UK roadrage
Posted by Rob Bright at 11:30AM on Tuesday 19 August, 2008 10 Comments
"You want some?"
This much I can lip-read, as the driver in the Ford Focus is saying it with the window up. He's not saying it to me, but the man in the BMW in front who's just cut across him on the M4, behaviour he would have got away with had the traffic not abruptly ground to a halt and left them side-by-side.
So, 'does Beemerman want some?'
His response could go a number of ways. He could say, 'yes I do actually', and get out of his car, at which point Fordman either has to start back-pedalling (if he's been bluffing), or else get out of his car too.
At this point it would kick off proper, providing the rest of us in the traffic jam with a rare moment of true, visceral entertainment as two grown humans got back to evolutionary basics by lamping each other.
But what if your instinct is 'flight' rather than 'fight'? That's somewhat curtailed if you're stuck in gridlock - you could effectively abandon your car and flee over the grass banks of the motorway, but not only would it be comically ignoble, it would also result in the loss of your vehicle.
Much better to simply lock the doors and give a bit of 'no, I don't want some, do you want some?' back.
The final alternative is to simply ignore the abuse being hurled in your direction and stare determinedly straight ahead, as if the number plate of the car in front had transformed into next week's lottery numbers and you were busy memorising them.
It's the last of those scenarios that happens in this instance; Fordman eventually gives up with his gesturing, Beemerman steadfastly ignores him.
On the whole, it tends to end this way. It's enormously rare that people actually get out of their cars and start throwing punches - most of us haven't done that since we were at school.
Nevertheless, such displays of aggression are far more common in cars than on foot. At Waterloo Station, where people are frequently cutting each other up and bumping into each other, things almost never flare up beyond a tut or a sigh.
If people behaved as provocatively as they do in cars, you'd have a riot on your hands every rush hour.
The reasons for the differences are obvious, of course: in a car, you've got protection, which means you can afford to be a bit more mouthy. If someone really wants to break your nose, the very least they're going to have to do is smash a window - unless you're in a convertible, and when's the last time you saw a convertible driver eager to square up?
You're also in charge of what amounts to the second most expensive thing you own, and therefore likely to get a bit touchy about other drivers' seeming lack of concern for that.
So we know the reasons why, but the question is, are such incidents becoming more frequent? Are we, as some would argue, getting more selfish and more impatient?
The British are traditionally regarded as the most polite motorists in the world; is such a reputation as out-of-date as rationing? Or maybe we're better than we ever were, given what we have to put up with on the roads?
It's over to you...
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10 Comments for "UK roadrage"
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I think the English motorists are some of the best mannered I've experienced. The problem is, when most motorists are well mannered, they resent the rude & selfish motorists so much more, and so have no tolerance for them. An event which would result in a bit of horn blowing in, say, Italy or Spain, can escalate into a full blown road rage incident in the UK.
you wot?! come over 'ere and say that!
Road rage is almost a form of etiquette. It's something that happens every day, to almost everyone, whether we're a christian motorist or a complete arse. It's daily ignorance that we put up with. For example I get angry whenever someone cuts me up, and they look at me innocently, like "what's wrong?". But if I do it back, an orchestra of horns and flashing lights flare up behind me. Makes me laugh sometimes.
The more this happens, the more I want to drive something obscenely huge, like a Hummer with an extra wide bodykit or something, just to spite the ignorant drivers who cut people up. They can't cut me up if I'm 10 feet wide, right?
There must be something about being in your car which makes you feel protected and which breeds confidence in your ability to "lamp" another person so effectively they will admit humble defeat. Let's face it, giving someone a mouthful of abuse about their driving is akin to questioning their ability in bed and comparing their wife to the back end of a horse. And you wouldn't do that in the street would you?
Someone cutting me up when I'm walking is never going to result in unidentifiable visceral parts hanging off lamposts. At the very most, maybe knees would be grazed or heads would be bumped.
But on the motorway, cutting someone up can result in no end of pain. At the very least, we deserve a good shout at the Audi in question, if only so it's out of our system and we can continue our journey without being tempted to chase Audiman down, deliver him to the French and attempt to persuade them to reintroduce the guillotine.
I always thought Canadians were the nicest drivers in the world? No matter...
I no longer get mad at people when they do something stupid, or if I do it's temporary. That way, I can assume people aren't getting mad at me when I do something stupid. Let's face it, we're all at one time or another going to be the target of some motorist's anger. Likewise, someone will be the target of ours. Best to accept it and move on, much as you would on foot.
Unless the person is really bad, and attempts a hit-and-run or somesuch. Then you can beat the snot out of them.
I agree that since my car is precious to me that I drive it with respect, but more often than not I see the bad driving being done by those who have a family saloon/hatchback, perhaps because they are more common.
But when a family man tries to take out his frustration at being a slave to his demaning wife & kids on the roads by tailgating my 350Z when I'm in the fast lane doing the speed limit and overtaking a truck it's easy to put them in their place with a small display of power.
I offer this advice to these men: regain your pride & leave the bitch, then get yourself a sports car with the money you're bullied into giving her & your everyday life will be so much more relaxed that you can simply enjoy driving again.
There's all kinds of psychological premises that can explain why we do things in our cars that we wouldn't do walking around. Most of them focus on our tendency to behave differently when we de-humanize the people in cars. Since we're protected in our little box and feel we have some anonymity, we're more likely to be set off by somebody being a complete idiot. It's the same basic theory that explains why people go crazy in mob situations (look up "deindividuation"). So my advice is, remember that those are people in those other boxes on the road. Some are jerks, and some are just not paying attention.
Canadians the nicest drivers in the world, Jon?!?! Certianly not anywhere near Toronto, where the rule of the road (the only one, regrettably) is:,/p>
"I may not be getting anywhere, but I'm getting there ahead of you!"
The problem is the willful, almost pathological lack of imagination existent in the growing majority. Most of them cannot even begin to imagine what effect their actions may have on others. 2 weeks ago a Toronto-area road rage incident gone awry left one dead and one charged with vehicular manslaughter. I bet neither of the men involved imagined that their day was going to end that way.
I have never seen road rage EVER. But still people keep going on about it, and anyway don't we have a right to be angry at someone, obviosly don't take it too seriosly.