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I was cut off by another car, thus the horn...

Yup, a few good points, I just get ticked off when something like that happens right in front of me, not sure what I'm supposed to do in that situation, being too passive seems like I'm doing nothing and/or being weak...
I flick my lights at careless drivers,
I use slight hoot.... Not long sounded hoot, and barely touch button ....means green so go
Sound hooter if make accident...
 
Once again I was wrong
Not as wrong as the other driver was. My last post is not meant as chastisement, but more of a pep-talk, I guess.

I'm well aware auties have a penchant for self-flagellation over social mishaps. However, most of the time it isn't warranted or even useful - most of the time we only feel ashamed because we were tricked into feeling lousy by a bad actor or provoked to extremes by some everyday sadist. The biggest liability for ND's is trusting NT's when they insist we did something wrong.

Yes, you kinda overacted, but only kinda. It doesn't sound like you crossed any lines, so you had enough discipline to restrain yourself despite feeling personally attacked. Well done. Do better next time...if you want to.

Here's something to keep in mind: the jerks always win. Say you are approaching an intersection where you have the right of way. You plan to go straight through, but someone turns right in front of you, making you hit your brakes and follow their slow butt. If you get mad, honk, and flip the bird, they win because they've upset you and get off on it. If you don't show any emotion and follow them at a safe distance, they win because they got away with driving like a total *****. So, you see, no matter what you do bad drivers "win." Let them go be a nuisance somewhere else.
 
The horn on a vehicle is too broad in its application for me- it can startle drivers near me that are not involved in the dispute.
My preference is the use of the high beams at the offender in front. Silent, and forgettable.

Used it today at an individual who decided to cross multiple lanes at once on the freeway in heavy rain at 55mph right in front of me without the courtesy of using the turn signal.
Yes, fella, being 1 car length in front of me at 55mph in poor weather is a no-go from me!
 
I learnt to slow down and be a lot more patient when I was living in the bush, too much wildlife amongst many other hazards. Some people get annoyed with me, but that's their problem, not mine.

Some people try to hurry me along, it doesn't get them very far. If someone hits me with their high beams I just swing my rear vision mirror around so that they blind themselves as well.

And I have a wonderful tactic for tailgaters, in Australia if you hit someone from behind then you are 100% liable for all costs. A gentle touch of the handbrake scares the bejesus out of them when they almost hit you. And after that they stay well back because they think you have no brake lights.
 
And I have a wonderful tactic for tailgaters, in Australia if you hit someone from behind then you are 100% liable for all costs. A gentle touch of the handbrake scares the bejesus out of them when they almost hit you. And after that they stay well back because they think you have no brake lights.
We have a term for that: "brake checking".


 
And I have a wonderful tactic for tailgaters, in Australia if you hit someone from behind then you are 100% liable for all costs. A gentle touch of the handbrake scares the bejesus out of them when they almost hit you. And after that they stay well back because they think you have no brake lights.

I did that once on the freeway because this obnoxious sports car behind me was right on my a$$ and was actually scaring me. I tapped my brakes, very lightly. They backed off and I forgot about it instantly.

The next thing I know, they were right in front of my and hit THEIR brakes. This was at highway speeds. Scared the bejesus out of me.

I don't do that anymore. :oops:
 
I did that once on the freeway because this obnoxious sports car behind me was right on my a$$ and was actually scaring me. I tapped my brakes, very lightly. They backed off and I forgot about it instantly.

The next thing I know, they were right in front of my and hit THEIR brakes. This was at highway speeds. Scared the bejesus out of me.

I don't do that anymore. :oops:
I had a cousin who would "draft" the car in front of them when they didn't move over for her.

I still recall the last time she did it when I was a passenger. An expensive trip from San Clemente to Mission Bay. Not the gas, but the ticket she got courtesy of the CHP.

Weird to think that had the guy in front of her done a brake-check...we might have ended up all over the freeway in several pieces. No road rage required....:eek:
 
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I prefer driving at night, long distance is lot of fog....so if night driver then you have personally experienced that brights don't work in fog..
This is where you most reliant on light signals.
I usually let others overtake, notice only handful flick in gesture...
I do notice flicking brights/dim during day, usually reflects in side mirrors
 
I did that once on the freeway because this obnoxious sports car behind me was right on my a$$ and was actually scaring me. I tapped my brakes, very lightly. They backed off and I forgot about it instantly.

The next thing I know, they were right in front of my and hit THEIR brakes. This was at highway speeds. Scared the bejesus out of me.

I don't do that anymore. :oops:
The trick requires subtlety, and the Hand Brake, not the normal breaks.

I use the handbrake very gently, they're not sure if I slowed down or if they were going a little quicker than they first thought, and the handbrake does not operate the brake lights to let them know the difference.
 
The trick requires subtlety, and the Hand Brake, not the normal breaks.

I use the handbrake very gently, they're not sure if I slowed down or if they were going a little quicker than they first thought, and the handbrake does not operate the brake lights to let them know the difference.
I don’t think my car has a hand brake. I haven't seen a vehicle with a hand brake in 50 years. It is done with the foot now, and it requires a lot of force. Nothing subtle about it.
Clever.
 
I don’t think my car has a hand brake. I haven't seen a vehicle with a hand brake in 50 years. It is done with the foot now, and it requires a lot of force. Nothing subtle about it.
Clever.

You clearly don't own a car with a manual transmission, I use the parking brake of my 2009 Hyundai all the time, yes it's a 5-speed
 
The trick requires subtlety, and the Hand Brake, not the normal breaks.

I use the handbrake very gently, they're not sure if I slowed down or if they were going a little quicker than they first thought, and the handbrake does not operate the brake lights to let them know the difference.

My 6-speed 2000 Toyota Celica GTS still had such a manual handbrake. But then so did BMWs back then.

However my current 6-speed 2018 Mazda 3 GT has only a little electronic button to turn on or off to engage or disengage the "hand brake". I'd be really reticent to try that under such circumstances. Unknown consequences of turning it on and off at speed just to make the brake lights momentarily flash. :eek:

Better to hit the emergency lights, like Clint Eastwood did in "The Eiger Sanction" to evade someone chasing him. Pissed the guy off (Jack Cassidy?) when he realized what Clint was doing. Though in that one I think Clint was just flipping an emergency light switch on the dash off and on. Much safer to do...:p
 
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You clearly don't own a car with a manual transmission, I use the parking brake of my 2009 Hyundai all the time, yes it's a 5-speed
I don’t think you can buy a car with manual transmission anymore here in the states. I can and did drive with a manual transmission and hand brake when I was young. You just don’t see them these days.
 
I don’t think you can buy a car with manual transmission anymore here in the states. I can and did drive with a manual transmission and hand brake when I was young. You just don’t see them these days.

I haven't shopped the new car market for years, I'm sure some smaller cars still come with a manual transmission (I could be wrong), anything with a V6 or bigger, unless it's a sports car, will typically only be sold with with automatic

I've come to the conclusion that when I need to replace my 2009 Hyundai Accent, I will likely have to buy in the used car market to get into a manual transmission... Yes, I'm that much of a stickler!
 
I don’t think you can buy a car with manual transmission anymore here in the states. I can and did drive with a manual transmission and hand brake when I was young. You just don’t see them these days.
I saw a video the other day discussing that, apparently 5% of cars sold in the US are manual transmission, where as in Europe 80% of cars are manuals. I don't know what percentages are in Australia but I'd guess it to be about 50/50.

I much prefer a manual, mostly influenced by the amount of country driving I've done over the years. On dirt roads you have so much more control over the vehicle. If the road is coated in pea gravel then using the brakes is very dangerous, using the gears to slow you down is the safest method.

Reliability is another major concern when travelling out back too, you're not going to find another little town every 20 or 30 miles along the way and you're not going to have any mobile phone reception either. The thought of breaking down out there is really scary, people die from that regularly.
 
Agreed. I preferred manual but gave up trying to find them so long ago I don’t know if that would still be true or not. They are a pita in stop and go city traffic, though.
 

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