Victim of road rage - advice needed

grenache

Monday night i was coming home from work in Limerick. About 4 miles from home, the car behind me, whose lights were dimmed, started tail-gating me at a very close distance, we're talking like 6 or 7 feet. I gave him a minute or two to see if he would back off, he didn't. So i broke gently to send him a hint to pull back from me. He didn't seem to like this and flashed his lights aggressively, before proceeding to turn his full headlights on me. It was clear to see that he was trying to intimidate me and ''get his own back'' for me braking on him. Now my eyes are quite sensitive to bright lights, so by doing this he made it quite difficult for me to see. Even with the my middle rear mirror pointed away from me, i still had the beaming reflection coming off my wing mirror and dazzling me. He drove behind me like this for about three miles. I was just about to pull in, let him pass, and take down his number, when i saw a garda checkpoint in the near distance. So when i reached the checkpoint, i voiced my annoyance to the guard about the driver's behaviour. He took down the details, rang me back yesterday, and i am to make a statement on Friday.

My question is this: has anyone on here reported dangerous driving or road-rage before? How far did you go and what is likely to happen? The guard has said that if its contested, it will go to court. Since it is just his word against mine, is he likely to get away with it?

melbourne

Hi Grenache, I had an incident back in June when a car driver looked me in the eye and then side swiped me into the kerb at a set of road works. The other drivers lane was ending so she forced me out of the way with her door. I caught up with her a few minutes later but she refused to stop, so I went straight to the nearest Garda station. The end result was that it was my word against hers, however the Gard that I was dealing with could see that I was still genuinely shook up so he decided to follow it up. It turns out that surprise surprise she blamed me, however when asked to produce her insurance down the station it turned out she did not have any. The Garda was very good and took it very seriously so I would pursue it, even if they only have to go and produce their documentation, it make make them think twice the next time they decide play the bully.

I was also told that I could take a civil suit, but that would still be just my word against hers.

grenache

thanks melbourne, like you case, the guard i was dealing with too could see i was very annoyed, i was positively boiling! I certainly don't want to let him get away with it, but I don't want to create any unnecessary hassle for myself either.

meanmachine3

grenache wrote: »

[Mods - i don't know if this is in the correct forum or not, feel free to move it if needs be]

Monday night i was coming home from work in Limerick. About 4 miles from home, the car behind me, who's light were dimmed, started tail-gating me at a very close distance, we're talking like 6 or 7 feet. I gave him a minute or two to see if he would back off, he didn't. So i broke gently to send him a hint to pull back from me. He didn't seem to like this and flashed his lights aggressively, before proceeding to turn his full headlights on me. It was clear to see that he was trying to intimidate me and ''get his own back'' for me braking on him.

just to throw a spanner in the works grenache but did you do anything to antaganoise him/her. e.g. pull out in front of them, cut them up etc. or was it that you were just sticking to the speed limit.
the reason i'm askin is that i had some fool using a lane that leads onto a slip road for the M50 ( the lane clearly states M50 in big letters with a big arrow for turnig left)then at the last second pull directly out in front of me crossing a continous white line causing me to jam on and all because i was driving something slower than he was. i can tell you this guy also saw my headlights.
if we had hit someone was a goner and all because of this nut cases impatience.
these guys can wrap themselves and their passengers around a tree for all i care so long as they dont try to take me with them

anotherlostie

meanmachine3 wrote: »

just to throw a spanner in the works grenache but did you do anything to antaganoise him/her. e.g. pull out in front of them, cut them up etc. or was it that you were just sticking to the speed limit.

I would hardly call sticking to the speed limit justifiable grounds for being antagonised by someone!

OP, Good luck with things.

corktina

generally for the sake of your digestion its best to shrug off these annoyances and move on....content yourself with the knowledge that you are a better driver than they are....

grenache

meanmachine3 wrote: »

just to throw a spanner in the works grenache but did you do anything to antaganoise him/her. e.g. pull out in front of them, cut them up etc. or was it that you were just sticking to the speed limit.

No, i did absolutely nothing to antagonise him. I was in row of cars, doing 55mph on a wet surface and keeping well back from the car in front of me. I know full well that he didn't like me telling him to get off my backside, so he took the 'smart alec' approach by trying to blind me. He'll be sorry he did so. Guard told me today on the phone that he was a pychiatrist - well, he could start by looking at his own problems first of all!

bauderline

As long as he denies it point blank they cannot prosecute him, waste of time and taxpayers money to take it to court as its impossible to prove, so they cannot do anything other than ensure his documentation is in order as in a similar case above.

A clear word of advice on this subject, don't get involved, not even by breaking gently to remove them from your rear end, its just not worth it, you could have provoked a far more serious reaction than what you have outlined.

B.

staker

What i've done in the past in those sort of situations is gently lift the handbrake:rolleyes:
When he rear-ends you, take him to the cleaners!
But seriously, i used to get annoyed by these fellows/ladies, now i let them pass safely at my next convenience.In these wet weather conditions it's better they kill themselves elsewhere rather than a stupid accident maybe caused by you or him.
Just pray he kills nobody else in the process....

stovelid

grenache wrote: »

No, i did absolutely nothing to antagonise him. I was in row of cars, doing 55mph on a wet surface and keeping well back from the car in front of me.

Were you in an overtaking lane doing 55mph?

Queen-Mise

I had an incident like this a while ago and made a statement to the guard. The guard at the time said that when these cases go to court, they invariably find in favor of the person making the statement.

Go ahead to court, the person was driving aggressively & dangerously. follow the guard's advice/opinion, they will know best

Bluetonic

meanmachine3 wrote: »

but did you do anything to antaganoise him/her.

grenache wrote: »

No, i did absolutely nothing to antagonise him.

Really?

grenache wrote: »

I broke gently to send him a hint to pull back from me.

Regardless of the other driver, what you did was stupid. Brake testing is highly dangerous. You really should become a more patient driver. If your that annoyed by someone driving so close perhaps it would be a good idea to pull over rather than trying to control the car behind.

All the same best of luck with the complaint, nothing worse than being blinded. I would fully expect the other drive to make a complaint regarding your brake testing.

Clare_Guy

grenache wrote: »

No, i did absolutely nothing to antagonise him. I was in row of cars, doing 55mph on a wet surface and keeping well back from the car in front of me.

you were doing 88kph in the overtaking lane of a dual-carriage way on a WET surface with no cars in front of you and you braked suddenly? Are you familiar with the rules of the road?

No wonder the person behind you got upset!

anotherlostie

Where does it say that the poster was on a dual carriageway? He/she was in a line of traffic driving at 55mph.

And it's hardly fair to call the OP impatient when some moron was driving up their ass!

bauderline

queen-mise wrote: »

I had an incident like this a while ago and made a statement to the guard. The guard at the time said that when these cases go to court, they invariably find in favor of the person making the statement.

Go ahead to court, the person was driving aggressively & dangerously. follow the guard's advice/opinion, they will know best

wrong wrong wrong !

The evidence *** MUST *** always be considered on an impartial basis. When that evidence is a statement which can be credibly refuted by a competent solicitor then its game over.

As pointed out above the OP actions could be considered wreckless driving moreover they have openly admitted it !!

B.

Clare_Guy

"driving up her ass" is subjective, the person behind may have a different opinion about how close they were. She has admitted she "brake-tested" him on a wet surface. I know which case i'd be pursuing if i was a garda.

stovelid

anotherlostie wrote: »

Where does it say that the poster was on a dual carriageway? He/she was in a line of traffic driving at 55mph.

And it's hardly fair to call the OP impatient when some moron was driving up their ass!

I asked if they were because they mentioned 'pulling in' to let him pass.

The offending driver was clearly wrong to tailgate and especially to switch on his full beams, but it rarely happens to me. That's because I don't expect a medal for observing the speed limit while hogging the overtaking lane. While, again, I don't in any way condone what he did, you are going to get more than your share of clowns like this tailgating you if you hog lanes.

Apologies OP, if you were not in the overtaking lane!

Also if this goes to court, bear in mind that brake testing in wet conditions with a line of cars ahead of you is a recipe for a multi-car pileup and will be seen as equally dangerous as tailgating. Also, it will make the clown behind you even angrier.

I can't even act innocent in this regard. I have used the brake tap a few times in the past to deter dangerously persistent tailgaters, but I've seen how extreme as response it can provoke. Now I would just tap the hazards, and then get out of the way.

starlight07

I find that truck drivers are f$ckers for this. Always happens on the N3, even when Im doing the legal speed limit, it infuriates me!

I had a 'gator recently, he was about 5metres from my bumper on the N6 I was in lane 1 (the left hand one), right lane & road ahead were empty, I was doing 110kmh.

I completely ignored him!

He stayed there for four or five Kms, then stopped on the hard shoulder before reversing into one of those "garda" hidaways.

Draw your own conclusions!!!!!

bauderline

Good call db you handled it the correct way and it paid off !

I remember scooting down to kells a few years ago, maybe a little quicker than I should have been when I came across a red mondeo in front of me, a quick scan of the back window confirmed my suspicions, it was an unmarked garda car. Fair enough leave well alone. Next thing I have some guy behind me all over my read end, I used the hazards, made signals in the rear mirror, but he didn't twig and decided to pass both of us on a mild corner over a double white line.... he got about level with the unmarked unit before the lights went on.... that was that... I would guess he got a fair roasting .....

Don't mess around on the road, even if you believe you are in the right, there is no telling if its the Gardai or Mike Myers in the car behind...

B.

L1011

grenache wrote: »

So i broke gently to send him a hint to pull back from me.

This is lethally dangerous and can get you done for dangerous driving if you're seen / reported doing it.

Honey-ec

A) It's braked, not broke

If someone tries to blind you with their full-beams, I find sticking on the fog lights for a minute or two usually solves the problem*

*I am perfectly aware of the legality of using fog-lights when it's not foggy

FX Meister

really? Because i've never seen this myself.

Honey-ec wrote: »

If someone tries to blind you with their full-beams, I find sticking on the fog lights for a minute or two usually solves the problem*

*I am perfectly aware of the legality of using fog-lights when it's not foggy

Climate Expert

If somebody is giving you agro with the full beams, up the arse I always knock away my mirrors, fog lights on and then drive at 30mph.

bauderline

Climate Expert wrote: »

If somebody is giving you agro with the full beams, up the arse I always knock away my mirrors, fog lights on and then drive at 30mph.

Nice one squire.... no doubt I will be reading of your untimely demise in the newspaper in years to come.. "found by the side of road with throat slit.." springs to mind....

silly silly man....

B.

Bluehair

Climate Expert wrote: »

If somebody is giving you agro with the full beams, up the arse I always knock away my mirrors, fog lights on and then drive at 30mph.

Much and all as it feels good to 'get your own back' I'd suggest more caution these days. A lot of posters in this thread have advised various methods of pissing of the other driver even more.

There's just no point at all trying to escalate these kind of situations. There are piles of nutters on the roads who don't give a damn about you and prodding them with a stick when they do something stupid will only make matters worse.

I saw someone flip the lid in traffic the other day because he got caught behind an old biddy in the right lane waiting at traffic. Only when the lights turned green did she bother to indicate right (it was a straight ahead lane too as was the left lane) so he freaked out so much his car was shaking. He then got out and started hurling abuse and kicking the car the auld one was in before immediately getting back in and tearing around her as she moved off. I had already phoned the cops at that stage but it was a Polish reg so I doubt anything will ever come of it.

Road rage is getting more and more commonplace these days. If you encounter it just be smart and pull over and let the nutter on his way. No harm jotting the reg if you can and reporting it but don't go putting yourself in harms way for it.

bauderline

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Puruse it. If nothing else he could be a learner driver without a licenced passenger....they'll find a way to do him for something. Likewise they could also get you for something so be careful.

without a passenger... and how exactly would you imagine the Gardai could prove that !

bauderline

bauderline wrote: »

without a passenger... and how exactly would you imagine the Gardai could prove that !

A question for the OP did the rager follow you through the checkpoint?

stovelid

Honey-ec wrote: »

A)

If someone tries to blind you with their full-beams, I find sticking on the fog lights for a minute or two usually solves the problem*

20-30% of the cars on the road seem to do this anyway.

Climate Expert

bauderline wrote: »

Nice one squire.... no doubt I will be reading of your untimely demise in the newspaper in years to come.. "found by the side of road with throat slit.." springs to mind....

silly silly man....

B.

Throat slit? How do you come to that conclusion you little werido?

There's just no point at all trying to escalate these kind of situations. There are piles of nutters on the roads who don't give a damn about you and prodding them with a stick when they do something stupid will only make matters worse.

I'm one of these nutters so I'm not too scared what other road users are going to do.

horseydevine

i had a youngfella tailgatin me at bout 3 feet between me going through an estate..car full of youngwans with him trying to show off. the next set of red traffic lights, me mate hopped out of the car to "enquire" as to what his problem was...he went white as a ghost... i know it was a "slight" case of road rage but it was stress soothing..:D

now the onslaught...:D