Did I do something wrong?

martinthebandit

You do know what AUDI stands for don't you?

Attention! Useless Driver Inside

contrivant

wba31 wrote: »

Not just city driving, city driving in Birmingham. It's a flipping nightmare most the time, there seems to be a lot of people hell bent on just getting to their destination ASAP without any thought for the rules of the road, courtesy to other drivers, common sense to other drivers. I see it every day on my commute, and the best course of action is, as you did, remain calm, patient, and just let them act foolishly without getting involved and keeping yourself safe.

Yes, I keep telling my family that if I can drive here, I can drive anywhere. The thing is, I'd never consider myself a over vigilant cautious person. I don't go the exact speed limit all the time, but I try not to make my presence on the road make someone else's life more difficult, if that makes sense. So I don't really like pulling out and blocking people and whatnot. I do watch everyone else though, my dad used to tell me that most accidents are the result of two people doing something wrong: the person doing something stupid and the person not watching for the stupid person.

contrivant

Andrew_Ryan_89 wrote: »

Mate, 2-3 minutes is a long time. You need to edge yourself out and block of the traffic coming from the right. Someone coming from your left is bound to let you past or see a gap. Just have to put your foot down.

Maybe you're right, I hate blocking traffic though.

dannyrst

Andrew_Ryan_89 wrote: »

Mate, 2-3 minutes is a long time. You need to edge yourself out and block of the traffic coming from the right. Someone coming from your left is bound to let you past or see a gap. Just have to put your foot down.

No.

That is stupid. Why should you block half the road just because you are impatient?

The Audi guy was like 90% of Audi drivers, impatient and stupid.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Without seeing the flow of traffic personally, from your description, it sounds like you were completely not at fault.

Strider590

Combination of slight over caution on OPs part and a impatient moronic Audiot.

There is a certain type of driver that buys an Audi and that type of driver is full of self importance. I'm not saying other types don't get suckered into the Audi club, but the vast majority are a menace.

bigadaj

contrivant wrote: »

Yes, I keep telling my family that if I can drive here, I can drive anywhere. The thing is, I'd never consider myself a over vigilant cautious person. I don't go the exact speed limit all the time, but I try not to make my presence on the road make someone else's life more difficult, if that makes sense. So I don't really like pulling out and blocking people and whatnot. I do watch everyone else though, my dad used to tell me that most accidents are the result of two people doing something wrong: the person doing something stupid and the person not watching for the stupid person.

I wouldn't say that driving in brum is especially challenging.

I would tend to pull out slightly if I was delayed for that length of time, assuming that I could get into the flow of traffic quite quickly and easily.

In terms of driving anywhere then the uk doesn't come close, the whole of southern and Eastern Europe would be an eye opener, and getting it o Africa and much of Asia is whole different game of baseball.

Marvel1

Andrew_Ryan_89 wrote: »

Mate, 2-3 minutes is a long time. You need to edge yourself out and block of the traffic coming from the right. Someone coming from your left is bound to let you past or see a gap. Just have to put your foot down.

All the while a motorcyclist will be overtaking from the right

barbiedoll

No, you didn't do anything wrong. As others have said, with a bit more experience and confidence, you'll be happier pulling out in smaller gaps in traffic. And Audi drivers aside, most city drivers do understand that you have to pull out and they'll often slow down and "flash" you to go ahead, I know it's not strictly Highway Code rules but it is the rule of the road in real life.

I drive a car with a small engine, and I'm a middle-aged woman, so some drivers just seem to think that they're going to get stuck behind me whilst I drive at 25mph the whole way home. They will undertake me (even when I'm doing 40 in a 30 zone), tailgate me, toot me if I take longer to pull away than 0.2 seconds when the lights change (which I never do, I'll sit on my clutch on a hill rather than be late away at the lights,) etc etc. Other drivers are nothing short of lovely, they'll let me out at a busy junction, they'll keep their distance when they see several cyclists ahead of me, knowing that I may have to brake or swerve suddenly, they'll move over to let me overtake, and so on.

Audi and BMW drivers think they are the kings of the road. They never indicate (it's no-one else's business where they're going) they never give way, they never thank anyone for letting them out and they always, always break the speed limit. Remember that and you'll be fine!

building_with_lego

bartelbe wrote: »

You did nothing wrong, this country is full of terrible and dangerous drivers who should have their licence's taken away.

I overtook a van yesterday which had pulled over and stopped; as I overtook I noticed that the driver was on their phone; as I rejoined my side and did my mirror checks I saw the driver holding an ipad up in front of them as they pulled away and followed me down the hill. It was there for more than one mirror check and I could not believe my eyes.

Luckily, by the time I had to brake due to oncoming traffic at a narrowed section of road they'd put the ipad away and didn't drive into the back of me.

Richard53

It sounds to me as though you did nothing wrong, although perhaps were a little over-cautious. The Audi driver was totally in the wrong for overtaking a vehicle waiting to enter a junction and he made the situation potentially dangerous.


The rule of thumb is that if you enter a stream of traffic (by pulling out, changing lanes etc) you should not cause any other road user to brake or change direction. If you can't do that, you wait until you can. You were following that rule quite correctly. In city traffic, or where things are very slow-moving, it is sometimes acceptable to be a bit bolder than that and push your nose out in the hope that someone will take pity on you, but if you had a collision you would be the one at fault.


Chalk it up to experience - some drivers are just impatient aerosols who shouldn't be allowed to control a skateboard, and you just met one. Oh, and well done for checking your mirrors before moving off. Cyclists and motorcyclists will thank you for that.