How to deal with aggressive drivers?
Discussion
There is a narrow road near me, with cars parked on either side, speed bumps and mini round-a-bouts. It was fairly busy traffic, so I was driving up around 25mph and occasionally giving way for cars coming the opposite way and they were giving way to me sometimes to.
Behind me, red faced white van man driving up my arse. Came to one round-a-bout, with no right turn, only left with a give way sign and so I give way to the driver coming from the left. Said red faced man starts beeping his horn and swearing at me, so I pointed to the give way sign on the road. He then gets really mad and starts shouting and giving me rude hand gestures.
I was hoping to have a drive around and find something to eat, but it's upset me so much that I've had to home to calm down. I've been driving a couple of years now, but this kind of aggression still really shakes me up. How do you deal with rude people like this? People say to ignore them, but it's quite hard to do that when they are being so aggressive.
Behind me, red faced white van man driving up my arse. Came to one round-a-bout, with no right turn, only left with a give way sign and so I give way to the driver coming from the left. Said red faced man starts beeping his horn and swearing at me, so I pointed to the give way sign on the road. He then gets really mad and starts shouting and giving me rude hand gestures.
I was hoping to have a drive around and find something to eat, but it's upset me so much that I've had to home to calm down. I've been driving a couple of years now, but this kind of aggression still really shakes me up. How do you deal with rude people like this? People say to ignore them, but it's quite hard to do that when they are being so aggressive.
t to be that angry.If you're a girl (going from your username), it's actually quite difficult.
My sister is ultra tall and slim (works as a part-time model, no pics sorry) and has bright pink hair (still no piccies) and actually gets a lot of hate driving around in her Polo.
The worst that happened was that she was sitting in a traffic jam a dozen cars before a red light. Guy in battered Fiesta behind her starts getting angry, bleeping his horn, giving her the two-finger salute and shouting abuse so loud she could hear it over the radio and from his car to hers.
Traffic moves slowly because of the red light and rush hour and guy gets more and more aggro. As the light turns red just so my sister has to brake, he totally loses it and drives up to her side, this despite oncoming traffic, and throws a fricking pear through her open window. I know it's just fruit, but thankfully it missed her head and flew into the passenger seat.
Fecking guy drives off with screeching tires narrowly avoiding an accident and my sister is left shaken in her car.
Needless to say, the next day I got her a telescopic baton to keep in purse/glove box.
On the road, people seem to suffer from spontaneous anger management issues and it's becoming a pain.
If the situation can't be defused by ignoring the other party, remember to roll your windows up and lock the doors.
If you're a powerfully built company director, just put 'em in a choke hold and watch 'em go to sleep like *snaps fingers* real easy.
My sister is ultra tall and slim (works as a part-time model, no pics sorry) and has bright pink hair (still no piccies) and actually gets a lot of hate driving around in her Polo.
The worst that happened was that she was sitting in a traffic jam a dozen cars before a red light. Guy in battered Fiesta behind her starts getting angry, bleeping his horn, giving her the two-finger salute and shouting abuse so loud she could hear it over the radio and from his car to hers.
Traffic moves slowly because of the red light and rush hour and guy gets more and more aggro. As the light turns red just so my sister has to brake, he totally loses it and drives up to her side, this despite oncoming traffic, and throws a fricking pear through her open window. I know it's just fruit, but thankfully it missed her head and flew into the passenger seat.
Fecking guy drives off with screeching tires narrowly avoiding an accident and my sister is left shaken in her car.
Needless to say, the next day I got her a telescopic baton to keep in purse/glove box.
On the road, people seem to suffer from spontaneous anger management issues and it's becoming a pain.
If the situation can't be defused by ignoring the other party, remember to roll your windows up and lock the doors.
If you're a powerfully built company director, just put 'em in a choke hold and watch 'em go to sleep like *snaps fingers* real easy.
On my bike I just click down a couple of gears, give it a wrist full and 
as I go past.
In the car if there is now obvious way out I just put the left hand indicator on, slow down and let them past. You have more control if they are in front of you, at least it stops them running into the back of you.
as I go past.In the car if there is now obvious way out I just put the left hand indicator on, slow down and let them past. You have more control if they are in front of you, at least it stops them running into the back of you.
Obvious troll is obvious.
The only way to deal with this sort of aggression is to not drive so hopelessly as to aggravate other drivers in the first place. If you can't drive to a speed the majority can given the conditions or can't pull out into a space everybody else could in the same equipment then you shouldn't be on the road.
Take the bus love.
The only way to deal with this sort of aggression is to not drive so hopelessly as to aggravate other drivers in the first place. If you can't drive to a speed the majority can given the conditions or can't pull out into a space everybody else could in the same equipment then you shouldn't be on the road.
Take the bus love.
I wrote a piece covering other drivers and their behaviour a few years ago when I was still in the police:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I used to have a dog who, when I took it out for a walk, would become ridiculously aggressive towards a neighbour's dog when it was safely locked behind a gate. The two of them would bark and snarl and growl at each other through the bars of the gate and you'd have thought that, given the slightest opportunity, they would rip each other to pieces.
Whenever the neighbour was out walking his dog though, the two dogs would meet politely, sniff each other's bums, wag their tails and generally act like friendly dogs.
It was only the presence of the gate which made them feel like they were safely separated, so they could play the big, hard dog.
Many drivers are the same. Behind a windscreen and steering wheel, they are invincible beings, impervious to any threats, and aggressive in the extreme. If you walked past them in a supermarket, however, or saw them in a pub, they wouldn't say boo to a goose.
Best advice is, as others have said, to ignore them, or give them a friendly wave and a smile. They will have forgotten about you and moved on to their next target within a few seconds. Don't let them spoil your day.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
A few years ago Reg said:
If you’re in your own car, however, how do you avoid getting stressed if someone cuts you up, forces you to take avoiding action, or blatantly attempts to kill you?
Let’s go back to what the old sweat instructor told me – “Reg, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. In the vast majority of cases, these people genuinely don’t do these things deliberately. They make mistakes. Once the mistake is made, no amount of horn-blowing, headlight flashing, gesticulating, swearing, and suggestion of what coffee they should be drinking will make the mistake go away. It’s done.
The best drivers I’ve sat alongside take other people’s mistakes in their stride, shrug, and continue as though nothing happened. Unfortunately, I’m not wired that way, and for years, I was a fist-shaking horn-blower.
These days, I’ve learned that the best way for me to deal with these things is to laugh at them. Laugh at how stupid the other driver is – chuckle at their choice of car – guffaw at the aftermarket spoiler they’ve fitted – anything, in fact, that’s remotely amusing about the person, car or situation. If you laugh at it, your stress levels drop almost immediately, and your ability to go back to concentrating on your own driving returns.
On a more serious note, it's worrying that someone's behaviour towards a lone female driver should leave such a lasting, unpleasant impression. Let’s go back to what the old sweat instructor told me – “Reg, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. In the vast majority of cases, these people genuinely don’t do these things deliberately. They make mistakes. Once the mistake is made, no amount of horn-blowing, headlight flashing, gesticulating, swearing, and suggestion of what coffee they should be drinking will make the mistake go away. It’s done.
The best drivers I’ve sat alongside take other people’s mistakes in their stride, shrug, and continue as though nothing happened. Unfortunately, I’m not wired that way, and for years, I was a fist-shaking horn-blower.
These days, I’ve learned that the best way for me to deal with these things is to laugh at them. Laugh at how stupid the other driver is – chuckle at their choice of car – guffaw at the aftermarket spoiler they’ve fitted – anything, in fact, that’s remotely amusing about the person, car or situation. If you laugh at it, your stress levels drop almost immediately, and your ability to go back to concentrating on your own driving returns.
I used to have a dog who, when I took it out for a walk, would become ridiculously aggressive towards a neighbour's dog when it was safely locked behind a gate. The two of them would bark and snarl and growl at each other through the bars of the gate and you'd have thought that, given the slightest opportunity, they would rip each other to pieces.
Whenever the neighbour was out walking his dog though, the two dogs would meet politely, sniff each other's bums, wag their tails and generally act like friendly dogs.
It was only the presence of the gate which made them feel like they were safely separated, so they could play the big, hard dog.
Many drivers are the same. Behind a windscreen and steering wheel, they are invincible beings, impervious to any threats, and aggressive in the extreme. If you walked past them in a supermarket, however, or saw them in a pub, they wouldn't say boo to a goose.
Best advice is, as others have said, to ignore them, or give them a friendly wave and a smile. They will have forgotten about you and moved on to their next target within a few seconds. Don't let them spoil your day.
randomeddy said:
Perhaps brush up on the highway code first.....copied and pasted.
(When reaching the roundabout you should
give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic lights.)
You had right of way so should have carried on.
Yes, usually at a round-a-bout you give way to the right. On this particular mini round-a-bout, there is no right turn and a big give way sign to give way to the left, as it is a blind corner. Plus, there were cars coming from the other direction and parked cars on either side.(When reaching the roundabout you should
give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic lights.)
You had right of way so should have carried on.
Either way, he had to wait for less than 50 seconds.
_rubinho_ said:
The only way to deal with this sort of aggression is to not drive so hopelessly as to aggravate other drivers in the first place. If you can't drive to a speed the majority can given the conditions or can't pull out into a space everybody else could in the same equipment then you shouldn't be on the road.
Take the bus love.
Take the bus love.
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