Next year will mark the start of my third decade as a driver, and until this week I’ve managed to avoid getting into any of those nasty road rage situations that you hear so much about. But I’m no longer a road rage virgin; my slate is now forever sullied, and through no fault of my own.
I was heading up the M5 recently, when I heard on the radio that there was trouble up ahead. A crunch had caused tailbacks, so I was even more vigilant than usual, scanning the horizon on the lookout for stationary traffic.
Sitting in lane three at a steady 55mph or so (all the lanes were doing the same), I noticed that way up ahead, the traffic was slowing. Behind me was a Golf driver, who seemed to want a tow, so I just eased off a little more, knowing that he’d shortly be parking in my boot if I didn’t create some extra braking space for both of us. Easing off only agitated Golf man to the point where he started gesticulating wildly. I adjusted my rear-view mirror, so he knew that I realised he was there. Big mistake; he must have bust a blood vessel he was so angry.
As the traffic came to a halt he started waving his fists, flashing his lights and tooting his horn. Then, as lane two started to move, he moved across in a hurry, undertook me, then cut in front of me just as my queue started to move off. But the traffic then stopped again, so Golf man took the opportunity to jump out of his car and start hurling abuse at me.
Intrigued, I got out of my car and asked him what the problem was. Apoplectic with rage, purple-faced Golf man told me in no uncertain terms that I’m just the sort of person who causes accidents, that I shouldn’t be on the road, and all sorts of other very personal stuff that I won’t bore you with. And you know the tragedy of it all? This bloke really did believe that the whole episode was all my fault, and that he was the innocent party. How does that work then?
I too had a very similar situation, but in my case the nutter was a pipe smoking classic Vitesse cabriolet driver who kept swearing…”dont you know who the **** I am !”
Paddy Rice | 20 Jul 07 - 9:16It is madness that these nutters with their old bangers are allowed on our roads, bring back culling is what I say!
Aggressive tailgating is common in the UAE, and is practiced primarily by BMW, Lexus and pumped up 4WD drivers.
AlfaMartini | 03 Aug 07 - 17:47I am a quick driver with a quick car (Alfa 147 GTA), and when I’m being tailgated whilst maintaining a respectful distance behind slower traffic ahead, my standard response is to gently brush the brake pedal with my left foot to activate the brake light switch… This usually tends to drive the tailgaters to distraction and apoplexy, accompanied by flashing headlights etc.
I routinely ignore their histrionics and when the road ahead becomes clear I simply hit the throttle and deliver an embarrassing demonstration of superior performance… They rarely ever repeat the tailgate challenge.