Things which make you very angry while driving

Scroll to see replies

All the cyclist haters, I'm responding both as a car driver (I drive a Fiat 500 - no Audi/BMW) and a cyclist. At the end of the day, if I'm cycling, my life is basically in someone else's hands (in the sense that cars could cause serious damage) and I do everything in my power to stop that being the case. So...

1. It's not our fault if we happen to be going the same way as you, and it happens to be a hill. How many of you cycle regularly? Going up hills is hard work, often made worse by wind. Most cyclists will pull in to allow you to overtake where it's safe, but it's extremely difficult, and made even more so by the stress of having a car less than a 1 metre from your rear wheel.

2. If I'm wobbly, again it's wind. Or it could even be the road condition, for example pot holes. More often than not, it might be that the cyclist is inexperienced. Be considerate here.

3. If I'm passing parked cars, I'll take as much room as I please thanks. I've had someone open their door on me before and it's exceptionally painful. If this means I take primary position, and to overtake you have to go into another lane, so be it.

4. Going through red lights is a hard one. Say if I'm at a junction, and it's clear, and there's a queue behind me. I may jump it, mostly because I don't want to hold up the people behind me. I very rarely do this and only when it's safe.

I think it's okay to be annoyed but to be honest if you can't wait behind someone for 1 minute or so for a safe place to pass, you should have started your journey earlier.

And yes, I get annoyed at cyclists too. Most often the people without lights/helmets/suitable clothing. I also get annoyed as a pedestrian by cyclists on the pavements, which is why I exercise my right to cycle on the road, even if it annoys other cars..

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 101

DarkMagic

Original post by Couldxbe

I think it's okay to be annoyed but to be honest if you can't wait behind someone for 1 minute or so for a safe place to pass, you should have started your journey earlier.

This argument really cracks me up. It assumes that everyone is able to decide when they travel, which is not always the case. I may be on my way to/from work, train/bus station or another appointment.
It also assumes that leaving earlier makes a difference. If I wasn't stuck behind a cyclist, I'd be stuck behind another slow car/van/bus/lorry etc, which are even more frustrating as most of the roads I use are too unsafe to overtake vehicles on, e.
That one minute behind you might not seem a lot, but you could be the 5th person I've encountered in that journey alone.

Another thing that annoys me on the road:

You're behind two cars, the one in front is doing 40 in a 60 zone. The second car is happy to do the same, but positions himself in such a way where he is too close to the first car for you to get between them, but too far away for you to overtake them both safely.

Reply 102

It's****ingWOODY

Original post by shaymarriott

Motorcyclists are allowed to filter. One of the reasons for getting a motorbike is to reduce time spent in traffic. Do you get annoyed because you're in traffic and they're overtaking you? Or because they're actually disrupting your driving?

I get annoyed because it's dangerous. Lost count of the amount of video clips I've seen of motorcyclists trying to filter in slow moving traffic and then getting squashed between two vehicles because they misjudged space between and the angle of the two vehicles.

It's not exactly allowed btw - a friend of mine got a £100 fine for dangerous driving for filtering on his motorbike because he was straddling a lane and confusing other drivers.

Reply 103

Couldxbe

Original post by DarkMagic

Then be late. Or leave earlier. It's simple. As you've said, it's likely you'll be held up. So why get annoyed about it? It's part of driving on a shared road.

If you get annoyed often at this, the problem is with you. It's my life and you running late to work because you wanted 5 more minutes in bed is not my problem.

EDIT: Try and look at this a different way. When I'm late, I tend to get annoyed at things when I'm driving. That person taking ages to turn right (why don't they just go?!), the slow elderly car driver in front of me (why aren't they doing the speed limit?! grrrrr.) and I tend to drive more aggressively.

Now, for whatever reason, if I a) decided to not bother about being late or b) had left earlier in the first place (if possible), I'd be less annoyed in general. Don't mind so much about the person taking their time, or the elderly person worried about speed bumps. I've got a bit more time, so I'll just take things easy.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 104

DarkMagic

Original post by Couldxbe

Another assumption. I'm not annoyed because I'm going to be late (rarely happens), I'm annoyed because I hate driving slow. Not your problem though, like you said.

Reply 105

Dark Elixir

One thing that annoys me more than anything else is when I'm on the pavement going 50mph and people try and dodge out of the way. It's really insulting, do really think that someone with my driving prowess would miss them, like wtf.

Reply 106

Couldxbe

Original post by DarkMagic

Another assumption. I'm not annoyed because I'm going to be late (rarely happens), I'm annoyed because I hate driving slow. Not your problem though, like you said.

It's not driving slow though? It's driving safely in the conditions...

Reply 107

tazarooni89

People crossing the road when there's no pedestrian crossing, and expecting cars to slow down for them instead of just waiting until the road is clear. And then taking ages to actually cross. Usually happens on a Friday night when they're all drunk.

Also, people behind me getting frustrated that I'm driving too slowly and trying to tailgate or overtake, even though I'd be over the speed limit if I went any faster.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 108

DarkMagic

Original post by Couldxbe

It's not driving slow though? It's driving safely in the conditions...

Safe according to who? If the government has built a road with a 60mph speed limit, I'd like to do 60mph on that road (unless there's a good reason not to, such as weather or road works). If someone in front of me is doing less than that, then they're going slow for that road IMO. Slow doesn't always equal safer.

Reply 109

Couldxbe

Original post by DarkMagic

No, you've misinterpreted my point. I've been driving 5 years, by the way, if that makes you react differently, since clearly you've decided I've never wanted to get to 60 mph in a car.

You said 'I hate driving slowly'. My point is that YOU are not driving slowly.
You're driving safely because someone else is dictating your speed. Yes, they are driving slowly. But YOU are driving safely. Then you can overtake (when possible) and get to your desired speed.

There's clearly a difference there. I don't know if this is your general view on driving or how long you've been driving, but it tends to be the way that you can't always drive the way you want to. Driving is mostly about how you react to other people. By getting annoyed at other people's speeds (for example, on a 60 mph road that unfortunately happens to be on a cyclists commute), you're compromising their safety if you chose to react. So accept this, because it's completely out of your control, and it's out of theirs too (no way a cyclist is ever going to reach 60, but it might be their only way to work).

At the end of the day, you're protected in your car and the cyclist could seriously injure themselves (e.g. a broken femur) just by going over a poorly maintained pot hole.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 110

liquid funk

Stop start drivers, braking hard for every corner and foot to the floor on every straight.

People who brake suddenly for no apparent reason.

People who sit in the middle lane on the motorway even when there is plenty of room to just move over.

Tailgaters. If it's quiet (like early hours of morning) I'll probably do a little over the limit but I'm not going to do 60 down a 30 street and getting up my ass just makes me slow further. (Think this is the worst) Plus I'm always paranoid you're a cop if you're gating me that bad.

My mother. I begged her to get an automatic when she got her new car but she wouldn't hear of it. She's a stop start driver. She does really stupid stuff like setting off in 2nd. (Not down a hill.) she will only change gear when the car is on the verge of stalling ie: halfway up a hill in 5th, then instead of going say 5th to 3rd she'll ram it in 2nd, I get whiplash with every gear change practically. She is obsessed with indicator, forget steering, gears.. indicators must be first priority. I love my mother dearly but I do wish she'd just taken my advice. :frown:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 111

candytreeman

Original post by DarkMagic

This is a highly dangerous way of thinking. The classification of national speed limit roads does not indicate that you can safely travel at that limit irrespective of conditions, including a) road layout (bends), b) sharing the road with pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, c) weather conditions, d) night. You can also add into that driving ability. Regardless, they're in front of you, so get over it. We all have to share the roads, and it is a maximum speed limit, not a recommended speed.

Getting annoyed at people because they are driving at what they consider to be an appropriate speed is a recipe for a crash. If you want to go faster, overtake safely or maintain a good distance. It's pretty simple. Tailgating is a habit of morons and usually makes people slow down.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 112

Sgt.Incontro

Original post by Couldxbe

Going through red lights is a hard one. Say if I'm at a junction, and it's clear, and there's a queue behind me. I may jump it, mostly because I don't want to hold up the people behind me. I very rarely do this and only when it's safe.

No, it's not, as it's against the law. No 'ifs' no 'buts'. (Road Traffic Act 1988 s.36)

I hate cyclists far less than the average car driver. But any cyclist that goes through red lights on purpose is a complete tool. I have seen quite a few pedestrians get hit by cyclists, and have almost been hit myself once.

On a more positive note, thankfully I have also seen quite a few cyclists get caught doing this, and handed on the spot fines.

Reply 113

Life_peer

People pulling in front of you without using their flipping mirrors!

Reply 114

sach-okay

People who overtake you on a residential road when you do just under 30mph..

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 115

Beanss123

14/15 year olds, usually in hoodies and trackies, who step out in to the road really smug and walk
Mega slow so you have to slow down for them. This gets me so so so so angry, hate that a lot of people have no respect these days.

Reply 116

Beanss123

Also, people who straddle lanes and you don't want to overtake them because you can't tell if they are going to move over or not. Agh.

Reply 117

Robbo-92

Indicators again, actually had a moped driver indicating right at a roundabout when he actually was going straight on, luckily I realised and didn't really get moving. It's not like indicators are hard to use.