# The angry driver



## shycho (Sep 7, 2010)

Why is it we all (myself included) become so angry when driving?

Had an incident today. Approaching a T junction from a side road, a van driver approaching the junction from my left cut the corner so hard we almost hard a direct head on collision. Fortunately I managed to stop well short of my give way line, and a quick toot of the horn got him swerving back on to his side of the road, but not before giving me the finger and requesting I fornicate with myself. 

After clearing the junction and being a big tough man, he stopped his van to show that he was an alpha male and was ready to defend his honour, so I safely backed the car up a couple of feet and simply replied that I wouldn’t mind being sworn at, but my dashcam would clear show him driving on the wrong side of the road. To which he simply gave the look of a deer in a headlight and went on his merry way. 

So why is it, if we inconvenience someone in the street we can’t apologise enough, but if someone points out our car is currently resting on the legs of a small child we’re ready to cut their throats off for commenting on our driving?

Now I’ll admit I was an angry person during my younger years but even then if I was in the wrong I’d hold my hand up which 9 times out of 10 diffused the situation. 
These days other peoples poor driving would see me react with disappointment in the person, and I would only use the horn if I felt a crash was about to occur. But it still baffles me that the majority react so angrily when they are clearly in the wrong. 

Personally I think it has a lot to do with people wanting to project a perfect image of themselves. As I’ve grown older I’ve learned to accept I don’t know all the answer and don’t try to hide the fact I’m not the be all and end all; and with that my driving has also mellowed. That being said, I’m only 30 myself and I see plenty of middle aged men and women driving like unbelievable c**k wombles, spitting venom at anyone who dares interact with them. 
So although this post is a bit of a rant, it’d be interesting to hear other peoples view on why people became so aggressive while driving, how they react to such cases these days, and if they think anything can be done to change people’s driving personalities.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

Because you're all ******* *****!


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Probably because there's a slight degree of anonymity. Think of road rage, or "angry drivers" being the predecessors to keyboard warriors.

You can upset people, swear at them, give them hand gestures and within a few seconds, be gone.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

-Mat- said:


> Probably because there's a slight degree of anonymity. Think of road rage, or "angry drivers" being the predecessors to keyboard warriors.
> 
> You can upset people, swear at them, give them hand gestures and within a few seconds, be gone.


Not if the recipient decides to chase after them, block them in and set about them/their car with a bit of 2x4/baseball bat/golf club/knife or even a gun.

Best bit of advice if you do it make bloody sure you can get away and loose em or even better just don't react to them. As said 2 seconds and they are out of your life!


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## dado5 (Sep 19, 2012)

Adults do not like being told off. And the use of a horn, to warn others, is now seen as a way of telling people they are wrong or poor drivers. 
I once hand gestured to a poor driver, who slammed on his brakes causing us all 'in a convoy' to brake sharply. Except for a driver at the back who didn't react in time. He broke his legs on rear ending the car in front. 
If I hadn't told that mad man off....that young driver wouldn't have busted his legs. That was 20 years ago and I never tell anyone off anymore - just swear to myself!


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Driving professionally for a living, and around 70k miles a year, I see it all.

Bad driving, from what I witness comes from the following....

Reps - always in a rush.
Van drivers - 90% of the time it's not their vehicle, so they don't care.
Vauxhall drivers - strange that one, it's always them that tailgate, cut other drivers up. Being close to Luton, home of Vauxhall probably answers that one :lol:
Uber drivers - generally foreign, haven't got a clue about motorway lane discipline. Complete with those funny bead things dangling from the interior mirror.
4x4 with a private plate - well, most of them think they own the road.
Weekend drivers - especially on the M25, 10am onwards, they appear, haven't a clue, totally unaware of what's going on around them.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

To be honest some of the worst drivers are the "professional" ones!

Just because they do it day in day out does not mean they are any good normally the complete polar opposite!


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

nick_mcuk said:


> To be honest some of the worst drivers are the "professional" ones!
> 
> Just because they do it day in day out does not mean they are any good normally the complete polar opposite!


True, although 'this particular Professional driver' takes their driving extremely seriously and takes great pride in it 

If I didn't, I'd be out of a job


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## BigJimmyBovine (Jan 23, 2012)

Its not worth getting angry at other drivers, if you didn't crash then no harm was done. You don't know what the person in the other car is willing to do or capable of. For that reason I very rarely use my horn, although last weekend I had to as a woman changed lanes into me on a roundabout, she did wave sorry as I over took on the dual carriageway afterwards which is rare.



> To be honest some of the worst drivers are the "professional" ones


Would that be Addison Lee?!? Not sure where you are in Surrey but near Leatherhead there is a short section of the A243 that is dual carriageway, it's maybe 2 miles long. Their drivers always pick lane 2 for the right turn later at the Chessington roundabout then dawdle along at 40 or 50.


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## BoroDave74 (May 16, 2009)

There's a big psychological difference between being a pedestrian and being a driver. Much like being on the internet and being face to face.
The dashcam made him realise he'd been caught being a ****womble.
Probably should be a standard fit in all cars!
I try to drive as if all the other cars are Traffic cars. Would I pull out in front of one? No, then I don't pull out in front of Bob in his Aygo. 
Would I tailgate one? Would I gesture at one?
Back to the old treat others as you wish to be treated. The halo slips occasionally, particularly when my kids are in danger due to their bad driving!


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Addison Lee are some of the worst. I encounter them every day!


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

BoroDave74 said:


> There's a big psychological difference between being a pedestrian and being a driver. Much like being on the internet and being face to face.
> The dashcam made him realise he'd been caught being a ****womble.
> Probably should be a standard fit in all cars!
> I try to drive as if all the other cars are Traffic cars. Would I pull out in front of one? No, then I don't pull out in front of Bob in his Aygo.
> ...


Dashcams are making things worse.

Look how many dashcam owners think it's their job to aggressively police the roads and cause unnecessary friction.

Watch how many videos on YouTube actually show the dashcam driver to the aggressor or at fault for the incident they blame the other driver. It's also hugely common for dashcam owners the be cursing and swearing during nothing incidents.

The epidemic is spreading where people now engineer videos for YouTube hits and think roaring and balling at other drivers is the right thing to do.

The dashcam appears to offer angry drivers a layer of protection.


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

I was told many years ago to treat every car driver as someone that was out to get you. Words to drive by. That's not to say you still don't get caught out by the driver who does something truly spectacularly stupid, but that's what makes life interesting.


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## Nidge76 (Sep 16, 2016)

I just can't be arsed with these types of drivers/people. They are clearly in a rush and far more important than me so I let them on their merry way.


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## Andysp (Jan 1, 2017)

Kerr said:


> Dashcams are making things worse.
> 
> Look how many dashcam owners think it's their job to aggressively police the roads and cause unnecessary friction.
> 
> ...


I couldn't have put it better myself,the dash cam vigilantes are among us!!


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

I use a dash cam purely should a disputed insurance claim ever arise. Has it witnessed stupid drivers? Yep. Do i feel the urge to swear at them? Yep. Will the footage end up on youtube? Why would i want to do that, it serves no purpose other than to make yourself look superior allegedly and lets be honest, most people with dash cams will have some footage that makes them look bad too.
What happens to the footage? When the card is full, it gets downloaded onto my laptop, reviewed and deleted.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Kerr said:


> Dashcams are making things worse.
> 
> Look how many dashcam owners think it's their job to aggressively police the roads and cause unnecessary friction.
> 
> ...


Couldn't agree more, Kerr. The number of videos where the camera car beeps its horn while clearly accelerating towards another car (that is usually already making its way onto a roundabout) is just incredible.

My old dad, who was an advanced driver, used to say if you've time to beep your horn, you probably could have avoided the hazard. It's the ones where you've hardly time to blink that you need to worry about.

Cooks

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk


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## possul (Nov 14, 2008)

Instead of thinking about what your dash cam is recording.
Take you hand off the horn and be ready for the incident.
By saying you had time to use your horn says to me you saw what was going to happen, did nothing till last minute (wa hoo dash cam footage) and used your horn instead

I watch the odd dash cam video on YouTube and there all the same. Camera cars driving just as bad and antagonising other road users sometime even worse.
I've said it before but if you have time to use your horn then you have already seen what's likely to happen and chose to do nothing about it and use the horn instead.
I can't remember the last time I used my horn, one either it's to late and I need to move out the way or I've already seen it and held back/sped away from the possible calamity


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

possul said:


> Instead of thinking about what your dash cam is recording.
> Take you hand off the horn and be ready for the incident.
> By saying you had time to use your horn says to me you saw what was going to happen, did nothing till last minute (was hoo dash cam footage) and used your horn instead
> 
> ...


I get several opportunities a day just to and from work, usually at roundabouts and nearly always because someone anticipates a gap and flows into the traffic. The person next to them, usually stationary pulls out and crawls away almost causing an incident. I dont bother using the horn because i know its going to happen at three of the four roundabouts i encounter on the way to work.
The rest of the time it's arrogant van/lorry drivers pulling out on you whilst you are negotiating the roundabout as it is their god given right to be in front of you.

It's so common now where i live i don't bother using the horn button and a little while back the car had to have an extended stay at Peugeot so i walked to work and it was quite refreshing to start the day not with a high heart rate due to other motorists being inconsiderate.


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## derekmca (Jan 17, 2016)

I'm a truck driver who has just finished 25 years of doing cross channel and European haulage. Im now doing local work and from my 25 years on the road experience have concluded that the worst drivers in the U.K are in cookstown Co Tyrone There are a series of mini roundabouts in the busy town and the folk just simply don't know how to use them. Now I'm not a 4x4 driver with a personalised plate so am not bias towards them but from my observations the worst drivers are in silver Toyota avensis. Funny observation I know but it's true in the area that I'm now working....


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## possul (Nov 14, 2008)

Exactly muzzer, that two seconds thinking time to avoid the situation saves so much agro


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

possul said:


> Exactly muzzer, that two seconds thinking time to avoid the situation saves so much agro


It's funny but since i put a dash cam in the car, i've stopped getting the hump with stupid people on the roads. Before i put one in, used the horn button almost daily, now it's like it's a deterrent and makes me just sit there swearing at them and asking out loud wtf they think they are doing and did they get their licence off a corn flakes packet.

Life is too short and their are too many fools with a driving licence these days, if i got grumpy with everyone who did something stupid i'd be at it all day long


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## johanr77 (Aug 4, 2011)

I used to be dead against dashcams but it wasn't the camera so much as they type of people who seemed to be using them. I'd look at some of the videos that appeared on here and couldn't help but feel they were non incidents or the person with the camera drove in a manner to cause the incident. 

Recently I got them for the wife and my own cars. This came about because I was witnessing the same drivers on my daily commute driving badly and in particular one day the worst offender almost wiped the wife out when he was trying to undertake a lorry as we were all coming into a 40 zone. After that I thought at least once a week this halfwit is doing some dopey crap and if I get half of it on tape I can forward it to the cops to have a word. Sure enough a fortnight later he almost caused an accident at a set of lights on Anderson drive in Aberdeen which is a 40mph limit. Genuinely believe if people don't report driving like that then one day people like that guy will kill or seriously injure another road user. That's the thing with my dashcam though, the only people other than myself who would get to look at the footage are the Police if I pass it on to them to report dangerous driving and it has to be bad I'm not the kind of person who'll send dashcam highlight reels once a week to the cops. I'll never post spurious crap online about some old dear who pulls out at a side junction causing me to have to brake slightly.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

I do like watching some of the dashcam videos.

This is my favourite from recent history.


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## shycho (Sep 7, 2010)

I was half tempted to review the dash cam footage and put it up here, but feels like a slippery slope towards becoming an angry dash cam driver looking for hits/likes so I’ve not done anything with it, and in due course it’ll get overwritten by the next commute. 

To say I could have avoided the situation instead of using the horn, I believe my options would have been limited to either attempting to reverse backwards before having chance to check if it is safe to do so, pulling out of my minor road and on to his side of the main road where he should have been, or driving into a bush lining my side of the road. Given those 3 options, it felt safest to stop my car and alert him to my presence.

Had it been one of those situations we see on Youtube where somebody puts their foot down to give themselves an opportunity to catch someone off guard and honk at them, then I think the comments above would be fair. But in those sorts of situations I’m normally aware enough not to cause an incident and instead just end up commentating on their driving to myself from a safe distance rather than getting angry and using my horn.


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## rob267 (Nov 27, 2015)

Kerr said:


> I do like watching some of the dashcam videos.
> 
> This is my favourite from recent history.


Ha ha.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## ollienoclue (Jan 30, 2017)

I am not one for getting angry, if anything happens on the roads I am normally too shocked to say anything much less start gesticulating or getting leary. Also as someone else mentioned it is a bad habit to get into because there will eventually be some knucklehead who is carrying a knife or screw driver and your life becomes endangered.

Dash cams I am undecided about. They invite much vigilantism and everyone becomes a traffic cop hero wannabe and the official highway code with a gopro attached to them- look at the cyclists for evidence enough of that.


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

ollienoclue said:


> I am not one for getting angry, if anything happens on the roads I am normally too shocked to say anything much less start gesticulating or getting leary. Also as someone else mentioned it is a bad habit to get into because there will eventually be some knucklehead who is carrying a knife or screw driver and your life becomes endangered.
> 
> Dash cams I am undecided about. They invite much vigilantism and everyone becomes a traffic cop hero wannabe and the official highway code with a gopro attached to them- look at the cyclists for evidence enough of that.


That was part of the reason i bought one in the first place, first some fool on a 175lb dirtbike tried to force me off the road after he got mardy because i wouldnt speed up to overtake the van i was already overtaking. He undertook me eventually and gave it the coffe bean shaker which i returned, he then tried to force me to stop. On a motorbike. Whilst i was in a Skoda. Long story short, i eventually got away from this fool but it was an eye opener.

Then a week later another fool cut me up on a roundabout, i beeped him and as he was in the lane to turn right, i went left and thought nothing of it. He wanted to go left and was trying to jump the traffic on the roundabout, next thing i know he was forcing a lorry to swerve out the way so he could get past me and slam his brakes on. Told him i had his reg plate and was calling the police, at which point he cleared off.

After that, dashcam was fitted just in case.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

To answer the OPs question it's simple. There aren't really any rules about being a pedestrian but there are rules for driving. 

Someone stops in front of you when you're walking down the street and you bump in to them...you apologise, they apologise and you go on your way. Why? There aren't rules for that. 

Someone walks to the front of a queue in a shop. You get angry and everyone tuts a lot. Why? Because there's a rule for that. 

On the road there are loads of rules but actually a pretty poor understanding among drivers of what the rules are. There are also contradictory rules. There is also a lack of knowledge and understanding. Everyone knows what it's like to be a pedestrian. Not everyone knows what it's like to drive a lorry, bus, motorbike, bicycle, horse... etc... etc...

Finally, if you have a go at someone as a pedestrian they could very quickly turn around and thump you. In a car it's a far less immediate risk, you've got pretty good protection and a pretty good chance to get to safety.

Queuing is also embedded in the psychology of anyone who has spent much of their life in the UK and everyone seems to think roads are 'queues'. We talk about 'queuing traffic' when in fact they're not queues and it's perfectly legal to overtake to make progress but many people think this is 'skipping the queue'. 

The reasons we get angry:
1 There are 'rules'
2 Huge variance in understanding of the 'rules'
3 Some rules are contradictory
4 The rules aren't always black and white
5 People don't appreciate differences between car, artic, caravan, motorbike, etc...
6 You're protected from someone thumping you
7 Brits love a queue but don't realise the rules of queuing don't apply to the roads.

I forgot to add... everyone thinks horns and headlights are for showing people how angry you are. It often just turns a non-threatening situation into a very dangerous situation.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Nanoman said:


> Someone stops in front of you when you're walking down the street and you bump in to them...you apologise, they apologise and you go on your way. Why? There aren't rules for that.


This doesn't happen anytime I go down south!


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

BigJimmyBovine said:


> Its not worth getting angry at other drivers, if you didn't crash then no harm was done. You don't know what the person in the other car is willing to do or capable of. For that reason I very rarely use my horn, although last weekend I had to as a woman changed lanes into me on a roundabout, she did wave sorry as I over took on the dual carriageway afterwards which is rare.
> 
> Would that be Addison Lee?!? Not sure where you are in Surrey but near Leatherhead there is a short section of the A243 that is dual carriageway, it's maybe 2 miles long. Their drivers always pick lane 2 for the right turn later at the Chessington roundabout then dawdle along at 40 or 50.


I live in Cobham and I know exactly what you're referring to!

Uber drivers are the worst - they stick the speed limit or often go under it as the app warns them if they are going over it (and I think they can be struck off if they are going too fast too many times). The most popular trick is 40mph in a 50 zone as its longer in the car so they make more money.


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