I was gobsmacked

[MikeD]

There's no place for aggression when you're operating a piece of heavy machinery.

 

[yagamuffin]

Jesus, I hope none of you guys ever have an accident!
It must be pretty awesome living in your perfect world where you never ever do anything wrong.

 

[MikeD]

There's "making a mistake" and there's "attempting to intimidate people with a tonne and half of metal". In my imperfect world those are two extremely different things.

 

[The History Man]

Alright, just her toes..............









All of them.

 

[Alison]

There's "making a mistake" and there's "attempting to intimidate people with a tonne and half of metal". In my imperfect world those are two extremely different things.

Was it intimidation, or just frustration, a thousand times in my 20 years behind the wheel, well perhaps a bit less, have I sat there and thought "Oh for Gods sake GET A MOVE ON!!!!" whether it be pedestrians, exceptionally slow drivers, bloody learners doing three point turns (OK I used to be one) Articulated lorries overtaking articulated lorries and taking an hour about it, generally I say all this in my cocoon, bang my head on the steering wheel, bounce up and down in my seat when stationary, really really wanting to shout at the person in front.

I also think that 90% of drivers don't really consider how dangerous that piece of metal they are driving around is, we just drive and take it for granted, my mum is the only person I've know and know that when it came to taking her test thought, they are really going to let me, if I pass, drive this heavy and fast piece of machinery on my own, no questions asked!!! what loonacy is this, she did not go for her test, she felt she would be too dangerous out there. I've never known anyone feel they'd be a menace on the road other than my mum.

Alison

 

[velomaniac]

I suffer from the fear that what if i hit someone, I dont have a full driving licence at 44. I can drive and ride a motorbike but have never gone the whole hogg and got a full licence. I know a bike and the wee three wheeled car I had can do damage but also know in these vehicles I'd suffer damage too. A ton and a half of metal in my sole control does worry me greatly but alas I know I must get a full licence soon, God help you all !

The person this article is about should still not have used her car as a way of expressing annoyance. When driving be calm, the world's a bloody annoying place but you cant do anything much about it and adding your anger does not help. 'Madam please look where you are going' I politely said to the old woman who stepped from behind a parked van into my path causing me a spincter tightening emergency stop on my moped back in the 90's. I remained composed, I stayed polite, she just glowered at me :roll:

 

[Alison]

I suffer from the fear that what if i hit someone, I dont have a full driving licence at 44. I can drive and ride a motorbike but have never gone the whole hogg and got a full licence. I know a bike and the wee three wheeled car I had can do damage but also know in these vehicles I'd suffer damage too. A ton and a half of metal in my sole control does worry me greatly but alas I know I must get a full licence soon, God help you all !

The person this article is about should still not have used her car as a way of expressing annoyance. When driving be calm, the world's a bloody annoying place but you cant do anything much about it and adding your anger does not help. 'Madam please look where you are going' I politely said to the old woman who stepped from behind a parked van into my path causing me a spincter tightening emergency stop on my moped back in the 90's. I remained composed, I stayed polite, she just glowered at me :roll:

I agree, one should not use their car to show annoyance, I do think though that before wanting to rip someone limb from limb, we should see that things like this can happen to anyone at any time, a car at any speed moves along very quickly and you can be driving along with not a care in the world, and it can take just a glance, at a road sign, your speedometer, changing a CD, gong from Radio 4 to Radio 3 because you don't like the Archers for that to change from happily going on your way to being stood at the side of the road while an ambulance takes away the body of the person you've just hit.

Alison

 

[MikeD]

I'd say it's quite rare for a mere glance to lead to an accident (and I'm taking a glance to be literally that). In this case, the driver continued to "glare" at the pedestrians while she was driving off -- she wasn't looking where she was going. More than a glance. There was a recent case where a cyclist was killed by a driver who, it turned out, had been looking at her satnav screen for EIGHTEEN SECONDS continuously.

So no, "things like this" couldn't happen to anyone at any time. Only to aggressive, impatient people with no thought for the consequences of their actions. It's certainly conceivable that a death could result from some other combination of circumstances that didn't involve aggressive behaviour or not looking, but this one did, and that's the one we're discussing. Not tarring all drivers with the same brush (because in reality, most of them are at least competent). But this particular one shouldn't be on the road, and now isn't, and that's a good thing.

 

[The History Man]

Back to toes and little fingers

 

[Neil]

I think there's an aspect that's missed in the whole - there-but-for-the-grace-of-deity-go-I perspective - had this been a simple accident, a careless mistake, it would have almost certainly still ruined the husbands life.

But here's the thing, it wasn't just simple carelessness - we learn that the driver was driving like an arse. That changes some peoples' perspective on it - so now it's not just a simple case of carelessness, it's a case of malice aforethought (not necessarily that she intended to do harm and actually collide with anybody, merely that she was acting like an arse). That, then, takes out some of the simple-mistake-anybody-could-make aspect, and paints it more in a - if-not-driving-like-an-arse-with-attitude-the-accident-may-well-have-never-happened scenario.

So it's quite natural for then people to be very much judgemental about it. Sure - it's a tragedy for several people - and no doubt for the driver herself. And had it not been for the aggression, perhaps people would have more easily accepted it as a foolish mistake with a tragic outcome - but as it stands, it's quite natural for people to find it abhorrent.