Irrational rage from slower vehicles at traffic lights

The worst I've had was a couple of years ago in Peterborough at a large, multi lane roundabout with traffic lights. We were at a set of lights and I was in the middle lane in the 350z with a small white panel van to my right. I realised I was in the wrong lane and needed to be in the right one, lights go amber and I pull off quite quickly, but smoothly..no big clutch dump, indicate right and pull over to the right hand lane and stop at the next set of lights well ahead of the van.

He then pulls up next to me on the left lane and I became aware of some commotion. I look over and he is going absolutely apoplectic at me, he is gesticulating, shouting bouncing up and down in his seat, the works! I just grin widely and give him a wave and carry on with my day when the lights go green.

The really odd thing though, was that he took the next slip road - so he needed to be in the left hand lane anyway!

Some people need to relax more when driving :p
 
Phemo said:
The rest of what you've said is entirely accurate, but these two seem to be the two biggest problems I think. If people just chilled out a little and wasn't in such a hurry all the time then everything would work so much better. Ever since I started sitting behind lorries on motorways I've found driving a whole lot less stressful and honestly, it doesn't really add all that much time to any of my trips either. An extra 15 minutes or so on a 150 mile drive is really no big deal when it's more or less a stress-free experience.

As for van drivers, I really don't get what their problem is. So many of them seem to drive like absolute tools which is dangerous in itself but when they're driving a vehicle that's much bigger and potentially carrying much more weight than cars it makes them even bigger tools.
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Exactly people need to chill out and not set themselves silly time estimates to get to their destinations. Just because the sat nav/google maps predict it will take 2 hours to get somewhere doesn't necessary mean you will, if you know you need to be somewhere on time then leave early and be there bit early.
Van drivers I generally don't know what more to say but agree with you, see it on the motorway all the time, they are constantly bombing it on 2nd & 3rd lane overtaking everyone.

jpaul said:
exactly inavriably its the people in the works van - thrashing them - a local building company, Norman and something - one crashed off of a local bend 6months back .. remarkably all of their company vans are poorly driven.

local car park was recently made one way .. but if you back out of a space without looking both ways you will be responsible .. it's not a highway ?
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Yeah I understand we still need to check both ways but generally people don't and they just pull off no matter what, people are just lazy and try to take the short-cut to get to the exit of the car park by going the wrong way.


Freakbro said:
The worst I've had was a couple of years ago in Peterborough at a large, multi lane roundabout with traffic lights. We were at a set of lights and I was in the middle lane in the 350z with a small white panel van to my right. I realised I was in the wrong lane and needed to be in the right one, lights go amber and I pull off quite quickly, but smoothly..no big clutch dump, indicate right and pull over to the right hand lane and stop at the next set of lights well ahead of the van.

He then pulls up next to me on the left lane and I became aware of some commotion. I look over and he is going absolutely apoplectic at me, he is gesticulating, shouting bouncing up and down in his seat, the works! I just grin widely and give him a wave and carry on with my day when the lights go green.

The really odd thing though, was that he took the next slip road - so he needed to be in the left hand lane anyway!

Some people need to relax more when driving :p
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This I will never understand people, they stay in the right lane and if you overtake them at the traffic light they have a hissy fit but then they try to pull a quick lane switch because there is "enough" space to go into left lane so they can get to where they need to go.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I don’t see the point of putting foot to the floor to get up to the speed limit, it’s just a waste of fuel. You don’t get anywhere any faster in town anyway, I see people do that all the time and I am right up behind them at the next sets of lights. Accelerate smoothly and you will get there just the same.
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you don't drive a performance car though.

do you think having a mustang is also a waste of fuel with its 15mpg?
 
PCM2 said:
Yeah, but my car is fuelled with electricity I don't pay for! ;) In this case I was quite near my home and there was just light Sunday traffic on the road. No more traffic lights ahead, so I did get to my location marginally quicker. Oh and the acceleration was good fun anyway, it's not all about shaving off 20 seconds from my journey.

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to hack anybody off in this thread. I wasn't really that bothered that he undertook me, specifically. I could see what he was doing when he was still some distance behind me. If he was speeding at me in the right lane rather than left I would've happily moved over and let the idiot speed ahead in the right lane. There is absolutely no excuse to go 80mph in a 50mph zone, undertaking or overtaking other traffic doing the speed limit - unless you're an emergency vehicle. And then to proceed to weave in and out of traffic like a raging maniac. But I digress, I really just wanted to see if anybody else had similar experiences.
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tbh i don't see the issue here.

if he is having to weave in and out of traffic it is because people aren't in the correct lane. in fact you were in the wrong lane. he wanted to do 80 it's his choice to do so. move over and let him past.

same goes for the people ahead. he shouldn't have to weave in and out. they should all move over to the left if it's clear he wants to go faster than they are.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
same goes for the people ahead. he shouldn't have to weave in and out. they should all move over to the left if it's clear he wants to go faster than they are.
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Normally I agree with that. If someone is weaving in and out of traffic without causing anyone any issues then absolutely, they're all in the wrong lane. It's a risky thing to do given that people seem to be incapable of looking in their mirrors, but so be it.

If, however, their weaving in and out of traffic is causing people to have to jam their brakes on because they're just pulling out on them (which does seem to be a van driver's speciality) then they're an absolute bell.
 
Phemo said:
Normally I agree with that. If someone is weaving in and out of traffic without causing anyone any issues then absolutely, they're all in the wrong lane. It's a risky thing to do given that people seem to be incapable of looking in their mirrors, but so be it.

If, however, their weaving in and out of traffic is causing people to have to jam their brakes on because they're just pulling out on them (which does seem to be a van driver's speciality) then they're an absolute bell.
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some people refuse to move over though. so people who tend to drive everyday just treat everyone like that.

i've had it myself. sitting in a car which can shift. behind someone doing 50 in the right lane next to people in the left lane doing 50. with clear roads ahead of them refusing to speed up or move over. it's frustrating and easier to just undertake if an opportunity arises.

people seem to think. this guy wants to go fast. i'll teach him a lesson by slowing down or refusing to move. rather than just move over and let them get on with it. if someone else wants to do 150 then you blocking them isn't going to stop them once an opportunity arises.

i think OP believes his car is special and it makes other people go faster as a result. the truth is nobody cares what he drives so long as he stays out of their way.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
tbh i don't see the issue here.

if he is having to weave in and out of traffic it is because people aren't in the correct lane. in fact you were in the wrong lane. he wanted to do 80 it's his choice to do so. move over and let him past.

same goes for the people ahead. he shouldn't have to weave in and out. they should all move over to the left if it's clear he wants to go faster than they are.
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Not true, it could be true but its not necessarily true.
Its quite possible for people to be in the correct lane, trying to maintain a safe distance and some muppet wants to go faster than the general traffic is capable of doing. If said muppet thinks 10 feet at 75 is an acceptable distance to the vehicle in front hes going to see it as being blocked.
Traffic density often means people will not switch lanes frequently as every time you maneuver there is risk. Not just a risk of an accident. but also a risk your progress is going to be deliberately blocked by someone taking advantage to gain a couple of car lengths.

Going back to the OP, it sounds like he should have moved left far earlier. He probably should have taken the second opportunity to move left as he saw the van gaining, he should have indicated left and moved.
It really sounds like 2 people driving badly at the same time triggered each other.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
you don't drive a performance car though.

do you think having a mustang is also a waste of fuel with its 15mpg?
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Why does it take a performance car to be able to foot down?

All you need is a foot and a pedal.

A regular Audi 4 pot A3 is fast enough when you put the foot down.

I am not talking about the feeling of acceleration, i am talking about getting somewhere quicker which you generally don't due to all the traffic and lights. THAT is the point. I know you are trying to twist the argument to something it is not, stop it.
 
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I agree, its the biggest none issue ever.

Why did the Van drive like that?
- He was happy to exceed the speed limit to get where he is going a bit quicker
- People where blocking Lane 2, leading to him undertaking to maintain his 'progress', leading to weaving in/out.

No hidden 'performance car hating' or anything else, just impatient driver meets ignorant driver, simple as that.
 
jpaul said:
looks like some/all? teslas will automatically capture video from many angles (side/rear/front) ... can't we see the video
https://insideevs.com/news/359521/video-teslacam-scary-crash-footage/
https://insideevs.com/tag/teslacam/
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My model 3 does, it's not fantastic quality but probably handy to have in the event of an accident.

I get frustrated on motorways when you're doing between 70-80mph and someone undertakes you at 100 odd and weaves in and out without adequate room to do so. Just because i'm overtaking doesn't mean I'm going to excessively speed.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Going back to the OP, it sounds like he should have moved left far earlier. He probably should have taken the second opportunity to move left as he saw the van gaining, he should have indicated left and moved.
It really sounds like 2 people driving badly at the same time triggered each other.
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Agreed, as per previous post. However; the van driver didn't "trigger" me other than a quick mental headshake from myself. Certainly didn't cause any angry reaction from me, anyway. I'm generally a very relaxed driver and continued my day as normal whilst that ape zoomed past. Except to post this to see if others had a similar experience and see what might have caused it.

As for the weaving in and out of traffic ahead, the fact people here are suggesting it was because a lane was "blocked" is an odd assumption. When I say he was weaving in and out of traffic, it was exactly as you said - he was just filling in tiny gaps that naturally existed in the traffic and literally speeding through. Which is extremely dangerous. He was also cutting across into lanes he didn't need to be in.
 
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PCM2 said:
Except to post this to see if others had a similar experience and see what might have caused it.
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Unfortunately none of us like to have our driving criticised. As such, when the cause of it was pointed out to likely be your own driving, you've gone on the defensive. If he had time to move into lane 1 and 'speed like a lunatic' then you had ample room to budge over and let him past. Assuming, of course, that you'd been regularly checking your mirrors and factoring that information into your driving plan.

The fact you were just 'enjoying a Sunday drive' and/or were 'at the speed limit' is no excuse for hogging lane 2 (or any other passing lane). Move over, then if necessary later on when you finally reached that traffic you mentioned, move back out to the lane of least resistance. The more you dig, the worse it sounds. Either learn from this or don't - that choice is yours alone.

As for the weaving in and out of traffic ahead, the fact people here are suggesting it was because a lane was "blocked" is an odd assumption. When I say he was weaving in and out of traffic, it was exactly as you said - he was just filling in tiny gaps that naturally existed in the traffic and literally speeding through. Which is extremely dangerous. He was also cutting across into lanes he didn't need to be in.
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The irony of your final sentence is strong. It does sound like he was driving like a spanner, but 'tiny gaps that normally exist in traffic' don't tend to be able to accommodate Transit vans and the like - especially those driving at a large speed differential to the traffic around them...

Honestly it sounds like you'd benefit greatly from some further training. Have you ever considered RoSPA RoADAR or the IAM?
 
I've accepted in multiple posts now that I should've moved into the left lane. I do know the highway code and appreciate the left lane was the correct place to be. The fact I was where I was had no bearing on the driver's speed or subsequent behaviour as far as I'm concerned, but whether the acceleration did at the lights is another story. That is what I'm interested in. I don't habitually drive in the right hand lane, but given the fact the road was clear (van aside) I didn't really see the harm. It was wrong to be there and bad lane discipline, I accept that...

The gaps in the traffic further up that he was weaving in and out of, I didn't really have a good view of them. He was quite far ahead of me at that point. So I'm not in the best position to judge visually and "tiny" was an exaggeration. But he was clearly going a lot faster than the traffic, which was keeping to the speed limit (70mph at this point). Plus he darted into the leftmost lane (for people turning off), possibly undertaking somebody in the central lane. Then proceeded to go into the central lane and then the right hand lane without indicating, naturally. He took the move back to the central lane from the left very late as well and definitely cut it fine. He got beeped at, so the driver he cut infront of clearly didn't think the behaviour was safe.
 
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Going back to OP. Ive had it when I have beaten a similar car away from lights, when I used to live in Ipswich by the hospital there was a section that was 40 for a short distance probably 50 meters or so and then merge into 1 lane. I used to hope I was at the front in the left, cars would come along and go in the right (which was also turn right) to get to the front thinking they would jump the queue, if you beat them to the merge they always seemed angry.

I find normally the ones that will drive like muppets are the ones you overtake, who suddenly see this as a threat to their masculinity, seemingly however slow they are driving and whatever they are driving is irrelevant. These are the sorts who will "chase" you down in a 30 :)
 
Django x2 said:
Who, the OP for staying in the right hand lane, leaving clearly enough of a gap for him to be undertaken? Yep, that does need reporting.
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It was wrong to be in the lane I was in. But it was not dangerous as there was no other traffic, pedestrians or other road users nearby except for a speeding van. Undertaking or overtaking at 80mph+ in a 50mph zone and weaving in and out of traffic some way ahead doing the speed limit is dangerous not just wrong. He would've done the same in the right lane if I were in the left and it would've changed nothing.

If you don't have anything constructive to add to the thread, just don't bother "adding" anything. Thanks. :)
 
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PCM2 said:
It was wrong to be in the lane I was in. But it was not dangerous as there was no other traffic, pedestrians or other road users nearby except for a speeding van. Undertaking or overtaking at 80mph+ in a 50mph zone and weaving in and out of traffic some way ahead doing the speed limit is dangerous not just wrong. He would've done the same in the right lane if I were in the left and it would've changed nothing.

If you don't have anything constructive to add to the thread, just don't bother "adding" anything. Thanks. :)
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Someone's got his knickers in a bunch.

You caused the undertake by lane hogging, a fineable and endorsable offence.

The offence exists because it's been proven to be dangerous.

Lastly it's a public Internet forum. If you don't want to have opinions given to you on a situation where you're at fault then don't post.
 
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