Safe Speed Forums

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a perfect driver. I'm probably not even a 'good' driver, compared with the average national standard, because I'm so new to the road. As a result, there have been two or three times since I've passed my test where I have made an error of judgement. None of the cases were particular dangerous, because other drivers saw me in good time, but on two of the occasions I was flashed at by the car concerned.

My problem is that almost as soon as I have done such things, I realise I'm in the wrong, but there's no real way to rectify this. The other driver may well be angry with me, and I feel like I need some way to appease this - but there doesn't really seem to be a universal 'sorry' signal! I'm worried that a wave would be misconstrued as my getting angry with them, which is never the case.

Anyone have any tips for how to deal with this? (Apart from "don't make mistakes"!)

I think it's worth saying that I've tried to learn from every time I've done this, and then move on from it. It's not a nice feeling to realise that I made a mistake, so I'm doing my utmost to iron them out. I also hope that no one will respond to this in an elitist manner, or say that I shouldn't be allowed on the roads - I feel sure that making the odd error of judgement is common to all new drivers. One of the ways new drivers are expected to learn is from experience, and that experience must surely include making bad decisions.

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

I seem to remember reading that NASA or some such body spent millions investigating what physical gesture would be most likely to be interpreted as "friendly" by another race. The end result was a single raised arm with palm opened and facing forwards, but not waved.

A classic case of research confirming common sense, as I've held that to be the universal "I'm sorry" hand signal for as long as I've been driving. I think psychologically it's something to do with the showing of raised open palms as revealing neither a weapon nor an immediate intention to strike.

So I'd go with that - not a wave, just a briefly raised open hand.

same here mike. I've definately made mistakes, and I'd bet that eferyone does. It's a process known as 'learning'. Though in some cases, I've definately noticed other drivers 'increasing' my mistake by being tossers... eg, turning left onto a dual carriage way, car coming from dead on turning right, meaning i can go as it cuts the others up. I obv go into the left lane, he then pulls into left lane, and then beeps. Er, there's another lane there, which I reckon he should have pulled into... Ah well. Trying to predict others is the problem, occasionally someone does somthing you dont predict... Now I just cane it out the round about, so even if they are heading for same lane, I'll be out their way

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uzz

Didn't Argos use to sell a pre-programmed LED message sign display. You were meant to put it in the back of your car and press a button to activate it (this is a guess, I never actually bought one). They never cought on

arthurdent

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DO NOT PANIC

I don't like to think of the safety implications of typing a message into an LED display and then trying to activate it at the dangerous time of making a mistake! (Although there have been times when I'd have liked to be able to hold up a big sign saying SORRY!)

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..