Now, I've read Gaddafi's post about idiots in cars and sadly, with other drivers, this kind of thing happens all the time. The heat makes people act worse (they're short tempered because they're cooking in non-air-con POS cars and there's you, hood down, enjoying the sun... bound to make them jealous) but I think it's just general poor driving practices. I don't actually get really bad road rage incidents because I'm on 9 points and so drive with a degree of circumspection at the moment, but you still see it, and it's totally unprovoked.

Anyway, thought I'd keep this topic separate so as onot to hijack a thread. Last night was nice, I was driving from Bath to Bristol to see my g/f, hood down, music on loud (but I was listening to the new Muse album, Black Holes and Revelations, it's really very good and not 'chav' music), just enjoying the drive.

The A4 is closed at Saltford, so I have to go there via the Upper Bristol Road, which goes through some villages between Bath and Pucklechurch, on the edge of Bristol. One of these is Oldham Common.

I'm doing 35-40mph in 4th gear in a 40mph zone, approaching a 30mph zone. On the pavement are an old couple, walking a couple of dogs. The man starts gesticulating at me, and at first I think he's waving. But as I go past I hear him shouting.

As I'd had a bad day at work, I'm not proud of what I did next, but bear with me. I went about 100 yards further on, turned round and drove back to him. I asked: "Did you have something to say, mate?" And he gets all aggressive, saying: "It's a 30 zone here, not 40 or 50 which is what you were doing." I respond: "I was doing 35 for your information, in a 40 zone." "No you bloody weren't..."

This is the bit where I'm a bit ashamed. I lost it slightly and said: "Whatever mate, and anyway, I don't see your policeman's uniform so why don't you just f*** off?"

Oops...

Anyway, I went and turned round again and headed back the way I was going initially, and as I went past him (STILL obeying speed limits, despite his protestations), he was waving his fist at me. I just shouted "Get a life!"

Ignoring my slight yobbishness (which was exacerbated by having already had a bad day in the office), did I do wrong? Why did this 60-year-old geezer suddenly pick me out? There was a car in front of me doing exactly the same speed, he said nothing to him.

Was it jealousy? The heat? The fact that I dared to have my music on and hood down in my nice sports car on a sunny evening? I swear to whatever G0d you care to worship that I was NOT breaking the speed limit. Do you think the high-revving nature of the S means it sounds like it is going faster than it is, and therefore winds up silly old beggars on the pavements who think they can accurately judge a car's speed from 300 yards?

Sorry to waffle, but this really gets my goat. It makes me very ... and I suppose he's got what he wanted, he managed to rile me. Sigh...

 

I would have pulled up next to him and floored it whilst giving a one finger salute.

Well done that man

 

The problem here Matt is that you were in Oldland Common - they're miserable buggers over there

For what it's worth, I don't think you did anything wrong at all..

 

I had the "patting the head of the invisible dog" (as Chilled calls it ) from someone when I was doing 15 in a 20 ffs.

Pensioner as well.

 

Just a different variety of the self-appointed guardians of the speed limit whom you see sitting in the outside lane refusing to move over.

I think it's all about perception. They pay more attention to a sports car than a family hatchback. The high-revving nature of the engine also means that the sound can make it seem faster than it is actually travelling - especially if you have an after-market exhaust.

It irritates me too - but it's more hassle than it's worth getting into an argument about it. You're never going to persuade the old geezer to back down so you're on a hiding to nothing.

 

Sorry - just re-read you were in Oldham Common not Oldland Common.

Wherever, they're still miserable

 

no, he's just a tw*t. you were fully entitled to run him over

ask yourself whether this would have happened if you were driving a PoS beater. No. People just seem to have this perception that because you are in a sprots car with loud music you must be an driving like a moron.

i know it's best in theory just to let things go but sometimes red mist just takes over

 

I did the same to a lollipop tw@t a few weeks ago. Trying to tell me that the legal figure indicated on my speedo was irrelevant because I was going too fast.

I asked him if he had radar equipment in his lollipop to verify this opinion but alas he did not.

He assumes that all cars lumber round rounabouts like a poorly sprung Citroen AX, so assumes when one goes roudnd neatly that doesn't that it must be speeding.

 

no you weren't in the wrong but it's usually unwise to stop

as Mark said, you won't change his mind

a cheerful wave and smile would probably have riled him more

but it's easy to think of things like that a day later

or if it wasn't you

 

No, I think you're right Alex! Oops! It is Oldland Common, isn't it?

Like you say, though, they were miserable. And yes, LL, I certainly was on a hiding to nothing. I just couldn't help it though, for some reason it just flicked the switch in me. At least I didn't get out of the car and threaten to deck the old git. Then I'd have really sunk to a new low.

Another slightly shameful thing I do is when I'm driving at night and I overtake someone on a two-lane road, only for them to keep their ing main beam lights on behind me, as if to make some point about overtaking. I always pull over at the first opportunity, let them pass, then come up behind them with my main beam lights on. And trust me, an 04 S2000 has far more powerful lights than most of these POS cars on the road. That soon sh1ts them up...

Not very grown up of me, but in all walks of life, I hate bad manners more than most other annoyances. And bad manners on the road are not only ignorant, but potentially dangerous as well. I've got to stop retaliating, though, because it can make me look as idiotic as them.