Last week I was pulling out of one of car park sections onto the road that ran through the shopping centre. The furthest car was 100 foot away and there was plenty of time to pull out. Only he sped up when he saw me pulling out and tried to prevent me. I stopped, he stopped, I edged forward assuming he was letting me go, and he started moving again. Repeat this three times. In the end it was getting so silly that I pulled out and drove off into the petrol station.
Whereupon he saw fit to chase after me, pull alongside and call me an 'ignorant woman'. I pointed out that I had a child in the car and asked him not to shout at me over a misunderstanding. He highlighted that he had a child in the car too, and so I reiterated, "Don't shout then!" I had another mouthful of abuse thrown at me and he zoomed off. No doubt his ego was firmly polished in front of his tweenage son and he clearly felt good about himself while I bit back tears of frustration.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not adverse to the odd mutterance under my breath about incompetent drivers but a) it doesn't get me anywhere, and b) The Boy is now beginning to ask what I mean by 'that person being a silly driver mummy'. So I've taken to smiling sweetly and using sarcasm in the hope that he doesn't understand what I mean.
However, QuoteMeHappy have undertaken a project to assess people's personality types while driving. For some reason, 79% of people will allow that tin box on wheels to provide them with the protection required to verbalise their annoyance. Everyone fancies themselves as the next Jenson Button, but what is it that makes everyone so mouthy and tetchy in the car? In the car, Brits shed their reserve: 63% admit to sounding their horn, 53% flash their lights and more than one in five (22%) will shout or swear in response to other drivers’ bad behaviour. I'm guessing the testosterone-laden oaf that chased me into the petrol station falls into the 22%?
Watch this video and see if you relate?
While it's amusing to watch, repairing damage caused by anti-social driving costs the average British motorist £920 over a lifetime. Like the guy who drove too close to my car down a country lane and smashed my wing mirror in. Would you claimn on your car insurance for that?
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