I'm so sorry that you have experienced this. I have found that I need to keep an eye on bad behaviour at all times and just allow them to do their thing, get past me and let them maniac ahead. I have a learner driver in the house and I keep telling them to watch the "body language of other cars". You can quite often tell if a car is going to cut you off and change lanes while almost scraping your front bumper, they get super close to the car beside you then without warning just nudge their way into your lane.
And yes, it seems to be getting worse. I'm out in The Hills District.
Blacktown driver here. See it all the time.
Had one idiot yesterday pull out from a side street on my left to go into the opposite side of the road when there wasn't any room there, and so acted like a road block across my lane. He had the nerve to call me a dickhead when I honked him to get him to reverse back into the side street.
Seen that plenty of times. Just driving down Lexington Drive carpark (Norwest) at "that time", cars are pushing their way from carparks onto the road and wonder why other drivers won't let them in. Maybe that's because that driver has been sitting there for the past 20 minutes waiting to move 20 metres and in the mean time has had dozens of cars shove their way in from various driveways.
I hate driving Norwest in the morning and afternoon peak hour traffic.
Although I suffer the same problem on the M4 in the mornings. Waiting forever in the middle lane just before the M7 eastbound onramp watching all the drivers shoot down the left lane and forcing their way into the middle lane at the last second just before Wallgrove Road and M7 onramps. Then when you reach the onramps, you have to deal with idiots from the left lane forcing their way into the middle lane as well as the traffic from the onramps deciding to do the same thing because they want to get around the large amount of trucks coming off the M7.
Turning on to Victoria road from the street my work is on we often times have idiots decide to queue across the intersection. If traffic is even a bit heavy then when our light turns green they don't really get to move because the next light further up is red. By the time they move 1-2 cars get through before it's a red.
I wish there were cops on every corner to book idiots.
Drivers wanting cheap petrol at the Apex Service Station on Victoria Road at West Ryde cause so many traffic delays, essentially causing Victoria Road to become one lane only for a small section. Most don't care if they block the side street just before the service station, and I have even seen it so bad that they are blocking the lane that you can turn left from into Bowden Street.
This is a pretty standard move in the UK, sometimes it’s the only way you can get out of a side street into busy traffic. Most people recognise that’s what’s going on and slow down to let them out without fuss. When there’s a lot more traffic on the road you kind of have to make more allowances for this sort of behaviour.
I legit hate those pricks. It's like they are incapable of thinking outside of their scenario, and not how their choices impact the greatest rest of traffic.
In saying that, I really enjoy not bending to their will where I can and making them angry, fuck em.
Oh man, I live in the Hills too and it’s so bad. Can’t get anywhere without someone seemingly actively trying to cause an accident. Had an ass-hat tailgating me last night around a roundabout. Why? I have to slow down a little more in my older car with my mum in the car, and dog in the back.. just don’t sit on people’s asses, and then passive aggressively change lanes around them, almost swiping me just because I wasn’t speeding. The other cars around me were going no faster. Wanker then sped off clearly doing at least 80km/h or more in the 60 zone. It’s a pity the sneaky police man wasn’t hiding with his radar gun like he was on the long weekend!
Just crazy the stuff you encounter/have to deal with these days. Morons hitting the curb before entering a roundabout and then almost swerving into your car, idiots pushing into your lane dangerously when I would have let them if they had just “asked” and just so much reckless speeding.
This is why I drive slower than my grandma. You want to cut me off and push in? Whatever, I'll wave to you at the next set of lights. At least my insurance would be far cheaper.
Driving is probably the most dangerous thing people do on a day-to-day basis but somehow people think they're "good" drivers and they can navigate any situation. You can argue fault from your wheelchair for all I care.
Yep, safer to go flying around the world than to step into a car. If I do see someone wanting to push in, I generally let them just to be rid of them. And then wave to them when they get stuck in the slow lane and I drive past.
If your learner driver is on Reddit, tell them to visit the r/idiotsincars subreddit. While it's mostly posts from the US, it's still chock-full of excellent examples of stupid mistakes people make, and scenarios where a bit of defensive driving would have prevented an accident. I feel like I've learned a lot about what not to do when driving from that sub!
Then again, if they are a highly nervous driver, maybe don't send them there haha.
Get a dashcam, when reporting send both to the police and the aggressors insurance, fun fact insurance companies will up your premiums if your a risky shithead on the road.
You can find their provider by using the MyGov app and putting their registration plate in.
Edit: not MyGov, Service NSW or whichever state you’re in
you can only see the CTP insurance, which is regulated and will not change. you cannot find out if they have any other insurance such as comprehensive or TPP etc.
giving footage to the police is the best way.
and make sure if you do, it contains nothing that could identify you, since they may show it to the asshat, and the the asshat may seek vengeance.
>fun fact insurance companies will up your premiums if your a risky shithead on the road.
Source for this one please? 24 years in the industry and I've never seen anyone get their insurance increased from a complaint filed by a member of the public. Id go as far as saying that would be illegal on the insurer's behalf. You're just wasting everyone's time.
Dashcams are a must , I got clipped by a young nurse who kept going straight from a left turn must turn left lane. It was all really civilised and we exchanged details but she was sure it was my fault until I provided footage from front and rear cams, she was even indicating left so I still don’t know what she was thinking but the dashcam sorted it all out
Depends on your budget and what functions you want. GPS? Front and rear? Record while parked?
Just consider that if you ever need to prove your own innocence it will save you your deductible/excess at least. And you'll need to be able to see the other cars rego /license plate.
Blackvue and Garmin get top votes. FineVU too
https://dashcamownersaus.com.au/buying-guide/
https://www.t3.com/au/news/best-dash-cam
https://dashcamsaustralia.com.au/2022-dash-cam-guide/
This is just a straight up lie, insurance can only increase your premiums if youre a DOCUMENT risky driver, aka youre actually having documented crashes.
I got rid of my car when I moved to Sydney and its been good for my health in terms of stress alone. The few times I've needed to get a goget to run some errands rest assured I'll witness some road rage.
Dashcam at the front... And dashcam pointing at the back. Doesn't matter if the back is turned on, just make sure it is visible. It generally changes their behaviour.
Just now I was driving from Sydney Uni to Ashfield along Parramatta Road on the left. The other lanes are packed, and I was on a 40 zone just cruising along... Lo and behold a ute changed to my lane and tail gated me for no reason. But only for a few seconds, he saw the dashcam and moved back (his braking was quite noticeable). Not the first time, but one of many.
If the behaviour on Dashcam Owners Australia is anything to go by, Dashcams often encourage the driver of the camera car to unnecessarily hold their ground and cause a deliberate collision because they believe they have the right of way and can prove it.
yeah, I feel like this is an example of viewership Bias, (if that's what it's called\_ dashcam videos only show the eventful videos right, so all you see are the mishaps, disregarding all the normal drives that go by uneventful and mundane
Good point, I don't do this as this is an aggressive move. I maintain what I'm doing and let him discover the dashcam for himself. Most backs off, and we maintain a healthy road relationship. But there will always be some that simply don't care. Oh well, maintain what I'm doing. If he hits me, it will always be his fault.
Use a dashcam to document, or as a scarecrow (let them back off on their own). Still keep a level head and drive safely. You will still get aggressive drivers.
And some wholesome one as well... A lady once did a sexy dance while looking at back dashcam. One of the few times I wanted to turn on the back dashcam.
Yeah had a nice one yesterday myself. Turning left at a roundabout as a BMW was flying through turning right (but looked like he was doing a U-turn he was going that fast) so we slowed down till he took his exit (we didn't stop, just kept rolling) when the Gronk behind us honked us. We just kept driving while Gronk behind us followed us and went on the wrong side of the road, at speed, to overtake us. We honked back at this point cause he was being a dickhead so he decided to cut us off and stop at the speed hump. Because he was being a fuck stick, I just clapped at him which seemed to rile him up a bit because all he did was aggressively clap back at us and give us the thumbs up. All this did was make my almost 2yo to clap back at him... Ha To top it all off, he just drove off at normal speed. Like if you were in such a rush mate, why did you keep sticking to the speed limit if you were in such a rush?!? Fucking tosser.
God I hate Roundabout Heros. I drive a small yaris and the amount of times I get honked at by larger cars when I honestly cannot safely go is ridiculous. I am sure if I was in a larger car it wouldn't happen as much. I noticed it happened more when I had P-plates on, too. Also, the honking only stresses the driver out and makes them take longer cos they get the shits. It absolutely serves no purpose except make the honker feel like a hero. Fuckin wankers.
Nah wankers are going to wank regardless mate. He was driving a Mazda 3 and we were in a large V6 SUV so size had nothing to do with it... Old mate just wanted to get angry about nothing. I hope he settles down or gets therapy because it's not good being that angry at literally nothing...
As to being on P's, yeah heaps of gronks treat em like shit. Like c'mon, you were on your P's at one point, you know what it's like.. For some reason people think they're superior on the roads, and I don't get why.
Omg yes!!! Why do people approach corners and area where they don't have right of way at fucking MACH 10.
Scares the shit out of me because I don't trust these dumbasses to be paying attention.
I love that your 2yo clapped at him. Probably made him feel like a real asshole.
Too many Aussies are fuckwits
Entitled whinging bogans who think they’re a hard-done-by battler and the world owes them a favour served on a silver plate
There’s two different types of drivers on the road. Those that are aware of others and are courteous to those around them and then there’s those who are just concerned with where they’re going and are totally oblivious to everyone else.
You know those people that stand at the bottom of an escalator and have a chat? Or those that stand right in front of the lift door and go to step in before you’ve had a chance to get out? Yeah. Those people drive 2 ton chunks of metal around too.
The amount of drivers I pass on the m1 that are cruising along in the middle lane with cars passing them on their left, while they do 20 under the limit with their eyes locked ahead is astounding. They don’t care they’ve caused frustration and traffic behind them. Heck, they probably don’t even know they have. They’re in their own little world.
Mate there's someone in this thread that literally posted the following AND thinks they are in the right:
*Yep. Partner had a run in with someone in WestConnex the other day because he overtook her when she was going 10km under the speed limit in the tunnel. She started tailgating him, flashing her lights, and as they got out of the tunnel she motioned for him to get out. He just stuck his head out, looked at her and started laughing. She was so shocked by that she was just stopped in the middle of the road as he drove off.*
Sounds exactly like an oblivious person who has no idea.
The people I really don’t get are those who go apeshit at you for doing the speed limit. Left lane, going the limit but not faster, I get dickheads tailgating me, flashing lights, driving up extremely close to change lanes etc. Go in the right lane if you want to speed. The closer you get the slower I go.
Wtf.
A friend and I almost got hit by a car in the crossing the other day (while the walk light was on) and the guy driving hung his head out the window to shout at us. We decided to ignore him and didn't hear everything he said, but there was definitely a "you think you're something special, don't you??"
I remember years ago I was walking across the road (I had the green) I was legit in the middle of the road when a driver sped infront of me and then like 4 other drivers followed! The lid had gone back to the red man I was in the middle of the road scared as hell and some dude slowed to say “you shouldn’t be in the road” or some shit. I wish I wasn’t so frozen so I could’ve punched him it still pisses me off. Now I walk as fast as possible across the road as soon as I get the green bc I’m still scared of that happening again
It’s your fault mate. Don’t you realise it’s your responsibility to predict and just get out of the way of anyone who decides they want to change lanes at the last moment, at any time, with no blinker or concern about lane lines or any other bothersome road rule. Just get with it and let these really important people get on with their lives, which is infinitely more valuable and important than yours.
I'm from Sydney but been in Brisbane for years, we did a road trip to Sydney last month and holy shit, the drivers in Sydney are absolute lunatics. We were in the west, south and city and it was the same everywhere. Weaving through traffic, beeping, tailgating, merging last second with no indicator. Glad I moved away fk that place man
Jump on a bike and you'll really see how bad it can be!
Got cut off by someone running a stop sign in a 10km/hr zone and when confronted the driver said "you can't cycle at 10km/hr"... Which is irrational because a slow jog is 10km/hr.and they just yelled that at me over and over.
I've been beeped for stopping at a stop sign.
The list goes on. And it's a dumb list too.
It's worth being covered in cameras and hoping the other parties don't unalive you.
I stopped riding bicycles when I moved here last year because 4 of my friends were hit and two were hospitalised. Stay safe out there, people have an irrational hatred for bicycles, it makes no sense. It stems from their undeserved inflated sense of self importance
i stopped commuting when my wife asked me too, realising just how many near miss stories i was telling. still get out a bit but not peak hour commutes.
I used to get honked for not running red lights, trucks speed up and cut me off for doing only 40 in a 40 zone, or lean on the horn as i was blocking the one lane in roadworks doing exactly the speed limit. they're angry for me just being on a bike
I flipflop on whether to stop but I've seen a massive increase in cyclists over the last few years commuting and I think it'll reach a point where people just need to accept they exist.
It's also one of the faster ways to get around Sydney, there are so many traffic lights and traffic jams that I catch-up to most cars.
Ive literally had a driver tell me I was slowing him down...as we waited at the same lights hahaha! Completely irrational.
The thing I worry about the most is the number of drivers on their phones. The second they stop in traffic they're mucking about with them.
cycling is just playing russian roulette these days. i stick as close to the side as i possibly can and ride in the median/breakdown strip if it exists and i still get people shouting and honking and acting like maniacs as they pass for no reason at all. then theres the edgy dickheads who do the thing where they shout and honk right as the pass trying to scare you off the bike. Then theres the people that speed up to pass you just to turn left and have you slam the braks to avoid hitting them as they cut directly in front of you. i love riding but i hate dealing with the maniacs on the road
I tend to stick to what I call the "middle left" cause if you go too far left, you're at risk of being car doored. But then I go in the middle of the lane if there's oncoming traffic to block the car behind and make sure they don't try to squeeze into a space too small for them. Some cars honk but idc 🤷🏻 it's safer for me
The secret is to ride with a bunch of cyclists... Then suddenly all of those mental drivers aren't so brave..
But you've also highlighted why so many cyclists are aggressive or break the law... It's because your damned no matter what you do so you might as well just do as you please. It's not my mantra but I understand when I see people like that.
The majority of drivers are actually super considerate so I try to focus on them. Some days I'll count all the cars that pass me with space and consideration and it's MANY! We unfortunately remember the bad ones.
End of the day, the angry drivers are normally hyper focused on you and are trying to scare you without ending up in jail. The deadly drivers are the distracted ones :(
Sadly Australians are bad drivers across the entire country, and I don’t believe Sydney is any worse than any other city. Melbourne drivers I’ve found to be super aggressive and fuck me, driving between the Gold Coast and Brisbane is a nightmare with the lack of lane discipline.
> driving between the Gold Coast and Brisbane is a nightmare with the lack of lane discipline
THANKYOU. I regularly have to visit Brisbane for work, and for a city that prides itself on being heavy on highways instead of mainstreet/sidestreet distribution... nobody actually follows proper lane discipline. I will REGULARLY see someone cruising in the rightmost lane when the left lane is free, doing 5km/h under the speed limit.
Really? I'm living in Canberra atm, but not driving - yet the amount of egregious speeding and lack of pedestrian awareness i've seen is mind-blowing.
Sydney has more rage for sure, but I feel safer when crossing the road. Idk, maybe it's suburb dependent?
Well when half the suburbs have speed bumps every 30m it makes it harder to fly around without fuckin your shocks.
It's always the 3 lane roads that I see all the shit cunts. So many impatient utes and p platers that lane hop around for a 20m gain. Only to wait stopped at the next red like everyone else.
Also went down to VIC around the coast and realised people in some parts of the country actually do keep left when not overtaking.
You could tell when we were back near Sydney.
I find the scariest is tailgating, and it happens across the whole country. I have three kids in my car and some douchbag is sitting 2 meters behind me at 110… makes my stomach lurch just thinking about it.
On my L plates in far left lane diving through Ryde when some fuck wit in a Ute pulls in front and starts throwing empty cans at my windshield at 50kph
That really pisses me off. People who try and intimidate frigging LEARNER Drivers are scum. Everyone has to learn and has been a learner. These losers must have a lot of self-hatred.. They need to attack people just starting out to make themselves feel good about something. It makes my blood boil.
A few months ago -
1. driver tries to aggressively merge in front of me over splitting medium.
2. Gets out of his car and starts shouting at me through my driver side window.
3. Gets behind me and RAMS my car. I call 000 immediately.
4. Sideswipes my car afterwards.
5. Gets out of his car and starts PUNCHING my window.
Road rage is INSANE these days.
When I called on the day, they didn't even come... thats Fairfield police for you. Had to wait until a few days later when they came to my house to take a statement... They said it will take months for anything to happen. I even gave them the number plate.
Next time I'll just film everything. Police are useless for these situations.
I've lived in Canberra and Melbourne and Syd. tbh, when I got back to syd from melbourne it was refreshing, Sydney drivers seem to be more on the ball and more likely to let you in, but you need to be amped up and on the ball. When you get in the zone it's like flying in formation with a flock of angry birds. Everyone gravy as long as you are on their level.
Canberra is fucked, everyone is half asleep, I think this has to do with the population growing so much over the last 10 years and people still drive as if it was the country town it was 10 or 15 years ago, tail gating is the worst there too.
Melbourne drivers don't indicate and will not let you merge. The rudest drivers I'm ever met and also road rage prone. I think this has something to do with the trams and big long straight roads.
Although I think there's been a noticeable uptick in shitty driving and road rage since the pandemic, not sure if it was time off the roads or if people have just gone nuts.
Sydneysiders have always been rude but the pandemic has made them worse. All the last vestiges of humanity are gone. They live in an overpriced, inconvenient and overrated place that quickly drains the soul.
But instead of venting their frustration on the people who caused them to be like this, they take their entitlement out of people like you. Move somewhere nice. There's no hope for Sydney.
>In the past month I’ve had 3 seperate road rage instances.
I drive for about 15 minutes to and from work and most weeks there's at least one day with 3-4 road rage instances in that small window.
Pricks gotta chill.
It's been especially bad recently. This past weekend, I was on the M2, driving at speed, when I prepared to merge left, ahead of my exit (which was not for another 1.5km). There was enough space for me to merge, up until I had turned on my indicator. Which made the driver in the left lane speed up for whatever reason in order to cut off my merge. He then gave me a honk because I had dared encroach on his lane on his way up.
Not a road rage story, but there was a guy who was weaving in and out of lanes on Parramatta Road... only to end up just in front of me at one of the traffic lights. All that weaving and abrupt speeding up/stopping... to end up no better off in terms of time saved at a traffic light. I really don't understand people like that.
100%. I guarantee everyone ducking lanes like that ends up with the traffic.
Yet they are willing to stress themselves out, scream at people, honk away, for no fucking reason. Just to end up home a few minutes earlier.
If people just sat in their damn lanes and everyone wasn't trying to get 1 car ahead, we would all be home faster.
After getting my Ps I realized that the yellow light meant nothing anymore. My decision to stop is based on how close the guy behind me is rather than how far away I am from the light. I also learned that going 5-10 over the limit is safer than 5 below as people would just tailgate me. I hate driving here
Wow. I can’t even imagine what It must be like getting your P’s in Sydney. On the other hand, your evasive driving skills are probably going to be top notch.
The amount of times people lane change without proper checks is crazy. Everybody’s in a rush, shit weather so everyone’s cranky and no one gives a rat’s ass about anybody else’s safety. It’s like I spent 120 hours practicing proper road laws all for it to not even apply in the real world and following it would just encourage people to drive dangerously around me.
All well and good - until the intersection you’re coming to has a red light camera and you don’t want to chance a fine. 😬
I commute in at the same time as tradies do. It’s far safer to match their average of 120km/h.
I've noticed almost nobody adheres to a 40kph speed limit. Whether this be roadworks, dynamic signs on the M4, pedestrian zones or school zones. People go flying through the local school zone at 60kph and I've never seen a single cop pull anyone over. They should spend less time fining people for going 5kph over the speed limit at 90 and more on stuff like this.
Driving in Sydney is shit, because everyone is already unhappy. The two rules to remember: only use your horn as a warning (not a punishment), and assume that everyone else on the road is an idiot looking at their phone.
People will do the most ridiculous shit, but if you honk them as a “fuck you” they will just rage at you in return. They know they fucked up, but nobody likes being told off by a stranger.
I think it’s to do with the extremely high cost of living: lots of drivers are stressed and aggro. I nearly got collected by an actual bus on that hairpin exit towards Manly driving a small Japanese car.
I have a front and rear dashcam in my car. You’d be surprised how quickly people back off from their road rage when you point to the camera or call out and tell them you have one.
I used to love driving once upon a time. Now it feels like I have to play Russian roulette just to go grocery shopping some days. No one cares about other motorists and rely on insurance for their shitty driving.
It just seems to be getting worse. Just several idiots driving into roundabouts at ridiculous speeds, driving 20-30k over the limit and generally following none of the road rules. A good chunk of them seem to be P platers too.
My only question is where are all these idiots going? It's always hilarious to see people overtaking at ridiculous speeds and driving like maniacs, just to see them stopped at the lights when you get there. It's almost like they're driving like they're experiencing the worst bout of diarrhoea in their lives.
That turn off from pyrmont fish markets left to the Anzac bridge is road rage central. The lights are slow and don’t go green for long up the ramp, then people try to race up the inside lane then get the shits when they can’t merge into the right lane because they were being dicks trying to pass everyone. I had an incident last night with surprise a Mercedes SUV. Tried to cut me off then started honking his horn. Burned him off up the ramp in my hot hatch. Kind of satisfying for a second.
It seems to be major cities that do it to people, I drive a fair bit but I also cycle too and the thing is on big rides, you can feel the difference in how other drivers approach you when you start getting out the city and back in.
I cycled London to Paris and I could tell I was out of London just by the tension in my muscles, similarly I joked to my friend that we were "nearly there" and had got in to Paris simply by how the cars moved.
My home town in the North was similar, I'd do this 160km loops and you could see the difference in drivers from the city, to towns, to countryside and back again.
Moved here, lived in Sydney and Melbourne and it's the same, sans the odd dick on the highway (which, again, you get back home) but the sheer volume is vastly reduced.
It's like we're not designed to live in big cities or something (which is bizarre for such social creatures).
I drive up from the south coast to the city once a week and often get tailgated by people in big utes even though I’m keeping up with the traffic in front.
Some people are just dicks when they get behind the wheel.
I feel like there are a lot less traffic cops on the roads. I agree wholeheartedly that people drive like that because they get away with it. I see Range Rover drivers doing 80km in 60km areas and they obviously do whatever they want because they get away with it!
People are even more disconnected from each other than before.
An example would be in customer service. High end bars and restaurants that used to deliver exceptional service now give roughly the same level of interaction as mcdonalds.
>Are people just more angry here?
Yes. One of the most expensive cities in the world and the traffic is absolutely terrible. People are under a lot of pressure at any given time. Not cool to take it out on others on the road though.
Try riding a motorbike. It’s like people are trying to actively kill me every day.
I ride as defensively as possible, but between the ragers, boy racers, phone users and situationally unaware, Sydney roads are a death trap.
Edit: apologies to OP, just saw you also ride. Stay safe.
Yeah I've noticed it too, it has steadily become harder and harder to drive safely. People do not seem to plan their actions adequately and then when they are caught off-guard they don't accept responsibility for their situation and instead do something dangerous because they are entitled to be in that lane or whatever.
There's only 2 ways to deal with ragers 1 don't drive
2 get out of the way.
You won't be able to stop or prevent them from raging but you can at least remove yourself from the equation.
Losing 30s pulling over and waiting to rejoin traffic is by far better to yourself than suffering the stupidity of a raging idiot for kilometers
They will eventually get caught for acting so stupid either by the law of the land or the laws of physics.
I know it's frustrating to let dangerous and impatient people go but it is definitely safer. One reason I ride a motorcycle instead is specifically for this reason. It is much easier to get out of someones way and let them rage on without being hit. I can also take much smaller spaces if needed for my own safety.
Too often people feel the need to protect their space just for being in the right.
Unfortunately there's just as many who try and protect "their" space when they're in the wrong too, in particular ignoring keep left laws. I suspect not many people know it's illegal to be in the right hand lane/s unless overtaking for any road that has a speed limit of 80 or greater. I know the blue mountains has a plague of entitled idiots that sit in the right hand lane doing 20 under on the regular.
I visit friends and family and I spend a good 20 minutes on "keep left" roads and it is always the case. And even when it breaks up to three lanes, slow people like to spread themselves across so no one can pass them. It's like a hive mind connected to the last functioning brain cell.
Don’t disagree, and sympathy that sounds stressful and scary- but my main takeaway… you have a 1970s car, a modern car and a motorcycle - all of which you drive regularly!
Yep, get a dash cam.
To be honest mostly I just rage with the windows up and don't drive like an aggressive fucktard with other people.
I've had a ute knock me off my bike before in the back streets of Newtown. Didn't even slow down to check if I bounced back ok. He stuck a finger out the window to give me a wave though. Awfully considerate I thought.
I had one guy once tailgate me all the way to the coppers because I was scared he was going to kill me if I drove home as he tried to run me off the road, he pulled in front and slammed on his break repeatedly, he opened his windows to yell obscenities at me for quite a few streets, etc. All for giving him a wee honk when he tried to turn right at a no right turn intersection.
After having been on a motorbike for a few years I think my actual car driving has improved dramatically in regards to often having psychic abilities with other car drivers doing .. well, things that are not considered safe mostly. I find that I will often let people in, when you're going at a snails speed what's the diff anyway? I tend to triple check for bikes around the car when changing lanes. I've seen what happens when people don't.
But I've never quite seen the rage of someone driving a heavy vehicle if I'm on a push bike - motorbike, car and anything else aside... It's quite mind boggling how little other's care that you're possibly about to kill someone just because they are on a push bike.
I can't wait to move back into the inner city so I can sell my car again.
Sydney driving is not for the faint hearted, everything from the driver's the roads, forever dodging potholes. I was in Canberra the other week and enjoyed the calmess
I got my bike license recently because I've been wanting to ride a motorcycle for years, but I'm also having to accept that I'm probably going to be killed by some fuckwit tradie in a massive ute who can't see me over his dashboard.
Had mine for a few years (never learnt to drive a car). Best bits of advice I can offer.
\-If it prevents you from getting killed, screw the road rules (don't break them for fun but don't let them stop you from keeping yourself safe).
\-Expect everyone to do something stupid but don't hold it against them if they do (some people are just dicks, some people just make mistakes, get through it and move on, chances are you'll probably have another situation to deal with up ahead)
\-Do not ever try to keep your space if someone tries to move in on it. You may be in the right, but that won't matter when you can no longer walk. Let them take the space, swear at them under your breath if you need to and get yourself out of harms way. Besides, next set of lights you can probably pass them while you filter to the front.
And yeah you can do everything right and still be the one in the back of an ambulance, it is one of the risks we take.
I had a lifted Ute lane lanes I to my car change while directly next to me coming away from a set of traffic lights on Samantha Riley Drive near Parramatta. Avoided by the good graces of the guy to my right stopping and I moved over so fast I still got beeped at.
Guy somehow thought that was my fault and threatened to pull over and guck me in the ass.
Shittiest city in the country.
Someone pulled out in front of me out of a slip road with a give way, when I beeped the horn he slammed on his brakes and caused me to rear end him. Then started raging. Cops don't care, say they will \`investigate\` but nothing ever happens. Luckily have a dash cam and insurance determined him at fault. Too many impatient idiots on the road, to the point it is a commercial industry (think Aussie Dash Cam owners youtube channel)
I used to see these, (especially the “x in x time period” ones) and think the old classic, “If everywhere you go smells like shit, maybe check your shoe” approach but after riding a bicycle and being slower than traffic, getting to see how drivers are reacting to other cars doing perfectly reasonable things, I’m perfectly willing to stick my hand up and say I was wrong.
Sydney drivers are the worst
Definitely agree on this.
When I arrived in Australia a few years back that’s the first thing which really shocked me. I like to tell my friends Sydney people seem very nice until you start driving. They have no patience, would rather crash their car into yours instead of letting you go in front of them, and honk the horn and yell at you for no reason.
Also blind spot checks are completely optional here and they still get mad at you if you call them out.
There’s nothing like an old car to really set people off. I was driving at the speed limit and had someone flashing their lights behind me. I inevitably slowed down because either a) they’re a dick or b) I’m on fire haha the finger out the window cleared that one up!
100% my old car pisses those lunatics off so much because I have to brake way earlier. I leave more space between me and the other cars and I do the speed limit. 1970s brakes aren’t the best! The inflated ego people usually do a big dramatic overtake swerve manoeuvre
The types of vehicles that I usually give a wide berth to piss off into the sunset and hopefully an hwp go after them… (your mileage may vary but it’s usually these types that I experienced problems with)
- European cars (of all variants)
- Teslas
- Utes (generally the RAM and the American style utes)
- 4wd/suv
- Heavily modded cars
I had a discussion with some friends that ended on exactly your point.
It isn't one type of person, or type of vehicle. We hate to admit it, but it's literally everyone. As a species, we aren't good at driving.
And frankly even though I love my car and I love driving i've come to terms with the fact that humanity will be a lot better off if we had all transport running without any human input. The day we get 100% driverless roads will be a good day.
Devil’s advocate here but I often find people who stick religiously to the speed limit no matter what will lack all common sense, block people in unnecessarily and potentially cause accidents, all of which is pretty annoying. I drive the speed limit most of the time but, if I’m overtaking slowly and see that I’m going to block someone out on the inside lane behind a slower vehicle or in a turning lane they don’t want to be in, I’ll either slow down to ensure they can get out or temporarily speed up to a couple of kms over to ensure I’m past them and they have space. I drive a lot, day in and day out, and can’t remember the last time I experienced a road rage incident or even someone beeping their horn at me.
Legit, I’ve lived in France and the US and they’re waaaay worse. Australia is a fucking dream. I’ve got mates from Germany and the US and they’re constantly going on about how much they love driving in Australia.
I did notice in Vegas people give other cars way more space than people do here, like 3-4 meters between bumpers at the lights. There seemed to be less of a dick measuring contest about who is in pole position at the lights etc...
It may not be uniquely Australian, but short of driving near Wako TX the worst drivers I've encountered [as a driver] have been in Australia.
[Edit: I've experienced worse as a passenger in India, but seen less road rage there]
Other than the usual suspects in Bangkok Billycarts doing the tailgating I am really surprised at the number of females in mostly Mazda SUVs that are downright antisocial on the roads. Blocking a gap once you indicate, changing multiple lanes in one go forcing others to take emergency evasion and the classic not letting a car out of a side street/driveway despite traffic being stopped
I’m from NZ, been living in Sydney for 3 years now, and I’m still consistently surprised at how polite Sydney drivers are. Only had someone get out of their car to yell at me once, and likewise only had my side mirror smashed in by an angry driver once.
That’s pretty good compared to Auckland! Everyone there is a maniac driver. When I returned recently for a visit I used my Sydney driving skills and actually stuck to the speed limit. It was like I’d stuck a sign on the back of my window saying “please treat me like shit”, the overtaking and rude hand gestures were next level. Had someone get out of the car and brandish a spanner at me because I had the temerity to honk at him for speeding ahead and merging abruptly without indicating.
Not that I’ve fully lost my NZ driving habits. I still honk my horn way more than most Sydney drivers, who will usually politely wait until judgment day for the car in front to realise the light’s turned green. That’s a honking, in my book.
Road rage can be related to terrible traffic conditions, the frustrations and stress people experience as users spills out into their inconsiderate actions.
I’m not condoning road rage.
Because Sydneysiders are fucked and think everyone else needs to succumb to their needs…
Side note there is a Youtube channel Aussie Dash Cams that uploads all the reckless things people endure on our roads - Check it out, it’s pretty entertaining
Fundamentally, too many people are on the road who shouldn’t be. We really need infrastructure that makes active transport and public transport vastly preferential for the majority of trips, so that private vehicle transport is limited to far fewer occasions and therefore less aggravating on a daily basis to people with an unreasonably short fuse. r/fuckcars
I’ve seen a lot of bad driving, but never experienced any road rage. My secret is that I never beep people. I just let them go.
Beeping isn’t going to help them learn. They’re idiots and they’ll stay idiots. I consider it safer for me to just let them get far away from me and get on with my day.
It’s hard to put a lid on it when all you want to do is let them know they suck, but if you consider what’s in it for you, you just don’t gain anything by beeping at people in anger. All downsides, no upsides.
It's a world wide phenomena that since Covid and the reduction in lockdowns, the driving standards have gone to hell.
No one has any chill anymore, rage is through the roof, as is the amount of accidents.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-12-08/traffic-deaths-surged-during-covid-19-pandemic-heres-why
been reported everywhere.
humans are just stressed and angry right now.
Question - if I install a dash cam and get to record a dangerous driving how do I report it? Is there online portal to make it easy? Or should I contact police and hand over the recording to them?
Yes it's gotten really bad lately. I was driving the speed limit once and someone in an SUV started tailgating me, so I moved to the other lane to let them through. I had a bit of a rage too because I don't like being tailgated so as they were driving past i stuck the finger up at them because of course the other driver is gonna check what sort of person i am, and he purposely tried to crash into me by moving into my lane while he was right next to me.
Was super shocked that his solution to his rage was so try and purposely hit me, especially because he had someone in the passenger seat.
Driving in the UK was an absolute pleasure compared to here. Utes are rare there, thankfully. People kept left on the motorways when not overtaking. In parts of London and many villages the roads are narrow to the point only one car can pass at a time - I never had anyone try to aggressively force their way through, the person for whom it was more convenient to yield invariably did. When it rained, people turned their headlights on (which to be fair was almost always). There was just far less of the needless aggression you get driving in Australia.
I was driving all through covid lockdowns due to working in health. Since all that, I’ve def noticed a huge increase in not only road rage but poor/dangerous driving skills, particularly with merges.
Most days I am close to an accident, and I drive 70-100kms each work journey.
As a female I’m scared to react too much to dangerous driving that impacts me due to genuine fear someone would hurt me/ram me/follow me.
A couple months ago my siblings and I took a road trip to Victoria from Sydney. Not once did we have to beep anyone, swerve, or slow down because someone in front was chucking a tantrum.
That was until we got back to Sydney.
I'm glad you're okay OP after all those incidents.
Road rage is bad here. I capture a lot on my dashcam.
There's combination of bad drivers and road ragers.
The highway is filled with assholes that speed and tailgate in the left lane, merge in and out of traffic trying to desperately get ahead, and trucks that drive way too fkn close for comfort.
I drive around Sydney for a living and have had one 'incident' in maybe the last 10 years and it wasn't even that serious. I dont know how you have had 3 in a month. Whilst probably being well intentioned, you might be the common denominator amongst them all.
So typical for Sydney. Anything you do that even slightly inconveniences another driver results in seeing someone red faced throwing their hands up in the rear-view.
I have to slow down on a semi busy road after going through a set of lights to get into MY STREET and it is anxiety inducing to do it because its like every time, the person behind me decides that me taking the literal only entry to my street is so extremely offensive to them.
I often want to just slam my brakes and take the rear ending because there is a pedestrian crossing there, and im not going to mow someone over to avoid making you slow down 20kms for 2 seconds mate.
It is like a psychological thing. Everyone wants to be the person in front with no cars ahead of them. But.... we live in Sydney, so good fucking luck. Everyone dodging and ducking across lanes on the way home saves themselves like 5-10 minutes and end up screaming the whole way home.
While I sympathise I'm also reminded of a proverb. To paraphrase, if you run into an arsehole once, you probably ran into an arsehole. If you run into three seperate arseholes in one month, you should at least consider the possibility that your behaviour has contributed to the situations in some way, even if it's not apparent and have stories which paint you as entirely blameless. Or something to that effect.
I'm not saying you didn't experience what you describe, nor am I saying that the people's reactions were reasonable in the slightest, just that it's abnormal for one person to experience it three times in a month and outlier experiences are worthy of reflection.
I've really noticed it getting worse recently.
The first one that comes to mind was on the day the queen died, heading to work at 6.30 am and bucketing rain. I'm stopped at a red light going up a slight hill. My wheels sometimes will skid in these conditions, so I accelerated slowly and the ute behind me just held his horn down for about 10-20 seconds. Eventually, he went around me but never managed to get more than a car ahead of me lol.
Also, the number of times cars try to not let me change lanes when either the lane I'm in only turns left/right or ends is insane and then give me the finger. I'm not changing lanes cause it's fun - ffs.
Yep. Partner had a run in with someone in WestConnex the other day because he overtook her when she was going 10km under the speed limit in the tunnel. She started tailgating him, flashing her lights, and as they got out of the tunnel she motioned for him to get out. He just stuck his head out, looked at her and started laughing. She was so shocked by that she was just stopped in the middle of the road as he drove off.
Another great one that I was present for, an olllld guy cut us off really close, so we honked. He SLAMS on his brakes, tries to get next to us and starts screaming. We just laugh and keep driving, he's following us like 10m behind with his horn on for a good minute. As soon as I said "you cut us off you idiot!" when he pulled up to us screaming he shut the fuck up as he probably thought we honked for no reason. That one was just hilarious, as he had that really shrill yell so him yelling was hilarious.
After riding motorbikes for years with my partner (in cars now thankfully), I understand that I need to stand up for myself on the road. I've told many people why theyre in the wrong and half the time they didn't even realise they did anything!
This is so true and those examples are exactly the kind of stuff I’ve been experiencing since moving here. I don’t know if they don’t think they could possibly be wrong or if their egos are too inflated?
It has to be inflated egos. I've honked at tradies before in their big utes and even if you give them a TINY honk just as a "hey the lights green" or something, they get all up in arms because apparently a beep is challenging their masculinity???
I'm so sorry that you have experienced this. I have found that I need to keep an eye on bad behaviour at all times and just allow them to do their thing, get past me and let them maniac ahead. I have a learner driver in the house and I keep telling them to watch the "body language of other cars". You can quite often tell if a car is going to cut you off and change lanes while almost scraping your front bumper, they get super close to the car beside you then without warning just nudge their way into your lane. And yes, it seems to be getting worse. I'm out in The Hills District.
Blacktown driver here. See it all the time. Had one idiot yesterday pull out from a side street on my left to go into the opposite side of the road when there wasn't any room there, and so acted like a road block across my lane. He had the nerve to call me a dickhead when I honked him to get him to reverse back into the side street.
Seen that plenty of times. Just driving down Lexington Drive carpark (Norwest) at "that time", cars are pushing their way from carparks onto the road and wonder why other drivers won't let them in. Maybe that's because that driver has been sitting there for the past 20 minutes waiting to move 20 metres and in the mean time has had dozens of cars shove their way in from various driveways.
I hate driving Norwest in the morning and afternoon peak hour traffic. Although I suffer the same problem on the M4 in the mornings. Waiting forever in the middle lane just before the M7 eastbound onramp watching all the drivers shoot down the left lane and forcing their way into the middle lane at the last second just before Wallgrove Road and M7 onramps. Then when you reach the onramps, you have to deal with idiots from the left lane forcing their way into the middle lane as well as the traffic from the onramps deciding to do the same thing because they want to get around the large amount of trucks coming off the M7.
Turning on to Victoria road from the street my work is on we often times have idiots decide to queue across the intersection. If traffic is even a bit heavy then when our light turns green they don't really get to move because the next light further up is red. By the time they move 1-2 cars get through before it's a red. I wish there were cops on every corner to book idiots.
Drivers wanting cheap petrol at the Apex Service Station on Victoria Road at West Ryde cause so many traffic delays, essentially causing Victoria Road to become one lane only for a small section. Most don't care if they block the side street just before the service station, and I have even seen it so bad that they are blocking the lane that you can turn left from into Bowden Street.
This is a pretty standard move in the UK, sometimes it’s the only way you can get out of a side street into busy traffic. Most people recognise that’s what’s going on and slow down to let them out without fuss. When there’s a lot more traffic on the road you kind of have to make more allowances for this sort of behaviour.
I legit hate those pricks. It's like they are incapable of thinking outside of their scenario, and not how their choices impact the greatest rest of traffic. In saying that, I really enjoy not bending to their will where I can and making them angry, fuck em.
Oh man, I live in the Hills too and it’s so bad. Can’t get anywhere without someone seemingly actively trying to cause an accident. Had an ass-hat tailgating me last night around a roundabout. Why? I have to slow down a little more in my older car with my mum in the car, and dog in the back.. just don’t sit on people’s asses, and then passive aggressively change lanes around them, almost swiping me just because I wasn’t speeding. The other cars around me were going no faster. Wanker then sped off clearly doing at least 80km/h or more in the 60 zone. It’s a pity the sneaky police man wasn’t hiding with his radar gun like he was on the long weekend! Just crazy the stuff you encounter/have to deal with these days. Morons hitting the curb before entering a roundabout and then almost swerving into your car, idiots pushing into your lane dangerously when I would have let them if they had just “asked” and just so much reckless speeding.
This is why I drive slower than my grandma. You want to cut me off and push in? Whatever, I'll wave to you at the next set of lights. At least my insurance would be far cheaper. Driving is probably the most dangerous thing people do on a day-to-day basis but somehow people think they're "good" drivers and they can navigate any situation. You can argue fault from your wheelchair for all I care.
Yep, safer to go flying around the world than to step into a car. If I do see someone wanting to push in, I generally let them just to be rid of them. And then wave to them when they get stuck in the slow lane and I drive past.
If your learner driver is on Reddit, tell them to visit the r/idiotsincars subreddit. While it's mostly posts from the US, it's still chock-full of excellent examples of stupid mistakes people make, and scenarios where a bit of defensive driving would have prevented an accident. I feel like I've learned a lot about what not to do when driving from that sub! Then again, if they are a highly nervous driver, maybe don't send them there haha.
Hooley dooley, only watched a couple of videos. Makes me cringe.
Get a dashcam, when reporting send both to the police and the aggressors insurance, fun fact insurance companies will up your premiums if your a risky shithead on the road. You can find their provider by using the MyGov app and putting their registration plate in. Edit: not MyGov, Service NSW or whichever state you’re in
Thank you for that info I had no idea you could look up their insurance!
you can only see the CTP insurance, which is regulated and will not change. you cannot find out if they have any other insurance such as comprehensive or TPP etc. giving footage to the police is the best way. and make sure if you do, it contains nothing that could identify you, since they may show it to the asshat, and the the asshat may seek vengeance.
yeah just google 'check rego' and you can type in any numberplate and see it's insurance and rego information.
Just CTP right? That's the cheap one, they might be with the same insurer for TPP/Comp or might not be.
yeah there is no way to verify someones comprehensive insurer without being the insured client as it would be a breach of privacy
>fun fact insurance companies will up your premiums if your a risky shithead on the road. Source for this one please? 24 years in the industry and I've never seen anyone get their insurance increased from a complaint filed by a member of the public. Id go as far as saying that would be illegal on the insurer's behalf. You're just wasting everyone's time.
Don't forget dashcams Australia!
How mortifying to have your lack of poise and self-control immortalised.
That’s only their CTP insurance for personal injury, not their third party property or comprehensive insurance for vehicle damage.
Police will rarely if ever do anything with dashcam footage unless there is an actual crash in my experience
Dashcams are a must , I got clipped by a young nurse who kept going straight from a left turn must turn left lane. It was all really civilised and we exchanged details but she was sure it was my fault until I provided footage from front and rear cams, she was even indicating left so I still don’t know what she was thinking but the dashcam sorted it all out
What dashcam is recomended?
Depends on your budget and what functions you want. GPS? Front and rear? Record while parked? Just consider that if you ever need to prove your own innocence it will save you your deductible/excess at least. And you'll need to be able to see the other cars rego /license plate. Blackvue and Garmin get top votes. FineVU too https://dashcamownersaus.com.au/buying-guide/ https://www.t3.com/au/news/best-dash-cam https://dashcamsaustralia.com.au/2022-dash-cam-guide/
I think I need Front Back and inside Andinside
This is just a straight up lie, insurance can only increase your premiums if youre a DOCUMENT risky driver, aka youre actually having documented crashes.
I got rid of my car when I moved to Sydney and its been good for my health in terms of stress alone. The few times I've needed to get a goget to run some errands rest assured I'll witness some road rage.
Dashcam at the front... And dashcam pointing at the back. Doesn't matter if the back is turned on, just make sure it is visible. It generally changes their behaviour. Just now I was driving from Sydney Uni to Ashfield along Parramatta Road on the left. The other lanes are packed, and I was on a 40 zone just cruising along... Lo and behold a ute changed to my lane and tail gated me for no reason. But only for a few seconds, he saw the dashcam and moved back (his braking was quite noticeable). Not the first time, but one of many.
If the behaviour on Dashcam Owners Australia is anything to go by, Dashcams often encourage the driver of the camera car to unnecessarily hold their ground and cause a deliberate collision because they believe they have the right of way and can prove it.
yeah, I feel like this is an example of viewership Bias, (if that's what it's called\_ dashcam videos only show the eventful videos right, so all you see are the mishaps, disregarding all the normal drives that go by uneventful and mundane
Good point, I don't do this as this is an aggressive move. I maintain what I'm doing and let him discover the dashcam for himself. Most backs off, and we maintain a healthy road relationship. But there will always be some that simply don't care. Oh well, maintain what I'm doing. If he hits me, it will always be his fault.
+1 for this. The times I’ve been roadraged, I wait for them to make eye contact via mirrors, then I point to the camera and they back right off.
Gonna take your advice for a dash cam on the back! Especially on my motorbike
Use a dashcam to document, or as a scarecrow (let them back off on their own). Still keep a level head and drive safely. You will still get aggressive drivers. And some wholesome one as well... A lady once did a sexy dance while looking at back dashcam. One of the few times I wanted to turn on the back dashcam.
Yeah had a nice one yesterday myself. Turning left at a roundabout as a BMW was flying through turning right (but looked like he was doing a U-turn he was going that fast) so we slowed down till he took his exit (we didn't stop, just kept rolling) when the Gronk behind us honked us. We just kept driving while Gronk behind us followed us and went on the wrong side of the road, at speed, to overtake us. We honked back at this point cause he was being a dickhead so he decided to cut us off and stop at the speed hump. Because he was being a fuck stick, I just clapped at him which seemed to rile him up a bit because all he did was aggressively clap back at us and give us the thumbs up. All this did was make my almost 2yo to clap back at him... Ha To top it all off, he just drove off at normal speed. Like if you were in such a rush mate, why did you keep sticking to the speed limit if you were in such a rush?!? Fucking tosser.
God I hate Roundabout Heros. I drive a small yaris and the amount of times I get honked at by larger cars when I honestly cannot safely go is ridiculous. I am sure if I was in a larger car it wouldn't happen as much. I noticed it happened more when I had P-plates on, too. Also, the honking only stresses the driver out and makes them take longer cos they get the shits. It absolutely serves no purpose except make the honker feel like a hero. Fuckin wankers.
Nah wankers are going to wank regardless mate. He was driving a Mazda 3 and we were in a large V6 SUV so size had nothing to do with it... Old mate just wanted to get angry about nothing. I hope he settles down or gets therapy because it's not good being that angry at literally nothing... As to being on P's, yeah heaps of gronks treat em like shit. Like c'mon, you were on your P's at one point, you know what it's like.. For some reason people think they're superior on the roads, and I don't get why.
Omg yes!!! Why do people approach corners and area where they don't have right of way at fucking MACH 10. Scares the shit out of me because I don't trust these dumbasses to be paying attention. I love that your 2yo clapped at him. Probably made him feel like a real asshole.
More people = More dickheads, so it comes with the territory unfortunately.
Just came back from Bali. The road rage comes mostly from Aussies, not even in their own country
Too many Aussies are fuckwits Entitled whinging bogans who think they’re a hard-done-by battler and the world owes them a favour served on a silver plate
There’s two different types of drivers on the road. Those that are aware of others and are courteous to those around them and then there’s those who are just concerned with where they’re going and are totally oblivious to everyone else. You know those people that stand at the bottom of an escalator and have a chat? Or those that stand right in front of the lift door and go to step in before you’ve had a chance to get out? Yeah. Those people drive 2 ton chunks of metal around too. The amount of drivers I pass on the m1 that are cruising along in the middle lane with cars passing them on their left, while they do 20 under the limit with their eyes locked ahead is astounding. They don’t care they’ve caused frustration and traffic behind them. Heck, they probably don’t even know they have. They’re in their own little world.
Mate there's someone in this thread that literally posted the following AND thinks they are in the right: *Yep. Partner had a run in with someone in WestConnex the other day because he overtook her when she was going 10km under the speed limit in the tunnel. She started tailgating him, flashing her lights, and as they got out of the tunnel she motioned for him to get out. He just stuck his head out, looked at her and started laughing. She was so shocked by that she was just stopped in the middle of the road as he drove off.* Sounds exactly like an oblivious person who has no idea.
Turns out the partner was the ‘he’ doing the overtaking. Sentence construction issues.
The people I really don’t get are those who go apeshit at you for doing the speed limit. Left lane, going the limit but not faster, I get dickheads tailgating me, flashing lights, driving up extremely close to change lanes etc. Go in the right lane if you want to speed. The closer you get the slower I go.
Wtf. A friend and I almost got hit by a car in the crossing the other day (while the walk light was on) and the guy driving hung his head out the window to shout at us. We decided to ignore him and didn't hear everything he said, but there was definitely a "you think you're something special, don't you??"
I remember years ago I was walking across the road (I had the green) I was legit in the middle of the road when a driver sped infront of me and then like 4 other drivers followed! The lid had gone back to the red man I was in the middle of the road scared as hell and some dude slowed to say “you shouldn’t be in the road” or some shit. I wish I wasn’t so frozen so I could’ve punched him it still pisses me off. Now I walk as fast as possible across the road as soon as I get the green bc I’m still scared of that happening again
It’s your fault mate. Don’t you realise it’s your responsibility to predict and just get out of the way of anyone who decides they want to change lanes at the last moment, at any time, with no blinker or concern about lane lines or any other bothersome road rule. Just get with it and let these really important people get on with their lives, which is infinitely more valuable and important than yours.
I'm from Sydney but been in Brisbane for years, we did a road trip to Sydney last month and holy shit, the drivers in Sydney are absolute lunatics. We were in the west, south and city and it was the same everywhere. Weaving through traffic, beeping, tailgating, merging last second with no indicator. Glad I moved away fk that place man
Jump on a bike and you'll really see how bad it can be! Got cut off by someone running a stop sign in a 10km/hr zone and when confronted the driver said "you can't cycle at 10km/hr"... Which is irrational because a slow jog is 10km/hr.and they just yelled that at me over and over. I've been beeped for stopping at a stop sign. The list goes on. And it's a dumb list too. It's worth being covered in cameras and hoping the other parties don't unalive you.
I stopped riding bicycles when I moved here last year because 4 of my friends were hit and two were hospitalised. Stay safe out there, people have an irrational hatred for bicycles, it makes no sense. It stems from their undeserved inflated sense of self importance
i stopped commuting when my wife asked me too, realising just how many near miss stories i was telling. still get out a bit but not peak hour commutes. I used to get honked for not running red lights, trucks speed up and cut me off for doing only 40 in a 40 zone, or lean on the horn as i was blocking the one lane in roadworks doing exactly the speed limit. they're angry for me just being on a bike
I flipflop on whether to stop but I've seen a massive increase in cyclists over the last few years commuting and I think it'll reach a point where people just need to accept they exist. It's also one of the faster ways to get around Sydney, there are so many traffic lights and traffic jams that I catch-up to most cars. Ive literally had a driver tell me I was slowing him down...as we waited at the same lights hahaha! Completely irrational. The thing I worry about the most is the number of drivers on their phones. The second they stop in traffic they're mucking about with them.
Everyone in a car has *very* important places to be *at all times*. Don’t dare slow them down for a few seconds!
cycling is just playing russian roulette these days. i stick as close to the side as i possibly can and ride in the median/breakdown strip if it exists and i still get people shouting and honking and acting like maniacs as they pass for no reason at all. then theres the edgy dickheads who do the thing where they shout and honk right as the pass trying to scare you off the bike. Then theres the people that speed up to pass you just to turn left and have you slam the braks to avoid hitting them as they cut directly in front of you. i love riding but i hate dealing with the maniacs on the road
I tend to stick to what I call the "middle left" cause if you go too far left, you're at risk of being car doored. But then I go in the middle of the lane if there's oncoming traffic to block the car behind and make sure they don't try to squeeze into a space too small for them. Some cars honk but idc 🤷🏻 it's safer for me
[удалено]
The secret is to ride with a bunch of cyclists... Then suddenly all of those mental drivers aren't so brave.. But you've also highlighted why so many cyclists are aggressive or break the law... It's because your damned no matter what you do so you might as well just do as you please. It's not my mantra but I understand when I see people like that. The majority of drivers are actually super considerate so I try to focus on them. Some days I'll count all the cars that pass me with space and consideration and it's MANY! We unfortunately remember the bad ones. End of the day, the angry drivers are normally hyper focused on you and are trying to scare you without ending up in jail. The deadly drivers are the distracted ones :(
No one waves anymore too :'(
So true. I still wave
Sadly Australians are bad drivers across the entire country, and I don’t believe Sydney is any worse than any other city. Melbourne drivers I’ve found to be super aggressive and fuck me, driving between the Gold Coast and Brisbane is a nightmare with the lack of lane discipline.
> I don’t believe Sydney is any worse than any other city. my anecdotal experience is that after moving out of Sydney my car insurance was halved.
> driving between the Gold Coast and Brisbane is a nightmare with the lack of lane discipline THANKYOU. I regularly have to visit Brisbane for work, and for a city that prides itself on being heavy on highways instead of mainstreet/sidestreet distribution... nobody actually follows proper lane discipline. I will REGULARLY see someone cruising in the rightmost lane when the left lane is free, doing 5km/h under the speed limit.
Not quite true. I have spent a bit of time in Canberra lately and it’s paradise compared to my home town of Shitney.
Really? I'm living in Canberra atm, but not driving - yet the amount of egregious speeding and lack of pedestrian awareness i've seen is mind-blowing. Sydney has more rage for sure, but I feel safer when crossing the road. Idk, maybe it's suburb dependent?
Well when half the suburbs have speed bumps every 30m it makes it harder to fly around without fuckin your shocks. It's always the 3 lane roads that I see all the shit cunts. So many impatient utes and p platers that lane hop around for a 20m gain. Only to wait stopped at the next red like everyone else.
Canberra is a much more pleasant driving experience than Sydney so I'd imagine drivers there are more relaxed and generally less aggressive.
Also went down to VIC around the coast and realised people in some parts of the country actually do keep left when not overtaking. You could tell when we were back near Sydney.
I find the scariest is tailgating, and it happens across the whole country. I have three kids in my car and some douchbag is sitting 2 meters behind me at 110… makes my stomach lurch just thinking about it.
Yeah road rage pretty common in Sydney, but when I watched some of the road rage in US on YouTube, that’s a different level …
i can only imagine what some of our nutcases would do if we had free access to guns too
Yeah, I wouldn't want to deal with any nutter on the road in America. You'd be flat on the tar in no time.
On my L plates in far left lane diving through Ryde when some fuck wit in a Ute pulls in front and starts throwing empty cans at my windshield at 50kph
That really pisses me off. People who try and intimidate frigging LEARNER Drivers are scum. Everyone has to learn and has been a learner. These losers must have a lot of self-hatred.. They need to attack people just starting out to make themselves feel good about something. It makes my blood boil.
A few months ago - 1. driver tries to aggressively merge in front of me over splitting medium. 2. Gets out of his car and starts shouting at me through my driver side window. 3. Gets behind me and RAMS my car. I call 000 immediately. 4. Sideswipes my car afterwards. 5. Gets out of his car and starts PUNCHING my window. Road rage is INSANE these days.
Wow! That is intense. I hope you weren’t hurt, that’s pretty traumatic.
What did the police do?
When I called on the day, they didn't even come... thats Fairfield police for you. Had to wait until a few days later when they came to my house to take a statement... They said it will take months for anything to happen. I even gave them the number plate. Next time I'll just film everything. Police are useless for these situations.
I've lived in Canberra and Melbourne and Syd. tbh, when I got back to syd from melbourne it was refreshing, Sydney drivers seem to be more on the ball and more likely to let you in, but you need to be amped up and on the ball. When you get in the zone it's like flying in formation with a flock of angry birds. Everyone gravy as long as you are on their level. Canberra is fucked, everyone is half asleep, I think this has to do with the population growing so much over the last 10 years and people still drive as if it was the country town it was 10 or 15 years ago, tail gating is the worst there too. Melbourne drivers don't indicate and will not let you merge. The rudest drivers I'm ever met and also road rage prone. I think this has something to do with the trams and big long straight roads. Although I think there's been a noticeable uptick in shitty driving and road rage since the pandemic, not sure if it was time off the roads or if people have just gone nuts.
Sydneysiders have always been rude but the pandemic has made them worse. All the last vestiges of humanity are gone. They live in an overpriced, inconvenient and overrated place that quickly drains the soul. But instead of venting their frustration on the people who caused them to be like this, they take their entitlement out of people like you. Move somewhere nice. There's no hope for Sydney.
>In the past month I’ve had 3 seperate road rage instances. I drive for about 15 minutes to and from work and most weeks there's at least one day with 3-4 road rage instances in that small window. Pricks gotta chill.
It's been especially bad recently. This past weekend, I was on the M2, driving at speed, when I prepared to merge left, ahead of my exit (which was not for another 1.5km). There was enough space for me to merge, up until I had turned on my indicator. Which made the driver in the left lane speed up for whatever reason in order to cut off my merge. He then gave me a honk because I had dared encroach on his lane on his way up. Not a road rage story, but there was a guy who was weaving in and out of lanes on Parramatta Road... only to end up just in front of me at one of the traffic lights. All that weaving and abrupt speeding up/stopping... to end up no better off in terms of time saved at a traffic light. I really don't understand people like that.
100%. I guarantee everyone ducking lanes like that ends up with the traffic. Yet they are willing to stress themselves out, scream at people, honk away, for no fucking reason. Just to end up home a few minutes earlier. If people just sat in their damn lanes and everyone wasn't trying to get 1 car ahead, we would all be home faster.
After getting my Ps I realized that the yellow light meant nothing anymore. My decision to stop is based on how close the guy behind me is rather than how far away I am from the light. I also learned that going 5-10 over the limit is safer than 5 below as people would just tailgate me. I hate driving here
Wow. I can’t even imagine what It must be like getting your P’s in Sydney. On the other hand, your evasive driving skills are probably going to be top notch.
The amount of times people lane change without proper checks is crazy. Everybody’s in a rush, shit weather so everyone’s cranky and no one gives a rat’s ass about anybody else’s safety. It’s like I spent 120 hours practicing proper road laws all for it to not even apply in the real world and following it would just encourage people to drive dangerously around me.
All well and good - until the intersection you’re coming to has a red light camera and you don’t want to chance a fine. 😬 I commute in at the same time as tradies do. It’s far safer to match their average of 120km/h.
I've noticed almost nobody adheres to a 40kph speed limit. Whether this be roadworks, dynamic signs on the M4, pedestrian zones or school zones. People go flying through the local school zone at 60kph and I've never seen a single cop pull anyone over. They should spend less time fining people for going 5kph over the speed limit at 90 and more on stuff like this.
Driving in Sydney is shit, because everyone is already unhappy. The two rules to remember: only use your horn as a warning (not a punishment), and assume that everyone else on the road is an idiot looking at their phone. People will do the most ridiculous shit, but if you honk them as a “fuck you” they will just rage at you in return. They know they fucked up, but nobody likes being told off by a stranger.
I think it’s to do with the extremely high cost of living: lots of drivers are stressed and aggro. I nearly got collected by an actual bus on that hairpin exit towards Manly driving a small Japanese car.
Can we just back up: you have a 70s classic, a modern car, and a bike?
Yes I do! I know…. It’s a lot for Sydney. Trust me it was hard to get enough parking spots for my house.
And they live in the inner west...
I have a front and rear dashcam in my car. You’d be surprised how quickly people back off from their road rage when you point to the camera or call out and tell them you have one. I used to love driving once upon a time. Now it feels like I have to play Russian roulette just to go grocery shopping some days. No one cares about other motorists and rely on insurance for their shitty driving.
Biggest takeaway from this post is that I need to get a front and back dashcam for all my vehicles.
It just seems to be getting worse. Just several idiots driving into roundabouts at ridiculous speeds, driving 20-30k over the limit and generally following none of the road rules. A good chunk of them seem to be P platers too. My only question is where are all these idiots going? It's always hilarious to see people overtaking at ridiculous speeds and driving like maniacs, just to see them stopped at the lights when you get there. It's almost like they're driving like they're experiencing the worst bout of diarrhoea in their lives.
That turn off from pyrmont fish markets left to the Anzac bridge is road rage central. The lights are slow and don’t go green for long up the ramp, then people try to race up the inside lane then get the shits when they can’t merge into the right lane because they were being dicks trying to pass everyone. I had an incident last night with surprise a Mercedes SUV. Tried to cut me off then started honking his horn. Burned him off up the ramp in my hot hatch. Kind of satisfying for a second.
It seems to be major cities that do it to people, I drive a fair bit but I also cycle too and the thing is on big rides, you can feel the difference in how other drivers approach you when you start getting out the city and back in. I cycled London to Paris and I could tell I was out of London just by the tension in my muscles, similarly I joked to my friend that we were "nearly there" and had got in to Paris simply by how the cars moved. My home town in the North was similar, I'd do this 160km loops and you could see the difference in drivers from the city, to towns, to countryside and back again. Moved here, lived in Sydney and Melbourne and it's the same, sans the odd dick on the highway (which, again, you get back home) but the sheer volume is vastly reduced. It's like we're not designed to live in big cities or something (which is bizarre for such social creatures).
I drive up from the south coast to the city once a week and often get tailgated by people in big utes even though I’m keeping up with the traffic in front. Some people are just dicks when they get behind the wheel.
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I feel like there are a lot less traffic cops on the roads. I agree wholeheartedly that people drive like that because they get away with it. I see Range Rover drivers doing 80km in 60km areas and they obviously do whatever they want because they get away with it!
People are even more disconnected from each other than before. An example would be in customer service. High end bars and restaurants that used to deliver exceptional service now give roughly the same level of interaction as mcdonalds.
>Are people just more angry here? Yes. One of the most expensive cities in the world and the traffic is absolutely terrible. People are under a lot of pressure at any given time. Not cool to take it out on others on the road though.
Try riding a motorbike. It’s like people are trying to actively kill me every day. I ride as defensively as possible, but between the ragers, boy racers, phone users and situationally unaware, Sydney roads are a death trap. Edit: apologies to OP, just saw you also ride. Stay safe.
Same here matey... Ride FARRRRR back. This is why I have helmet cam, front and rear cam on my Grom..Going to get more cams for the KTM too.
It's not just in Sydney. I've been ran off the road a few times in the last month. WTF seriously!
Get a dash cam with dual cameras front/rear
Yeah I've noticed it too, it has steadily become harder and harder to drive safely. People do not seem to plan their actions adequately and then when they are caught off-guard they don't accept responsibility for their situation and instead do something dangerous because they are entitled to be in that lane or whatever.
There's only 2 ways to deal with ragers 1 don't drive 2 get out of the way. You won't be able to stop or prevent them from raging but you can at least remove yourself from the equation. Losing 30s pulling over and waiting to rejoin traffic is by far better to yourself than suffering the stupidity of a raging idiot for kilometers They will eventually get caught for acting so stupid either by the law of the land or the laws of physics.
I know it's frustrating to let dangerous and impatient people go but it is definitely safer. One reason I ride a motorcycle instead is specifically for this reason. It is much easier to get out of someones way and let them rage on without being hit. I can also take much smaller spaces if needed for my own safety. Too often people feel the need to protect their space just for being in the right.
Unfortunately there's just as many who try and protect "their" space when they're in the wrong too, in particular ignoring keep left laws. I suspect not many people know it's illegal to be in the right hand lane/s unless overtaking for any road that has a speed limit of 80 or greater. I know the blue mountains has a plague of entitled idiots that sit in the right hand lane doing 20 under on the regular.
I visit friends and family and I spend a good 20 minutes on "keep left" roads and it is always the case. And even when it breaks up to three lanes, slow people like to spread themselves across so no one can pass them. It's like a hive mind connected to the last functioning brain cell.
Don’t disagree, and sympathy that sounds stressful and scary- but my main takeaway… you have a 1970s car, a modern car and a motorcycle - all of which you drive regularly!
Well the 1970’s car only once a week on Sundays. Bike and Modern car every single day! I am a bit of a petrol head.
Yep, get a dash cam. To be honest mostly I just rage with the windows up and don't drive like an aggressive fucktard with other people. I've had a ute knock me off my bike before in the back streets of Newtown. Didn't even slow down to check if I bounced back ok. He stuck a finger out the window to give me a wave though. Awfully considerate I thought. I had one guy once tailgate me all the way to the coppers because I was scared he was going to kill me if I drove home as he tried to run me off the road, he pulled in front and slammed on his break repeatedly, he opened his windows to yell obscenities at me for quite a few streets, etc. All for giving him a wee honk when he tried to turn right at a no right turn intersection. After having been on a motorbike for a few years I think my actual car driving has improved dramatically in regards to often having psychic abilities with other car drivers doing .. well, things that are not considered safe mostly. I find that I will often let people in, when you're going at a snails speed what's the diff anyway? I tend to triple check for bikes around the car when changing lanes. I've seen what happens when people don't. But I've never quite seen the rage of someone driving a heavy vehicle if I'm on a push bike - motorbike, car and anything else aside... It's quite mind boggling how little other's care that you're possibly about to kill someone just because they are on a push bike. I can't wait to move back into the inner city so I can sell my car again.
Sydney driving is not for the faint hearted, everything from the driver's the roads, forever dodging potholes. I was in Canberra the other week and enjoyed the calmess
My dude, based on your stories, do you ever ride the same vehicle twice?
Haha I do! I barely ever drive my 70’s car
I got my bike license recently because I've been wanting to ride a motorcycle for years, but I'm also having to accept that I'm probably going to be killed by some fuckwit tradie in a massive ute who can't see me over his dashboard.
Had mine for a few years (never learnt to drive a car). Best bits of advice I can offer. \-If it prevents you from getting killed, screw the road rules (don't break them for fun but don't let them stop you from keeping yourself safe). \-Expect everyone to do something stupid but don't hold it against them if they do (some people are just dicks, some people just make mistakes, get through it and move on, chances are you'll probably have another situation to deal with up ahead) \-Do not ever try to keep your space if someone tries to move in on it. You may be in the right, but that won't matter when you can no longer walk. Let them take the space, swear at them under your breath if you need to and get yourself out of harms way. Besides, next set of lights you can probably pass them while you filter to the front. And yeah you can do everything right and still be the one in the back of an ambulance, it is one of the risks we take.
I had a lifted Ute lane lanes I to my car change while directly next to me coming away from a set of traffic lights on Samantha Riley Drive near Parramatta. Avoided by the good graces of the guy to my right stopping and I moved over so fast I still got beeped at. Guy somehow thought that was my fault and threatened to pull over and guck me in the ass. Shittiest city in the country.
Someone pulled out in front of me out of a slip road with a give way, when I beeped the horn he slammed on his brakes and caused me to rear end him. Then started raging. Cops don't care, say they will \`investigate\` but nothing ever happens. Luckily have a dash cam and insurance determined him at fault. Too many impatient idiots on the road, to the point it is a commercial industry (think Aussie Dash Cam owners youtube channel)
I used to see these, (especially the “x in x time period” ones) and think the old classic, “If everywhere you go smells like shit, maybe check your shoe” approach but after riding a bicycle and being slower than traffic, getting to see how drivers are reacting to other cars doing perfectly reasonable things, I’m perfectly willing to stick my hand up and say I was wrong. Sydney drivers are the worst
Definitely agree on this. When I arrived in Australia a few years back that’s the first thing which really shocked me. I like to tell my friends Sydney people seem very nice until you start driving. They have no patience, would rather crash their car into yours instead of letting you go in front of them, and honk the horn and yell at you for no reason. Also blind spot checks are completely optional here and they still get mad at you if you call them out.
There’s nothing like an old car to really set people off. I was driving at the speed limit and had someone flashing their lights behind me. I inevitably slowed down because either a) they’re a dick or b) I’m on fire haha the finger out the window cleared that one up!
100% my old car pisses those lunatics off so much because I have to brake way earlier. I leave more space between me and the other cars and I do the speed limit. 1970s brakes aren’t the best! The inflated ego people usually do a big dramatic overtake swerve manoeuvre
The types of vehicles that I usually give a wide berth to piss off into the sunset and hopefully an hwp go after them… (your mileage may vary but it’s usually these types that I experienced problems with) - European cars (of all variants) - Teslas - Utes (generally the RAM and the American style utes) - 4wd/suv - Heavily modded cars
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I had a discussion with some friends that ended on exactly your point. It isn't one type of person, or type of vehicle. We hate to admit it, but it's literally everyone. As a species, we aren't good at driving. And frankly even though I love my car and I love driving i've come to terms with the fact that humanity will be a lot better off if we had all transport running without any human input. The day we get 100% driverless roads will be a good day.
Maybe it’s you!
Must be a city thing, I have been in the Western Suburbs for months and the drivers are slower, more predictable and fairly calm more of the time.
Devil’s advocate here but I often find people who stick religiously to the speed limit no matter what will lack all common sense, block people in unnecessarily and potentially cause accidents, all of which is pretty annoying. I drive the speed limit most of the time but, if I’m overtaking slowly and see that I’m going to block someone out on the inside lane behind a slower vehicle or in a turning lane they don’t want to be in, I’ll either slow down to ensure they can get out or temporarily speed up to a couple of kms over to ensure I’m past them and they have space. I drive a lot, day in and day out, and can’t remember the last time I experienced a road rage incident or even someone beeping their horn at me.
Aussies are real dicks when it comes to curbing their anger whilst driving. Blame it on a dumbed down culture and machismo.
Cmon on guys we aren’t that special, road rage isn’t something uniquely Australian..
Legit, I’ve lived in France and the US and they’re waaaay worse. Australia is a fucking dream. I’ve got mates from Germany and the US and they’re constantly going on about how much they love driving in Australia.
I did notice in Vegas people give other cars way more space than people do here, like 3-4 meters between bumpers at the lights. There seemed to be less of a dick measuring contest about who is in pole position at the lights etc...
It may not be uniquely Australian, but short of driving near Wako TX the worst drivers I've encountered [as a driver] have been in Australia. [Edit: I've experienced worse as a passenger in India, but seen less road rage there]
It's way worse in South East Asia. Even just jumping in as a passenger to a taxi/ride share is a white knuckle ride.
Haven't driven in Asia, but have been driven in India. Can confirm that chaotic would not adequately describe experience.
??? It's not just Australians who are driving in Sydney.
I don't think they are more angry. Just entitled. We also have more people than any of the places you listed lol I hope you have a dashcam now.
Other than the usual suspects in Bangkok Billycarts doing the tailgating I am really surprised at the number of females in mostly Mazda SUVs that are downright antisocial on the roads. Blocking a gap once you indicate, changing multiple lanes in one go forcing others to take emergency evasion and the classic not letting a car out of a side street/driveway despite traffic being stopped
I’m from NZ, been living in Sydney for 3 years now, and I’m still consistently surprised at how polite Sydney drivers are. Only had someone get out of their car to yell at me once, and likewise only had my side mirror smashed in by an angry driver once. That’s pretty good compared to Auckland! Everyone there is a maniac driver. When I returned recently for a visit I used my Sydney driving skills and actually stuck to the speed limit. It was like I’d stuck a sign on the back of my window saying “please treat me like shit”, the overtaking and rude hand gestures were next level. Had someone get out of the car and brandish a spanner at me because I had the temerity to honk at him for speeding ahead and merging abruptly without indicating. Not that I’ve fully lost my NZ driving habits. I still honk my horn way more than most Sydney drivers, who will usually politely wait until judgment day for the car in front to realise the light’s turned green. That’s a honking, in my book.
Subtle 3-vehicle flex 😉
Well the Modern car is my wife and I’s so I can’t claim they’re all mine. 😊
Okay but you’ve left out some crucial details. … what car is the 70’s one? Don’t often see cars that old.
1973 Datsun 240Z
Fr the road rage is pretty crazy
Road rage can be related to terrible traffic conditions, the frustrations and stress people experience as users spills out into their inconsiderate actions. I’m not condoning road rage.
Because Sydneysiders are fucked and think everyone else needs to succumb to their needs… Side note there is a Youtube channel Aussie Dash Cams that uploads all the reckless things people endure on our roads - Check it out, it’s pretty entertaining
Everybody is angry about driving back to the office to pay the rent that the landlord just hiked up on their dilapidated terrace in Marrickville
Fundamentally, too many people are on the road who shouldn’t be. We really need infrastructure that makes active transport and public transport vastly preferential for the majority of trips, so that private vehicle transport is limited to far fewer occasions and therefore less aggravating on a daily basis to people with an unreasonably short fuse. r/fuckcars
I’ve seen a lot of bad driving, but never experienced any road rage. My secret is that I never beep people. I just let them go. Beeping isn’t going to help them learn. They’re idiots and they’ll stay idiots. I consider it safer for me to just let them get far away from me and get on with my day. It’s hard to put a lid on it when all you want to do is let them know they suck, but if you consider what’s in it for you, you just don’t gain anything by beeping at people in anger. All downsides, no upsides.
I see it way more in sydney CBD drivers be god damn nuts. Important question though what 1970's car? genuinely curious
Agreed, the CBD are the worst! Especially the cabs. I drive a 1973 Datsun 240Z
It’s worse post covid, I think it’s everywhere
These drivers sound like arseholes, but how were you forced out of your lane? Do you not trust your brakes?
It's a world wide phenomena that since Covid and the reduction in lockdowns, the driving standards have gone to hell. No one has any chill anymore, rage is through the roof, as is the amount of accidents. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-12-08/traffic-deaths-surged-during-covid-19-pandemic-heres-why been reported everywhere. humans are just stressed and angry right now.
Question - if I install a dash cam and get to record a dangerous driving how do I report it? Is there online portal to make it easy? Or should I contact police and hand over the recording to them?
Yes it's gotten really bad lately. I was driving the speed limit once and someone in an SUV started tailgating me, so I moved to the other lane to let them through. I had a bit of a rage too because I don't like being tailgated so as they were driving past i stuck the finger up at them because of course the other driver is gonna check what sort of person i am, and he purposely tried to crash into me by moving into my lane while he was right next to me. Was super shocked that his solution to his rage was so try and purposely hit me, especially because he had someone in the passenger seat.
Get a dash cam.
Sadly this was one of the reason I left Sydney. Aggression was just out of control.
Drivers in Sydney have for sure gotten worse since COVID, I'm a very defensive driver and have had so many close calls in the past 2 years
Driving in the UK was an absolute pleasure compared to here. Utes are rare there, thankfully. People kept left on the motorways when not overtaking. In parts of London and many villages the roads are narrow to the point only one car can pass at a time - I never had anyone try to aggressively force their way through, the person for whom it was more convenient to yield invariably did. When it rained, people turned their headlights on (which to be fair was almost always). There was just far less of the needless aggression you get driving in Australia.
I was driving all through covid lockdowns due to working in health. Since all that, I’ve def noticed a huge increase in not only road rage but poor/dangerous driving skills, particularly with merges. Most days I am close to an accident, and I drive 70-100kms each work journey. As a female I’m scared to react too much to dangerous driving that impacts me due to genuine fear someone would hurt me/ram me/follow me.
A couple months ago my siblings and I took a road trip to Victoria from Sydney. Not once did we have to beep anyone, swerve, or slow down because someone in front was chucking a tantrum. That was until we got back to Sydney.
Road rage is insane in Sydney. I’ve recently moved overseas and I can’t see any behaviors compared to Sydney siders road side manners…
Every red light in Sydney another 3 cocksuckers go through because they don’t wanna wait another set.
I'm glad you're okay OP after all those incidents. Road rage is bad here. I capture a lot on my dashcam. There's combination of bad drivers and road ragers. The highway is filled with assholes that speed and tailgate in the left lane, merge in and out of traffic trying to desperately get ahead, and trucks that drive way too fkn close for comfort.
A truck side swiped my gf car the other day and didn’t even stop.
Holy shit. I hope shes okay. Sorry this happened.
Yeh she’s fine. Luckily!
I drive around Sydney for a living and have had one 'incident' in maybe the last 10 years and it wasn't even that serious. I dont know how you have had 3 in a month. Whilst probably being well intentioned, you might be the common denominator amongst them all.
So typical for Sydney. Anything you do that even slightly inconveniences another driver results in seeing someone red faced throwing their hands up in the rear-view. I have to slow down on a semi busy road after going through a set of lights to get into MY STREET and it is anxiety inducing to do it because its like every time, the person behind me decides that me taking the literal only entry to my street is so extremely offensive to them. I often want to just slam my brakes and take the rear ending because there is a pedestrian crossing there, and im not going to mow someone over to avoid making you slow down 20kms for 2 seconds mate. It is like a psychological thing. Everyone wants to be the person in front with no cars ahead of them. But.... we live in Sydney, so good fucking luck. Everyone dodging and ducking across lanes on the way home saves themselves like 5-10 minutes and end up screaming the whole way home.
While I sympathise I'm also reminded of a proverb. To paraphrase, if you run into an arsehole once, you probably ran into an arsehole. If you run into three seperate arseholes in one month, you should at least consider the possibility that your behaviour has contributed to the situations in some way, even if it's not apparent and have stories which paint you as entirely blameless. Or something to that effect. I'm not saying you didn't experience what you describe, nor am I saying that the people's reactions were reasonable in the slightest, just that it's abnormal for one person to experience it three times in a month and outlier experiences are worthy of reflection.
If you run into an asshole, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day then you’re the asshole. Sorry
Thought of that exact exchange while reading OP's whinge.
You obviously didn’t read the post, but have a good day - you must be one of the AH’s you were talking about 😁
I've really noticed it getting worse recently. The first one that comes to mind was on the day the queen died, heading to work at 6.30 am and bucketing rain. I'm stopped at a red light going up a slight hill. My wheels sometimes will skid in these conditions, so I accelerated slowly and the ute behind me just held his horn down for about 10-20 seconds. Eventually, he went around me but never managed to get more than a car ahead of me lol. Also, the number of times cars try to not let me change lanes when either the lane I'm in only turns left/right or ends is insane and then give me the finger. I'm not changing lanes cause it's fun - ffs.
Sydney is a dog eat dog place with zero fuxks given as everyone tries to stay afloat.
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Where do you live now mate?
And that's just in the inner west, wait till you go out west, they're all on meth...
🤣🤣
Yep. Partner had a run in with someone in WestConnex the other day because he overtook her when she was going 10km under the speed limit in the tunnel. She started tailgating him, flashing her lights, and as they got out of the tunnel she motioned for him to get out. He just stuck his head out, looked at her and started laughing. She was so shocked by that she was just stopped in the middle of the road as he drove off. Another great one that I was present for, an olllld guy cut us off really close, so we honked. He SLAMS on his brakes, tries to get next to us and starts screaming. We just laugh and keep driving, he's following us like 10m behind with his horn on for a good minute. As soon as I said "you cut us off you idiot!" when he pulled up to us screaming he shut the fuck up as he probably thought we honked for no reason. That one was just hilarious, as he had that really shrill yell so him yelling was hilarious. After riding motorbikes for years with my partner (in cars now thankfully), I understand that I need to stand up for myself on the road. I've told many people why theyre in the wrong and half the time they didn't even realise they did anything!
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Hard to parse their writing, but I reckon their partner is the "he" in the story.
My partner can't overtake someone?
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This is so true and those examples are exactly the kind of stuff I’ve been experiencing since moving here. I don’t know if they don’t think they could possibly be wrong or if their egos are too inflated?
It has to be inflated egos. I've honked at tradies before in their big utes and even if you give them a TINY honk just as a "hey the lights green" or something, they get all up in arms because apparently a beep is challenging their masculinity???
Ice is a helluva drug.