I had a go at a taxi driver this morning because he reversed out into the road right in front of me without looking for oncomming traffic. I could see through his windows he was looking the other way. Caused me to brake and swerve pretty eratically on to the other side of the road to avoid him. If I was a bus his taxi would have been obliterated. So I waited for him to pull away and catch me up then tapped on the side of car /people carrier, I hung around in the middle of the road and he came up the inside of me so I was on the drivers side…. window comes down…

all this goes on whilst I’m riding along slowly next to his car…

‘what you doin’ mate ?’ he says to me.
me ‘you nearly ran me over back there reversing into the road without looking’
‘I haven’t got time for this I’m busy’
me ‘you what, you could’ve cause me to swerve into oncomming traffic and if I was a bus you’d have been obliterated’
‘I don’t care’
…and he started to accelerate away so grabbed hold of the door pillar, he looked shocked.
‘aren’t you going to apologise ?’
‘I didn’t see you’
me ‘that’s ’cause you weren’t looking’
…at this point he accelerates again but I still hold on, telling him to look where he’s going in future.. he then hits the button for the electric window and I had to let go.

totally pointless incident. Did I expect him to apologise, not really.

Kev

YOU SHOULD HAVE PUNCHED HIM IN THE SIDE OF HIS FAT PIGGY HEAD.

I had a go at a bloke on a bike who came flying round the corner on the pavement and nearly hit me.

He told me to f off and cycled off.

Never put yourself in danger, spoil their day more than it spoils yours, laugh and ride on

So what I tend to do is let them know (loudly) that they have been an idiot, a choice insult or two. Laugh in their faces if they get angry and ride off.

don’t let it get under your skin and leave you seething all day – make sure they know what you think of them

no point at all. you’re just as likely to get your head smashed in by some angry thug as you are to get hit by one in his car.
(my friend who was actually killed in a road rage incident would have vouched for that if he were still around)

laugh it off.. move on.

A senior council worker from Hounslow (Road Safety Team IIRC) told me once whenever he cycles on his shopping bike he carries a length of garden hose in the basket. If/when he gets skinned he whacks it on the roof. The result is a bang making the driver stop and go and check what broke off.
What I do know is carrying an axe from B&Q on your backpack stops any driver from giving you grief (I know it’s unsafe but there was money to be made quickly).

yeh I’ve been pretty good recently just ignoring it all but for some reason this morning I just thought… that’s right out of order I’m gonna have to say something. Then afterwards i realised the pointlessness of it all. He can’t undo what he’s done and he doesn’t care anyway.

Kev

TJ makes a good point…by letting it get under your skin you’ve let it affect you long after the event.

The taxi driver has probably forgotten all about it and got on with his day.

But if they do not even realise what they have done then they will never learn?

It draws a line in the sand. If people keep being stupid without consequence, then the rot continues. Maybe you’ll not make his driving any better but you might slow its decay.

I like to go for an easily misinterpreted movement such as making my sleeve ride up so that I can check my watch if someone cuts me up. Whenever someone stops and has a go I ask them why they are upset then go down the guilty conscience route. It’s quite funny. Certainly entertains me.

Open his back passenger door then ride off…

Buses, find, and press the engine emergency stop button then ride off.

Kick off their wing mirrors. That’ll learn ’em.

Martyn S you are a man of style.

I had a driver last night drive deliberately close to me as he passed.

I could see he was looking through his mirror to see what reaction I gave him.

I think he was quite disappointed when I did absolutely nothing.

There are loads of muppets out there, do as TJ says and never put yourself in danger.

I had an incident on Monday, massive lorry inches from killing me so I shouted at the driver, he waits round the roundabout for me and we had a slanging match across the dual carriageway, basically ending with him saying he was gonna wait up the road and “give me some”. I tried to find him but couldn’t, i was interested to see what he was gonna give me!

I really don’t get this personal stuff. Traffic is a hostile environment. Treat it as such and you will be calm, safe(er) and might actually enjoy yourself.

If you treat drivers as your enemy you’ll just end up acting like an arse.

I always let them know what they have done and that I am annoyed. I try to think of an imaginative insult / something to wind ’em up but then I ride away. Even a sorrowfull shake of the head can work.

Chap last night cut me up – going down leith walk I am in the inside lane overtaking a line of slow moving cars in the outside lane. (legal) One put his left indicator on, helmet light into his mirrors so he knew I was there. just continued to pull accoss my lane into a parking space causing me to brake hard. He just completly underestimated my speed and how close I was – so as I went past his now parked car I shouted at him use your eyes, are you blind? (shone helmet light into his face) Or just stupid?

Laughed at him – rode off as he was gesticulating madly.

It is very difficult sometimes when the adrenaline is flowing to just laugh it off. And as others have said if he has risked your life what is to say he won’t actually end up hitting someone if you don’t point out the error?

seriously… don’t bother

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1172091/Jailed-Road-rage-motorist-killed-driver-single-punch-hard-shoulder-M1.html

I’ve had similar experiences with various drivers not looking…

like you I used to get far too wound up both in my car and on my bike by drivers who don’t look and don’t care, and when you try to communicate this fact to them, they either ignore you or get aggressive back, its the old fight or flight mechanism, and we’re all wired differently…
Now I try and just move on, the confrotation gets you nowhere, and might just result in a pointless scrap with a stranger…

Ultimately your right, it is almost always a fruitless activity, appologies are apparently a sign of weakness and you’re not likely to get one…

Better to take a deep breath, and move on if you let the tosser wind you up then he’s managed not only to almost injure/kill you but he’s then put a crimp on the rest of your day. Like you say, had you been a bus, he’d have been a goner, if he’s failed to learn from this mornings lesson, then I’m sure natural selection will take it’s course in the end…

personally my pet hate is mobiles these days, I see so many people using them when driving still, Cars and Vans, if you challenge them, all you’ll get is a cursorry “**** off!”, I think I’ll start taking photos of the cocks and send them to the rozzers… Reporting them must be more effective than trying to challenge bad driving…

Commuting tends to require one to follow the same route.

Learn the obvious danger points, and ride accordingly. Your blood pressure will thank you for it.

All depends on what side of bed I get out of……some (the majority) mornigns its a shake of the head and a smile, other mornings, and I’m glad they’re few and far between, I’ve asked drivers to get out of cars……I’m glad that nobody has got out yet but I know the red mist would descend if they did. But whatever the reaction i soon forget about it.

I like the post above about opening the back door or boot, thats next!

Commuting tends to require one to follow the same route

… so don’t piss off the psycho regulars too badly

Commuting tends to require one to follow the same route

… so don’t piss off the psycho regulars too badly

Or make sure you’re the biggest psycho regular….

I just tend to shout ‘Stop it Valerie, you’re turning me on’

I have days where it all washes over me and days where the slightest thing has me foaming at the mouth and screaming obscenities.

Thing is, if you let every incident ‘wash over you’ and don’t let anyone know they’ve done something stupid/dangerous to endanger you, then they might not even be aware of it and keep on doing it.

If I have the opportunity, I will say something. I try to stay level-headed, but it doesn’t always work.

It works the other way though. I was waiting in my car at a busy roundabout indicating left. The left lane is for left turn only, and I get some bloke on a bike amble up the LHS of me & sit next to my passenger door. No indication of where he was going or anything.
I lowered my window & asked him whether he was turning left or going straight on. He replied that he was going straight on so I asked him why he thought it was a good idea to pass on the inside of my car considering I was indicating left, not pass it but stop alongside it so I had no idea what his intentions were.
I didn’t really get a response out of him, so just held back to let him proceed past me (albeit a bit sheepishly). I confronted him not to relieve aggression or ‘just have a go’ but to make him perhaps think about his actions and how he might approach that junction (and others like it) in future.

Don’t get mad get even – haven’t thought of any equal actions for bicycles, mainly coz it’s all too easy for drivers to catch you & do you over when you are on a bicycle, but my fave on a motorbike is:-
For people cutting you up in traffic – get just ahead of them & then let about 5 cars out at the next junction, promptly filter through & overtake the cars you’ve just let in – even if they don’t realise what you have done it is very satisfying. 🙂
Generally speaking a shrug of the shoulders & 🙄 is the best bet on a bicycle though.