Angry commuter - justified?? « Singletrack Forum

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Angry commuter - justified??

297 posts & 66 voices | Started 11 months ago by JAG | Latest reply from CharlieMungus

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JAG - Member

Hi All,

Yesterday evening, on my commute home, I had an incident with a car. Afterwards I was unsure whether I was right or not - hence I want the opinion of you lot please

On my homeward journey I have to cross a very narrow road bridge. My direction of travel has priority over the oncoming traffic and the bridge is just about wide enough for a car with perhaps two or three feet to spare on the width. I was the only vehicle approaching from my direction but there was a blue Peugeot coming in the opposite direction. I reached the bridge well ahead of the Peugeot so proceeded to cross - fully expecting that the Peugeot would wait at the "Give Way" markings on the other side of the bridge.

IT DIDN'T! I got half way across and was met in the middle by an angry elderly lady who wound down her window to berate me. Before she could speak I said "I have right of way you know" - to which she replied "Yes, but your just a tiny little bicycle and should move over" and then proceeded to push past me (she could do that as I'd pulled over to talk to her through the drivers window) and drive off.

So who was right? I did have Right of Way but was I being petty expecting her to wait for me to cross? Was she just an arrogant old biddy who doesn't understand the risks involved in cycling on a public road?

I await your deliberations and opinions and "Thank You" in advance

Posted 11 months ago #
CharlieMungus - Member

you could have moved over to let her pass?

Posted 11 months ago #
winstonsmith - Member

you had right of way.

tis simple

Posted 11 months ago #
Hairychested - Member

Too late, never move to talk to them. Make them come out. If they threaten you call the cops and ask for immediate help as you fear for your life. Or take a camera out and start taking pictures of the car and the driver.
Or just get on with your life.

Posted 11 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

you had right of way.

Posted 11 months ago #
jam bo - Member

having right of way doesn't always make you right.

Posted 11 months ago #
xiphon - Member

Have a read if you're legally in the right or wrong..

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/Cyclists/index.htm

My take is, you are a user of the road, therefore must adhere to road signs. If the signs indicate you have priority over oncoming traffic, then just proceed...

Posted 11 months ago #
steve_b77 - Member

Posted 11 months ago #
steve_b77 - Member

It was your right of way and she was just being awkward and a blatant law breaker, ha!!

Posted 11 months ago #
CharlieMungus - Member

Was there space for both of you?

Posted 11 months ago #
surfer - Member

Charlie your responses appear to be the wrong way round!

Posted 11 months ago #
ransos - Member

Legally, you're right. Practically, if there's only a car's width plus 2-3 feet, then you're right.

Posted 11 months ago #
CharlieMungus - Member

Charlie your responses appear to be the wrong way round!

It might look that way, but in fact it's because my thoughts are so far ahead of yours that you are actually being lapped.

Posted 11 months ago #
JAG - Member

I was concerned that sharing the road may lead to her clipping me or bumping me into the barrier on my left.

I would not have chosen to share as you never know how good a driver they are and 2-3 feet is too narrow even at <20mph.

Posted 11 months ago #
Militant_biker - Member

There was one of these on my old commute. Whilst you do have the right of way, it's not worth dying for.

Refreshingly, some drivers would give up their right of way for oncoming cyclists on the way home.

Posted 11 months ago #
CharlieMungus - Member

I would not have chosen to share as you never know how good a driver they are and 2-3 feet is too narrow even at <20mph.

fatty fatty boom boom

Posted 11 months ago #
molgrips - Member

You can't take someone's right of way just because you think there's room. It's not a discretional thing.

I got tired of the aggro caused by me claiming my right of way on the traffic 'calming' measures near my house.

Posted 11 months ago #
DezB - Member

You were right. She's a typical stupid idiot behind the wheel of a car.
Though there are so so many of these I can never get used to it.

Put yourself in the position of the car driver. What would you have done? I would have waited the tenth of a second for the bike to cross the bridge, then crossed myself.

Posted 11 months ago #
CharlieMungus - Member

You can't take someone's right of way just because you think there's room. It's not a discretional thing.

But if there's room, you haven't taken their right of way. They still have way.

Posted 11 months ago #
andyl - Member

you had right of way. I would have accidentally let met pedal rub up against the side of her car as she tried to drive off.

Posted 11 months ago #
molgrips - Member

If it was all slow speed I'd have been really tempted to do a controlled dive sprawling onto her bonned with my face smooshed up on the windscreen.

Posted 11 months ago #
derek_starship - Member

I nearly got squeezed into the kerb / pedestrian rails at a roundabout yesterday. An early 20s female who was too busy chatting and laughing on her mobile to notice me. I RAPPED on her passenger window and bellowed "get off your effing phone you stupid effing slag."

Was it justifiable bahaviour? Hell YEAH!

And she got off the phone.

Posted 11 months ago #
alpin - Member

you should have hit hit her, you wimp. you let her walk all over you like the down trodden man you really are....

Posted 11 months ago #
Surrounded By Zulus - Member

They'll think they're justified so you should also.

Posted 11 months ago #
IanMunro - Member

Too late, never move to talk to them.

Aye, I stopped in the road and queried a driver last year as to why they were sounding their horn at me, but made sure that the bike was still blocking them. The rear wheel nut put a lovely scrape down the side of her front wing as she decided to try and drive off

Posted 11 months ago #
ski - Member

Whilst you do have the right of way, it's not worth dying for

Agree with Militant_biker, its a hard one to argue if you are six feet under.

Posted 11 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

I wonder what she would have done had it been a motorbike or a horse coming the other way?

I too have had my fair share of these scenarios (similarly to Molgrips with the traffic calming measures). I did once have someone try to overtake me in order to squeeze in through the traffic calmer as a car coming from the other direction was also trying to duel with them. I just stopped and waited for carnage to ensue (unfortunately it didn't).

Posted 11 months ago #
miketually - Member

You were right, they were wrong.

Was there space for both of you?

If there was room for both, was there room for both with a 40-50mph closing speed? I'd guess not.

Posted 11 months ago #
MartinGT - Member

Troll

Posted 11 months ago #
the hustler - Member

And another one, (maybe 2)

Cars that give you little/no room when overtaking

Cars that overtake and cut back in as close as poss to kerb (sometimes when not fully past you) to stop you underpassing when approaching lights or a junction.

There is a siver VW polo driving round Telford with a broken wing mirror due to the latter, bar ends can be great revenge

Posted 11 months ago #
rewski - Member

was I being petty expecting her to wait for me to cross?

A little, in those scenarios it's best to wait for them to flash, I always assume they're not going to stop.

Posted 11 months ago #
aP - Member

The answer to this (given to me by a 60 something year old cyclist) is to remove the door mirror as they come past. I've had a car driver very deliberately pull in on me when I was trying to get into my car. The nearside mirror ended up in pieces. They stopped got out all arsey - because apparently they couldn't stop in time to avoid me. When they got more arsey I suddenly had these incredible pains in my arm and elbow and asked for their insurance details and that I was going to hospital and that they might want to expect an insurance claim. She went very, very quiet and ran back to her car and drove off.
It's exceptionally tedious when the "might is right" folks see others as fair game.

Posted 11 months ago #
mansonsoul - Member

If in doubt, assume the motorist is in the wrong. I mean, they're the people driving the polluting, murdering vehicle that kills thousands every year and damages the air and lungs of tens of thousands more, of course they're not going to card about something as trifling as "road law".

Posted 11 months ago #
highclimber - Member

silly old bat, she obviously saw you as an inferior road user and as such doesn't need to comply with the highway code.

let it slide unless you encounter her again in which case have a copy of THC ready to launch at her with the relevant pages marked for her attention.

Posted 11 months ago #
stumpy01 - Member

There's a narrow bridge over the river near my house like this.

The bridge goes over the river and joins a road running directly alongside the river on the other side (i.e. an immediate t-junction).
Anyone crossing the bridge from the road that runs along the river has to turn into onto the bridge, but there isn't always the visibility to see if a car is starting over the bridge or not. There's always stand-offs.

On a bike, there is room to squeeze a car past, but it's quite tight. I generally turn in quite quickly having stood up on the approach to see if there are any cars actually on the bridge, then get out of the saddle and make it obvious that I am coming over by positioning myself fairly central.
It helps in winter with twin Lumi's set on high.

In your situation it sounds like you were in the right.

Posted 11 months ago #