[Closed] The simple pleasure of annoying **** heads!

Remember [s]be safe [/s]annoy as many folk as you can today and rejoice in your self righteousness.

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From the highway code: "You should not allow yourself to become agitated or involved if someone is behaving badly on the road. This will only make the situation worse."

Remember be safe annoy as many folk as you can today and rejoice in your self righteousness.

😆

Irons n stuff

But who is doing the annoying? The guy driving along on the speed limit or the one on his back bumper?

He was tooting and flashing to let you know how stupid you were for buying a Smart car and taking it on the motorway. Given you were doing 50 he was probably aware it couldn't go faster!

I resent that accusation. I was driving the wifes daily driver and it's a great little car. It WILL do more than 50 mph all day long if I wanted to be an idiot and break speed limits all the time. Granted the car is no full out performance item but it does its job day in and day out with hardly any running costs to mention.

I ask you this..... Have you ever driven a smart? If not i suggest you try one and see for yourself.

Next you'll be having a go at me for mentioning one of the other cars i own... a 1965 Mini Cooper S..... cause it's too dinky and only got two doorsand a sub 1L engine.

I ask you this..... Have you ever driven a smart? If not i suggest you try one and see for yourself.

I have driven one - it was awful. The Mini on the other hand - had a 1L one of those myself and it was fun to drive, despite being slow.

[i]"You should not allow yourself to become agitated or involved if someone is behaving badly on the road. This will only make the situation worse."[/i]

Sounds like the OP was driving perfectly to the guidance then.

[i]So many road users rejoicing in them driving without consideration for others and admitting to driving purely to annoy other road users.[/i]

See this is where you are WRONG. It's[b] them[/b] who are driving purely to annoy. Why should they get away with it?

a sub 1L engine.

Mini drivers are the worst for tailgating and generally being obstructive:

Fair point steve, granted the stock handling is cack but stick some proper wheels off the Brabus edition on it and decent rubber and it'll stick to the corners like an angry cat on a shagpile carpet.

The Mini still turns heads and always will as it's an iconic car that most of us grew up with (well those over a certain age anyways).

Sorry for the rant but that day was very scary for my daughter and she was in floods of tears as her daddy nearly died in a car accident the year before by some prat tailgating me like that. I was forced off a motorway at speed by a BMW, down an embankment and ended up rolling the car several times before coming to rest on the side (roof) against a very large tree.

Why should they get away with it?

BTW what's the official directive if someone is tailgating and flashing/beeping you and there's nowhere to pull over? eg left hand lane of motorway?

brake checking obviously is daft, tapping brakes just so they light up maybe but probably seen as aggressive/escalation? Slowing down is possibly the only safe option (TBF none of them are safe but someone else has already put you in a risky situation)

Sorry for the rant but that day was very scary for my daughter and she was in floods of tears as her daddy nearly died in a car accident the year before by some prat tailgating me like that. I was forced off a motorway at speed by a BMW, down an embankment and ended up rolling the car several times before coming to rest on the side (roof) against a very large tree.

It's actually things like that which put me off really small cars like a Smart - if I'm in an accident like that I'd rather have a bit more metal around me!

I know a few people with Smart cars and they never seem to have a sense of humour about the things, so I always like to have a little dig!

That particular day though I was driving a Honda FRV with plenty of metal, in the Smart i would have probably missed everything down the hill and floated down the stream at the bottom LOL.

Drop me your address and I'll send you a bigger spade.

so are you one of the self-appointed vigilantes who drives in the overtaking lane parallel with the car inside at exactly 1 mph under the limit and refuses to either speed up and complete the overtake or get the **** out of the way?

See what you have done there is taken 1+1 and come up with 7.2.

If everyone pulled over to di**heads who were driving above the speedlimit and driving dangerously then do you think they would

a) Stop doing it
b) Do it more

If you are pulling over to the side of the road or indeed speeding up above the speed limit then this is in fact MORE dangerous and you should really reflect on your driving style.

Sounds like the OP was driving perfectly to the guidance then.

See this is where you are WRONG. It's them who are driving purely to annoy. Why should they get away with it?

Personally if a 7.5 t truck drove inches off my rear I would let it pas/pull over/not get stressed [ not be tempted to press my brake like the OP].
I dont think responding to poor driving with poor driving helps

I realise debating with drivers is pointless

you are all the awezomes* 😛

* This is the problem yes the other person is wrong but I fail to see how you driving poorly helps the situation for what is a multi user shared space. You dont make the roads better by also driving like a ****

When cars get close to me me and my mates like to string our cycles out across the whole road lane and stop them overtaking us...the way they get furious and beep their horns as they cannot overtake is hilarious to watch

See i could do this, and brag about it on the internet, but it wont make the roads a better place

It's actually things like that which put me off really small cars like a Smart - if I'm in an accident like that I'd rather have a bit more metal around me!

I seem to remember Smart cars are surprisingly tough. But lacking in crumple zones.

Just look what you did here artist!
All we need now is a reverse flounce from smurf matt and all would be good!

😀

but I don't think driving at the limit with someone tailgating you is a very good idea.

Did you really mean to say this?

I seem to remember Smart cars are surprisingly tough. But lacking in crumple zones.

Having studied physics I'm pretty convinced that a decent big car is safer than a decent small car. It doesn't come out as much in the NCAP tests, given they're against a fixed barrier.

If you're in primary (because you need to be), and a driver sits an inch off your rear wheel, do you

a) maintain primary 'cos it is the safest position?
b) get into the gutter pronto?

Getting hassled because you're driving/riding sensibly and then choosing to carry on driving/riding sensibly isn't poor practice, really.

Booting it at the end is pretty irrelevant, TBH, he observed speed limits all the way, and simply removed himself from the situation. All he did was deny van man a chance to pull alongside and wave his little fist, hence the impotent flashing.

It'd have been safer to avoid 15 minutes of tailgating, even if it meant sucking in your pride and letting the idiot in the van past.

All that leads to is van men with even more engorged egos lording it over emasculated types like you and I. We can't live in a world like that. 🙂

martinhutch - +1

It's actually things like that which put me off really small cars like a Smart - if I'm in an accident like that I'd rather have a bit more metal around me!

All that leads to is van men with even more engorged egos lording it over emasculated types like you and I.

Doubt it'd have been a problem for me for two reasons:
1) I'd still be in my bed at 5am
2) I doubt I'd have been sticking strictly to the speed limit at 5am on the A6
3) Even if I did let him past in the 30/40 limit I'd have certainly passed him again on the dual carriageway!

Wrong or right, I wouldn't move off the road, or pull over if someone did this to me. Perhaps if someone is driving that close to you, the safest option is to do nothing unexpected and continue at a steady (legal) speed. Trying to pull over/brake/get off the road is more likely to cause an accident in my opinion.

Smart cars are one big steel roll cage, everything is contained inside it.

So crumple zones are a bad thing then?

Sorry for the rant but that day was very scary for my daughter and she was in floods of tears as her daddy nearly died in a car accident the year before by some prat tailgating me like that. I was forced off a motorway at speed by a BMW, down an embankment and ended up rolling the car several times before coming to rest on the side (roof) against a very large tree

I'm interested to know what the BMW driver did that made you leave the motorway (other than tailgate).

PS. Glad you didn't die.

If it was the M62, probably this:

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Too much there for me to bother reading.

[i]They shouldn't but we aren't the police.[/i]
Not talking about arresting them - just letting them know they've been annoying.

Getting hassled because you're driving/riding sensibly and then choosing to carry on driving/riding sensibly isn't poor practice, really

PS He was enjoying it so much he shared it with the world and called the the thread the pleasure of annoying etc. Not what i would call good practice tbh

I'm interested to know what the BMW driver did that made you leave the motorway (other than tailgate).

PS. Glad you didn't die.

He ended up trying to pass while he was too close and tapping the rear corner of the car very hard which forced me in to a spin. The road was very wet with lots of standing water which didn't help matters.

Thank god i'm still here though.

To be lying in a hospital bed with your 5 year old in floods of tears is not a nice place to be at.

I guess that's where the problems come from on the roads: We're all different.

He probably posted it because it's Friday and, as you know, a good Friday driving argument thread enlivens the entire internet, even entertaining non-drivers like yourself.

from advanced-driving.co.uk

The easiest thing to do is remove ourselves from the problem. Aim to change lanes on the motorway or dual carriageway, but only when it is safe to do so. Clearly indicate your intention to pull over. That way you can let the tailgater get past you, even if he or she is driving too fast for the conditions and/or breaking the speed limit.

Don’t be tempted to impose the speed limit on somebody who is clearly hell bent on breaking it. And if you choose not to let the tailgater past, there is a danger that he will try to “undertake” you, posing an additional risk for other road users.

We are often asked what can you do if you’re being tailgated in a 30mph zone on a single carriageway?

Pulling over here may not be practical either. But do not be intimidated into speeding up just because somebody is right on your back bumper. Instead, create an additional stopping distance between you and the vehicle in front so that you when you do brake, you can do so smoothly. Think of yourself as adding a little “buffer” zone for the tailgater, whether he appreciates it or not. When the time comes to brake, you can do so gently, giving a clear signal of your intention via your stop lights. The more time your stop lights are on, the more time the tailgater has to register that and pull back.

I've done a similar thing on the bike. Some ****ty woman, trying desperately to overtake in stupid places, revving her engine at me, eventually does so on a blind corner and has to swing back in right on me to avoid a car.

About a minute later we both reach the back of a queue up to some temporary traffic lights, I filter past her right to the front of the queue. Normally I wouldn't bother, but it was so worth it seeing her gorming out in her car. She was waving her arms about like she was doing the secret signal from team america 😆

He ended up trying to pass while he was too close and tapping the rear corner of the car very hard which forced me in to a spin. The road was very wet with lots of standing water which didn't help matters

Nasty. Explains why you may be more concerned than average about tailgaters.

That must have left a sour taste, MartinHutch, defending someone who drives a pickup. 😉

even entertaining non-drivers like yourself.

As i said it is about sharing space. Rejoicing in annoying other road users, no matter how justified you think you are [ some are to be fair], is not helping make that space safer.

Yes, even though I know that eventually I'll get pancaked by one on the B6265, I can't hold a grudge.

EDIT: Sorry Junkyard - you said earlier there was no point debating with drivers, so I assumed you were out of that subset!

Drop me your address and I'll send you a bigger spade.

I guess sending it is your only option when you have a Smart

Well done OP

You did nothing wrong other than annoy and idiot.

It happened to me once in Mull of all places.

Heading to the south of the island from Tobermory, there is a long section of single track road before you get nearer the ferry terminal where the road becomes a full two lane road again.

It was busy in both directions (well busy for a singletrack road) but busier heading south so I was quite happy to let cars heading north just filter past me by waiting in the passing places - I couldn't go any faster in my direction anyway.

So white van woman (it was actually a transit minibus) takes exception to my largesse and starts beeping at me. I don't know why, even if I hadn't let any cars through she would have still been behind me but maybe 100 metres further up the road and there was no way for her to overtake as there were cars coming in the other direction.

We get to the two lane road as we reach the next village - its still a 30 at this point - and as predicted she sits right up my arse. 100m before the NSL sign she pulls out for an overtake - the road ahead is completely clear now so no one is in any danger. I was already in 3rd waiting for it I floored it and the transit became a slowly vanishing spot in my rear view mirror.

How I laughed

Having studied physics I'm pretty convinced that a decent big car is safer than a decent small car.

Such a shame to go to all that effort. I figured this out with just GCSE physics.

but I don't think driving at the limit with someone tailgating you is a very good idea.

Did you really mean to say this?

Having studied physics I'm pretty convinced that a decent big car is safer than a decent small car