I’m sick of being abused on the road

Every few days when I drive my car, I am abused on the road. Whether it be someone honking their horn, or throwing a fist out the window, I have to say I am appalled at driver behaviour.

And it seems to be getting worse! More congestion is causing serious road rage and for those on the receiving end, it can be very upsetting. What’s most frustrating is that 99.99% of the time you can’t explain yourself. But then again, when you do, you cop a mouthful!

The other day I was in a car park at a local restaurant and there was absolutely nowhere to park. I went around in circles and was about to drive to the street when I saw a free park. Great! I went to turn in and a woman was standing in the spot, yelling at me in the most shrill voice.

“Get out!” she said, before I had a chance to ask why, she was screaming about her husband. “That’s why he was beeping at you!”, she shrieked, pointing towards the car that was ahead of me, on the left hand side with its left side indicator on. To me and even blind Freddie, it looked like he was waiting for a park on the left side, not the right where I was.

This woman of course could not see reason and kept shouting and telling me to just do the right thing! I won’t repeat the other words she used but the language was so filthy and actually quite mean. I was trying to reverse but had someone right on my tail. It was a debacle in every sense, and I could feel myself shaking as I thought she was ready to belt me! I finally got out and told her very quickly “Your husband needs to indicate to the right if he’s waiting for a park on the right!” and drove off.

But that is just one incident out of many I experience either directly or witness almost every day. What on Earth is going on? Can we not have some human compassion and calm down both our driving and our anger?

As an older driver, I believe I deserve more respect, and so do my peers. We have been on the road long enough to know swerving in and out of lanes won’t get you there any faster. And tailgating… well don’t even get me started. We’d have so fewer car accidents if people kept their distance and kept alert.

I think there should be a government safety campaign about road rage and how it can affect others on the road. What do you think?

Share your thoughts and if you’ve experienced aggression on the road.