aggressive driving

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 11:40
aggressive driving - barney100

I sense many drivers have a lower tolerance of other road users than a few years ago. Driving through Southampton last night was quite difficult as all the junctions are unknown and getting the right lane first time is quite a feat. Any small mistake is greeted with hoots and abuse.

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 12:12
aggressive driving - RT

Many cities are like that - the signposting seems to assume you know your way round - which makes it hell for those that don't.

The worst places are where the route directions are painted on the roads for each lane - if it's busy you don't know you need to change lane until too late - and if it's not busy it doesn't matter which lane you're in.

Edited by RT on 15/12/2012 at 12:14

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 12:44
aggressive driving - tony g
(. Any small mistake is greeted with hoots and abuse.)

The only time some idiots feel empowered ,is when they are behind the wheel of a car ,they don't have the bottle to behave in the same way when they're walking around a city .
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Sat 15 Dec 2012 13:39
aggressive driving - John Boy
(. Any small mistake is greeted with hoots and abuse.) The only time some idiots feel empowered ,is when they are behind the wheel of a car ,they don't have the bottle to behave in the same way when they're walking around a city .

There's a parallel with internet forums. Some members tend to write things which they wouldn't dare say face-to-face for fear of a punch in the mouth.

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 15:42
aggressive driving - Chris M

I don't know whether other drivers show me the same courtesy when I'm using my sat nav (which isn't that often), but when I see a car with one in a city centre, I tend to treat it with a little more caution and excuse the odd late lane change.

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 17:12
aggressive driving - unthrottled

I overtook a Guardian Reader today who was driving well below the posted speed limit (ie I wasn't speeding when I overtook), hadn't been tailgating before I overtook, and didn't cut back in sharrply. I was flashed at. Not quite sure what I did wrong. Who was the aggresive driver?

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 17:23
aggressive driving - RT

I overtook a Guardian Reader today who was driving well below the posted speed limit (ie I wasn't speeding when I overtook), hadn't been tailgating before I overtook, and didn't cut back in sharrply. I was flashed at. Not quite sure what I did wrong. Who was the aggresive driver?

Some drivers simply don't like being overtaken.

I know I get no sympathy as a caravanner, but doing a steady 60 up the motorway, the towing speed limit, I come across cars doing 55 so I overtake when clear to do so - this very act of overtaking seems to cause their road rage although they're so inattentive to the process I'm usually past before they speed up, overtake me and then slow down again.

I sometimes wish I had machine guns fitted, like the Bond DB5 !

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 19:26
aggressive driving - pcvpilotmick

You should see the reaction that you get from car driving mimsers when you overtake them in a double decker thats capable of 55mph flat out!

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 17:26
aggressive driving - Bobbin Threadbare

I overtook a Guardian Reader today who was driving well below the posted speed limit (ie I wasn't speeding when I overtook), hadn't been tailgating before I overtook, and didn't cut back in sharrply. I was flashed at. Not quite sure what I did wrong. Who was the aggresive driver?

But you upset him because you got in front of him. You're not allowed to 'win' against other drivers you know.

I've been tailgated more times than I care to remember, just for using the right hand lane at a set of lights; the person in the other lane doesn't like to be beaten off the mark so they drive right up behind and try to push.

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 17:37
aggressive driving - unthrottled

I rarely get flashed at so I've put some thought into why I upset him. If he thinks that I'm driving too fast for the conditions, surely he'd rather I was in front of him and out of his way. It might be because the road was narrow so I passed quite close to him and startled him. But then any car coming the other way would pass by at an equally close distance and a much greater speed differential (not to mention oppsite velocities!). Oh well, not my problem.

I get that tailgated when approaching traffic lights, but that's usually because they're red...[doh]

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 18:10
aggressive driving - John Boy

Presumably he was reading his Guardian at the time, then?

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 18:24
aggressive driving - unthrottled

Ha ha! I imagine all slow drivers to be reading Polly Toynbee's latest missive on social inequality rather than driving. Also, spitting out the words "GUARDIAN READER!" seems to be so more satisfying than any expletive.

Andy, footplanters are annoying. I think it is because they're told that if they press the accelerator, their fuel consumption will plummet.

I've said before that I don't see much aggresive driving, but I do think driving seems to be becoming more self-centered. It's not simply slow cruising, but slow manoeuvring in and out of spaces, slow acceleration when pulling out of side roads onto main roads etc. It's not the slowness itself that makes me scream, it is the apparent indifference to the inconvenience they cause

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 18:11
aggressive driving - Engineer Andy

I think some (though not all) oldies still think its 1960 and they're driving a Morris Minor around with similar handling, rather than a modern car. They're also the one who, even if (as you say) are doing well below the limit, still brake when they see the word "slow" before a corner (which you can take at at least their speed). Its also those "foot-planters" who speed up going downhill (above the limit), then slow right down going uphill (even on modest inclines) who pee me off. They are increadibly dangerous to overtake because of their constant changes in speed for no reason.

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Sat 15 Dec 2012 19:14
aggressive driving - peg

What you have to realise is that at least 30% of todays drivers is that they can move a vehicle around but can't realy drive competently. After passing their test they stopped learning and don't like competent drivers who go past them and even get through gaps they wouldn't dream of unless it was 3ft wider.

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Sun 16 Dec 2012 08:19
aggressive driving - Buster Cambelt

What you have to realise is that at least 30% of todays drivers is that they can move a vehicle around but can't realy drive competently. After passing their test they stopped learning and don't like competent drivers who go past them and even get through gaps they wouldn't dream of unless it was 3ft wider.

And everyone on here is in the 70% I suppose? Of course 68% of statistics are made up on the spot.

Reality is that this has become a nasty country, full of aggresive, inconsiderate people who seem to spend their lives wanting to "beat" everyone else (whatever that means). If only 10% of that mis-placed determination could be put into excelling at what these folks are paid to do then we might start to get out of the mess we're in.

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