Road Rage

nogoodnamesleft

Hi all,

Just wanted to know your opinion on what I should do?

Anyway here is what happened. Was drivin home earlier this evening alone after jog. I was behind another car on a straight with a brow of a hill approaching. Something in my right hand mirror caught my attention. next thing a fiat proceeded to cut me off. Voicing my extreme dissatifaction (putting it lightly) at this type of driving a put my hand on the horn and left it there for bout 10secs as this particular streach of road has claimed 3 lives in the last year and a half or so. He then braked and pulled to the left and started to jesture. I flicked him the finger and just drove on. Over the next mile or so he followed flashing lights etc. I just ignored it and continued on my way. he then took the same turn off i took and as i approached the next junction he overtook within a 30 and v near the junction, pulled in front of my car and forced me to stop. He then got out of the car. I checked behind me and put the car in reverse and stuck it in gear and drove forward and opened a bit of space to manovure as the cars were that close. As it was quiet narrow (im living in the country) i pulled along aside (this is now on the wrong side of the road). He made an attempt to open the passenger door put i just hit the central locking button. anyway i Opened the offside window and had a few words. He asked if i had a prob" this comming for the lad who is after forcing me to stop. I told him he was after cutting me off and there was no need etc. He said that he didnt cut me off but that I was too close to the car in front for him to pull in!!! I always though that when you overtook some1 that you made sure that 1) it was safe to continue the manovure and 2) you had sufficent space to pull in after you overtook!. rather than talking **** to some knob jockey while i was on the wrong side of the road I just said left it at that at i know that in situations like that if you get out of the car your also at fault. I only have a vague description of the car and the driver. Should i go to the gardai and make a complaint?

projectmayhem

what would the gards do? seriously they've got a vague description of a guy involved in road rage. both of you took a stupid incident way out of proportion... you can complain all you want but in reality all you'll be doing is giving more paperwork to the gards

Duff Man Jr.

If you have his reg repot him to thast hotline for dangerous driving. I really doubt the gaurds would do antything.

I told him he was after cutting me off and there was no need etc. He said that he didnt cut me off but that I was too close to the car in front for him to pull in

There is no point in trying to talk to these people, your responce should have been " F*** off you w***er" Just keep cursing at him and dont give him a chance to respond, and slag his car.

OMcGovern

A vaguely similar thing happened to me, and I did report it to the Guards.
I even gave a reg number, but they said it didn't match the car colour & model I gave.... and they dismissed it. It was a traveller driving the car... probably with false plates... he threatened to follow me home, and I drove straight to the Gardai station.

Face it..... you leant on the horn for 10 seconds. That could be classified as road rage too. Road rage isn't just physical violence, it's losing the head.
You were both guilty of that.

A lot of guys are guilty of aggressive driving, and that includes driving close enough to the car in front to be able to "defend" against overtakers or lane changers.

In summary, you should've either took the guys reg number and reported him,
or held your temper. Call it a learning experience.

nogoodnamesleft

Was thinking that i kinda over reacted a small bit in retrospect . Could have been worse could have forced d other car to stop :rolleyes: Ah sure ill know better next time ill put it down to experence. Thanks for yer advice anyway.

overdriver

You know what? I have found nothing smokes these guys up more than ignoring them. Also I gave an undercover cop the finger, and the excuse to pull me over and hassle me. Better to ignore.
By far.

ballooba

Well, next time you might leave a bit of space between you and the car in front unless you are going to overtake them.

Laredo

ballooba wrote:

Well, next time you might leave a bit of space between you and the car in front unless you are going to overtake them.

Good point.

To the OP: unless you were driving at sub 20mph you should have left more than enough distance to the car in front for someone to pull in.

Yes the guy was an agressive moron but you were not completely blameless either, as long as there was a broken line and he had enough room to pass you then he should have been able to slot in between you and the car infront.

Also how much attention were you paying if the first time you noticed the car was when it was passing you?

I have had tossers intentionally closing gaps on me when overtaking, a very dangerous thing to do but I suppose daring to pass them was reason enough in their eyes. I really felt like pulling them over and handing out a good beating.

C_Breeze

no offence but you were the idiot for balsting on the horn for 10 seconds. you can just as effectyvely express your dissatisfaction by 2 small beeps. plus the fact that you never know who you are beeping at in the fitrst place.
Stupid move on your behalf , especially for what he did to "disatisfy" you in the first place

PRENDO

ths very little the gardi can do but you should report it so there will be a record of the incident and if you meet this guy on the road again the law will be on your side if there is an incident.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

nogoodnamesleft wrote:

I was behind another car on a straight with a brow of a hill approaching. Something in my right hand mirror caught my attention. next thing a fiat proceeded to cut me off.

how do you mean "cut you off" is it that he was overtaken you and tried to pull in in front of you...

also "Something in my right hand mirror caught my attention" did he come out of thin air or didn't you look in your rear view for a while...

by the sounds of it, you were the one in the wrong... you started the rage with you flashing of lights when he pulled in in front of you ( completely legal )

he pulled in to see what the problem was and you race past him giving him the finger...

i would say your a lucky boy he didn't boot the fu@k out of you, and to be honest you deserved it.

nogoodnamesleft

I accept and im not disputing that fact that lost the plot I am also partly to blame for the incident. But how does that justify following some1 for over 2miles and dangerously forcing them to stop their car? Never mind tryin to open the passengers door? No matter how pi**ed off id get i wouldnt go that far.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

nogoodnamesleft wrote:

I accept and im not disputing that fact that lost the plot I am also partly to blame for the incident. But how does that justify following some1 for over 2miles and dangerously forcing them to stop their car? Never mind tryin to open the passengers door? No matter how pi**ed off id get i wouldnt go that far.

well you did blow your horn for a while when he did nothing wrong ( i presume you allow people to over take you) ... then when he stopped to find out what was wrong, you pulled off giving him the finger... what did you expect a bunch of flowers.

nogoodnamesleft

I have no prob with people over takin me but he cut me off. Thats why blew d horn. I had left a gap between me and the car in front "2second rule" to allow me sufficent space to brake in an emergency. He pulled the d left jesturing and I reciprocated. Most people would just leave it at that.

fatboypee

I'm sorry, but I'm totally in agreement with the OP on this one. I drive the N7 on a very regular basis. I try to leave considerable distance between myself and the driver in front wherever I am able, yet time and time and time and time again I experience little sh1tty gits in souped up little shopping trollies overtaking me, ghosting in front of me so I very clearly see the brake lights and cutting down my safe stopping distance to less than the one-one-thousand (traffic slowing) often forcing me to brake to give distanc again.

Very often then pr1cks are driving so fast they have little or no option than to cut my distance down radically or slam headlong into the oncoming vehicle, braking hard to avoid hitting the guy in front of me at the same time.

I personally take great offence at my stopping distance being cut from under me, (especially when I'm travelling with my kids in the car) in this manner and I would be equally as vocal if it happened to me.

NOBODY has the right to overtake where doing so endangers the safety of other road users, what the OP described to me is wreckless driving which impacts his safety and he has EVERY right to voice his outrage. Once off, let it go, but every ofther fkking day this kind of bad driving occurs, we see it in the statistics read out every month on the news in the shape of deaths.

Fatboy.

cpoh1

Fatboy,

There's a big difference between inconveniencing other road users and endangering other road users. If you are obeying the 2 second rule and travelling in tandem with the car in front at 60mph then the gap will be roughly 50m, this is a completely safe gap to pull into in my opinion. My advice to you, get off your high horse.

RiderOnTheStorm

i totally agree with fatboy and OP. Dangerous driving has to expect a response from those that are driving correctly. To those posters that auto think to find fault with OP, well, you are just begrudgers of the highest order. There was enough space for the overtaker to pull in between OP and car in front, as evidenced by the fact that he did it. Because later he (overtaker) claimed there wasnt enough space is just an a-hole trying to justify his manoeuvre, or shift the blame to the OP. As for the week point of 'how often do you look in your mirror' .... some of these racers are traveling at such speed that if you are unlucky, you can not see them coming even if you are looking every 5 - 10 - 15 seconds..... you cant drive looking in your mirrors all the time!

why is the onus on the law-abiding driver to bite his tongue when other drivers recklesly put our lives in danger? maybe 2 toots on the horn will make them change their ways.............

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

cpoh1 wrote:

Fatboy,

There's a big difference between inconveniencing other road users and endangering other road users. If you are obeying the 2 second rule and travelling in tandem with the car in front at 60mph then the gap will be roughly 50m, this is a completely safe gap to pull into in my opinion. My advice to you, get off your high horse.

your spot on.

i think the problem here is people here don't like been overtaken when they don't have the balls or power to overtake themselves.

so what are they saying no overtaken at all ???? seems strange.

nogoodnamesleft

Who said I was travelling at 60mph? at most the car in front was doing 45 -50mph. I was actually planning in overtaking him at the next SAFE opportunity as i know the road quiet well. As for the last posters comment about not having the power to overtake the other car in question was a Fiat Punto!!

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

nogoodnamesleft wrote:

I was behind another car on a straight with a brow of a hill approaching.

nogoodnamesleft wrote:

at most the car in front was doing 45 -50mph.

the mind boggles...

fatboypee

cpoh1 wrote:

Fatboy,

There's a big difference between inconveniencing other road users and endangering other road users. If you are obeying the 2 second rule and travelling in tandem with the car in front at 60mph then the gap will be roughly 50m, this is a completely safe gap to pull into in my opinion. My advice to you, get off your high horse.

This kind of rhetoric does make me smile. I'm on no high horse. I wholly agree, if the manoever is completed safely and does not force me to brake sharply then I take no issue, perfectly fine and dandy, sadly however, very often the overtaking car is still pushing the wire when the traffic is slowing and every cars distance is dramatically slowed and I still get ghosted because some twat wants to get one car in front.

I have taken and passed my advanced driving exam, I'm no fuddy duddy, yet I drive within the law and within the limits. I don't honestly think its too much to hope for that other road users do the same.

We all went thru the go-faster or fastest stage.

Some of us, however, grew up.

Fatboy.

fletch

fatboypee wrote:

I'm sorry, but I'm totally in agreement with the OP on this one. I drive the N7 on a very regular basis. I try to leave considerable distance between myself and the driver in front wherever I am able, yet time and time and time and time again I experience little sh1tty gits in souped up little shopping trollies overtaking me, ghosting in front of me so I very clearly see the brake lights and cutting down my safe stopping distance to less than the one-one-thousand (traffic slowing) often forcing me to brake to give distanc again.

Very often then pr1cks are driving so fast they have little or no option than to cut my distance down radically or slam headlong into the oncoming vehicle, braking hard to avoid hitting the guy in front of me at the same time.

I personally take great offence at my stopping distance being cut from under me, (especially when I'm travelling with my kids in the car) in this manner and I would be equally as vocal if it happened to me.

NOBODY has the right to overtake where doing so endangers the safety of other road users, what the OP described to me is wreckless driving which impacts his safety and he has EVERY right to voice his outrage. Once off, let it go, but every ofther fkking day this kind of bad driving occurs, we see it in the statistics read out every month on the news in the shape of deaths.

Fatboy.

Would you rather that the person behind attempted to overtake you and the car in front (and possibly the car in front of that, and the car in front of that etc) all at once? Or do you think it would be safer for everyone to just sit there in a big long train of traffic lemmings style? It sounds to me like you are not leaving a sufficient gap between you and the car in front.

nogoodnamesleft

if you read the previous post i was actually planning in overtakin the car at the next safe opportunity. It is the overtakings car responsibility to make sure it is safe for himself and other road users to overtake BEFORE to he even performs the manoverue.

fatboypee

fletch wrote:

Would you rather that the person behind attempted to overtake you and the car in front (and possibly the car in front of that, and the car in front of that etc) all at once? Or do you think it would be safer for everyone to just sit there in a big long train of traffic lemmings style? It sounds to me like you are not leaving a sufficient gap between you and the car in front.

I'm sorry, I don't quite understand your point ?

The issue here is about overtaking dangerously or at inappropriate times. I leave sufficient distance to allow my car to stop. Very often the overtaking car will not heed the conditions or speed of the traffic and will commit a manoever that forces me to brake (often violently if the traffic dramatically slows whilst the overtaking car is parallel) to let the same distance again.

This is not a safe monoever and heeds no conscience for the safetly of other road users who do not have the same death-wish approach to motoring.

I'm fine with people overtaking, but do it properly,safely and at the right time eh ???

Fatboy

cpoh1

fatboypee wrote:

This kind of rhetoric does make me smile. I'm on no high horse. I wholly agree, if the manoever is completed safely and does not force me to brake sharply then I take no issue, perfectly fine and dandy, sadly however, very often the overtaking car is still pushing the wire when the traffic is slowing and every cars distance is dramatically slowed and I still get ghosted because some twat wants to get one car in front.

I have taken and passed my advanced driving exam, I'm no fuddy duddy, yet I drive within the law and within the limits. I don't honestly think its too much to hope for that other road users do the same.

We all went thru the go-faster or fastest stage.

Some of us, however, grew up.

Fatboy.

Help me out here, you were doing the speed limit and keeping the 2 second rule or so you say. How then are you caused to slam on the brakes when a fella overtakes you with a gap of over 50m in front of you?

All your post above is completely off topic. Youre moaning about racers and people growing up, from what I can see if you really are maintaining a gap of 2 seconds (or 50m at this speed) then it is perfectly safe to overtake you on a straight road.

fatboypee wrote:

I personally take great offence at my stopping distance being cut from under me, (especially when I'm travelling with my kids in the car) in this manner and I would be equally as vocal if it happened to me.

To me this quote says it all, like I said get donw off your high horse...

fatboypee

cpoh1 wrote:

Help me out here, you were doing the speed limit and keeping the 2 second rule or so you say. How then are you caused to slam on the brakes when a fella overtakes you with a gap of over 50m in front of you?

All your post above is completely off topic. Youre moaning about racers and people growing up, from what I can see if you really are maintaining a gap of 2 seconds (or 50m at this speed) then it is perfectly safe to overtake you on a straight road.



To me this quote says it all, like I said get donw off your high horse...

How many times do I need to say this ? If the manoever is done safely, i've no issue. if there is sufficient distance and I've no need to brake abnormally then I've no issue.

My point is this:

All too often the manoever is attempted at a very bad point on the road or is executed poorly leaving me to brake hard as the traffic has slowed (or worse the overtaking car cuts in far too close to me while executing the manoever)

I fail to see how this rational approach to what is clearly a dangerous occuptation (driving) puts me on a high horse ? Just because I take issue with the general point of bad driving does not make me aloof in any form and from my point of view, justifying such manoevers is purely indicative of this kind of problem !!!

Fatboy.

Gregor Samsa

cpoh1 wrote:

Help me out here, you were doing the speed limit and keeping the 2 second rule or so you say. How then are you caused to slam on the brakes when a fella overtakes you with a gap of over 50m in front of you?

I've had people who've overtaken me when there was a clear road ahead of me and still manage to cut right in on me, causing me to brake suddenly. The last time it happened (dual carrageway, me in the left lane, nothing in the right forcing the overtaking guy in on top of me, me NOT accelerating - I don't mind people overtaking me), I blasted my horn, and got the fingers for my trouble.

Not the OP, so I don't know if it's the same as his situation, but there you go. I can, and does, happen.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

fletch wrote:

Would you rather that the person behind attempted to overtake you and the car in front (and possibly the car in front of that, and the car in front of that etc) all at once? Or do you think it would be safer for everyone to just sit there in a big long train of traffic lemmings style?

very good point.

i telling ya, those people just don't want anybody to overtake them....they are the same people who sit in the overtaking lane for days on end.

Giruilla

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

very good point.

i telling ya, those people just don't want anybody to overtake them....they are the same people who sit in the overtaking lane for days on end.

If you actually read their post, those people just don't want anybody to ovetake them dangerously!

mike65

Right take this as a general warning - any more hostile attacks on fellow posters will result in a BAN.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ and cpoh1 I'm looking at you two in particular while C_Breeze also catching my eye for the wrong reasons.

If you can't express yourselves without resorting to abuse then I suggest you find a more appropriate forum for your 'talents'

Mike.

cpoh1

mike65 wrote:

Right take this as a general warning - any more hostile attacks on fellow posters will result in a BAN.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ and cpoh1 I'm looking at you two in particular while C_Breeze also catching my eye for the wrong reasons.

If you can't express yourselves without resorting to abuse then I suggest you find a more appropriate forum for your 'talents'

Mike.

Show me exactly where im giving anybody any abuse in this thread

Now if if asking someone to get down off their high horse constitutes as abuse then maybe I shouldnt be saying the same thing to you but what the heck...

maybe you should get down off that black beauty of your own...

mike65

Boy you really know how to win friends and influence people don't you?

Your 'tone' was clear enough for me, it read like a challange. I reckon you would have been happy enough to engage in an on-line scrap if one developed. You might think I'm reading into stuff thats is'nt there well maybe but by "playing nice" there is less chance of any confusion on this Moderators part.

Mike.

cpoh1

If you saw contempt in my posts then you would be right because I held everything the guy I quoted wrote in such a manner. In fact I hold 99% of Irish drivers in exactly the same way, if someone wants to overtake someone and the gap is there and the road is clear then they are absolutely entitled to in my opinion. Sometimes after you have accelerated past someone there is a need to slow down for the car 50-100 yards in front of you, now this in my opinion is part and parcel of driving on a busy road, it does not entitle someone to sit on their horn to show their displeasure or "personally take great offence at my stopping distance being cut from under me". It is for this comment alone I asked said person to get down of their high horse. They dont own the road. Too many times have either myself or someone I know have been flashed or beeped aggressively because they've had the cheek to overtake that car.

Now personally speaking id be looking to ban these people from the roads never mind someone who voices his discust as this behaviour on a messageboard.

mike65

I'm talking about your (and others) tone/langauge/attitude on boards - nothing else.

If you want to contribute do so in a valid, civilised fashion. Thats all I ask of a poster.

Mike.

Rudolph Claus

Did you not just read Mikes comment about personal abuse? Any more and you're banned!

Sounds to me like the over-taker came upon to dwadlers doing as you stated 45-50mph on a straight road and you dont like being over-taken. I hate when people start bringing the fact that they have kids in their cars into arguments like this, who cares?

Mojito

overdriver wrote:

Also I gave an undercover cop the finger, and the excuse to pull me over and hassle me. Better to ignore.
By far.

LOL!!!! That happened to me as well!

He did a quick U-turn, put on his flashing lights and pulled me over. He was raging! I got hassled for about 10 mins as well and the old I'll be getting a summons in the post. That was 13 months ago and I never heard anything more about it!

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

mike65 wrote:

Right take this as a general warning - any more hostile attacks on fellow posters will result in a BAN.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ and cpoh1 I'm looking at you two in particular while C_Breeze also catching my eye for the wrong reasons.

If you can't express yourselves without resorting to abuse then I suggest you find a more appropriate forum for your 'talents'

Mike.

that a bit transparent isn't it mike... the 3 posters who don't agree with the op.
you couldn't be more obvious.


but saying that, i will have to take on board what you say and retract whatever statement you found offense with.

i am out of this unbiased "road rage" thread

The Muppet

I suppose you would have witness this incident to be sure who was in the wrong, chances are there was an element of road rage from both parties involved.

I can understand the annoyance of some of the contributors to the thread as there is little doubt that there are quite a few of drivers on our roads that appear to take it as a grave personal insult if you dare to overtake them.

Kashkai

Nuttzy wrote:

Did you not just read Mikes comment about personal abuse? Any more and you're banned!

Sounds to me like the over-taker came upon to dwadlers doing as you stated 45-50mph on a straight road and you dont like being over-taken. I hate when people start bringing the fact that they have kids in their cars into arguments like this, who cares?

I'd say anyone who actually has kids would care. And if you have kids, you soon learn to slow down and be more attentive, careful and considerate on the road. I've noticed that I always drive a lot slower when my kids are in the car (not that I speed anyway). What sort of muppet would recklessly endanger their kids by speeding when they are in the car?

As for the OP, ok, so you were annoyed at some guy overtaking you and cutting you up. He didn't cause you to crash so get over it and just accept the fact that our roads are full of mindless eejits who don't give a toss about anyone else. The best course of action is to drive defensively and believe that you are the only rational and sane driver on the road.

fatboypee

if someone wants to overtake someone and the gap is there and the road is clear then they are absolutely entitled to in my opinion.

Absolutely fine, yet, very often, the gap is NOT there to manoever safely.

Sometimes after you have accelerated past someone there is a need to slow down for the car 50-100 yards in front of you, now this in my opinion is part and parcel of driving on a busy road, it does not entitle someone to sit on their horn to show their displeasure or "personally take great offence at my stopping distance being cut from under me".

Absolutely, except, if I have to brake (thereby concerning any road users behind my car) then this is NOT a safe manoever and should NOT Be attempted.

It is for this comment alone I asked said person to get down of their high horse. They dont own the road.

No, I don't own the road, yet I have considerable respect for other road users. Those who do not feel the need to drive aggressively and at excess speed. These people have respect for their lives and thos of others and not all can be labelled dawdlers or people who hate to be overtaken. To do so is a sweeping generalisation and one which rather detracts from the real issue of the execution of a dangerous manoever.

To that point, why then do we see the ads and everything else explaining the correct procedure for overtaking ? Why is this needed if you are correct in forcing people to slow down or even brake ?

Too many times have either myself or someone I know have been flashed or beeped aggressively because they've had the cheek to overtake that car.

Does this not possibly point to your (or others) behaviour in this regard? Or are all those other motorist simply in the wrong ? All the other drivers as dawdlers and hate to be overtaken is it ?? :rolleyes:

Now personally speaking id be looking to ban these people from the roads never mind someone who voices his discust as this behaviour on a messageboard.

Absolutely..:rolleyes:

fatboypee

Perhaps this may help:
http://www.iif.ie/road-advice-article.aspx?article=389a1106-f8bb-4b7f-a1c4-adf02ba52470

Particluar points of note:

Can I see far enough ahead to be sure it is safe?
Can I overtake without affecting any other vehicles' position or speed?
Am I able to pull back to my own side of the road in plenty of time after completing the manoeuvre?
Can I abandon the overtaking manoeuvre if another hazard comes into view?
Will I come into conflict with any other road user?
Will I end up making a third line of vehicles abreast at any point during the manoeuvre?
Will it be legal to overtake here?

Darragh29

fatboypee wrote:

I personally take great offence at my stopping distance being cut from under me, (especially when I'm travelling with my kids in the car) in this manner and I would be equally as vocal if it happened to me.

NOBODY has the right to overtake where doing so endangers the safety of other road users, what the OP described to me is wreckless driving which impacts his safety and he has EVERY right to voice his outrage. Once off, let it go, but every ofther fkking day this kind of bad driving occurs, we see it in the statistics read out every month on the news in the shape of deaths.

Fatboy.

Well I think that a driver (you/me) always has full control over their stopping distance. In reality, someone cutting into your forward space is something you should have already factored into your stopping distance. You should be prepared for the idiot who does this and your stopping distance should be enough to allow someone overtake you and pull back in in front of you. I'm not talking about an empty road where nobody is going to be overtaking you but if your paying attention to what is going around you, you should be able to tell well in advance when someone is going to overtake you if your driving on a busy road, whether they should overtaking you or not.

Regarding the OP, sounds like you provoked the guy into a confrontation tbh...

mike65

Boring.

Mike.