Right, I am not proud of myself for this, but it is not the first time I have noticed this.
Outside lane of the A14, coming up to some slower traffic. A car looks like it is going to pull out. I am a bit close to let him pull out and there is a bloody great Merc van right on my tailgate (and had been following me for quite some time there), so couldn't really slow down in case the idiot hits me. So, I accelerate and I have to admit, although I didn't notice it, I hit the 100mph mark (I know, I know, VERY bad and I am very ashamed. Don't usually do this, but I was VERY arsed off with the van driver and just wanted to get him of my backside, as well as trying to let the guy out in the middle lane). Anyway, about half a mile goes and I slow down, realising my stupidity. But the van is right back on me within a few seconds. So, getting VERY annoyed by this, I accelerate again, up to about 95mph this time and I stay at that speed for alittle while to get some distance between me and the van. Now, the van accelerates and sits on my tail at the 95mph!!!! Now, two things from this.
1) WHY are there IDIOTS who insist on sitting on your tail on a relatively busy road when there is no way you can pull in.
2) HOW the HELL do these vans DO that kinda speed? They are diesels most of the time and they must have the slipperyness of a barn door!!! I have seen a van go past me over 100mph before and it doesn't seem as though it is that much of a problem for them either.
Surely these vans shouldn't be able to do these kinda speeds and why are they ALWAYS driven by utter and total twats?
God, this made me SOOOOOO angry on the way home. I have taken to giving "hand gestures" in my cynical aging process recently and I am sure one day some big hariy arsed bloke is going to get out of one and twat me, but its just bleeding stupid, dangerous, annoying and bloody embarrasing when a brick on wheels goes past a sports car............
little tap on the brakes with teh left foot ahould do it.
just enough for teh brake lighst to come on.
then you'll see the whites of his eyes as he shits himself. They soon back off after that.
Quote from: "markiii"little tap on the brakes with the left foot ahould do it.
just enough for the brake lighst to come on.
then you'll see the whites of his eyes as he shits himself. They soon back off after that.
That's what I do - or rather did in every other car that I have had, if he goes into the back of you, it's his fault.
I am embarrassed to admit that I have once reported a driver with a "How's my driving" sticker for the same thing - don't know what came of it but he p155ed me off sooooo much that I resorted to a different type of road rage s:oops: :oops: s:oops:
Have to admit, that if it is safe to do so I slow down to exactly 70mph (ie safe, you are still overtaking in the "overtaking" lane.
That REALLY peeves these idiots off.
yep that's my trick too, or even lower than the actual speed limit of the road you're on, awesome
Those Merc vans (Sprinters) are outrageously fast. I use to drive Transits, and we lusted after a Sprinter!
When I moved a few weeks back I hired one to get my stuff from Birminghan, and couldn't believe how fast that thing shifted once the turbo spooled up. As for all van drivers driving like tw*ts? It's ingrained after a few weeks on the job s:oops: :oops: s:oops: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
Sometimes I show 'em the brake lights with my left foot, sometimes I give them a proper brake test (down shift, lift, then straight back on the gas again) - you know this has worked as usually all the colour drains from their face when they realise how close they are to your tail (followed immediately by a sharp drop in the height of the front of their car s;-) ;-) s;-) ). If I get really fed up, I just gradually lift off until we are going slower and slower and slower. This last one is especially effective if there is no way they can possibly get around you, like in town, or if you have them boxed in next to a big wagon or something.
You'd be so suprised just how much grunt modern white man van has under his right foot. Driven a Merc Vito recently and it shocked the hell out of me. Makes me shudder even more when these brain donors get behind the wheel of one.
FWIW my commute to work contains a particular stretch of M1 where accidents are frequent. Usually one a week. If you think I'm exagerating, one week there was one a day for four days in the morning rush hour. Nine times out of ten there is a white van involved and it's a 'fast' lane incident.
At times I think the sooner I get a 4x4 the better.
I find, during the day obviously, that just switching the lights on has the same "oh my god their braking!" effect on the too close vehicle behind me, just flick them on and off quickly and watch the fronts dip down!
I got a w*nker last summer.
On my way back from work there's a small town (Woodstock), 30mph limit, you drive right through the high-street and through two speed cameras. I stick to 30limits, but there was a black cab right up my arse. I tried a gentle dab of the brakes and he just got closer, flashed his lights and hit his horn.
So I kept at 30 until we were out of the town and onto the DC. At which point taxi cab decides to box me in with a slow moving lorry in front.
I just slammed the anchors on, pulled out behind him and as he moved out of the way, shot past.
I've had some idiots in my time. But none that took it quite this far.
Quote from: "juansolo"FWIW my commute to work contains a particular stretch of M1 where accidents are frequent. Usually one a week.
What stretch of the M1 do you use then s:?: :?: s:?: The section I go on to commute I probably see on average two to three per journey. s:shock: :shock: s:shock: Your section must be a safe bit at one a week.
Between J36 and 37. There is a long climb up a hill, followed by a very long downhill.
Up the hill they are all bumper to bumper in the fast lane and doing about 50-60. As they go over the top they increase to 80ish but don't spread out. This is compounded by a large amount of traffic joining at J37 just over the rise.
It's always in this half mile stretch. Always multiple vehicles and almost always attributable to driving to fast too close. You'd think they'd learn really.
I have to go through the worst bit of the whole stretch of the M1; that being between J9 and 6A the M25. Worse accident section in the country of any road s:? :? s:?
With reference to phil4's post above, many years ago I pulled the slowing down trick on a mini-cab and nearly tempted him to overtake me as we approached a humpback bridge s:roll: :roll: s:roll:
Once it had dawned on him that what he was about to do would be really, really stupid, he backed out of it at the last minute ...
Thing is, I have and would do most of this to put off the perp, but my cousin had an idiot do a similar thing while he was driving his CRX. The guy behind was in one of the IS300 Lexus. Cousin was getting pissed off with the bloke being in his tailpipe, so gave him the brake test. The Lexus bloke went off on one in the car and FOLLWED my cousin pretty much all the way home and accosted him on his driveway! It took a quick thinking phone call from the next door neighbours to the police to sort it out. Not nice.
I am only a small bloke and really don't want to get into a situation like that. Yep, I have a black belt in Karate (not kidding!), but I STILL hate ANY kind of confrontation and just want to avoid these situations at all costs. I just don't like it. I have been tempted, but you just don't know who or what youa re dealing with nowadays. There are just so many lobotomised imbiciles out there and I still value my health...........
Quote from: "John Woodward"Thing is, I have and would do most of this to put off the perp, but my cousin had an idiot do a similar thing while he was driving his CRX. The guy behind was in one of the IS300 Lexus. Cousin was getting pissed off with the bloke being in his tailpipe, so gave him the brake test. The Lexus bloke went off on one in the car and FOLLWED my cousin pretty much all the way home and accosted him on his driveway! It took a quick thinking phone call from the next door neighbours to the police to sort it out. Not nice.
That sums up pretty much why I try not to wind people up (who may or may not be winding me up) on the road.. I might be a fat bloater, but I'm only a 5'9" shortar*e s:) :) s:)
These days - if someones tailgating me on the motorway, I usually pull in to the lane on the left - even if I have to slow down considerably and end up waiting for ages to get back out again.. I'd rather do that than braketest someone - afterall, one day you might do it to someone who decides they don't value the front of their (usually company) white van..
Either that or if it's clear ahead I'll floor it (not usually in the '2 though, it just doesn't have the oompf to get away from anything) - they don't usually follow.. the ones that do you can usually let sail past at three figure speeds (and then cross your fingers theres a plod waiting ahead to nab them.. mwahahaha!)
As others have said.. far too many brain donors on the roads these days s:( :( s:(
Quote from: "heathstimpson"I have to go through the worst bit of the whole stretch of the M1; that being between J9 and 6A the M25. Worse accident section in the country of any road s:? :? s:?
What time of day do you travel that section - I do that journey
every day at about 07:00 and at most see one accident per week!
Drive off as fast as you can, pull in and park. Then point a hairdryer out of your window right at them as they drive past.
WATCH them slow down then. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
nah, you all have it wrong... what you do is just rest your left foot on the brake pedal, just enough so the lights come on but not so your slowing down.... THEN FLOOR IT! watch their faces as they think your slowing down and you pull away from them.... s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
Get Q to install the oil slick dispenser, of course!
All modern engines are easily tunned, Diesel engines can produce more toque than a F1 car when they are tunned.
Quote from: "filcee"If I get really fed up, I just gradually lift off until we are going slower and slower and slower. This last one is especially effective if there is no way they can possibly get around you, like in town, or if you have them boxed in next to a big wagon or something.
I use that one myself. You look in the mirror and they are bouncing off the roof with rage sometimes.
A few months ago some boy racer t#=t was up my tailpipe in a 1.25 fiesta, I had nowhere to go coz I was stuck myself behind an old man doing 55. I decided to do the slowing down thing, very gently, and as I did he began to go crazy like an escaped mental patient. Him getting so mad pi##ed me off so I dropped to 30mph. Everytime he tried to undertake me I touched the throttle and then slowed down when he pulled back out. This went on for about 2 miles and I had a reasonable amount of traffic behind me by this point so decided to put the boot down and leave him behind.
Looking back I was a complete tw#t myself for holding up all the other traffic and I am sorry I did it, although I am not sorry for psycho boy.
I try to avoid doing this now because innocent people get involved although it does have the desired affect.
It also adds to road rage, and people getting stabbed.
It's amazing how stressed people can get, about a year ago a guy in a bashed up old Volvo with 3 other guys in the car was going PSYCHO in his car because I wouldn't slow down and let him undertake and move back into the outside lane.
I just sat there, calmly and watch this guy go FUCKING nuts. I mean NUTS. The people in the car looked kinda stressed.
After about HALF and HOUR I called the police and told them he was probably going to kill someone in the attempt to undertake and his boot was bouncing about.
After about 5 secs of me putting the phone down blue lights appear behind us from a bashed up old white van.
Quote from: "SteveJ"Quote from: "heathstimpson"I have to go through the worst bit of the whole stretch of the M1; that being between J9 and 6A the M25. Worse accident section in the country of any road s:? :? s:?
What time of day do you travel that section - I do that journey every day at about 07:00 and at most see one accident per week!
All different times but I travel from J15 to J5. Tonight travelling between 5 and 6ish there was three bad accidents s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
hmph, the thing is - only way to "play" with those bullies is to show them the brake lights... that does not mean that you should press it all the way down, just a bit tho... i had one car trailing me few days ago, 5 guys in it (friday night, going to some club i guess), and just stayed behind me on my tail... first i accelerated and they cought up at the traffic light, and started tailgating me again... then i pressed the brakes just a "bit" and i can assure you that after that they stayed good 20 meters away...
you see, it all comes down to who is the craziest guy, and you can fool them into thinkin you are one crazy son of the ... even if you are quite mellow fellow just like me...
Quote from: "spwolf"only way to "play" with those bullies is to show them the brake lights
you see, it all comes down to who is the craziest guy, and you can fool them into thinkin you are one crazy son of the
Right folks, my turn to jump in.
Never, ever, try to second guess someone or play with their heads, especially on the roads.
I used to suffer from road rage. I had a 10m area in front and behind me and 2m each side. If anyone came into that area, then I would hope that they wouldn't impede me. Even small things would make my blood boil. Falsely tapping the brake lights would serioulsy piss me off. I used to play snooker every night and carry my cues with me, which would always be in easy reach. If someone pissed me off seriously enough a wave of the extension piece would stop them "playing" and seeing "who is the craziest guy". It was me....and some of my mates hated being in the same car as me.
As I said, I used to suffer from road rage. What changed me? Having someone try to rip me through the window of my car because the car in front of me cut him up, yet got away. So picked on the next one in line...me. Now that scared me.
I knew that some people would have thought that they did nothing wrong, yet I was fuming at them. They must have felt the same as I did.
So do you really want to play with them? Do you really want to see who is the bigger psycho? Do you really want to take the chance that the person you are brake testing doesn't have a snooker cue in his/her car...or even worse a knife.
My advice (and what I now do), stick to what you were doing before Mr Jackass came up behind you. Do not react, do not wave at them...either in jest or using the middle finger, loosely clenched fist etc. A soon as possible let them past. As they drive past you, whatever you do, do not look at them.....look straight ahead, look in the rear view mirror, look at your sterio, look at your n/s mirror.....just don't look at them. That's what they want you to do and it will only make the situation worse.
Your advice is probably quite right Peter but unfortunately in this stressfull world we live in its all so easy to loose your wrag when some arsehole pisses you off. Will try to remember your story next time s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
Just can't picture you as a psycho road-rage maniac Peter s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
I used to get aggressive but just don't bother now. Not sure why.
AnnMarie on the other hand.... s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
Peter's reasoning is exactly why I don't know how to react in those situations. I get EXTREMELY uptight about idiots tailgaiting, weaving, middle lane cruising, undertaking etc and these instances are becoming more and more prevelant. BUT, with the story like Peters and the one with my cousin getting accosted after he was followed home, what can you do? These people SHOULD be taught a lesson cos they are endangering lives, but who is going to do it? The number of instances I have seen two people in two different cars (behind me or ahead of me, me not involved), where something has happened and they have just been throwing gestures at each other, winding windows down at stupid speeds and shouting at each other..........it makes me sick, it really does. I am not a violent person and hate it in all forms, but I am "irritable" when it comes to driving and sometimes it is very difficult NOT to get stressed about these things, hence the original post. I just don't know. You can't win really can you?
Also, part of the problem is that regardless of the incident, when you are in your car you are "invincible" and whatever happens, its never YOUR fault is it? I personally think it might just take someone to swallow their pride occasionally and just admit they made a mistake. Not only that, the reason that we all think we are invincible, especially men, is that we ALL think we are better drivers than the next person and that is just no way true or provable, but thats what people believe.
Its a scary world we live in and getting worse, but I have to get these things of my chest occasionally cos I will burst, so sorry guys, you lot are going to have to be my sounding board!
I agree, like I said all this adds to road rage and people getting stabbed.
Let the w*nkers be w*nkers and get out there way, like Peter i use to sufer road rage and still do from time to time s:oops: :oops: s:oops: , but it is all the game of who has lost it to the red mist the most and things can go bad pretty quickly s:( :( s:(
At the end of a the day there normally driving a heap, etc and are jealous or just plain muppets, having been a passenger in a works van many years ago, when a taxi cut us up and gave us the finger, etc (Our driver was built like Donk from Crocodile Dundee by the way s;) ;) s;) ).
The traffic stopped just up the road for works, the guy driving the van we were in, jumps out, crow bar in had and proceeds to smash the lights, panels and windscreen in. Threatens the driver and that was that!
On a brighter note, i'm surprised no one mentioned putting a Sprinter engine in a 2 s:D :D s:D
Andy
Quote from: "WoodenDummy"Then point a hairdryer out of your window right at them as they drive past.
Yeah, I keep mine in the glovebox, right next to the microwave... s:roll: :roll: s:roll: s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
DP
Quote from: "John Woodward"I personally think it might just take someone to swallow their pride occasionally and just admit they made a mistake.
Its amazing how true that is. If someone does something really stupid like totally cut you up then puts their hand up to apologise I find I just let it go and don't worry about it s:) :) s:)
Well I had white Astramax van up my bottom tonight flicked the lights and watched him dip s:evil: :evil: s:evil:
Just as a warning I am driving a white transit down to Somerset tomorrow so beware!! s:P :P s:P
are you stealing Martins car?
Damn...rumbled!! s:D :D s:D
Quote from: "Liz"Well I had white Astramax van up my bottom tonight flicked the lights and watched him dip s:evil: :evil: s:evil:
Cant you borrow a blue flashing light from one of your colleague's s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:
why?
to stick it up her bum and see where the van went?
s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
Quote from: "markiii"why?
to stick it up her bum and see where the van went?
s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
Mmmmmm. That's gotta hurt. Makes my eyes water just thinking about it. s:shock: :shock: s:shock:
Quote from: "markiii"why?
to stick it up her bum and see where the van went?
s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
s:roll: :roll: s:roll: s:roll: :roll: s:roll: s:roll: :roll: s:roll:
I can just imagin the WVM right behind her as she reaches onto her roof with a blue flashing light. Would he back off or what? s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:
Made it back from Somerset I drove down, in a high top transit, S reg, thousands of miles on the clock.....speedo went up to 150mph, ha ha ha, I dragged 75 out of it and it complained all the time, oh and 3rd gear wouldn't go in without crunching.
However, I did not cut anybody up or drive on their tailgate, in fact lorry drivers were flashing me back into lanes, bless 'em.
A few months back after work my boss and i were driving back from work (in differnt cars on the a3 from portsmouth) a dohnut in a volvo decided i was not going fast enough and overtook me (via the central reservation s:shock: :shock: s:shock: ) once back we popped in to our various local police stations and gave in his numberplate .... as a result of the two complaints from differnt people and investigation he ended up with points on his licence and a little fine ... woo hoo !!
As a victim of having my car smashed to bits by a f*cking pr*ck a year ago, I am also very careful when out and about and very defensive when people are near in the car.
The best advice is to "leave it". try to calm down if anything goes on around you, as you really dont know what will happen next. The most important lesson is that if you see anything dodgy then get the reg number.
I am a very streetwise guy and drill it into kerstie to take reg numbers when things happens, then when it happened to me, I completly forgot, its very difficult to write stuff down. We now have a digital dicaphone in the car. Just make a note of anything that happens, because you never ever know what could happen futher up the road !