Ever witnessed or been involved in a road rage?!

Ever witnessed or been involved in a road rage if so, how did it went, if no, how would u have reacted?!

Reply 1

Yes a car sped round a corner when I was crossing the road nearly hitting me. I gave the ****** sign, unwisely. He went on parked up, and came back to where I was walking with a bottle in his hand threatened to smash over my head. Thankfully he didn't. He then punched me round the back/side of the head. Same bloke approached me few weeks later when he saw me and shook hands and apologised.

Reply 2

sleepless-italy

Yeah so it was my mum driving with me and my sister in the back and it was dark. We were driving to my training session and this car honks at us out of nowhere and we are confused as to why so we keep going. He gets out of the car and starts walking towards us shouting something but we kept going assuming it wasn't us (another car was nearby) and then he shouted a swear word and got back in his car but then there's another honk behind us and I check and it's the same car as ten seconds ago. They start honking non stop so we went along a main road and they turned the same way and after lots of turns down side roads and other roads, we realise they're following us while honking nonstop. My mum, sister and I were terrified with my sister crying. My mum was driving and gave her phone to me call our dad to meet outside our house and we got there and the car stopped directly outside as we were too scared to drive elsewhere in case something did happen. The man steps out and starts shouting and swearing at my mum who also got out and my dad arrives. My mum shouts back obviously as we were all terrified. Turns out my mum hadn't turned on the headlights on the car. Eventually the guy got back in and drove off.

Reply 3

StriderHort

A fair few

I used to work out of a council van with a team, and any time our driver almost caused an accident he would kick off, then we'd all have to jump out the van to back him up 😅

I've had a few flashes myself when someone has done something stupid, on one occasion very recklessly flying around the block in an attempt to cut them off and 'whatever', but thankfully caught my senses beforehand.

One I had in my work van a few weeks ago as I was at a T junction waiting to right turn onto a carriageway, my van was a bit sluggish and took longer to turn than I expected and a small hatchback approaching had to slow down and wasn't having it - headlight flashes, horn held down and all (they had plenty of time to see me), then they went to zoom by me and REALLY aggressively cut/lurch in in front of me at speed, I mean like less that a meter ahead and the intent was v much to scare me or make me crash, deffo dangerous driving/criminal.

I don't know what the hell he thought I was going to do but I his the gas and essentially went to ram him... he had to accelerate away in a hell of a hurry to get away and he didn't stop till he was well out of sight 😅 I think he must have realised that a 4 ton van hitting him would probably smash him violently off the road, and given it's all on camera no court would have convicted me 🙄

Reply 4

Old Skool Freak

Original post

by Anonymous

Ever witnessed or been involved in a road rage if so, how did it went, if no, how would u have reacted?!

Both... I'll explain:-

I was driving my first "proper" car (BMW 3 series), and had come off a motorway (A1, near Peterborough), and was on A roads, and I was stuck behind an articulated truck for about 45 minutes, waiting for an opportunity to overtake but it never happened and I could feel getting more and more wound up. I then had an opportunity to overtake and I flawed it... forgetting I was approaching some notoriously sharp bends, and ended up having a head-on collision with a Land Rover Discovery at 70mph. I was held responsible for that accident and (deservedly so) I got prosecuted for it. No one was killed or seriously injured (thank God), but I destroyed two cars; including my own pride and joy. For the record, the exchange(s) between me and the other driver were OK (well as OK as it gets when someone's smashed into your car and completely destroyed it), but the circumstances that led to that encounter was definitely the red mist.

As I said, I got done for that incident, and with that driving endorsement, no main high street insurer would touch me with a 10 ft barge poll. I had to go to one of those insurers who specialise in high risk drivers, fast /modified cars etc. As well as paying more than double what my previous insurance was, because it was a small firm, the money had to be paid as a lump sum... which meant arranging for an additional bank loan to pay that (not to mention the interest on the loan). It was a lot of hassle and headache... and bear in mind that I think it's the same sort of thing that will happen if you're caught using your phone while driving (if you don't get banned completely).

The above has been valuable lessons for me, as it's a scenario that could have completely ruined my life (if not ending it completely). Personally, I NEVER want to be involved in an accident like that ever again in my life... and (heaven forbid) if I am, I certainly don't want to be responsible for it... so I've voluntary taken some extra steps to minimise my risk of getting stressed behind the wheel.

1) Always allow 10-20% extra time for journey (when I'm rushed, that's when mistakes happen and I can get wound up)
2) Avoid driving when I know the roads will be busy (e.g. between 0800-1000 & 16-1800hrs)
3) Give way to other drivers and let them out of junctions (it's also nice to get a Thank you).
4) Before I finish my journey at home, pass by the fuel station and leave a full tank of petrol; that way if I need to be somewhere quickly, it's one less inconvenience to worry about.
5) If I can, check the conditions of my planned route (e.g. roadworks, accidents etc.), so I'm aware of any delays or I can plan an alternative route
6) Choose my playlist carefully (studies have shown people drive faster when listening to fast dance-orientated music, compared to classical music or love-songs)
7) Avoid driving in London at all costs, unless absolutely no alternative (anyone who's driven around Hackney, Newham or Tower Hamlets will know what I mean :biggrin:

)

Having said all that, I did once intervene when a guy was really going for another woman in her car. He was a big guy and was obviously very angry... but there were these other group of lads who were there and saw what was happening. I said to them I'd try and talk to him, if they would back me up, and they agreed to. I can have a calming voice and so I just gave the usual empathy talk e.g. "I understand your frustration... etc" and made him aware that he was about to attack a defenceless woman, in front of his kids (the woman also had her son in the car, who was about 7). I'm not sure if it was my words... or the fact that there were about 6-7 of us who could all be potential witnesses if things escalated, but he eventually got back in his car and left the scene. We then went to check on the woman (who was badly shaken), she said she had accidentally cut him up earlier on, and he then followed her to the parking lot, where her son was due to attend a birthday party or something. We thought she shouldn't drive in her state, so asked her son if he minded if she came in with him. Once we explained, the venue were OK with her being there, so we left it asking the boy to "Be strong and look after mummy". We all ended up giving the kid a fist bump.🤜🤛

Reply 5

mesub

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post

by Old Skool Freak

Thank God you lived to tell the tale (and still give good relationship advice!)

Reply 6

Old Skool Freak

Original post

by mesub

Thank God you lived to tell the tale (and still give good relationship advice!)

Thank you for your kind words.

I would also like to add the only reason I "lived to tell the tale" is because I was wearing a seatbelt. I'll never forget the moment of impact when I lost control, thinking "Sh**!", hitting the Land Rover and my body going forward and that jerk as the seatbelt tensioner tightened. As I said, that's literally the ONLY thing that stopped me smashing my head against the windscreen. Yes, I suffered whiplash and bruising to my chest and leg, but I'll easily take that over the potential alternatives.

I'm sorry if that's a bit graphic, but I really want to emphasise the importance of taking these simple safety precautions. It may seem like an obvious thing to say... but with the possible exception of those out to commit insurance fraud, NO ONE in their right mind gets in their car, on their bike or whatever, thinking "God... I hope I AM in an accident today"... but they happen every day. I can remember on that day walking up to my car and thinking how good it looked (I had just spent £500 on getting some things repaired and had just washed it). Never in my mind did I think that's the last time I'd ever see it like that.

The warning above, extends to cycling as well. You should wear a helmet, pay attention to road users and obey traffic rules and signals (N.B. if a cyclist is involved in an incident and they're known or suspected to have jumped a light, the public may not be very sympathetic to you). Oh and STAY THE F*** OFF YOUR PHONES!!! If you need to read or send a text, pull over. That adds no more than a couple of minutes to your journey, conversely you may never recover from an injury.

EDIT:- According to statistics, a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is the biggest killer of young people (those under the age of 40) in the UK… and 90% of them are caused by human / driver error. Yes, I know I'm going on and on about it, but if my posts here makes even just ONE person think about it and take the safety of themselves and others on the road more seriously (avoiding a future accident) then, as far as I'm concerned, they've done their job!