Thanks for the insights all. Good to see so many different views.

Yes, the best course of action was to simply wave in a friendly way and be on my way and leave Mr Angry to move on to whatever next was going to make him so. Who knows perhaps it was a one off or perhaps aggression for him is part of his life generally.

In the future I will try to avoid someone stating that they are looking for an excuse to smack the head off an old C.

A taxi driver did this to my Missus, yes she was a bit slow at pulling out and maybe shouldn’t have, but she apologised. It did not however warrant a angry little knob pulling in front of her car shouting abuse. Now my missus normally doesn’t stand for any crap, and i’ve seen her head butt a bloke before now in a pub. But she looked quite taken aback and scared.
Him banging on her bonnet, SO i stepped out and asked him to explain why he felt the need to threaten a woman in such a manner? His response was a tirade of abuse towards me.

Now i wasn’t in the best moods to start with that day so my freshly bought can of diet pepsi was launched at his head. He squirmed back into his taxi.

I usually don’t react to road rage very often and ignore it,but this pleb took the biscuit.

Felt a bit embarassed, as I’m supposed to a kind and caring person, but not that day.

Over enthusiastic waving is your friend . Wave like he is your best mate from school you havent seen for months. Then drive off leaving the poor sod wondering if he knows you or not.

I was heading out of Bath on the London Road, just crossing the roundabout where Walcott Street joins, and two tossers in a Peugeot 306, lowered, huge exhaust, tinted windows, etc, shot across from Walcott Street cutting in front of me. Now, I do know that you give way to the right, but as I entered the junction, there was no car to my right, I was across the roundabout as numbnuts shot across it. Cue blowing horn, and giving middle finger to idiots.
Who are forced to stop in the usual quid getting out of Bath, and then decide to both get out of the car, in your typical swaggering, threatening fashion.
All I did was run my window down, and stick my arm out of the window, holding my four-cell Maglight, tapping it against the roof pillar.
Amazing how quickly they turned and got back into their car, no words exchanged.

All I did was run my window down, and stick my arm out of the window, holding my four-cell Maglight, tapping it against the roof pillar. Amazing how quickly they turned and got back into their car, no words exchanged.

Don’t get cocky. Next time they might decide to take your fancy torch off you and make a bolognese of your face.

I keep a pair of frilly knickers in the glove box that I wave at them suggestively.

Never get out….

A few years back at uni a bunch of us were heading off to the climbing wall with 5 of us packed into a gold astra, guy in front has fog lights blaring so we flash our lights to let him know. He promptly stops jumps out flings his door shut then turns round to see a full car of smiling guys. As he bravely walks over my mate wound the window down and told him he had left his fogs on. Most sheepish walk back to the car ever.

Oh and for every hardman who can handle themsleves there is always someone bigger/harder/more stupid

We were cut up when i was pillion on a mate’s motorbike once.. It was a quiet wet winter evening in a quiet city centre outside a pub where both us and the car were planning to disembark..
Being young, dumb and full of ‘come on then’, and having just escaped a nasty off, we remonstrated with the occupants of the vehicle who took to swinging punches at our helmets ( ooh matron)..
After a bit of that they went into the pub and we rode off.. To the nearest skip, where a suitable lump of concrete was chosen and then launched in a drive-by style, through the offending vehicles windscreen..
Aah, the joys of youthful exuberance

OP was equally to blame for the escalation of his situation IMO

wordnumb – Member

Who is the more idiotic – the idiot, or the idiot who calls the idiot an idiot when that idiot is already aggravated?

Or the idiot(s) posting about it on the internet? 😳

Confronting driving idiots is a lottery. Most will be Joe Average idiots but sooner or later you will get a real idiot like this one who lost it when someone took too long to exit a junction then pursued him with an iron bar. Not even a dodgy bit of the city.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-crime-boss-jamie-daniel-1060608

What to remember is that to most of us a criminal conviction for assault or breach of the peace is life changing whereas there is a large number of people to whom it means nothing. They have nothing to lose by getting involved in a fight.

I was driving down the M66 to Manchester one rush-hour morning to pick up an overseas visitor from the Novotel. Nose to tail traffic yet there’s an angry Asian guy in a tatty old red Japanese car right on my bumper flashing his lights, hooting, gesticulating and trying to get past me. This would have achieved absolutely nothing as the traffic was pootling along at about 30 mph so his aggression was pointless. We both turned off the M60 at the same junction and I lost sight of him. Was still puzzling at his behaviour 15 minutes later when I turned in to Portland street and… oh joy! There he was, right in front of me, heading the same way. He then turned into the road in front of the Novotel and pulled up in a vacant parking meter place, so I just pulled in at the space behind him and sat there, quietly watching him. He sat for a good few minutes in his car, occasionally looking at me in his mirror then got out, paid for his parking and walked off wearing a very flashy suit and tie and doing his best to ignore me…. looked like he was heading for an early interview so I hope he didn’t spend the entire time worrying that I was trashing his car.

I had a similar situation at tesco in didcot (should have known!)

Had my 3.5 and 1.5 yr old in the car and looked for a parent parking space. Cue a fifty year old man and his wife walk over to a small Citroen and get in. I had parked at this point and had my two kids in a trolley and said to this man those spaces are reserved for people with children

He went f’ing mental. Swearing in front of the kids shouting about punching people like me in the face.

I said nothing, looked at his wife and walked off. My kids were really scared.

I’ve never seen a person so angry in my life. Dick

I had one recently- indicated to turn into the right lane to turn right at lights and a bloke undertook me then swung in straight infront of my front bumper so I beeped (once), not gesticulating, nothing- so he swung back out and drove parallel to me, wound his window down and gave me a mouthful and added ‘you can’t do **** all can you mate’ (pointing at my son -3yrs old sat alongside me).

I still said ‘why were you in such a rush to drive like that’?

I don’t think he expected that. It was either ‘oh ok or **** you etc back’ he was expecting.

Still, on reflection I shouldn’t have said anything or maybe even beeped.

I thought you drove a Land Rover? That kind of thing doesn’t seem to happen when you’re in a scruffy old Landy, probably mostly because you seem to become invisible and partly because when other drivers do notice you, they don’t fancy getting too close.

Would say that was reasonable behaviour on your part assuming you were not driving like dick. Your right about drivers loosing it more now a days. Do posters on this site think it is getting worse?

Do posters on this site think it is getting worse?

Without a doubt. I’d say people in general seem to be angrier/less tolerant nowadays.

do posters on this site think it is getting worse?

Personally I just think people’s tempers seem to be much shorter in general, driving or otherwise.

Edit: beat me to it ^^

Yep – a lot of people seem to be very short tempered, unforgiving of other people’s mistakes (although they are probably no better) and completely unwilling to accept that sometimes it was actually them that was at fault.

I have tooted at people about to swerve into my car as they haven’t looked properly before moving and being given a torrent of abuse for preventing an accident.

I was in a Citroen C1. Funnily in Subaru’s no one bothered me.

In a C1 though I’ve had blokes in Vauxhalls flashing me/driving aggressively etc etc. Only when they realise you arent a female or 5ft do they suddenly become shy.

Thats disgusting IMO. Grown men who base their fighting prowess on the size of car/assumption on the type of driver who will be inside.

No matter how bad a situation seems I wouldn’t get out my car, wind down the windows or unlock the doors. There’s some idiots out there that would do you damage even if they were the wrong do-ers initially. Just not worth it. Drive on and leave em to it. Ain’t wasting my time on them.

Don’t get cocky. Next time they might decide to take your fancy torch off you and make a bolognese of your face.

Aye you are sat down inside a vehicle with only one arm outside the window against 2 men stood up over you with two arms each. its not the best starting point to fight is it? How were you planning on getting out the vehicle without getting hit just out of interest? PS they are now armed with your torch

Discretion is always the best option in these scenarios

My experience mirrors these -there is no point ever getting out your car as the person never goes – you know what you are right i drove without consideration, thank you for politely pointing this out I apologise and will drive better from now on – etc

Had some gimmer road-rage at me this morning. Pulling out of a side street without looking properly, then jammed on when he saw me a block away. Proceeded to follow me up the road with arms waving, flashing lights, horn beeping, quite how his failing to look where he’s going is somehow my fault I’m not sure.

I was in a Citroen C1. Funnily in Subaru’s no one bothered me.

Yeah, I noticed that when I used to get a courtesy Fiesta when my Mondeo was in the garage. There’s a subset of drivers who will assume right of way when they don’t have it and try and muscle you off the road. They’re bloody one off, mind.

The thing is, driving is very much similar to forums.

You get the idiots/keyboard warriors that when confronted face to face simply lose all bottle and run.

You also get the people who despite being in the wrong, can simply never see it and get aggressive at any opportunity.

Depending on how aggravated the people get, this dictates my reaction. Mild annoyances/tooting the horn etc usually get a kiss blown to them
If other party gets out of car then it always starts me laughing at them. It hasn’t always ended well but in all my years driving I’ve only ever been punched once. Not bad for 17 years of driving like a twunt!!

It’s all very well giving it the ‘big un’ in these situations, but sooner or later, you will find someone who is without doubt a lot harder than you and give you a right pasteing.

Always best to diffuse the situation with an apologetic hand up, if it’s obvious they think you’re in the wrong. No point losing teeth because you’re convinced you’re right.

Me and a mate had a great run in with a proper pr*ck while out on the road bike last summer.
Basically he tried to run us off the road then spent 10 minutes shouting at us with us (somehow) keeping our tempers, the usual chat F*cking cyclist etc etc etc.
It culminated with him saying he was going to put us through the hedge, extremely unlikely as I’m 6′ and my mate is 6′ 5″ we both laughed out loud at this, he didnt like this much to be honest. He then realised the odds werent in his favour so went screaming off in his car – kid in the back and wife/gf in the front…classy!
Anyways we phoned the cops, we both get interviewed – guy gets done with a vehicle asbo 😀 which means reoffending in any way over the next 12 months – his registration plate or him, the car gets confiscated! It was a pretty new Audi (obviously) A5 so I reckon he wont be too keen on this outcome.
The moral of the story is – keep your cool, not something I would have done in the past at all 🙂

I think if he wanted to put you into the hedge, car vs bike, being 6 foot means sod all bro. Just sayin.

[/quote]Guy jumped out and said “I’m looking for an excuse to knock the head clean off an old c*nt like you

maybe he didnt get a premier membership code in time

No aphex_2k he didnt, he was out of the car at this point. All 5′ 5″ vest wearing **** of him…. 🙂

guy I knew years back would regularly chase people in his car, often miles off the route he was going, had it come to a confrontation he wasn’t exactly the scariest mutha just totally barking when it came to driving infringments

on the flip side, someone else I knew used to toot their horn & flick vees at courteous drivers, just to assume themselves on the daily commute

Ok no worries. I’m of the opinion that physical height is no indication of strength. Having restrained many many patients who’ve attempted to assault me for whatever reason, sometimes the big ones aren’t all that strong, and the little ones are super-human in power.

Just. Not. Worth. It.

just totally barking when it came to driving infringments

I had this in McDonalds- coming back from a long early morning ride it was 10.25am- I pulled into the carpark and this bloke in an Avensis was blocking my way, not moving so I beeped once. He kangaroo/stalled his car- lept out screaming that he was going to smash my face in. I said ok calm down calm down. He went back to his car and very badly drove off.

He was about 5ft5 and middle-aged/looked like he’d never seen a gym. If I had gotten out it’d been very one-sided. I’m NO hardbloke, no idea in the past 1-15yrs but I was taken aback just how swivell-eyed he was. I think he was really on the edge of a major heart attack or stroke. For me, nutters (not stressheads) dont shout at all- they’ll just come at you. Maybe not even say one word.

The good news is I just made my McD’s breakie 😀

You’re totally right aphex_2k this guy was a tad worked up too to be honest, my point was totally that its not worth it. Its taken me to get to 41 to realise that walking away is always the best option 😳
On another point though I was very impressed by how seriously the police took it all.

He was about 5ft5 and middle-aged/looked like he’d never seen a gym. If I had gotten out it’d been very one-sided.

Those extra few stones inches of unfit middle aged maledom really count then 😉

Nearest I’ve ever come to a heart attack was one snowy night when I was heading out in the car for a night ride and a bunch of kids snowballed my car. Maybe I’d had a bad day at work or Mrs Gti had just treated me to one of her insults but I saw red; locked up and skidded to a stop and was out of the car bellowing like an enraged bull. The poor kids scattered, most of them across a playing field where I chased them like a lunatic, still bellowing blue murder. I caught up with a girl who cringed back whimpering “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me” and then I realised how OTT – and frightening – my reaction had been and headed back to the car. The transition from sedentary driver to enraged sprinting maniac must have sent my heart rate to 220 because when I got back to the car I was feeling distinctly iffy, chest pains, burning legs and completely out of breath. The chest pains lasted for two days after that; you can see how people keel over with a heart attack in stressful moments or shortly afterwards. Also how defensive people become in their precious cars.

If I had gotten out it’d been very one-sided

Sounds like you had a lucky escape.

Those extra few stones inches of unfit middle aged maledom really count then

and the 100kg’s 😉

Some f**kwit in an articulated tanker tried to run me off the road on one of the most dangerous stretches of a very dangerous road (A69, Low Row) on Friday. I’d overtaken him and then pulled back in when I couldn’t get past any other vehicle in the long line. He accelerated to a couple of inches from the back of my car, then when I left a few car lengths in front of me, overtook and pulled straight back in forcing me to slam the brakes on hard or be forced into the ditch. When turned off the main road, I could see him tailgating another car. What did I do? Rang the police as soon as I got home. Never done that before, but I thought he deserved it.

I think there’s definitely a sub set of blokes that look at driving as their last bastion of “manliness” for want of a better word. Their lives are unhappy their jobs are controlled, I think some of them feel genuinely emasculated, queue massive overreaction to what they see as the last “domain” they’re in charge of; their driving and their car when they think they’re being threatened or their abilities are questioned

literal lol @ Jamie

I was one of those angry men over Xmas.

Was heading home from my mothers after a few days stay.

There is an abortion of traffic calming and mixed up cycle path / shared paths at the bottom of her road. I get to the bottom and there is some guy just getting out of his car to give a guy on a bike an earful.

Without thinking I just stop, wind down the window and holler “what’s your effin problem’ to the motorist. Note my missus and my 2.5 year old were in the car (not proud).

The motorist starts shouting at me. I think what had happened was the cyclist had carried on crossing the road at a minor / major junction wihout checking that a car to his left was just turning major to minor. He hadn’t undercut because the cyclist was on the pavement so in retrospect probably should have stopped to check before crossing.

We hollered at each other a bit more before going our separate ways and my bewildered lad asking why we were shouting at each other.

A few junctions on the cyclist (may have been on one of those electric jobbies, no helmet, no lycra) pulls up to me at a turning, obscures my view and when I wind down the window he says something complete unintelligible to me – obviously drunk as a skunk.

I’ve never reacted like this before. Not really sure why. Stressful Xmas? Possibly… The town my mum lives in is really anti-cyclist. It seems every time I cycle there I got beeped / shouted at by motorists frustrated by the fact cyclists refuse to use appalling cyclepaths.

In retrospect I have no doubt the motorist was probably right and the cyclist was oblivious to any danger he had put himself in. If I could see the guy I shouted at again I’d apologise to him.