life in your own hands every day…. It’s not like it’s one particular group doing it (example of boy racers), but everyone seems to be at it. I don’t think the introduction of more 20mph zones will help, even though the coincil
seem to think it will - it is just going to make people even more irate and aggressive.the anger dripping off people is astonishing.

It hardly explains road rage though.

I must have road rage privilege too as I can't recall experiencing any for a very long time.

For some reason I've noticed a huge increase in people aggressively ploughing forward when it's not their right of way - like when there's parked cars on their side, and the car on the other side has already started coming towards them, but they go forward anyway, making the other car go up on the pavement so they can pass. It's absolutely bizarre. Happens so much in my street, as cars park at a specific point meaning we have to give way etc.

I hate any kind of confrontation or road rage but there was one man who did this once, he was absolutely in the wrong, no way he didn't see me, so I just sat in his way (well, he was in my way, it was my side of the road!) until he reversed. He wasn't going to, but someone else got out of their car and said reverse you dick, she's in the right haha.

I get that you say after the COVID years because I must have read that 50 times over during the last few years.
It's a good benchmark because all of the things that came about following Covid has been spiraling downward.
Inflation, shrinkflation, unemployment, much higher wait times for medical attention, a lessoning of quality from the primary caregiver, things that you used to take for granted and expected has either been eliminated or cut back.
Everything you can think of from services to products has lessened and yet the prices have gone higher and higher.
So yeah, I think a lot of people are angry to their core and exhibiting road rage is one way they allow this anger to bubble to the surface and effect others.
People also are getting to feel more entitled and are willing, in their general unhappiness to speak out about it as well.

I don't see much in the way of violent road rage but I do think people are frustrated by poor roads and poor road quality, too many people, not being able to get anywhere quickly etc. It's no excuse for violent conduct but it is one of the reasons. If people had smooth journeys they'd be calmer.

We really need to invest a lot more in cycle paths and get people off our overcrowded roads.

Not always practical. If you can't drop off kids until a certain time but still have to be in work by a certain time you can't leave earlier!

I’m not always in a rush. Sometimes I am depending on the circumstances. Just don’t see the point of people trundling along at 25mph leaving a long line of traffic following behind them. It is irritating when there is absolutely no need for it regardless of whether you’re in a rush or not. It’s just ignorant and inconsiderate of other road users. Not only that, when you’re waiting to pull out of a junction and the person you’re waiting for is going as slow as they possibly can, knowing full well you’re waiting to pull out of that junction and you can’t even pull out after then because they have a mile long line of traffic tailing behind them, that is also completely selfish and inconsiderate. So are those who when you pull up behind a parked car to allow someone to come the other way and they take their sweet time while keeping you waiting behind the parked car again is selfish and inconsiderate towards the person who stopped to give you right of way.