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Car Forum / UK Car Forums / Driving (UK group) / April 2004Scary Experience
Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not like to repeat. On the A10 (single carriageway), heading north toward Ely, there was a truck, followed by 4 cars, and then me - all driving at about 50mph. I became aware of an agressively driven car behind me, driving with a few feet of my rear bumper. Thought not too much of it, until the guy decided to overtake in a right hand turn lane - before cutting in front of me with inches to spare. Foolishly (!) I used my horn..... The guy then slowed to a stop (straddling the white line), and then started to reverse toward me! I'm thinking that that isn't good - so I also reverse. The guy then stopped, and just sat there for about 30 seconds, before reversing again. Hmm. I could see some traffic coming behind me, so, as he had stopped again, I waited to see what his next move would be. He finally moved on - at 45 mph (the road is NSL). Thinking that he was attempting to entice me to overtake, I didn't - and sat well back in case he pulled another curious manoevure. He then got slower and slower, and by the time we reached Ely, he was travelling at about 35mph. At the first roundabout, I did a full circle to get some other vehicles between us - and that was it. Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously had plenty of time to get his registration number).? -- Dave > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > situation? Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously > had plenty of time to get his registration number).? A J-turn when he started reversing at you and buggering off quick sharp in the opposite direction ;)? I'd definately report it to the Police, there's the tiny possibility that someone else will have reported him for playing silly buggers, and the even tinier possibility that the Police will manage to link the two together and do something. > > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > > like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > silly buggers, and the even tinier possibility that the Police will manage > to link the two together and do something. I once slowed down "too much" for the boy racer behind me as I approached a red light. A bit later he overtook me, then did much the same thing - slowed down to a crawl right in front of me. The best thing to do is avoid eye contact and pretend that nothing has gone wrong. Brian > > > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > > > like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > down to a crawl right in front of me. The best thing to do is avoid eye > contact and pretend that nothing has gone wrong. and given yourself space to move esp if you are in a queue of traffic , even if it is just to intimidate, but you are entering a very grey and murky area of the law > > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > > like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > silly buggers, and the even tinier possibility that the Police will manage > to link the two together and do something. J turns need some tutition and not a bit of practice , nowt more embarassing than attmepting a Jturn and stalling report him, unlikely to result in anything direct however, some forces road policing units like to build up intelligence on drivers who behave like tits horn issue - you were alerting that other road user to your presence and position ! > J turns need some tutition and not a bit of practice , nowt more > embarassing than attmepting a Jturn and stalling Tuition? no, they're not that difficult to learn - but yes, lot's of practice required - not had the opportunity in my current car (used to have a private car park which we all arsed around on but no more) but got them to a fine art in my 75. > > J turns need some tutition and not a bit of practice , nowt more > > embarassing than attmepting a Jturn and stalling [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > a private car park which we all arsed around on but no more) but got them to > a fine art in my 75. a bit of tutiuon always makes skill acquisition that little bit easier >>> Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not >>> like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > J turns need some tutition and not a bit of practice , nowt more > embarassing than attmepting a Jturn and stalling Tuition? I found them easy enough to learn on my own. Nowt quite as impressive as doing a J-turn in the pissing rain though ;). > Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? > Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously had plenty of time > to get his registration number).? You obviously dented his huge male ego and didn't like the fact that pointed out his 'error'. You could try reporting the incident to the Police but I've always found they're never interested nowadays... At best they could pay him a 'visit'. Justin. > > Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? > > Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously had plenty of time [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > You could try reporting the incident to the Police but I've always found > they're never interested nowadays... At best they could pay him a 'visit'. policing POV from at at length discussion with a roads policing officer over a simialr incidnet - it's great intelligence but unless you've got 3 or more witnesses in your car or an independent witness it's his word against yours > I became aware of an agressively driven car behind me, driving with a few > feet of my rear bumper. Thought not too much of it, until the guy decided to > overtake in a right hand turn lane - before cutting in front of me with > inches to spare. Foolishly (!) I used my horn..... That has happened to me loads of times - I never think of tooting the horn, or flashing the lights - its an instant reaction > The guy then slowed to a stop (straddling the white line), and then started > to reverse toward me! Thats just stupid - what an arse. Its only happened to me once, but he didnt straddle the white line. I bet that was bloody scary. > He finally moved on - at 45 mph (the road is NSL). This is a common thing for them to do - bit stupid really since he overtook you to obviously get through the traffic to get to where hes going a few seconds quicker. Just forget about it, Police will do nothing anyway (see my post - they're more interested in making life very difficult for normal drivers!). Moby. > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > decided to overtake in a right hand turn lane - before cutting in > front of me with inches to spare. Foolishly (!) I used my horn..... Yeah, it does sound scary what happened but I think it's best not to use your horn or flash lights etc *after* someone has completed a dangerous manouevre, especially if it's obvious they did see you and were just being an idiot. OK, you may have used your horn as a instant reaction, but I've come to the conclusion that using your horn/lights doesn't give you any benefit at all. The only thing that might happen is the other person getting annoyed. Of course if they are half-way through moving into you and *possibly* haven't seen you, then by all means use your horn and lights. > > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > > like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > benefit at all. The only thing that might happen is the other person > getting annoyed. I think there can be a benefit. Some people don't reallise that they're dangerous and a warning may make them realise that they're doing something wrong. > Of course if they are half-way through moving into you and *possibly* > haven't seen you, then by all means use your horn and lights. >>> Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not >>> like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > they're dangerous and a warning may make them realise that they're > doing something wrong. IME it's quite easy to tell if the driver genuinely didn't realise what they had done, or was just being a dangerous boy racer idiot type. In this case, I think it was quite obvious the driver knew exactly what he was doing, who he had just overtaken, and how close he was going to cut back in. He knew full well how tight he had cut it, and flashing or beeping him to show your annoyance is only going to make him annoyed (because he is probably ashamed of how he misjudged the overtake). > >>> Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not > >>> like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > annoyance is only going to make him annoyed (because he is probably ashamed > of how he misjudged the overtake). No, I think they consider it to be good driving. They have no idea how much of a hazard they are. These people won't stop driving dangerously, they either don't mind crashing or they don't reallise that it can lead to crashing. >>>>> Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not >>>>> like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > dangerously, they either don't mind crashing or they don't reallise > that it can lead to crashing. I think they know it is an increases risk to cut in with 10cm to spare rather than 10 metres to spare, but they are willing to take that extra risk in the name of "fun" or "showing off" or whatever the reason. Everyone takes risks to get to their destination quicker, some more so than others. Clearly though there is a limit as to what is acceptable, because it is other people's lives and cars that are at risk too. If you are good at judging how to overtake then clearly you can cut it finer than someone who hasn't overtaken for the last 10 years and doesn't really have a clue how far it's going to take to overtake. A couple of people I know will only overtake if it is clear for *miles* because they don't do it enough to be sure of how long it will take them to get past. I'm a bit out of practise now, but when I used to drive to work (Reading -> Oxford) I would overtake on average 3 or 4 cars each way. You soon find it easier to judge speeds of oncoming cars, gaps, etc to decide whether it's safe *enough* to overtake. There's still no excuse for causing someone else to slam on the brakes due to you overtaking though. scott <scott@spam.com> wrote on Fri, 30 Apr 2004 12:10:36 +0100: >> No, I think they consider it to be good driving. They have no idea >> how much of a hazard they are. These people won't stop driving [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > than someone who hasn't overtaken for the last 10 years and doesn't really > have a clue how far it's going to take to overtake. There is of course a limit to how close you can cut it because you simply don't know if the car you are overtaking is going to try to speed up or ram you off the road. Even the car coming towards you could be accelerating, although I'd expect any non-suicidal person facing an head-on collision to break rather heavily, unless they're asleep. > A couple of people I know will only overtake if it is clear for *miles* because > they don't do it enough to be sure of how long it will take them to get past. > I'm a bit out of practise now, but when I used to drive to work (Reading -> > Oxford) I would overtake on average 3 or 4 cars each way. You soon find it easier > to judge speeds of oncoming cars, gaps, etc to decide whether it's safe > *enough* to overtake. Most of my driving is either in towns, or on motorways, so there's limited opportunities to overtake, really. Although there are sections of NSL road on (one of several) routes to the motorway, so if it isn't rush hour, I'll often overtake people there (it's also a nice wide road). Other than that, the only time I usually overtake people is when I'm going snowboarding... Unfortunately the 3 routes to the 5 ski centres are on fairly windy nasty roads. (to get to the Lecht, you pass Glenshee, and to get to the Nevis Range, you pass Glencoe. I've never been to Cairngorm mountain, so I have no idea how to get there, other than it's a different route. Probably involving following the A9 for about 60-80 miles) There are, however, occasions where (if you're looking beyond the front of your bonnet) you can see the road wind around a valley for a very long distance indeed, meaning that you can actually overtake safely on almost blind corners, since you've already seen round the corner a moment ago, and you can still see the only way in to the corner, and know nothing is there, unless it materialised in the middle of the road... Most people though, seem absolutely petrified of overtaking on those roads... (for the most part, with good reason)  SignatureDavid Taylor davidt-news@yadt.co.uk "The future just ain't what it used to be." > scott <scott@spam.com> wrote on Fri, 30 Apr 2004 12:10:36 +0100: >>> [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > facing an head-on collision to break rather heavily, unless they're > asleep. And as most people seem to forget, you can always back out of an overtaking move very quickly and safely if anything starts to go wrong. A lot of people seem to try their absolute hardest to squeeze past a car when they could have just lightly tapped their brake pedal and pulled back in. scott <scott@spam.com> wrote on Fri, 30 Apr 2004 17:10:47 +0100: >> There is of course a limit to how close you can cut it because you >> simply don't know if the car you are overtaking is going to try to [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > people seem to try their absolute hardest to squeeze past a car when they > could have just lightly tapped their brake pedal and pulled back in. NOT always. If there's someone behind YOU who also wants to overtake, they might fill up the space you were in when you pull out. Braking could just result in you being undertaken by a queue of traffic. Hopefully, people will notice and brake to let you back in, but that's putting your life in the hope that someone else will go out of their way to help you.... Also, if the person you're overtaking gets scared and hits the brakes at the exact moment you decide to abort, sees you braking too, and stops braking, as you stop braking, then.. bang, you've hit the oncoming car... I prefer not to get into a situation where I expect I may have to abort the overtake (although I have done occasionally if they've sped up whilst I'm doing it). The point is, there's still a limit to how close you can take it, because you can't assume everyone else will behave as you expect. If you give yourself enough margin for error, you have time to abort the overtake. SignatureDavid Taylor davidt-news@yadt.co.uk "The future just ain't what it used to be." > scott <scott@spam.com> wrote on Fri, 30 Apr 2004 17:10:47 +0100: > > > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > behave as you expect. If you give yourself enough margin for error, > you have time to abort the overtake. Yeah sorry, I was thinking about when there is nobody behind me as I start the overtake (as was usual on my way to work). Clearly it could all get a bit messy if someone behind sped up or started overtaking as well and you wanted to abort. As you say, it's not a good idea to overtake if you think it's at all likely you will have to abort when there's someone behind you. > Thinking that he was attempting to entice me to overtake, I didn't - and sat > well back in case he pulled another curious manoevure. He then got slower [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? Let some vehicles overtake. I don't know why they didn't when you sat well back and were doing 35mph. Tell us his car type and registration number, I use the A10 every day. > Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? > Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously had plenty of time > to get his registration number).? If the guy is sat right up your bumper the first thing to do is SLOW DOWN - you need to double the gap between you and the car in front so that his braking room is in front of you. That way if things come to a sudden stop you can brake a little bit gentler until he reacts. And the other bonus is that should he decide to overtake he has a nice gap he can slot into without cutting you up. Ian > > Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? > > Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously had plenty of time [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > gentler until he reacts. And the other bonus is that should he decide > to overtake he has a nice gap he can slot into without cutting you up. slow down gentley unless its dense traffic both ways there's no need to do the come almost ot a stop thing interestingly i've seen this a few times where the tailgater is closer that the 'tactical passing position' that road craft is very quiet aobut - cos it'; so damn closed to the rear quarter of the car you want to pass > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not like to > repeat. [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > Should I report the incident to the police (I obviously had plenty of time > to get his registration number).? Well, there wasn't really anything wrong with using your horn. Your were just warning him of your presence. When he overtook he clearly didn't take you into consideration and definately needs to be aware of you! They're tough situations and there's not a great deal you can do other than take the law into your own hands. The law's a joke in this country so don't expect much help from the police, although tell the police would be a good idea. > Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not like to > repeat. I have a CB radio in the car, not that it's much use these days, but if I put the microphone to my face and talk into it in an 'official' manner, people do take notice. In your situation it might have made the idiot think twice. >Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not like to >repeat. > >Other than not using my horn, what should I have done in this situation? I had a very similar experience in the outskirts Manchester a few years ago. What I did was I followed the idiot until we came to a quiet set of red traffic lights on a minor road with no other cars around and pulled my vehicle in front of his. I then waited until the tosser got out of his tatty Ford shed and started to make his way towards me. I waited until he was, say 10 foot from me, and then I grabbed my steering wheel security lock... Well, you can guess what happened next. Suffice to say, he now, I'm sure, has prosthetic front teeth :-) Oh, and a new windscreen :-)) >> Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not >> like to repeat. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Oh, and a new windscreen :-)) You can't go around smacking people because they cut you up, you'll end up in prison soon matey. Ian <me@privacy.net> wrote on Fri, 30 Apr 2004 04:44:28 +0100: >>Whilst driving home tonight, I had an experience that I would not like to >>repeat. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Oh, and a new windscreen :-)) You should both be in jail. SignatureDavid Taylor davidt-news@yadt.co.uk "The future just ain't what it used to be." |
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