This week was my fifth week of driving. Usually they say that after 5 hours of lessons you begin to get the hang of driving, with the weekend away, I’m probably about half an hour behind where I usually am, but I am still doing okay.
However, as I know the road, I’m beginning to notice mistakes from other users, and act accordingly.
In other words, yelling abuse.
Yes, for the first time yesterday I raged at somebody else on the road. I felt it was justified though. This was the situation.
The road on where I live is tricky to get into. It’s a right and an immediate left. It’s also uphill as well. I never really noticed it beforehand until two weeks ago, when I first maenouver it. I stalled, twice as I approached it too fast, and then failed a hill start. Yesterday though, I managed to get up stall-less and pretty much perfect. However, what should’ve been a joyous occasion resulted in me cursing and blinding for the final 30 seconds of my driving test. Why? Well, here was the diagram.
I was fuming, a gaggle of 6 or 7 early 30′s women were standing having a natter in the middle in the road. I was livid. If they broke down, fine, but the warning lights weren’t on, and furthermore they were standing in the worst fucking spot.
The annoying this is, if I hit them, it would’ve been my fault. They weren’t technically obstructing, but by talking about hair products, they made my maneuver very, very tricky.
I don’t condone road rage, but I can honestly see why people do it. I think it has made me a better pedestrian though.
What has been the worst experience of road rage you’ve seen?
Comments: 20 Comments
Rhys Wynne, the author of this blog, is a 20 something web designer from Colwyn Bay. 
The worst thing to ever happen to me was probably when I’d just joined onto the motorway from a slip road. I’d just got on and there was a lorry going well slow in front of me so I darted out into the fast lane to go past him. The guy who was already in the fast lane was exactly chuffed, although I didn’t cut him up because my car is fast and he wasn’t gaining on me! He proceeded to flash his lights at me wildly and I did what any normal bloke would do in the situation – I slammed my brakes on to scare him a bit and then gave him the international handsign for ‘wanker’.
Surprisingly this escalated the situation further rather than diffusing it and he pulled alongside me offering me out on the hard shoulder (yes, he was a chav). So I pulled on over to the hard shoulder and waited for him to pull up behind me and climb out of his car. At that very moment I darted back out onto the motorway and left Mr Burberry looking a bit angry and confused by the side of the road.
Good times!
Aren’t you driving on the wrong side of the road in that diagram?
When I drove a bike I was heading down a dual carriage way in the fast lane doing about 10mph over the speed limit. A car came up behind me flashing it’s lights wildly so I indicated to merge back into the other lane so he could go past. Soon as I did he zoomed past me, merged into my lane and slammed his brakes on causing me to shit myself and slam on my brakes, he then sped up, merged back into the fast lane, dropped his speed so I pulled along side him and then wrenched his steering wheel so his car slammed into my lane meaning I had to move pretty sharpish into the hard shoulder to avoid being splattered into paste. He then dropped behind me and kept tailgating me, pulling up so close behind me he was almost touching my back wheel. I was so freaked out I pulled over as quickly as I could because car vs bike was never going to end well for me and I decided that rather than carrying it on I was going to stop before it got ugly.
I think if I had been driving my car I would have been way more aggressive back.
I hate people stood in the road doing nothing but causing an obstruction, I get pretty road rage like towards them
I was wondering why I found that diagram so confusing… someone destroy his licence.
Situations like that are what horns were invented for.
Ignore it please.
It’s OK I swore at them too on Sat Morning. They looked like Jehovah witnesses (don’t ask!!) out on patrol
Road rage is another reason why I don’t drive. Not because I’m scared of it, ooh no.. but because I know that the first time someone cuts me up I’d get out and knife the fucker.
Yeah, I have anger issues.
“I know that the first time someone cuts me up I’d get out and knife the fucker”
Hahaha!! Fantastic stuff
You should have just ran them over mate.
People like that need to be fucking shot. On a bike you’re so vulnerable ANYWAY let alone with dickheads fucking around and forcing you off the road. No doubt he would’ve packed it in had he been on a bike and someone do the same thing to him.
People like that I just want to fucking slap.
I’m gutted that it was already noticed your diagram was draw in American. *Sigh* Well, I’ll still point out that it is in fact a left and then immediate right (opposite of what you said) whether you’re going up or down the hill.
Road rage is ridiculous – I do notice people’s bad driving, but don’t get cross, and some of the above commenters with their retaliations deserve points on their license for doing such stupid things – why the hell would you brake hard in front of someone to give them a lesson!?!?
One time I was cruising up a hill on the way home from work, doing about 60-odd mph… which is speeding anyway (50 zone), and this dude comes roaring up my ass. I’m already over-taking someone, so I can’t move over to the slow lane, and he is so close to the back of my car, I couldn’t even see his bonnet in my rear vision mirror.
I eventually pull into the slow lane, and give him the ‘salute’ subtly as he flies past.
Just over the top of the hill we reach the traffic lights, which have a major left turn. Luckily for me, he was turning left, and I was straight, as he had his window down and was yelling all sorts of abuse and screaming, and I swear he was about to get out of his car. Probably didn’t help that I ‘saluted’ him again… fortunately the traffic in front of him moved on and all the people behind him were beeping their horns for him to hurry the fuck up. Seriously thought I was going to cop a crowbar to the face that day. Fucktard.
Hehe, this is sooo me too. I don’t drive and have got ratty on hundreds of drivers (normally men i’m afraid) who think it’s ok to almost kill us with their shocking driving. My idea to follow them home and pour paint stripper on their cars didn’t go down well with my husband so luckily i’m not a criminal yet. But the thoughts are there : )
The thing that bugs me most though isn’t a road rage-y thing, but when i see people driving kids round who don’t have seat-belts on. Yesterday we saw 3 kids on the back seat rolling around while their father (i assume) was gabbing away on his mobile speading through a housing estate. Hmmm.
Rhys you’ll just have to get used to it. When you’re on the road as much as I am you just have to chill and take it in your stride.
However I did feel like raging at the coach driver that took us to Retford on Saturday as he was very heavy with his right foot and leaving it until the last minute to pull out when overtaking.
What scares me to death the most though is when I’m in my wagon and you get some Johnny foreigner overtaking you and half of his truck which is usually way bigger than mine is still in my lane.
Whilst you are learning though people should be considerate and give you time to make your manouvres cause at the end of the day we all had to learn at some time.
I try very hard to be considerate to cyclists but sometimes they behave in an extremely stupid way. If I’m in my truck and want to turn left even though I’m indicating cyclists will still insist in positioning themselves on the inside of me where they cannot be seen in the mirrors. Of course it’s then my fault when I nearly knock them off.
The best thing to remember is that everyone on the road is an idiot waiting to do something stupid and drive accordingly.
Classic Rhys, you even drive on the wrong side of the road. Ikea breadbins boyo.
LMAO
Thats such a funny comment. Rhys, you’ve probably been in a car during that chicane a good 10,000 times, no overstatement! It’s the fecking road you live on! Your entire life!
I have never experienced Road Rage. I tend to just let it go as I don’t want to piss the person off and have them shoot me. The things you have to worry about.
Barnsley?
Hair product emergencies are not something to be taken lightly! Sometimes it requires stopping traffic! Sometimes that’s the point!
But seriously, road rage, yeah. My fiance spends a good portion of his day on the roads and has developed a fierce case of RR. There are plenty of stupid drivers. I can proudly say I am not one of them – I don’t drive
I had a guy in a truck go off on me once last summer because I made a face at him and said ‘watch it’ after his grill came within inches of my lovely face. I think he misinterpreted what I said, but either way it wasn’t neccessary of him to start screaming out the window at me – I was WALKING my bike across the intersection and was perfectly in the right. He lived a few doors away from me and it made me angry just to see his truck in the neighborhood!
I’m useless at road rage. I’ll shout and curse and when I’ve finished I’ll apologise!
Pointless!!
No; it’s the right side.