• This topic has 46 replies, 29 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by hora.
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  • I'm a shouty bike tw"i"t :(
  • thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Had an altercation this morning. Got beeped at for not being on a cycle path and after a gesticulatory exhange where I quite contradictorily suggested he should **** off and pull over we had a through the window verbal exchange where I have to say I did not cover myself in glory. Just pissed off that I 1. Shot off into instant arsehole mode and more importantly 2. Didn’t put him straight and 3. He now has driven away with an ‘all cyclists are arseholes’ story.

    Bah! Shit start to the weekend. Need bacon.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Do you now think all car drivers are arsholes due to that one incident?

    philjunior
    Free Member

    Well, have a fun day/week/month/year thinking of all the wittier and more effective ways you could have handled it. 🙁

    I imagine he was already a bit of an arse, and whatever you’d said he would probably have continued to be. And you’ll probably act exactly the same next time something similar happens. But that’s life!

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    JY- I see you’ve had what I’d had for breakfast. Of course not you pillock.

    Gary_M
    Free Member

    If I got knocked off on the way home tonight by an irate cyclist loathing driver I’m holding you responsible.

    chrispo
    Free Member

    I sometimes disappoint myself in similar fashion. However, I don’t conclude from these situations that *all drivers* are arseholes, just some. So if he was the type to come away thinking *all cyclists* are arseholes, he probably thought that already…

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    I dunno maybe he will maybe he won’t just annoyed to have added to the arsey cyclist anecdote pool when I should have just ignored the nobber.

    cyclingweakly
    Free Member

    He now has driven away with an ‘all cyclists are arseholes’ story.

    I wouldn’t worry, one more won’t make much difference…

    But let this be a lesson to you, always have a witty put-down ready for such events…

    Not cycling related, but I had an altercation with a client that won’t pay for some work yesterday. I know she’s going on holiday for a month so I told her that my invoice was in the post and my terms were strictly 30 days. Then I finished with “Have a great holiday, and I’ll look forward to suing you when you get back…” and hung up. 8)

    phutphutend
    Free Member

    Had a similar altercation with a taxi driver.

    I was following the car in front in the middle of the road (down hill in a 20mph zone!), he overtook me then forced me into the side of the road. Then started shouting at me telling me I should be in the cycle lane.

    I saw red and gave him a load of abuse. I then moved back to following the car (it’s bloody dangerous riding in the cycle lane). And he did it again. More shouting and swearing.

    He was being a ****, but I also turned into one as well. It’s really hard to maintain your composure when someone is using their car to bully you.

    twisty
    Full Member

    You feel bad because you have a conscious. The driver horned you because he already hated all cyclists and whatever you did would probably still hate all cyclists.

    It is easy for adrenaline to take hold of this situation because as cyclists on the road we know we are vulnerable so are subconsciously always on the look out for where any danger is, then all of a sudden there is 110dB blasting in your ears and a huge car driving right behind you it can kick us into fight or flight mode.

    So don’t feel bad, enjoy the bacon, and I hope you are never in that situation again – but if you are then I am sure you will do better.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Your hair trigger to an argument is even finer than mine 😉

    I was pointing out that only a dick would use one incident to hate an entire group- if THEY go off and hate all cyclists its because they are a thick dick
    I have no idea why you took offence at this.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    It wasn’t you, was it?

    slowoldgit
    Free Member

    Somebody must legislate the area’s taxi drivers. Would it be the county, and is there a report/complain option?

    *Is confident that someone on STW will know*

    bob_summers
    Full Member

    Got beeped at

    really, that’s all it is. Sounds stupid in isolation. As often said, a beep at least means they’ve seen you; let it go, don’t react. It’s never worth it.

    Not to say I don’t occasionally take the bait. Last time (exactly like your incident) finished with the driver turning around and hitting me head on, on purpose. No injuries but a day in court coming up in Sept which I could really do without (day’s pay down the spout).

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Most of the time it’s easier to just let it slide, enjoy the ride and get on with life.
    As has been said, some drivers are always going to be like that.
    But then..there are the times, when your day to day is running a bit heavy and it only takes that ‘one more f’in thing’ to turn you in to full throttle Norse God ,roaring through the open window, pinning them to their seat with your wrath.
    Now and again it’s ok to let it out 😉

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    NO i would have taken you up on your offer to get out and smacked some sense into you 🙄

    Anyway top trolling

    bob_summers
    Full Member

    And, on the other hand, I was punishment-passed the other day by dutch tourists. Caught the car at a red light, tapped on the window and (smiling) said I hoped they were enjoying their holiday. Dad, the driver, seethed in silence so I had to speak to Mum, and explained that here, cars must pass cyclists at least 1.5m away, after all I didn’t want them to get a ticket. Wished them a good holiday and cycled off. They passed again a few mins later, this time a good few metres away, driver staring dead-ahead, rest of family waving. Job done!

    DezB
    Free Member

    Get a video camera. Don’t shout at em there and then. Just put it on youtube and take the piss/rant. Worked for me. Makes incidents amusing instead of annoying.

    That said, my son – riding to school in uniform (this makes me REALLY angry!) got beeped at by someone. Been verbally abused before too. OBviously it would be better if he’s been stting in his mum’s X5! (She hasn’t got one really).
    So JY, ALL car drivers are arseholes.

    bearnecessities
    Full Member

    Well this escalated quickly etc.

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    Surely the problem is that provision for cyclists is often shit (badly designed and/or indequate cycle lanes in the gutter) and non-cyclists don’t understand why we don’t want to use them.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    I wont get a camera it’s not a big thing for me I do a rural commute and usually it’s pretty chilled(that said I got cut up twice last night). Just took the bait this morning. The cycle path I ‘should’ have been on is bloody good actually (A591 between windermere and kendal) and I use it regularly but the first bit from w’mere to ings is on the ‘wrong’ side when you’re gurning up the climb. Right. Bacon.

    STATO
    Free Member

    And, on the other hand, I was punishment-passed the other day by dutch tourists. Caught the car at a red light, tapped on the window and (smiling) said I hoped they were enjoying their holiday. Dad, the driver, seethed in silence so I had to speak to Mum, and explained that here, cars must pass cyclists at least 1.5m away

    Wasn’t really a punishment pass then was it, just a close pass? A punishment pass is one done intentionally, like the OP where they guy was moving across on him forcing him into the gutter.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    We should start a support group “hi my name anagallis and idiots in cars send me into blind fury, I want to control myself but find it hard”.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    Wasn’t really a punishment pass then was it, just a close pass? A punishment pass is one done intentionally, like the OP where they guy was moving across on him forcing him into the gutter.

    dunno – why was the dutch driver “seething”? That might imply that he was cross when the pass occurred, which might make it admissible a punishment pass ?

    STATO
    Free Member

    Possible I suppose, just get irritated by people (usually every poster on road.cc) claiming ‘PUNISHMENT PASS!!!!’ at every near pass. Its like they are desperate to prove they are a subject of hate so they feel like ‘proper commuters’.

    I apologise if that was not the situation described.

    gofasterstripes
    Free Member

    DUTCH TOURISTS???!!! wat

    Adam@BikeWorks
    Free Member

    gofasterstripes – Member
    DUTCH TOURISTS???!!! wat

    Maybe it’s like being a health tourist, but instead a road rage tourist.
    Running over cyclists appears to be frowned on in Holland, but in the UK it’s almost a national passtime…

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    Possible I suppose, just get irritated by people (usually every poster on road.cc) claiming ‘PUNISHMENT PASS!!!!’ at every near pass

    Tom_W1987
    Free Member

    It’s hard not to see red when car drivers repeatedly use their cars as weapons/a form of power over other road users. At the end of the day it’s your life that can feel threatened, in their steel boxes they don’t feel that.

    In a perfect world we could drag them out of their cars and beat them to death in front of a crowd – that’s what they deserve – but hey, civilisation etc etc.

    STATO
    Free Member

    It’s hard not to see red when car drivers repeatedly use their cars as weapons/a form of power over other road users

    Are they really though?

    Using as a weapon? so either intentionally hitting you, or threaten you as in driving at you then stopping short?

    In reality its just normal people trying to get where they are going, acting no differently then if they were trying to pass someone walking slowly on the street. Being on the other side we obviously see the difference and the risk of their actions, but as a weapon!? I dont think that’s really a common thing.

    DezB
    Free Member

    Ooh, STATO, you’re so.. so… reasonable.

    Why can’t we all be like that?

    bob_summers
    Full Member

    Wasn’t really a punishment pass then was it, just a close pass? A punishment pass is one done intentionall

    whatever, it really doesn’t matter why a car passes you closer than is safe, does it?

    I did omit the bit where I’d pulled out of a side road and caused the guy the inconvenience of having to slow down, hands up to that. But really, what odds does it make?

    phil40
    Free Member

    Only had one discussion with a van driver this year! Narrow road and he thought I should be in the mud/verge rather than in the Tarmac! I tried to be witty and intelligent, but wasn’t 🙁 I think I got some pedant points for correcting him about road tax actually being ved, but then lost them all by telling him to f*** off!

    I don’t think I have been punishment passed, but I do reckon people who don’t cycle have very little perception of what it is like to be overtaken when in a bike, so they feel attacked when a cyclist comes up angrily suggesting they were trying to hurt them! Then again some car drives are arseholes!

    cyclingweakly
    Free Member

    but as a weapon!? I don’t think that’s really a common thing.

    Have you ridden on the road??

    belugabob
    Free Member

    In all seriousness, a lot of altercations originate from somebody’s misconception of the highway code.

    I really do think that it’s about time we had some more public information films along the lines of the old ‘Only a fool breaks the two second rule; and ‘Don’t be an amber gambler’.

    These could focus on many aspects of road craft , from the point of view of all road users – such as ‘Why do cyclists ride in the middle of the lane’, ‘Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lane’, ‘Which lane should I drive in, on the motorway’, ‘Having my indicators on, doesn’t entitle me to carry out a manoeuvre’, ‘Can I jump red lights, because I’m on a bike?’ etc.

    Being on TV would give some of these points more validity, and remove the excuse of ignorance from some of the hard-of-thinking road users.

    Would be great to have the videos online, too, so that they can be referenced more easily.

    This all might seem petty but, even whilst in my car, I feel quite vulnerable to the pretty outrageous behaviour that I see on the roads every day, and it really does need to be addressed.

    Ming the Merciless
    Free Member

    Well yesterdays road ride involved a German coach overtaking me on a blind up hill bend about 3 mph faster than me (there was a mile long straight in view around the bends which he could’ve waited for), I wasn’t very complimentary about his heritage.
    Then a lady wearing a hijab pulled out in front of me in town and laughed as I swerved into the middle of the road to avoid her……..I think I could’ve been arrested for what I shouted at her.
    Then some old git looked at me and pulled out of a side road in front of me to turn right and stopped waiting for the oncoming traffic to let him in. He got a loud “*unt”.

    I went home at this point and out on the MTB to lower my blood pressure. I do usually enjoy road riding and keep my cool but yesterday felt like I was a marked man.

    STATO
    Free Member

    Have you ridden on the road??

    Daily, 10mile each way. Only had one event where someone drove at me because they thought I shouldn’t be there, (a single track road on a hospital grounds where he didn’t want to wait at the passing spot). And one event where someone id passed filtering overtook me back and then pulled across enough to block me filtering past again.

    Ive had plenty of not looking close pass, poor judgement pass, and just want to get past so will squeeze through ‘but its ok as my mirror was at least 6 inch from your hand’ type pass. Ive even been taken down on a roundabout by a car that just drove onto it without slowing or looking. But apart from the first incident I dont see these people as using their car ‘as a weapon’, just people who are impatient or ignorant.

    DezB
    Free Member

    I’d say that’s actually twice as many aggressive behaviours as I’ve had (punishment passes aside), however.. the ignorant ones are worse, cos they actually don’t know what the **** they’re doing wrong.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Sent to wezzie gezzie

    This morning, through my own poor judgement, I’ve added to the growing enmity between road users. On my way to work I entered into an altercation with a gentleman driving a car on the A591 outside Windermere. Firstly I’d like to apologise to that gentleman and his wife (I presume) for my somewhat ‘industrial’ language and aggressive demeanour, this is not who I am in everyday life I can assure you. I should never have entered into any form of confrontation with you and will be using this experience as a salutary reminder to never to do so again and for my words and deeds I sincerely apologise.

    I would like to take the opportunity however to ask that you consider your behaviour as well. You sounded your horn at me from behind as I was climbing a steep incline, 110db in your ear, without warning at such a time is most unwelcome and the visible ‘start’ it gave me could have lead to lose control of my bike, as well as my temper. Also even if you are displeased with another road user sounding and your horn and gesticulating isn’t going to make your case effectively or inspire the change you want in that individual (as equally my behaviour will only have left you with a distinctly less than positive impression of me), this is especially important with cyclists and horseriders, which I’m sure you know, as they are prone to hyper-vigilance and stress given that the potential consequences of them missing a hazard.

    The reason you sounded your horn was that I was not on the cycle/mixed use path that runs between Windermere and Kendal. You are of course right, I was not. The path starts on the opposite side of the road to the direction I was travelling in and I had momentum to carry on up the hill, so I did. I did join the cyclepath at Ings, used until Staveley where I rejoined the main carriageway and then got back on it after the easterly Staveley junction. This is the quickest and most direct route along that road, in that direction, for a cyclist and avoids me having to cross two busy lanes of traffic, twice, to get on and off the path. Cycle paths are not mandatory and I’m free, as are you, to choose the route that best serves the needs of my journey. This excellent example aside, cyclepaths are often not even fit for purpose (the A591 out of Ambleside for example). I hope this helps you understand why I was there at that time.

    Lastly I’d ask that you only allow my behaviour to colour your opinion of me, not other road users and don’t transfer my misdeeds on to cyclists in general. It’s not ‘them and us’ out there as the prevalence of ‘clickbait’ articles online would have us believe, we’re all just on the roads trying to get where we are going, safely. I hope you got wherever you were headed safely and not too put out by the experience.

    Apologies again to you and your wife.

    DezB
    Free Member

    Reply: “F*%^ off!”

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