Road rage, what should I have done differently?
Discussion
Yesterday I was driving on a 40mph limit dual carriageway in a residential area when I ended up getting involved in a road rage incident with an X3 driver.
I was travelling on the inside lane at 40mph, as were the cars in front of and behind me, it's normal for the outside lane to have cars and delivery lorries parked on it so anyone who knows the road sticks to the inside for the relatively short distance.
I notice an X3 in my mirrors passing other cars on the inside when there are gaps between the parked cars, obviously above the limit as everyone else is at 40mph. It gets to my turn to be undertaken just as we reach a speed camera, he slows down and matches my speed but's only about two thirds of the way past me. I maintain my speed but a couple of seconds later he pulls out sharply to pass a parked car ahead, forcing me to move as far right as I can while sounding the horn and doing an emergency stop, I must have missed him by only a few mm.
I can only assume he thought he had cleared me when he was going faster but hadn't realized he hadn't completed the undertake when he slowed down for the camera.
Anyway, I'm now stopped on the inside lane and he's also stopped about 30 meters further down the road in the inside lane. His door opens and he's getting out, I decide I'm not waiting around for some idiot to start arguing on the inside lane of a dual carriageway so I go past him on the inside and leave him behind.
Approaching the next roundabout the road's split into three lanes and I'm on the inside lane for turning right. I see him in my mirrors indicating to pull into a filling station on the left so assume that's the last I'll see of him. Waiting to turn right I hear shouting from the left and it's the X3 again with a very angry man leaning out the window shouting various abuse and that he's going to ******* stab me if he sees me driving like that again. I just smile at him and by now the roundabout's clear so I turn right and leave him doing a U turn on the roundabout (I can still hear him shouting) back to wherever he was going.
Apart from braking when he first came alongside me, is there anything I should have done differently?
I've never been in a situation like that before and am completely baffled why he'd think it was my fault when he'd broken at least two traffic laws to create the situation. It's also a little worrying that I have a rarely seen car and he could easily spot me again on the road or a car park somewhere.
I was travelling on the inside lane at 40mph, as were the cars in front of and behind me, it's normal for the outside lane to have cars and delivery lorries parked on it so anyone who knows the road sticks to the inside for the relatively short distance.
I notice an X3 in my mirrors passing other cars on the inside when there are gaps between the parked cars, obviously above the limit as everyone else is at 40mph. It gets to my turn to be undertaken just as we reach a speed camera, he slows down and matches my speed but's only about two thirds of the way past me. I maintain my speed but a couple of seconds later he pulls out sharply to pass a parked car ahead, forcing me to move as far right as I can while sounding the horn and doing an emergency stop, I must have missed him by only a few mm.
I can only assume he thought he had cleared me when he was going faster but hadn't realized he hadn't completed the undertake when he slowed down for the camera.
Anyway, I'm now stopped on the inside lane and he's also stopped about 30 meters further down the road in the inside lane. His door opens and he's getting out, I decide I'm not waiting around for some idiot to start arguing on the inside lane of a dual carriageway so I go past him on the inside and leave him behind.
Approaching the next roundabout the road's split into three lanes and I'm on the inside lane for turning right. I see him in my mirrors indicating to pull into a filling station on the left so assume that's the last I'll see of him. Waiting to turn right I hear shouting from the left and it's the X3 again with a very angry man leaning out the window shouting various abuse and that he's going to ******* stab me if he sees me driving like that again. I just smile at him and by now the roundabout's clear so I turn right and leave him doing a U turn on the roundabout (I can still hear him shouting) back to wherever he was going.
Apart from braking when he first came alongside me, is there anything I should have done differently?
I've never been in a situation like that before and am completely baffled why he'd think it was my fault when he'd broken at least two traffic laws to create the situation. It's also a little worrying that I have a rarely seen car and he could easily spot me again on the road or a car park somewhere.
madmax666 said:
It's also a little worrying that I have a rarely seen car and he could easily spot me again on the road or a car park somewhere.
Don't worry about it. He'll have forgotten about what car you were in by the end of road. He's not going to do anything if he sees you again.......I guess you already knew he was driving like a knob to pass people so why not just let him go. Life's too short.
Because you knew what he was attempting to do - i.e. undertake cars where he could - I would have slowed to allow him to undertake me "safely". As he saw it, he probably thought you were trying to block his manoeuvre.
I'm of the opinion that it's always better to have uneducated, (probably) overweight and unhealthy, angry louts who are unhappy with their life decisions, in front of you rather than behind you.
I'm of the opinion that it's always better to have uneducated, (probably) overweight and unhealthy, angry louts who are unhappy with their life decisions, in front of you rather than behind you.
MrBarry123 said:
Because you knew what he was attempting to do - i.e. undertake cars where he could - I would have slowed to allow him to undertake me "safely". As he saw it, he probably thought you were trying to block his manoeuvre.
I'm of the opinion that it's always better to have uneducated, (probably) overweight and unhealthy, angry louts who are unhappy with their life decisions, in front of you rather than behind you.
I wasn't trying to block him, there was sufficient space for him to accelerate and go in front if he wanted. It wasn't as though he had to swerve to avoid the parked car, he had space to accelerate or slow down but he chose to try and occupy the same space as me.I'm of the opinion that it's always better to have uneducated, (probably) overweight and unhealthy, angry louts who are unhappy with their life decisions, in front of you rather than behind you.
madmax666 said:
I wasn't trying to block him, there was sufficient space for him to accelerate and go in front if he wanted. It wasn't as though he had to swerve to avoid the parked car, he had space to accelerate or slow down but he chose to try and occupy the same space as me.
You'll note the below...MrBarry123 said:
he probably thought you were trying to block his manoeuvre.
I'm not saying you did attempt to block him. What I am saying is that little bugger probably thought you did, which is why he reacted like he did.madmax666 said:
I wasn't trying to block him, there was sufficient space for him to accelerate and go in front if he wanted. It wasn't as though he had to swerve to avoid the parked car, he had space to accelerate or slow down but he chose to try and occupy the same space as me.
This makes it sound like you were trying to be a dick and met someone that was prepared to be a bigger dick. Again, life is too short. madmax666 said:
I was travelling on the inside lane at 40mph, as were the cars in front of and behind me, it's normal for the outside lane to have cars and delivery lorries parked on it.....
It gets to my turn to be undertaken......
Approaching the next roundabout the road's split into three lanes and I'm on the inside lane for turning right
Hold on....you at traveling on the inside lane because the outside lane is obstructed by parked cars and lorries ? The outside lane ??It gets to my turn to be undertaken......
Approaching the next roundabout the road's split into three lanes and I'm on the inside lane for turning right
Then a bloke in an X3 tries to undertake you ? But you are already on the inside lane - is the X3 bloke trying to undertake you on the pavement ?
Then you are on the inside lane at the traffic island ready to turn right ? Really ?
All very odd.....
OddCat said:
Hold on....you at traveling on the inside lane because the outside lane is obstructed by parked cars and lorries ? The outside lane ??
Then a bloke in an X3 tries to undertake you ? But you are already on the inside lane - is the X3 bloke trying to undertake you on the pavement ?
Then you are on the inside lane at the traffic island ready to turn right ? Really ?
All very odd.....
Okay, I got the terminology wrong but you already know that.Then a bloke in an X3 tries to undertake you ? But you are already on the inside lane - is the X3 bloke trying to undertake you on the pavement ?
Then you are on the inside lane at the traffic island ready to turn right ? Really ?
All very odd.....
Replace inside lane with right lane or overtaking lane.
madmax666 said:
OddCat said:
Hold on....you at traveling on the inside lane because the outside lane is obstructed by parked cars and lorries ? The outside lane ??
Then a bloke in an X3 tries to undertake you ? But you are already on the inside lane - is the X3 bloke trying to undertake you on the pavement ?
Then you are on the inside lane at the traffic island ready to turn right ? Really ?
All very odd.....
Okay, I got the terminology wrong but you already know that.Then a bloke in an X3 tries to undertake you ? But you are already on the inside lane - is the X3 bloke trying to undertake you on the pavement ?
Then you are on the inside lane at the traffic island ready to turn right ? Really ?
All very odd.....
Replace inside lane with right lane or overtaking lane.
In my view, ignore the road rage, it's just an ancillary piece of info.
Instead look at the circumstances and see what you could have done differently. Only you can tell, but from what you say, you knew he would want to pull out. It was predictable that he would slow for the camera.
You could predict you'd be alongside Mr puller-outer. Could you have managed your speed so as not to be alongside him? Could you have slowed (generally safer) or accelerated?
As I say, only you can tell how you could have planned and acted at the time with the information available to you.
Bert
Instead look at the circumstances and see what you could have done differently. Only you can tell, but from what you say, you knew he would want to pull out. It was predictable that he would slow for the camera.
You could predict you'd be alongside Mr puller-outer. Could you have managed your speed so as not to be alongside him? Could you have slowed (generally safer) or accelerated?
As I say, only you can tell how you could have planned and acted at the time with the information available to you.
Bert
pim said:
What you should have done different is blowing your horn.In the U.K it is perceived by many drivers F /OFF.
Depending how big strong handy and brave you are ignore road rage there are no winners.Unless you want to go that way be ready to hurt or be hurt.
This. I hardly ever blow my horn; this morning I did, at someone who was reversing out of a drive and appeared not to have seen me passing; he(or she) actually hooted back, presumably as a sign of annoyance- annoyance that I had tried to save them from a 100% fault accident!Depending how big strong handy and brave you are ignore road rage there are no winners.Unless you want to go that way be ready to hurt or be hurt.
mac96 said:
pim said:
What you should have done different is blowing your horn.In the U.K it is perceived by many drivers F /OFF.
Depending how big strong handy and brave you are ignore road rage there are no winners.Unless you want to go that way be ready to hurt or be hurt.
This. I hardly ever blow my horn; this morning I did, at someone who was reversing out of a drive and appeared not to have seen me passing; he(or she) actually hooted back, presumably as a sign of annoyance- annoyance that I had tried to save them from a 100% fault accident!Depending how big strong handy and brave you are ignore road rage there are no winners.Unless you want to go that way be ready to hurt or be hurt.
With regard to horn blowing I get the impression that attitudes have changed since I started driving, but that's not surprising: it was a while ago. When I started driving, and for quite some time afterwards, it was generally considered prudent to use the occasional horn toot if only to make somebody aware of your presence in case they hadn't seen you and they were about to make an ill-advised move. That was fair enough.
However, we now seem to live in a much more 'uptight society' in which a lot of people are subject to various pressures and stresses of the modern world, and patience easily wears a bit thin. As a result, horn blowing seems to be increasingly seen as a rebuke, or even an aggressive act, in which case, far from doing a bit of good, the horn note brings out the worst in people.
My conclusion, therefore, is that horn blowing is now best avoided, and we should aim to allow ourselves a bit more time and space in which to accommodate what other road users are doing, so that no unwelcome events arise.
There you go, that's just the feelings of an old buffer who now prefers a minimum of hassle in his life.
p1esk said:
mac96 said:
pim said:
What you should have done different is blowing your horn.In the U.K it is perceived by many drivers F /OFF.
Depending how big strong handy and brave you are ignore road rage there are no winners.Unless you want to go that way be ready to hurt or be hurt.
This. I hardly ever blow my horn; this morning I did, at someone who was reversing out of a drive and appeared not to have seen me passing; he(or she) actually hooted back, presumably as a sign of annoyance- annoyance that I had tried to save them from a 100% fault accident!Depending how big strong handy and brave you are ignore road rage there are no winners.Unless you want to go that way be ready to hurt or be hurt.
With regard to horn blowing I get the impression that attitudes have changed since I started driving, but that's not surprising: it was a while ago. When I started driving, and for quite some time afterwards, it was generally considered prudent to use the occasional horn toot if only to make somebody aware of your presence in case they hadn't seen you and they were about to make an ill-advised move. That was fair enough.
However, we now seem to live in a much more 'uptight society' in which a lot of people are subject to various pressures and stresses of the modern world, and patience easily wears a bit thin. As a result, horn blowing seems to be increasingly seen as a rebuke, or even an aggressive act, in which case, far from doing a bit of good, the horn note brings out the worst in people.
My conclusion, therefore, is that horn blowing is now best avoided, and we should aim to allow ourselves a bit more time and space in which to accommodate what other road users are doing, so that no unwelcome events arise.
There you go, that's just the feelings of an old buffer who now prefers a minimum of hassle in his life.
100% was a figure of speech- more like 98.5%!
This horn business is thorny. Like most things in life, when used to full capacity it can be misunderstood. Usually used in extremis, or to show annoyance, it will inevitably provoke adverse reaction and it just could be the root of the ensuing bad manners. I have always and will continue to use the horn for what it is intended, I see no good reason to follow the misuse of a flashed headlight with similar nonsense. Have long ago perfected the use of the horn with a light tap only, barely audible inside the car but can be heard for quite a distance outside. There can be no mistake as to the intention and a simple wave of the hand (with closed fingers) as you pass leaves no doubt and no room for abuse.
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