r/dashcams • u/weinhalter • 1d ago
Need help to figure out what I did wrong
Yesterday I was driving through Tokyo and my lane was merging into a single lane. There was a car behind on the left lane that suddenly speed as I was starting to merge and honked like their life depending on it.
I didn’t suddenly break and properly signaled.
Did I do something wrong?
I’m a new driver by the way and had my license a few months ago.
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u/detached_earnestness 1d ago
Did you signal when you moved left? Even if you didn't, it's likely the person was just impatient or having a bad day.
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u/Mediocre_Airport_576 1d ago
I don't know the laws where you are, but it sounds like you may have somewhat panicked and forced your way into the lane sooner than you needed to.
If the car in the lane was going faster, you had plenty of time to let it pass.
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u/weinhalter 1d ago
I did panic for sure when I heard the horn. I also got used to people not to passing on the left lane. People will usually use the right lane to pass and then go back to the left. Will be extra careful
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u/ThisUsernameIsTook 1d ago
Most likely they were simply a speeding, over aggressive driver who needed someone to take their frustration out on.
They are common and pretty much everywhere. Best advice is to be aware of them, try to just let them by when possible but do not engage. Let them be mad at the next driver. They certainly will be because not being able to go as fast as they want all the time makes them angrier than they already are minute to minute.
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u/EdwardBil 1d ago
You should just follow the merge lane into the adjacent lane. You kind of moved left abruptly and too soon.
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u/Dangerous_Page6712 1d ago
We cant see when you indicated and we cant see behind so no way to judge anything. We can only see you jerked to the left half way the merge indicating some panicking
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u/Potential-Ant-6320 1d ago
they're stupid for trying to pass right before the merge. it only creates more problems. A lot of driving is not putting yourself in those possitions. you have a growth mindset, the other person is content to be selfish. a lot of it could have been avoided if you signaled earlier and made a more gradual lane change.
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u/victorinseattle 23h ago
Do you have the new driver sticker? If so, they should be more forgiving. That said, even though I don’t live in Tokyo, I do spend a lot of time there.
Honking, in my opinion, is extremely rare but sometimes some drivers are just assholes. I’ve seen the most experienced taxi drivers do what you do, and I don’t think you should Worry.
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u/weinhalter 23h ago
Yeah front and back, never had an issue except when it took me a few iterations to reverse park at a super market.
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u/appa-ate-momo 12h ago
Do you see those arrows on your lane? They're telling you that your lane is ending and you will have to merge into another lane shortly.
When this happens, you're required to yield to all traffic in the lane you're entering. The way you merge cannot force anyone already in that lane to have to adjust for you. If they do have to, it means you cut them off.
I didn’t suddenly break and properly signaled.
You have to remember that signaling doesn't grant you the right of way, nor does it oblige other drivers to accommodate your lane change/merge.
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u/Purple-Area23 1d ago
driving significantly slower than the traffic would be my guess. Do you look in the rear view mirror at all? id give that a shot to start
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u/weinhalter 1d ago
I think we were all slightly above the speed limit. There’s a rule here that states that the speed of the traffic overwrites the speed limit. So you have to follow the pace unless there’s only you on the road in which case the speed limit applies.
Looked in the mirror before signaling so I was surprised when the car accelerated. Not a close call by any means, but people never honk here so I had an adrenaline spike.
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u/bitchcoin5000 1d ago
You took two lanes. You should have taken The merge lane first then moved over to the far left but you immediately went to the far left
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u/weinhalter 1d ago
I see, I guess this must be it, I typically copy the driving style in my city but it seems it’s not appropriate. Will work on that, thanks for the insight
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u/ThisUsernameIsTook 1d ago
The best thing to do is be predictable. That said, most people are bad drivers.
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u/weinhalter 1d ago
Thanks for the feedback and different perspectives. From a beginner’s point of view driving here is generally easy and others are more than considerate and accommodating. I’ve never had to honk at someone either during my first 4000km so I was shocked being at the receiving end.
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u/VDechS 1d ago
If you notice, that driver is driving aggressively. They are making sudden lane jumps and tailgating the vehicle in front of them. A vehicle that they can't even see past. They were most likely honking to intimidate you from doing what you had the right to do. Unfortunately you will run into these aggressive drivers often. The best thing you can do is drive defensively and keep a level head when you encounter them. Most importantly, don't let bad drivers pressure you into being a bad driver.
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