Why are people so angry?

[Andy King Of All]

Yesterday i was driving home from Leeds in rush hour. In the city centre as you'd imagine there was a lot of traffic, so as always happens there was the odd prick trying to cut the traffic then push back in further up.
Well not with me he wasn't, i blocked him, again and again. He just couldn't push his pickup truck in in front of me. A of hirn blowing which i ignored and finally got to drive off.

Well about 30 secs later this guy in his huge pickup was in the lane next to me, driving exactly by my side mouthing stuff at me. So i stuck up my finger, mouthed "FUCK OFF" and gave him the wanker sign!!!

Well fuck me this guy went skitso. Waving his arms, mouthin all kinds, van right next to mine in heavy and very slow traffic. So i lock the doors and look away. For about 2-3 miles he drove side by side with me, still waving his arms and going mental. Actually shook me up a bit.

On top of that a few days ago i was driving back down the M1, doing around 70 ish in the outside lane. All the cars in front of me just pulled in so i had a clear run to get past them all. This BMW came hard up my arse end, flashed his lights lot and didn't stop till i pulled over. Horn and lights were used to no avail.

Not to mention normal motorway driving. Attempt to leave a gap any larger than 0.5 secs and a car will fill it. 2 second gap is almost impossible. And these fucking BMW drivers, the woman are arrogant and just drive at anything expecting it to move for them whereas the men just flash lights and use horn and demand you to move for them!!

WANKERS!!! The whole fucking lot!!

[BroadbandPlacey]

er andy if people are flashing lights at you on motorways are you an outside lane hogger?

but yeah - ive been in a couple of road rage incidents - one was a pick-up driver - arsehole!

[M3ta7h3ad]

At that stage you simply reach over into the glove box..pull out a set of brass knuckles and wear it on your hand... stroking it from time to time.

70 in the outside lane? isnt it only meant to be used for overtaking therefore shouldnt you be going faster than that? I think ye may have been what BBP says :) ya outside lane hogger!

[David]

The centre and outside lines are meant for overtaking but nobody is meant to be going faster than 70 mph, ever. It's the law.

Andy, you can't let yourself be sucked in to a confrontation with shitheads in cars. If they show poor driving skills and lack of self control let them get on with it and stay clear. Letting them cut in is the best policy. It's total macho bullshit not letting people in. It won't make your journey time longer, well perhaps by 0.01 second. They're the ones likely to suffer from stress-related illnesses, not you if you stay calm. When I encounter a dangerous or inconsiderate driver I just think "Wow, you're a really bad driver, I'm so much better than you!". It's not my job to tell him that he's inferior or to reprimand him/her or administer some sort of impromptu punishment for infringement or the rules of the Highway code. Life's too short.

[Andy King Of All]

70 in the outside lane? isnt it only meant to be used for overtaking therefore shouldnt you be going faster than that? I think ye may have been what BBP says :) ya outside lane hogger!

I was stuck behind cars doing 70. They pulled in so i accelerated to get past them. But in a diesel, up a slope, already doing 70 accelerating is a problem and takes a while to build it up. And these fucking impatient drivers just couldn't wait for me to build it up, i ended up doing around 90ish but i hadn't been that impatient when stuck behind cars that were only doing 70!!

[M3ta7h3ad]

ah right fair cop andy :)

[Swafe]

You get some right tits, I was driving some from uni and just looked into this on coming corsa and he stuck his fingers up and me and drove off, needless to say if I see him in my area again Ill be getting there first with the unneeded fingure gestures.

Had this Jap kid in a shitty little car come right up my arse in the right hand lane and do the old flashy flashy let me past, obviously I couldnt as I was overtaking a bus and couldnt move, but he proceeded to flash his lights and started tooting his horn, I then thought, fuck it, why should I have to move for this arsehole and kept in the same lane after the bus was clean and gone and slowed down just piss him off, like he did to me.


When we finally cleared the bus he seemed to want to be that little japanese kid out of the fast and the furious, waving his arms like a little muppet and trying to do a 3-2-1-go sign, me thinking what the hell is this guy on, it was a crowded road, luckily my lane was clear so I bolted it and smoked him, then he came up behind me at a ridiculous speed as I hit some traffic, I slammed by breaks, he went thru the speed cam people were slowing down for, nuff said :D I quickly escaped down the nearest side road.

[dave_elucidate]

nobody is meant to be going faster than 70 mph, ever. It's the law.


Thats not 100% correct, if you are in the outside lane doing 70mph and someone else needs to overtake, you need to finish your overtaking as soon as possible and move over.
Also, if that person needs to do 90mph to be a safe driver (such as accelerating past an obstruction or something) then they can.

I've been to court on a similar driving offence so I know it to be true...

[BroadbandPlacey]

n1 dave :D

yeah i think a general rule of thumb is if you need to do 80 to overtake a car quickly and safely then you can do, as long as you dont continue to do 80 once youve past the car

applies more on a normal NSL road really, its much better to overtake a car quickly if your overtaking on the wrong side of the road, where as a motor-way you have overtaking lanes

[Andy King Of All]

I do agree with what you say David to a certain extent. I don't want to get all stressed out at other drivers and shorten my life span. However i think of it more as courtesy to not go jumping ahead of about 4 cars just cos you own a bigger or newer car then those queuing. Most people just sit back and wait, but some, normally off road vehicles and brand new company BMWs just push their way past. This is rude and sure i'm been macho about it but fuck them, i waited and they didn't.
ous
I'm quite a courteous driver, i let people in most of the time. I let buses pull out some of the time etc. I just hate those who push through then get all angry when i don't let them in.

[Slamdog]

I do agree with what you say David to a certain extent. I don't want to get all stressed out at other drivers and shorten my life span. However i think of it more as courtesy to not go jumping ahead of about 4 cars just cos you own a bigger or newer car then those queuing. Most people just sit back and wait, but some, normally off road vehicles and brand new company BMWs just push their way past. This is rude and sure i'm been macho about it but fuck them, i waited and they didn't.
ous
I'm quite a courteous driver, i let people in most of the time. I let buses pull out some of the time etc. I just hate those who push through then get all angry when i don't let them in.


funny thing with that is that they tend not to try it when i was working on the road....

i did force a merc into the cones of the roadworks one time...

[BroadbandPlacey]

ROFLMAO :rofl:

love it slam - was they guy your typical merc driving - those who stand suspiciously close to urinals?

[Slamdog]

it was a guy who had 2 miles of notification that the lane was closing... and he still waited till the last minute before trying to cut in in front of me.... unfortunately the lorry just seemed to not see him.... at least his abs worked... only clipped a couple of cones. then when we were going round the roundabout he tried to get inside me but as it was narrow I had to ever-so-slightly drift inwards towards the centre of the roundabout... I'm pretty sure them low profile tryes on mercs dont like rubbing against a kerbstone... his did though.... as both his offside wheels went up it...

all I could see in the mirror was his flashing headlights and some very angry looking hand movements... I don't care.... I was ready to jump out and smack him anyway....

[David]

I have to admit to being a little over sensitive to people losing self control behind the wheel. An old mate of mine used to regularly chase after other drivers until one day someone stuck a knife in his throat. I still see his widow taking their daughter to school.

[Grolschie]

I have to admit to being a little over sensitive to people losing self control behind the wheel. An old mate of mine used to regularly chase after other drivers until one day someone stuck a knife in his throat. I still see his widow taking their daughter to school.


Holy Shit...really.....not good :(

[Trog]

Was once getting some rails delivered to a siding in Northampton, and we had to cross the old level crossing at Brackmills.

The barriers had been vandalized out of existance, since the regular rail frieght service to an Army depot further down the line had finished. So I had to walk out into the road and stop the traffic manually, which I did and called the loco forward.

At which point some dipstick decides that he can not wait and pulls out and past the stationary traffic, and makes a diagonal move across the crossing.

He must have shit a brick as the train loco came out from behind the bushes (at 2 or 3MPH), just as he reached the middle of the crossing, and the driver gave him a demo of how loud a train horn is when you are only six feet in front of it.



As for people who come up 6' behind you and start flashing their headlights. Why not just be friendly and flash your rear foglights in return?

[Conan]

So i stuck up my finger, mouthed "FUCK OFF" and gave him the wanker sign!!!

I know you said he was trying to push in but whatever he did, with you behaving like that what do you expect? I'm not condoning what he did or making excsuses but I think most normal humans beings would react the same way.

[M3ta7h3ad]

As for people who come up 6' behind you and start flashing their headlights. Why not just be friendly and flash your rear foglights in return?

I would be extremely tempted to set up a bunch of flashguns at the back of my car, with a camera.

People get too close... I have a sign (If you can read this, your too close. ANTI-TAILGATE SYSTEM IN PLACE)

Count to 10... let them back off.. if not.

LET RIP!

STROBE LIGHTING IN YOUR FACE!!!! and the best bit... getting a photo of the facial expression of the person as he gets flashed to hell and back :)

[shelley]

Oh yeah great! then you also run the risk of causing a bigger accident by dazzling other drivers :rolleyes:

( i think strobes in cars are illegal anyway )

[M3ta7h3ad]

True, not the greatest idea, nor the most legal (Any additional lights on a car beyond whats already there (i.e. red rear lights, and white front lights) are illegal without prior need (amber warning lights are allowed on certain vehicles and when there are hazards I think)), but... providing you dont cause additional accidents, it would be the most fun :D

[Wurzel]

Pfffft, don't be a sissy about it, have summit to drop some nails or oil from the rear of the car... or a gun would be better :p

[M3ta7h3ad]

A flamethrower would be a rather cushty thing.. :D Not big enough to actually cause damage.. but just enough to get the tailgating prick to go "OH CHRIST!!!" :D

I'd consider carrying a BB gun for the purposes of road rage. It would need to be a damn good replica, but yeah.. next time someone starts getting ragey at you, you just sit there.. stroking your handgun... :D They'll soon stop.

Equally.. combining a mobile 2mtr ham rig... with a bright yellow scotchlite vest.. works quite well "OH CRAP.. HE'S AN UNDERCOVER COPPER!"

[Andy King Of All]

I'd consider carrying a BB gun for the purposes of road rage. It would need to be a damn good replica, but yeah.. next time someone starts getting ragey at you, you just sit there.. stroking your handgun... :D They'll soon stop.

Yeah, stop and pull out their own gun and BANG!! Who's the one with the replica :rolleyes1

South Africa style flame throwers are the way forwards.

[stabber]

Pissing people off who think they can cut in has to be my fav hobby.

A dualcarrage near my work had the left lane closed off half way down with sighns from the start. People saw this and the huge que in the right lane but kept going down the left to cut in. I was at the part where it cut off and some hilux was trying to get in front of me.

Now i was rite up against the car in front so he couldnt get in. Whats wrong with the gap behind me ? So he trys to edge in more so i just stop so he cant get anywhere.

So we are both sitting there he cant move i cant move. He started going ape shit at me, swaering just being agressive. I find this very funny so start laughing so hard im crying, may mate then finds some hatebread and we cank that up. This really anoys him as he looks pritty damn pikey. We are still queing the traffics not going anywhere as there are traffic lights up ahead.

Then a police car came down the left lane, he had no choice to reverse and looked like such a fool. Right lane has priority.

Im not a dick driver, i let people out all the time, dont drive in a way i could hurt someone, but if someones going to think there special and can do what they want im not going to take that

[Andy King Of All]

Exactly the same situation here Stabber and funny enough exactly the same car too.

I always let cars out as it makes almost no diference to my journey. But i don't allow any cars to push in front of me.

Davids post is exactly what i'm getting at. Some poeple are so fucking insane they would actually kill a man over it!! This is just sick. If they don't kill they go mental, some as BBP found out actually hunt you down and threaten you. Scary thought.....

[sara]

Andy, it strikes me that you get fairly angry yourself, nevermind 'people'!

I do get fairly miffed myself sometimes.

I hate those who come up behind me and flash/beep their little hearts out. I just give them a few flashes back with my lone foglight, carry on in my own merry way (but sometimes 5 mph slower for the sheer fun of it) and lock my door if we're in any kind of situation where he (or she, but almost invariably it's a he) could feasibly jump out and come over to my car.

One time on the M4 a truck pulled out on me, so I had no choice to hit the brakes (and probably skid) or pull over into the fast lane, going about 70ish. So I did the latter, and of course some rich fool in a Merc who had plenty of time to slow down for me started getting irate and flashing me, etc.

After I pulled back in after the truck, he did that thing where he pulled right up to my side, stayed level with me (instead of zipping off at 90 or whatever he wanted to be doing) and did the whole "I'm-going-to-stare-at-you-in-a-menacing-way" type thing. I laughed and waved, he looked so pissed off, muahahahaha...

[M3ta7h3ad]

lol... it would be bloody hard for them to get hold of a handgun.

You need a section 5 firearms licence to get one, and that can only be obtained by having a written letter of consent by the home secretary.

Plus... If they pulled a gun I'd shove my car over the verge and floor it if I felt threatened.

I will probably end up in jail by the time im 40 from attacking someone who takes it too far with me. Plenty of times I've walked through a crowd of chavs rather than around if their blocking the pavement, I've pulled a knife (purely to show that if he does it... he'll regret it) on a kid who thought it was funny to play chicken with me by riding his bike at me at full pelt. I've stepped into fights and stopped them despite me having nothing to do with it.

If I end up having some bastard swearing and blinding at me when I am in the right, I am liable to get out of my car with a blunt object and have a discussion (note: Discussion... not beat the crap out of him or his car... just have a word with him, and should it escalate to violence, then in theory I would have the upper hand). Yes I maybe escalating the situation, but the lesson the person will learn is "never bite off more than you can chew"... you dont swear, yell and make threatening gestures at people for something as benign as not letting you in.

On a (sort of) related note, my cousin took on 6 yobs yesterday, he's 22 yrs old (1 yr on me) they tried to mug him and stole a bottle of pop, and a mars bar and an empty daysack.

He fought them, admittedly he is in hospital with a broken jaw and some other cuts and bruises (concussion.. so he's in for observation), however he took down 3 of them enough that they left the scene in an ambulance.

He stabbed one in the knees with his keys (may require surgery according to me nan), another smashed across the face with again.. a set of keys badly enough he needed stitches, and the other was unconscious last we heard.

I think he deserves a medal, he stood up against tremendous odds (he's smaller than me) and came off the victor. His attacks were in self-defence, and captured on CCTV (lucky really as none of them were able to properly speak to call an ambulance anyway), according to police he's likely not to incur any penalties for defending himself in the manner he did.

This.. is exactly how I am. I couldnt give a fuck about my safety, but if I can make it unlikely that the people attacking me will attack another person again I will give my all. As the saying goes. "The buck stops here".

Who's to say that the man swearing and blinding you for not letting him in, wont take it further with perhaps a woman driver next time?

[Jenks69]

I seem to be resiliant to arse holes on the road, I get flusterd by old people driving slow on the approach to motorways and by passes, as I have said before in the punto its a small car with a small engine it needs to be doing 60-ish before I join the motorway at least! Otherwise I become one hell of a danger to other road users. As for everyone else on the road I simply couldn't care what they do - if someone is behind me and flashing, then I simply leave them there and cary on as normal! If I was ever approached at lights or whatever I'd prolly get out and ask them what's wrong etc? If they kick off verbaly I'll get in the car and drive off. If they are violent they will get an open handed slap round the side of the head - most blokes will walk away from a slap it's rater de-grading to be slapped in public

[dave_elucidate]

Jenks has the right idea really. just a 'whatever' and carry on with life.

Taking it easy...aaaah relax :)

[shelley]

I don't tend to let things bug me, but it does piss me off that people show no consideration for learners though.

Once i was doing 60 down a bypass in my instructors car and had some muppet try and cut in inbetween me and the car in front and my having to brake sharp because theyv'e just realised they won't get through, and flippin' beemer drivers who think that keeping left of centre line doesn't apply to them :rolleyes: my instructor made me squeeze through saying that they'll soon get over on their own side when they realise your not giving in or giving way

I really do think that drivers should be made to do a theory test after a few years of passing the test, too many people become complaceant when they have that test certificate

[M3ta7h3ad]

I don't tend to let things bug me, but it does piss me off that people show no consideration for learners though.

Once i was doing 60 down a bypass in my instructors car and had some muppet try and cut in inbetween me and the car in front and my having to brake sharp because theyv'e just realised they won't get through, and flippin' beemer drivers who think that keeping left of centre line doesn't apply to them :rolleyes: my instructor made me squeeze through saying that they'll soon get over on their own side when they realise your not giving in or giving way


That would annoy me no end!

Too damn right! I would tend to do the same at a "right of way" bump thing :) "OI! WTF DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING.. I HAVE RIGHT OF WAY... GET THE F**K BACK!" is what I would probably be yelling at them as I drove my car into theirs. :D

[Arok]

speaking of angry people................

I was at a concert last night and some total stranger, for no reason, yanked me out of the group i was standing in and tried to fight me. I was completely drunk and the next thing I knew he was being dragged out by everyone around me. I don't remember what he said, but he deffinitely wanted to fight. I had been standing in the same place for a while and there's no way I could have provoked this, my sober friends verified that for me. I'm not angry about it, just mystified.