I do shake my head, but I can't get away from the fact that sometimes it's me making the mistake - in bike or car. Arguably, though, there is a difference between pulling out and failing to see someone, and going past when there clearly is no room - which appears to be a deliberate decision.
The more aggressive or careless the driving, the more cross I get about it - because yes, we all make mistakes, but if someone chooses a style which makes mistakes more likely, then that *is* their fault. And that decision affects everyone else's safety.
But I do try to wave apology when I screw up, and I do try to remember that everyone screws up sometimes. It occurs to me that to some extent, the fact that there are so *few* road accidents is testament to the facts that
a) there's more room for mistakes than one sometimes thinks;
and
b) the majority of people on the road are paying attention enough to allow for others' mistakes.
Which is good. I mean: I've had far more near misses (a fair few) than I have actual accidents (none); and yet more incidents that in different circs could have been much worse. Any accidents are too many, of course, but when sunk in gloom about standards of driving etc, it can be useful to contemplate this
