Now which is my left hand again?
I was training on some small country lanes, not much wider than one car width. Going down a hill, I was stuck behind a range rover doing about 15-17mph. On a sharp corner an ambulance came speeding round (perhaps 30mph). They came to a stop pretty abruptly. If the Land Rover had been doing same speed as Ambulance, they may not have been able to stop in time and could have been a nasty collision. Anyway, after narrowly averting a crash, the range Rover driver wound down his window and politely said to the ambulance driver ‘They may not mind in the back, but, I’m still alive and I’d like to stay that way’. The ambulance driver laughed, smiled and politely acknowledged his mistake and they drove off.
When I get cars driver dangerously, turning into road without looking, cutting me up, driving through red lights e.t.c, I usually shout out of both frustration and as a defensive mechanism (well I haven’t a horn). I usually say something like ‘look where you’re going’. But invariably the motorist will swear like anything as if it was my fault to have the audacity to be on the road.
Anyway a bit of politeness goes a long way, even when it comes to road rage. It’s sad but there’s something about getting behind a steering wheel and windscreen that makes people lose their calm and dignity.
Funnily enough a few miles later on, I came across this learner driver who took a rather unusual attempt at a three point turn. (a recovery vehicle had to be brought to get the car out).
It was certainly all happening on the small lanes of Garsington and Wheatley.
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I’ve taken to doing a “thank you for not pulling out on me” wave/nod and smile at junctions. The way i see it, since i’ve just made them wait for a whole 2 seconds, when they come racing up behind me to make up this precious lost time they may not be so inclined to crush me between their car and the pavement.
Great entry – I totally know what you mean about the impulse to shout, and how amazingly unproductive it can be. But equally you feel that if you don’t let the driver know that they nearly killed you, they won’t have learnt their lesson … I normally end up being a kind of “sighing with frustration” person. Perhaps we should all take a leaf out of the example you saw above. If anyone’s interested, I did write a little entry about how I inadvertently became a hippy when confronted by real road rage … it’s here:
http://karma-cycle.blogspot.com/search/label/hippy