mild road rage

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stuffedpike20
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mild road rage

Post by stuffedpike20 »

My 'modern' daily driver car will do 60 miles an hour. My Morris Minor will also do 60 miles an hour (although the engine is screaming for mercy).
Why is it that other drivers will mostly behave themselves when they are behind my modern car, but do anything possible, no matter how stupid, to get in front of my Morris Minor?
Blind bends, hidden dips and vehicles coming from the other direction do not deter these drivers trying to get in front.
Has anyone got a coping strategy that I can adopt to cope with these drivers?
Edward1949
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Edward1949 »

This has always been an issue when driving anything perceived as low-powered. You can drive a big Jag at a gentle 45 - 50mph along a B road without harassment from following drivers. Do the same speed in old car and many motorists get this irresistible urge to risk a pass. When I'm cycling I can tell you that the "pass at any cost" mindset gets even worse. I often endure intimidating close passes even when approaching a line of stationary traffic which will clearly bring us all to a halt within a few yards. I think some drivers are quite simply stupid!
stuffedpike20
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Re: mild road rage

Post by stuffedpike20 »

Agreed
Sleeper
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Sleeper »

Just ease off the accelerator , makes you feel better and gives them a better chance of passing...

John ;-)
Stevearniepalmer
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Stevearniepalmer »

I am often commenting about this to people.
This morning someone pulled out in front of me on a roundabout because they
Didn’t want to wait behind a Morris.
However

The bit I like is the surprised look on people’s
Faces when because of the size of the Minor
We can get through quite small spaces 😉😂
And leave them standing because they can’t get
Through the space.
myoldjalopy
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Re: mild road rage

Post by myoldjalopy »

This is a quite noticable phenomenom and seems to be widespread. There must be some psychological reason these crazy drivers feel compelled to overtake. A few sessions on a psychiatrist's couch might reveal a selection of repressed complexes! :wink:
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geoberni
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Re: mild road rage

Post by geoberni »

....and yet I've sometimes found the complete opposite.
I can go out on our local standard single carriageway A Road and be cruising along at 45/50 mph and have Audi, BMW, Volvo SUVs behind me not trying to overtake at all. Not for ages until the passenger has finished taking photos :lol:
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Bettythemoggie
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Bettythemoggie »

Only had impatient drivers overtake a couple of times in the last few months. Generally, they are really happy to see my Betty on the road. Quite often stopping for me and letting me take priority. Even get lorry drivers smiling and waving to me as we chunter along.
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Monty-4
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Monty-4 »

Modern cars are designed to look increasingly angry and intimidating, they're also getting larger and larger in a strange kind of arms race that has killed off much of the emissions and mpg gains modern engines grant. Perhaps people are increasingly isolated and afraid - hows that for pop sociology 101? Egos are tied up with cars and road rage more often than not stems from the feeling of being "disrespected". I don't think this environment is conducive to calm, polite, and defensive driving.

I content myself with a shake of the head and pitying the poor fool that has such insecurities. Sometimes I'll slow down a little to get them away from me faster, too, of course. I don't have airbags!
68' 4-door Saloon, another 'Monty'.
les
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Re: mild road rage

Post by les »

I tend to share a similar view, I’m convinced these types have problems in their lives, which explain their behaviour.

stuffedpike20
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Re: mild road rage

Post by stuffedpike20 »

Monty-4 wrote: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:12 pm Modern cars are designed to look increasingly angry and intimidating, they're also getting larger and larger in a strange kind of arms race that has killed off much of the emissions and mpg gains modern engines grant. Perhaps people are increasingly isolated and afraid - hows that for pop sociology 101? Egos are tied up with cars and road rage more often than not stems from the feeling of being "disrespected". I don't think this environment is conducive to calm, polite, and defensive driving.

I content myself with a shake of the head and pitying the poor fool that has such insecurities. Sometimes I'll slow down a little to get them away from me faster, too, of course. I don't have airbags!
I think you are spot on Monty.
The rather unkind advice is. 'the place for the idiot behind you. is in front of you.' It is hard not to think of them as idiots.
How can we make the environment more 'conducive to calm. polite and defensive driving' ? Or is that impossible?
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Re: mild road rage

Post by jagnut66 »

How can we make the environment more 'conducive to calm. polite and defensive driving' ? Or is that impossible?
Possibly by banning all these excessively large 4X4s and people carriers, limiting the use of 4X4s to those who actually need them, like farmers and the military.
Not that it will happen, certain people will 'get angry' just at the suggestion of it, which kind of makes the point.
Best wishes,
Mike.
1954 Series 2: 4 door: "Sally" -- Back on the ground with (slave) wheels and waiting to be resprayed......
1970 Triumph Herald 1200: "Hetty" -- Driven back from Llangollen in Wales (twice.....)
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geoberni
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Re: mild road rage

Post by geoberni »

It's 'Horses for Courses' most of the time.
I've had 'People Carriers' in the past, when we had 3 children at home, but I doubt anyone runs such a beast if they don't need to because they tend to be in very high Road Tax categories.
I now drive a 9+ yr old Ford Kuga, not a 4x4 version because I didn't want to pay another £2K for a feature that reduced the average fuel consumption. I have that because I wanted a suitable vehicle to tow a caravan.
Although a couple of times I've wished it was a 4x4 when it's slipping on wet grass at impromptu car parking in fields, such as Show-grounds etc

But yes, there are quite a few 'Chelsea Taxi' people out there who have a 4x4, especially in the expensive Audi/BMW/Jaguar (I mean, for crying out aloud, what the hell are Jaguar doing making a 4x4 SUV anyway?) etc end of the market, who don't need one and usually have no idea how to use it, take up 2 parking bays at the shops etc.
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KeithL
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Re: mild road rage

Post by KeithL »

The Jaguar F-Pace SUV is a cracker. All the benefits of an off-roader (other than the degree of articulation in the suspension and possibly the ground clearance which you get with the hard core off-roaders) with the comfort and ride of a proper car.

Blaketon
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Blaketon »

People make assumptions based on their own experiences. Most people have only ever experienced old cars as old bangers and so, based on the fact that their clapped out, fifteen year old whatever was on it's last legs, your sixty odd year old car must be four times as bad (Based on the assumption, that like them, nobody looks after anything). It's not just the Minor; I get the same thing with my MGB GT V8 (I've never actually had it where there was nothing left and the revs were not climbing anymore but I've seen 4800 rpm in top and it does about 28.5 per 1000 in top). Granted the V8 always was a bit of a Q car, even when new, as the V8 badges are rather small.

It's similar to riding a bike (i.e. Bicycle). The majority of people can't make a bike go that quickly and would tootle along at 10mph or less. Therefore, if they see a bike, they see themselves on it and assume that passing it is like passing a pedestrian. This leads them to overtake and then turn left or pull out of side roads when they should wait. The old chestnut "I didn't see you" apparently sounds less dozy than "I saw you but assumed you were as unfit as me". I have proved this theory by the simple test of much night riding. Some of my lights give 2000 lumens and I know I have cycled at 50mph, perfectly safely with such lights. To the seated pedestrian type of "Cyclist", bike lights either don't exist or they are puny Ever Ready things on a fork mounted lamp bracket. When they see me coming, they assume I am riding a motorcycle and people tend to assume that motorcyclists ride everywhere like lunatics. The net result is that they don't pull out if all they can see is my bright front light. I suggest that this tendency to judge things by their own standards applies to more than just riding a bike.

The other day, I saw a cyclist going down the road, at I'd guess 20mph. Someone went down the road in a "Handbag", overtook the cyclist, going past a right hand turn (How did they know nobody was about to pull out left), then braked sharply and took the next right. They are the sorts who need to be pulled over and have their car keys dropped down a drain.

Sometimes these twonks get taught a lesson. I recall a BrattMobile driver, who was almost in the boot of my Traveller, through a 30mph zone, discovering that when we got on to the 60mph zone, over a twisty mountain road, he couldn't even keep up, let alone pass. He tried but failed...it was painfully obvious that he had far more confidence than ability.
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Blaketon »

geoberni wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:42 am What the hell are Jaguar doing making a 4x4 SUV anyway?)
Vanity is the world's most popular hobby and right now, four wheeled handbags are the thing to be seen in. I often wonder whether, if Reliant still made Robins, would they have done an SUV version? Would it have been 3WD? People may laugh but if the marketing had been right (The right blend of that which smells, mixed with stupidity), it would have sold.
stuffedpike20
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Re: mild road rage

Post by stuffedpike20 »

I think some people are scared to drive a small car nowadays too. They feel safer in a 4x4.
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Re: mild road rage

Post by Blaketon »

Issigonis pointed out that the Mini's remarkable road holding was motivated by safety. Perhaps, if you are in a bus, you are less likely to get hurt if it hits anything or is hit by anything. However, the Mini is less likely to go off the road in the first place, than something with a high centre of gravity. I'm sure most people, not understanding what they buy (Or being guided by marketing or magazine articles), go for "Image". Again I am reminded of what Issigonis said about selling a car on a whim of styling or fashion and how good engineering stands the test of time. Perhaps today, in our airy fairy world, this isn't quite so true.
stuffedpike20
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Re: mild road rage

Post by stuffedpike20 »

I remember the seat belt campaign in the 70s . An 'advert' on the telly showed a machine set up in shopping centres, a kind of chute with a seat fixed to it. If you sat in the seat and slipped down the chute to buffers at the end it simulated a head on crash at (I think) 9 mph.
A celebrity (unfortunately I think it might have been Jimmy Saville) asked shoppers if they used a seatbelt. If they did not they were strapped into the seat and given a 9mph head on crash. They all came off the machine swearing they would use their seatbelt in future.
I think every new driver should be put on that machine so that they know how scary a head on crash can be, even at 9mph.
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Re: mild road rage

Post by les »

[quote=If they did not they were strapped into the seat and given a 9mph head on crash.
[/quote]
I presume they had a choice?
Last edited by les on Fri Feb 28, 2020 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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