What makes you nervous as a driver?

[Kentish]

I'm not a nervous driver but this morning I was being tailgated by a young man in a corsa who was looking down at his lap most of the time (probably texting or counting his pubes).

That did make me feel a little nervous and I was braking very gently and a long way in advance of needing to slow/stop.

I was relieved when he went a different way to me!

I think tailgaters are probably the worst IMHO.

How about you, what brings you out in a bit of a sweat?

PS
I train drivers and take out complete novices on dual carriageways and around busy roundabouts so very little will usually make me nervous

[Theophany]

Police.

[CaptainSlow]

When following erratic drivers that are constantly on the brakes, is a real pita especially when I'm checking Facebook.

[richvwr]

Nothing makes me nervous, but plenty makes me mad usually Idiots that think the highway code doesn't apply to them

[motco]

Rush hour motorways in the dark and the wet. They are the very epitome of unstable equilibrium as described by my physics master using a cone standing on its apex as an example.

[Kentish]

CaptainSlow said:

When following erratic drivers that are constantly on the brakes, is a real pita especially when I'm checking Facebook.

Is that your way of saying that I shouldn't have braked gently in advance and just driven normally?

His insurance I guess but my car is 3 weeks old and didn't really want it rear ended!

[blueST]

The bloke reading his paper whilst driving the car behind me on M6 last week made me feel a bit twitchy.

As for more generic situations, I always have a slight doubt when passing a large truck (particularly LHD), in case I'm in a blindspot and they decide to move out, especially when there is a car to the right, so nowhere to go if that happens. I try to avoid lingering alongside HGVs but at some point you're in the blindspot as you pass.

[CaptainSlow]

Kentish said:

Is that your way of saying that I shouldn't have braked gently in advance and just driven normally?

His insurance I guess but my car is 3 weeks old and didn't really want it rear ended!

No, don't worry I agree with you.

For me it's young girls, completely oblivious that they are morons and driving too fast and too close, attention on the radio, make up or mobile.

[NNH]

London cyclists make me nervous, especially when they're on TfL rental bikes.

[Fonzey]

Standing water and every 30days or so my imagination goes mental whilst doing a considerable speed... "what would happen right now if a front tyre blew out"

[Cupramax]

The amount of tossers I see looking down at phones rather than where they're going.

[Kentish]

CaptainSlow said:

Kentish said:

Is that your way of saying that I shouldn't have braked gently in advance and just driven normally?

His insurance I guess but my car is 3 weeks old and didn't really want it rear ended!

No, don't worry I agree with you.

For me it's young girls, completely oblivious that they are morons and driving too fast and too close, attention on the radio, make up or mobile.

Young women are the worst offenders for tailgating; I just don't think they realise the limitations of tyre grip.

[Glasgowrob]

Anything that resembles a traffic car that comes up behind me doing many leptons.

Anything that doesn't have good lane discipline or uses indicators

[CaptainSlow]

As a keen runner, ok jogger, I've been run over a few times by elderly women pulling out of driveways. More often than not they don't realise they've actually hit me despite rolling over their bonnet.

[swisstoni]

Outside lane and they are braking every few seconds and too close.
I'm oot!

[HustleRussell]

Nothing routinely makes me nervous but kids or animals walking down the road (or kids with scooters / bicycles / animals etc) will make me wary among other things;

• elderly people / people with headphones looking to cross the road
• people looking as though they're going to pull out on me / rolling forward
• motorcyclists itching to get past and making cringy misjudged overtaking efforts
• tailgaters
• police

[ChilliWhizz]

Kentish said:

CaptainSlow said:

Kentish said:

Is that your way of saying that I shouldn't have braked gently in advance and just driven normally?

His insurance I guess but my car is 3 weeks old and didn't really want it rear ended!

No, don't worry I agree with you.

For me it's young girls, completely oblivious that they are morons and driving too fast and too close, attention on the radio, make up or mobile.

Young women are the worst offenders for tailgating; I just don't think they realise the limitations of tyre grip.

Totally agree with the above, however as a driver the thing makes me most nervous (and badly so) is being a passenger....

[Monkeylegend]

MOT time.

[Valgar]

Motorcyclists behind me, there are sensible ones and then there's the tts I come across far too often, undertaking at high speed, tailgating, general speeding, weaving in an out of lanes.

About a month ago I nearly knocked one off at 70mph, I was overtaking a lorry, bike right up my ass so as soon as I was able to I went to go into the left lane to let the bike pass, I checked my mirror (he was there) and blind spot then indicated as I was halfway into the left lane the tt decided to undertake me, I was fking fuming!

[Morningside]

Children running alongside/in front of their parents on narrow paths.