Aggression on the roads. Is it getting worse?

[triumph1300]

Road aggression is great, I embrace it....not! Last time I was casually doing 40 on the way back home from Canterbury on a 40 road, when all of a sudden I see angel eye headlights on main beam in my rear view, instantly assuming bmw. I carry on for approx 2 miles and they are so close I can't see the headlights at all. I pull down a side lane which is quiet and the car follows at exactly the same distance, so I stop in the road, jump out and the guy rams it into reverse, drives back so fast, he puts it into first and tries to pull away so quickly he sat on the spot wheelspinning. In guess what. A saxo VTR. Yep. Angel eye headlights in a saxo. He tore past me just missing my feet and missing my car by about an inch. MORON. All I saw was a little chav with a hat. Nice.

[Morgan84]

A few weeks back,a friend of mine was on his way to a meeting,and pulled out onto the main road as he normally would,when he had this car which was clearly speeding coming up fast behind him.My friend was soon up to his 30 ( its a 30 limit ),but this car was so close,he said he couldn't even see the headlamps in any of his mirrors,and said he was sure the guy was almost riding on the towbar.All he did was slow down to a 10 mph crawl,knowing the guy couldn't overtake and made him wait his time as he then had to make a left turn into the carpark where he was going.

My friends car is a 61 plate Octavia 1.8,so its not a slow car by any means,nor is it the sort of car driven by the boy racer type

[Pete-M]

I do 1000-2000 miles a week, a lot of motorway miles but a fair few city ones as well.

 

Yes, there are dickheads out there but there always were. People have personalities and that has implications when it comes to driving style. I'm a pretty relaxed driver, but I don't hang about. I'm relaxed on the motorway as I leave a large enough gap between my car and the car in front. Large enough to mean I don't have to brake often, not braking means I can get a decent average speed without going too far above the speed limit. It also means that people following me tend to be quite relaxed as I'm not constantly flashing my brake lights, which in turn keeps the motorway flowing happily enough.

 

The ones to really grind my gears are the folks who tailgate anyone in front of them even when it's blindingly obvious that the chap in front is stuck behind someone who's stuck behind someone who's stuck behind someone etc. If there are 40 cars in front of you you're not going to get them all to move over to let you through when they're all waiting for someone to get out of their way as well. It's just not gonna happen, so why not just back off a little bit, leave a bit of space between your car and the car in front and then you won't be hitting the fucking brakes all the time. The reason the whole motorway is fucked is often because someone is driving like you a few miles ahead and flashing their brakes / braking randomly, which is causing the car behind to do the same and it just spreads until the whole motorway is at a standstill for no reason. Blocking people who're trying to get from L2 to L3 to pass a lorry isn't gonna help, let 'em out and they'll do the same speed you're doing soon enough. Blocking 'em in means more brake lights, but this time it's in two lanes instead of one. The poor sods five miles behind you won't thank you for that.

 

In town, be nice, be relaxed but confident. Don't take mad chances but don't dawdle. Don't cut people up, don't beep, and look at what's going on. It's fucking easy.

[Morgan84]

A friend of my dad's saying is " If there is time to hoot,then there is time to brake "

[fordperv]

Its not just the bmw/audi drivers, the little chavvy boy disgracers in their tiny hatchbacks tailgating you for doing the speed limit, I do one of either 2 things I either slow down and stop the car completely in the middle of the road or if space and road type pemits let them past, then push them and scare the shit out of them

 

Ah yes. That'll really stop aggression on the roads.

 

I am (I guess many of you guys on here are) really pleasent until provoked but when provoked have a short fuse, I know it adds to the aggression but I dont go bullying random motorists for doing the speed limit or ride the back bumper of the guy who pulled out and is getting up to speed, I happily let them get on with their day,

[oman5]

A friend of my dad's saying is " If there is time to hoot,then there is time to brake "

 

 

Bollocks. most of my driving's done in a 44 ton artic. takes me a maximum of a second to reach the horn and sound it. same time to hit the brake pedal. do you think the outfit will stop as soon as I've hit the brake pedal?

[DodgyBastard]

I find driving older looking small cars leads to me getting bullied by other drivers, They think I'm some old codger on a sunday drive and tailgate me at every possible opportunity. I find dropping to 10mph under the speed limit usually helps (infuriate them even more) keep me relaxed.

[Pete-M]

You lot worry me.

[cms206]

I drive a gold Volvo estate with a blue tailgate and accident damage - driving a car which looks like you go ramraiding as a hobby means you get a wide berth at the best of times, with the added bonus of any further accident damage being likely to improve it's looks immensely.

[Spiny Norman]

I find driving older looking small cars leads to me getting bullied by other drivers....

 

It never ceases to amaze me how dumb some people are when they see an older car on the road and assume they'll be tripping over it at every turn. One of my not-so-guilty pleasures is to watch the expression of Jonny Cockwhisk in his tractor engined Audi as a 20 year old Saab Turbo turns his 'prestige' motor into a speck in the mirror.

[Pete-M]

Must admit. The Subaru does "embarrass the rep in the 330d" amusingly effectively.

[bub2006]

Only thing my robin can embarrass is the local turkeys in the halfords special saxos and corsas. Good enough for me tho when they take piss an then can't catch it!

[Guest]

Everyone near me with a slightly powerful car is a straight line hero. They crap themselves round bends, and that's when I catch up.

 

But only on country roads. My chod has no power.

[HillmanImp]

I do find that when in one of the older cars people do just pull out on front of me for some reason, despite my car almost certainly having crapper brakes than any other car that they are going to see today.

[Bobthebeard]

Always seem to get the same thing with 18k per annum sales executives in their fleet hire 2010 320td BMW's in a hurry to get back to the hotel to masturbate etc.

 

 

Autoshitist in hotel room bugging scandal. Sales executives in mass resignation horror. 320td BMWs worthless as a result.

(Source. Daily Mong. Loadsofus do that etc. column.)

[retrogeezer]

If there is time to hoot,then there is time to brake

 

Sure, but people shouldn't cause you to brake unnecessarily just because they are impatient.

[Cheggers]

For me, so much depends on what you're driving. My Porsche seems to bring out the worst in people, with some going out of their way to be an arse. The Peugeot and Renault are pretty much invisible so while people aren't exactly accommodating, they're not overtly aggressive either. My old Triumph 2000 seemed to earn me a measure of respect and I found folks would slow down to let me in/ out and generally act with uncommon politeness.

 

Two of my colleagues drive BMW's (a new 650 convertible and a Z4), they're both good considerate drivers but have found a lot of aggression towards them. Maybe the BMW/ Audi driving-like-a-cockwhisk thing is self-fulfilling...

[Bobthebeard]

For me, so much depends on what you're driving. My Porsche seems to bring out the worst in people, with some going out of their way to be an arse.

 

Same here. 1988 944, tatty etc, but still seems to bring out the arse element.

[wuvvum]

Funnily enough I quite regularly get stuck behind a 944 on the way home from work. It's an older car but pretty tidy, driven by a middle-aged chap, and I've never seen it doing more than 45. I'm beginning to wonder whether it's actually a Ford Fusion with a replica body fitted.

[Mr Lobster]

Its things like this that make me regret selling the Sprinter. Nobody EVER cut me up in that.

[gearoil]

 

The ones to really grind my gears are the folks who tailgate anyone in front of them even when it's blindingly obvious that the chap in front is stuck behind someone who's stuck behind someone who's stuck behind someone etc.

 

^^ This, every damn day on the M9....

[PhilA]

There always were, currently are and always will be people who have anger issues when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

 

Here there seems to be two ends of the spectrum. The ones that appear to be there (Q7/Armada/BMW) and the ones driving a beat up old Toyta pickup truck... those ones that haven't been running right since 1993 and doesn't quite have enough go to get around you at 55 in under a mile... those are the ones that get angry and tailgate hard, urging you to squeeze on the gas some more.

 

Mind you, the wrong end of Baton Rouge- that's one of the most polite areas to drive in. Simply because using your horn at people is an invitation to be shot at...

[TimothyClaypole]

I've had my van nearly a year and the only time the horn was pressed was for it's MOT...

 

 

I'm not getting stressed or angry over any idiot out there on the roads, waste of energy.

 

I'll give people a shake of my head but half the time it's only the other drivers who see it not the wrong un.

[Lacquer Peel]

I keep seeing this lad driving aggressively in an old FWD Volvo, as if he's trying to prove his car is better than my 10 plate Nissan Juke.

Does anyone know where I can get a new key made for a Juke? It's worn to a nub.

[Jim Bell]

I keep seeing this lad driving aggressively in an old FWD Volvo, as if he's trying to prove his car is better than my 10 plate Nissan Juke.

Does anyone know where I can get a new key made for a Juke? It's worn to a nub.

 

Its not Red is it?

 

*edit, the Volvo, not the key.

[purplebargeken]

I drive a gold Volvo estate with a blue tailgate and accident damage - driving a car which looks like you go ramraiding as a hobby means you get a wide berth at the best of times, with the added bonus of any further accident damage being likely to improve it's looks immensely.

 

This is really the most perfect response to road based aggression. Many a time do I feel the need to possess such a creature for exactly the same reasons. I do believe we may well be twins separated at birth Or maybe not.

[Guest]

I keep seeing this lad driving aggressively in an old FWD Volvo, as if he's trying to prove his car is better than my 10 plate Nissan Juke.

Does anyone know where I can get a new key made for a Juke? It's worn to a nub.

 

What was that? Sorry, didn't see you there, I was too busy fucking up my Xantia with chip fat to concentrate. This is of course why I drove into a ditch without insurance.

 

I did it unintentionally, you see. You know, like posting informative threads about diesel pumps.

 

Sorry, all out of Juke blanks. My last one went through your eye socket.

[warren t claim]

I'm normally a quiet person but...

 

MY FUCKING STUPID UGLY FAT BITCH OF A FUCKING NEIGHBOUR. EVERYBODY IN THE ROAD KNOWS YOU CAN'T FUCKING DRIVE DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU LEAVE YOUR BATTERED 08 PLATE PUG 308 AT ABOUT 60 FUCKING DEGREES TO THE KERB. I BET YOU TOOK ABOUT 12 FUCKING ATTEMPTS TO PASS YOUR TEST WHICH IS WHY YOUR JOYLESS CARCRAFT SHITBOX (and I actually like Peugeots) IS A FUCKING AUTOMATIC, BUT WHY OH CUNTING WHY, DO YOU IN-FUCKING-SIST ON TAKING UP TWO TWATTING SPACES UP ON A NARROW ROAD WITH LIMITED PARKING? YOU REALLY ARE A TOTAL WASTE OF FUNCTIONING ORGANS. I ACTUALLY SPEND GOOD MONEY RENTING A UNIT SO I DON'T CAUSE A NUISANCE BY PARKING MY FLEET IN THE ROAD BUT I'M SERIOUSLY RECONSIDERING AND DUMPING THEM OUTSIDE MY HOUSE AND YOURS YOU DOCILE BITCH. OH, AND YOUR WHOLE FUCKING FAMILY IS A SOURCE OF MUCH AMUSEMENT DUE TO YOUR EX HUSBANDS NEW WIFE FUCKING YOUR DAUGHTERS BOYFRIEND.

[Lacquer Peel]

Aggression on the forums. Is it getting worse?

[warren t claim]

Aggression on the forums. Is it getting worse?

 

Actually I feel a lot calmer now.