Discussion
Hi all,
I've seen a lot of posts on here recently about dealing with road rage. Some of the advice that followed was good and some was awful! So I am just posting how I deal with it (as I have in previous threads) in the hope it may help some of you avoid letting the blood rush to your head and doing something silly.
I have had my fair share of maniacs reacting badly to horn/gesticulations. As a result I realised beeping someone and waving your hands isn't worth risking being killed by lunatic with a hammer on his back seat. Because they are out there. Personally I refuse to beep my horn these days.
Anyway- my advice to all is as follows: aggressive drivers are dangerous drivers. Dangerous drivers are not drivers that you want close behind you. When someone 'wrongs' you on the road... first be thankful the danger is now ahead and much more manageable by keeping a distance and, secondly... make a mental note and count it. See how high (how many incidences) you can ignore and therefore count before you react. If you react, your counter resets to zero.
Right now I'm at 15. I was beyond 50 but beeped at a van driver a few months ago who decided he needed to be at the front of a queue of right turning traffic at red lights. So he went on the wrong side of the road and drove to the front only to be met by traffic coming the other way. We all had to back up to make room for him. I let my displeasure be known. However I still wish I hadn't. Self control is harder than anger.
Same story with tailgaters. If they are distracting you... pull over and let them go. And don't try to follow them an inch from their bumper! This won't help you! Better to let the danger get on its way.
Feel free to post your high-scores on this thread!
EDIT: for clarity, this isn't a recent thing. I've been doing this for five or six years. I just felt it worth sharing given recent threads!
I've seen a lot of posts on here recently about dealing with road rage. Some of the advice that followed was good and some was awful! So I am just posting how I deal with it (as I have in previous threads) in the hope it may help some of you avoid letting the blood rush to your head and doing something silly.
I have had my fair share of maniacs reacting badly to horn/gesticulations. As a result I realised beeping someone and waving your hands isn't worth risking being killed by lunatic with a hammer on his back seat. Because they are out there. Personally I refuse to beep my horn these days.
Anyway- my advice to all is as follows: aggressive drivers are dangerous drivers. Dangerous drivers are not drivers that you want close behind you. When someone 'wrongs' you on the road... first be thankful the danger is now ahead and much more manageable by keeping a distance and, secondly... make a mental note and count it. See how high (how many incidences) you can ignore and therefore count before you react. If you react, your counter resets to zero.
Right now I'm at 15. I was beyond 50 but beeped at a van driver a few months ago who decided he needed to be at the front of a queue of right turning traffic at red lights. So he went on the wrong side of the road and drove to the front only to be met by traffic coming the other way. We all had to back up to make room for him. I let my displeasure be known. However I still wish I hadn't. Self control is harder than anger.
Same story with tailgaters. If they are distracting you... pull over and let them go. And don't try to follow them an inch from their bumper! This won't help you! Better to let the danger get on its way.
Feel free to post your high-scores on this thread!
EDIT: for clarity, this isn't a recent thing. I've been doing this for five or six years. I just felt it worth sharing given recent threads!
Edited by Freddy88FM on Friday 9th October 14:54
rsv696 said:
Take them for the arsewipes they are, remember you'll probably never see them again in your life and relax. Life's too short to let them ruin your day & karma will get them sooner or later anyway 
Look at what you've been doing critically to see if you've actually done anything inconsiderate so you can avoid it next time if you have; if you haven't do whatever gets you furthest away from the idiot reasonably quickly and just forget about it. If you get angry just because people around you are idiots you'll spend your whole life angry. I have never reacted angrily to another road user. With despair occasionally, but never angrily. Life's too short and I'm never in that much of a hurry.
Edited by kambites on Thursday 8th October 15:10
Freddy88FM said:
See how high (how many incidences) you can ignore and therefore count before you react. If you react, your counter resets to zero.
Right now I'm at 15. I was beyond 50 but beeped at a van driver a few months ago who decided he needed to be at the front of a queue of right turning traffic at red lights. So he went on the wrong side of the road and drove to the front only to be met by traffic coming the other way. We all had to back up to make room for him. I let my displeasure be known. However I still wish I hadn't. Self control is harder than anger.
Would letting your amusement count for resetting to zero?Right now I'm at 15. I was beyond 50 but beeped at a van driver a few months ago who decided he needed to be at the front of a queue of right turning traffic at red lights. So he went on the wrong side of the road and drove to the front only to be met by traffic coming the other way. We all had to back up to make room for him. I let my displeasure be known. However I still wish I hadn't. Self control is harder than anger.
I don't (necessarily) mean obviously pointing at that van driver whilst roaring with laughter at his wuckfittery, but...
Beeping is meant to be used to let someone know you are there (as mentioned above). I used my horn yesterday. A car failed to give way at a roundabout and pulled in front of me. I had to brake hard. The first 2 seconds of beeping were to let him know I was there, the remaining 10 seconds of beeping was me basically spitting my dummy out and letting everyone within earshot know what an idiotic thing he did. The driver got the message, probably more so from his wife than me.
The op is right of course, defensive behaviour is the way to go but sometimes people push your buttons and the control slips.
A while back a car cut in front of me and I was quicky enraged. As I looked at him go he put his hand up to appologise and that instantly diffused the situation. i acknowledged him and held back and went about my day. Instead of getting shirty if someone beeps at me, if I'm in the wrong (we all have off days and attention can slip), I'll happily appologise which works with most. There are always the odd one who won't accept that but that says more about them than me.
The op is right of course, defensive behaviour is the way to go but sometimes people push your buttons and the control slips.
A while back a car cut in front of me and I was quicky enraged. As I looked at him go he put his hand up to appologise and that instantly diffused the situation. i acknowledged him and held back and went about my day. Instead of getting shirty if someone beeps at me, if I'm in the wrong (we all have off days and attention can slip), I'll happily appologise which works with most. There are always the odd one who won't accept that but that says more about them than me.
As someone who commutes/drives regularly in London and sees crap driving all the time, I'm not actually sure my horn works. I mean, I know it works because the car passed the MOT but I have yet to use it. 99.99999% of the time, you can see the action about to take place and can take a defensive stance meaning that the horn would only be used as a means of demonstrating annoyance ie if I touched the horn, I'd be the d
head in the situation.
I once came close to using the horn as someone pulled out on me at a mini roundabout. I say close - I said to my passenger, "Honk! Honk! That's what I'm supposed to do when that happens, right?"
head in the situation.I once came close to using the horn as someone pulled out on me at a mini roundabout. I say close - I said to my passenger, "Honk! Honk! That's what I'm supposed to do when that happens, right?"
I think some use it as a sport to get some excitement, I have found myself entering into some daft argy bargy almost willingly.
However, now I try to think that I may actually be in the wrong and avoid confrontation as even if I am right, my role is not to re-educate other road users, my main aim is to get where I am going in one piece and try to be courteous whilst doing it, trying not to add to the seething pot of hatred that seems to exists, mainly in town/city centres.
Someone put it very well on here once "Try not to let them become part of the rest of your life" I think was the quote, its so easy to get into a pissing competition and before your know it you are in court, if you know the road ragers name or they know yours, you have failed.
Males are definitely the worst for it, trying to protect our egos and not anyone get the upper hand, but it doesnt matter if some utter twonk in a Q7 cuts in and you have to brake, you will get over it and it certainly isnt worth a fight on the side of the road, imagien explainging that to your missus, in court, your in laws...
However, now I try to think that I may actually be in the wrong and avoid confrontation as even if I am right, my role is not to re-educate other road users, my main aim is to get where I am going in one piece and try to be courteous whilst doing it, trying not to add to the seething pot of hatred that seems to exists, mainly in town/city centres.
Someone put it very well on here once "Try not to let them become part of the rest of your life" I think was the quote, its so easy to get into a pissing competition and before your know it you are in court, if you know the road ragers name or they know yours, you have failed.
Males are definitely the worst for it, trying to protect our egos and not anyone get the upper hand, but it doesnt matter if some utter twonk in a Q7 cuts in and you have to brake, you will get over it and it certainly isnt worth a fight on the side of the road, imagien explainging that to your missus, in court, your in laws...
J4CKO said:
Someone put it very well on here once "Try not to let them become part of the rest of your life" I think was the quote, its so easy to get into a pissing competition and before your know it you are in court, if you know the road ragers name or they know yours, you have failed.
Excellent advice... Ronnie Pickering.I only ever use the horn when someone does something stupid through not having seen me or totally misreading signs/road markings etc which requires me to take evasive action. That way they are alerted I am there and might hopefully learn something for next time (i.e. to look where they're going). Using the horn for 'reprimanding' inconsiderate/tttish driving is pointless, they know you're there and they know they've annoyed you so it just antagonises the situation without conveying any information. Consequently I use my horn very rarely (a few times a year at most).
Thankfully I've never had any encounters with nutters/angry hard men who like to get out their car, take their shirt off and assault you. If I ever did then getting out and engaging with them would be the absolute last option, there can be no positive outcome from doing so. Just drive off or sit tight and wait for them to give up if it seems safe to do so.
ttish driving is pointless, they know you're there and they know they've annoyed you so it just antagonises the situation without conveying any information. Consequently I use my horn very rarely (a few times a year at most).Thankfully I've never had any encounters with nutters/angry hard men who like to get out their car, take their shirt off and assault you. If I ever did then getting out and engaging with them would be the absolute last option, there can be no positive outcome from doing so. Just drive off or sit tight and wait for them to give up if it seems safe to do so.
When I started going on business trips to the US the first piece of advice from a Us Colleague was, "don't get angry and make hand gestures, they may have a gun". That pretty much sorted me out on that.
The other point I have to make is simply that on my trips to India, I see an incredible amount of tolerance and patience with each other on the road.
We could all learn from these chaps.
The other point I have to make is simply that on my trips to India, I see an incredible amount of tolerance and patience with each other on the road.
We could all learn from these chaps.
Since a lot of the driving public seem to find being beeped quite offensive, should car horns have two separate tones? One main horn which is the loud, aggressive one as fitted to most big, fast German cars and one smaller, chirpier sounding horn to warn people of your presence without ramming it down their throat?
Point in case, yesterday the guy at the front of the lights merrily sat there after the lights had turned green and the guy in the Seat Mii behind beeped him. The horn sound of the Mii was chirpy, almost comedic and completely inoffensive.
Point in case, yesterday the guy at the front of the lights merrily sat there after the lights had turned green and the guy in the Seat Mii behind beeped him. The horn sound of the Mii was chirpy, almost comedic and completely inoffensive.
My car has a little meep-meep type horn, which would be hard to make sound threatening. If everybody had one of them on the steering wheel, and fitted one of these https://youtu.be/v8yNzEviJB4?t=54s to a switch on the dash, problem solved 
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