Potentially caused a road rage incident
Discussion
Hello,
I'm concerned that I may have been responsible for causing a road incident. (I realise that I'll probably be condemned as a crap driver due to this post).
I was travelling in a 30 MPH residential area along a road with two lanes in each direction. This was previously a 40 MPH zone, and people still tend to treat it as such, so stayed in the near-side lane to allow people to pass.
Further along the road, there are some traffic lights, followed by a roundabout. I needed to take the fourth exit, so was seeking to change to the offside lane.
There was a car in the offside lane driving past me, with a reasonable gap behind between it and the next car. I checked my mirrors, signalled right, performed my final observations and began my manoeuvre.
While doing this, I noticed in my mirrors that the car behind appeared to be closing the gap so I aborted the manoeuvre. As he was driving past he sounded his horn (I sounded mine back, which I know was the wrong thing do), swerved his car in front of me and slammed his brakes on before continuing to the traffic lights..
I held back from the traffic lights (which were at red). Based on what he'd just done and the fact that he was driving around in a battle worn 09 plate Audi A3, I was a bit concerned that he might do something to my car.
When we pulled off from the lights, he was driving quite aggressively, undertaking people and changing lanes without indicating etc. However, I have a lingering feeling of self-doubt and that is that generally speaking, most people don't tend to behave like that without provocation (I haven't ever enacted a so-called punishment manoeuvre).
I intend to further reflect on and learn from the situation - I think that I could have pre-empted the situation better and certainly not escalated it by sounding my horn back at him.
In a worst case scenario (eg if dashcam footage showed that I was on the wrong and was submitted to the police), what kind of conviction would I be looking at (at present I have 19 years driving experience, with no points / convictions)?
I'm concerned that I may have been responsible for causing a road incident. (I realise that I'll probably be condemned as a crap driver due to this post).
I was travelling in a 30 MPH residential area along a road with two lanes in each direction. This was previously a 40 MPH zone, and people still tend to treat it as such, so stayed in the near-side lane to allow people to pass.
Further along the road, there are some traffic lights, followed by a roundabout. I needed to take the fourth exit, so was seeking to change to the offside lane.
There was a car in the offside lane driving past me, with a reasonable gap behind between it and the next car. I checked my mirrors, signalled right, performed my final observations and began my manoeuvre.
While doing this, I noticed in my mirrors that the car behind appeared to be closing the gap so I aborted the manoeuvre. As he was driving past he sounded his horn (I sounded mine back, which I know was the wrong thing do), swerved his car in front of me and slammed his brakes on before continuing to the traffic lights..
I held back from the traffic lights (which were at red). Based on what he'd just done and the fact that he was driving around in a battle worn 09 plate Audi A3, I was a bit concerned that he might do something to my car.
When we pulled off from the lights, he was driving quite aggressively, undertaking people and changing lanes without indicating etc. However, I have a lingering feeling of self-doubt and that is that generally speaking, most people don't tend to behave like that without provocation (I haven't ever enacted a so-called punishment manoeuvre).
I intend to further reflect on and learn from the situation - I think that I could have pre-empted the situation better and certainly not escalated it by sounding my horn back at him.
In a worst case scenario (eg if dashcam footage showed that I was on the wrong and was submitted to the police), what kind of conviction would I be looking at (at present I have 19 years driving experience, with no points / convictions)?
I have had worse without any horn action involved - someone braked and put their across the road! It was a few years ago now but it's the only time I have considered running someone over - luckily he didn't get in front of my car in time. I had to drive on the wrong side of central reservation to get away from the [very angry] idiot. Maybe on drugs, who knows, but all I did was to slow down to let someone pass!
If the Audi driver submits dashcam footage, the police will ask for the minutes before and possibly after the incident as dashcammers are often the instigators of the problems they submit footage of. He'll be incriminating himself showing your lane change error was because he was speeding and cutting through traffic and he'll also show his own road rage, which you perhaps shouldn't have reacted to, but your behaviour wasn't dangerous. Anyone else's dashcam footage will show the same thing.
92203 said:
Based on what he'd just done and the fact that he was driving around in a battle worn 09 plate Audi A3, I was a bit concerned that he might do something to my car.
I drive around in a 10 plate Audi, and sometimes a 53 plate car. I was unaware that meant other road users thought I was likely to damage their car.School holidays never end do they?
First of all, do you have a dashcam. If not get one. Even if the dashcam does not capture a side incident, it can critically capture your position on the road.
The number of times people on threads ask if the OP has a dashcam and they reply no - society is s
tty and you need to protect yourself from stty people on the roads. This isn't about being a DCW.
I think people on this thread are being disingenuous about people being reported from dashcam videos. Many forces still run Operation Snap, where people are prosecuted using dashcam footage. Check out YouTube for videos and people receiving fines up to £1k and 7-9 points.
Random force taken off Google:
https://operationsnap.devon-cornwall.police.uk/
The number of times people on threads ask if the OP has a dashcam and they reply no - society is s
tty and you need to protect yourself from stty people on the roads. This isn't about being a DCW.I think people on this thread are being disingenuous about people being reported from dashcam videos. Many forces still run Operation Snap, where people are prosecuted using dashcam footage. Check out YouTube for videos and people receiving fines up to £1k and 7-9 points.
Random force taken off Google:
https://operationsnap.devon-cornwall.police.uk/
davek_964 said:
92203 said:
Based on what he'd just done and the fact that he was driving around in a battle worn 09 plate Audi A3, I was a bit concerned that he might do something to my car.
I drive around in a 10 plate Audi, and sometimes a 53 plate car. I was unaware that meant other road users thought I was likely to damage their car.School holidays never end do they?
Henz said:
PHZero said:
You could perhaps ask ChatGPT.
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