..on another forum. Poster reckons i am in the wrong for banging on the roof of a car if it passes too close to me, i say i have the right to alert the driver to the dangers of his actions.
What say you?
link...
😆
Better not - i might get banned! 😆
You're only a cyclist, you have no right on the roads
I generally do it on buses = embarrass the driver, then shout that I've got the time, place and number
Cars go past me too quickly for me to wobble+swear+regainmycomposure+computeincident+smackcarwithpalm especially as it usually happens in a 40+ zones.
LINK!....
Surely you were only pushing the car away from you? The fact that it sounded like a bang on the roof was purely coincidental?
You are wrong, how could you be so stupid...
Next time smash off their wing mirror 😈
heres the deal, you give us the link and we will give you our opinion
The poster says that any 'assault' on the vehicle is a criminal act (technically i suppose he is right) whereas i say it is an entirely understandable action borne of fear and insticntive reactions.
lyons - Member
You are wrong, how could you be o stupid...Next time smash off their wing mirror
and when they get out to threaten you, use the flying headbutt.....it works a treat. 😉
Lyons - already done that to a Merc C220 but i had to get off the bike to do it, plus i had already tried to headbutt the driver through his window! 😳
Ton - Exactly. I like youre style....
Honestly? I'd go fruit loop if someone hit my car, and I'd be out at em, but as someone who rides bikes you know the score, so I try to give as much room as poss when passing.
You are a bit wrong I'm afraid.
It's all very well taking the moral high ground, but it is easy to get squished, or punched if they stop.
It's not really worth it, and ...in my opinion... leaves yet another driver mad at cyclists...
Relax, stop being aggressive...
everyone elses mileage may vary, but it achieves very little..
Personally i kick the door...and with Keo road cleats they always have a little reminder of our meeting 🙂
LINK by the way...
[img] 
[/img]
wear this for your nest bike ride!
The car can't be so close as to be causing any problem if you have the time and space to take a hand off the bars and hit the car with it
Perhaps you are. However, piloting a ton plus of metal close enough for you to touch? Also wrong. On balance, I'd say that taking risks with someones life is more serious than possible bodywork damage. But hey, car is king 🙄
muddydwarf - MemberThe poster says that any 'assault' on the vehicle is a criminal act
That is rubbish. You cannot assault a car, the only crime would be criminal damage if you damaged it.
If you can hit a car it is too close and a slap on the roof makes a noise but does no damage. However it might escalate any row - These days I try not to get involved. Don't let it spoil your day but spoil theirs is my aim now. So tell 'em they are a tosser in as inventive a way as you can laugh and ride away.
Could well be a breach of the peace.
EDIT possibly also an assault, would need to look into that.
Actually, how close does someone have to get for you to be [b]able[/b] to bang on the roof? Not something I've tried tbh. I've had the red mist descend a few times, but luckily the drivers ****ed off before anything physical occurred. Getting close, nein, more just pushing me into the curb.
druidh - Member
The car can't be so close as to be causing any problem if you have the time and space to take a hand off the bars and hit the car with it
yup thats what i was gonna say,
if you have the time to actually think and react that way,
surely your not in as much danger as you think/say,
i've had my handlebars knocked my a car/van wing mirror twice,
no way i had time other than to control what i was doing and stay upright.
the problem is if you bang and bash on their car,
the driver will take out his frustrations on the next cyclist he sees!
regardless of what they are doing,
not good.
Al - from what I remember (and you told me I was wrong as harm needed to be done) its only an assault if you touch the person or if you put them in fear that you are going to hit them - neither can be true here.
I do think the inventive insult and ride away laughing at them is the best option tho.
"hope yer next craps a pineapple"
"Driving license or dog license"
"got a drivers license? Get it in a cornflake packet?"
And my fave "THROMBUS" ( medicalese for bloody clot) That usually confuses them
I won't link to the forum 'cos it's a private one for our re-enactment group & i might be in trouble if you lot descend on the place!
I actually haven't done the bang on the roof thing, it was a metaphorical scenario i put forward. It is interesting to see this posters views in that it certainly reinforces the idea that the car is worth more than the health of the cyclist.
M: Oh look, this isn't an argument.
A: Yes it is.
M: No it isn't. It's just contradiction.
A: No it isn't.
M: It is!
A: It is not.
M: Look, you just contradicted me.
A: I did not.
M: Oh you did!!
A: No, no, no.
M: You did just then.
A: Nonsense!
M: Oh, this is futile!
A: No it isn't.
M: I came here for a good argument.
A: No you didn't; no, you came here for an argument.
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
i've had my handlebars knocked my a car/van wing mirror twice,
no way i had time other than to control what i was doing and stay upright.
That's not a car getting too close, that's an RTA mate, they've [u]hit[/u] you. I don't know about you, but I'm weaving about avoiding potholes at the moment, so there's a reasonable chance that a car wanting to pass closer than a foot could collect me.
If you're close enough you can do an unfortunate scrape of your pedals on his paintwork. Lovely curving ones. Proof he was too close - but no good if speed is involved.
Drivers don't care about hurting you, but they hate their cars getting dinged.
It's really hard to call - I used to be a roof thumper/door kicker but now just ride on.
Reasoned that if it was a psycho-bike-killer driver the bang would just raise the game and either I, or perhaps worse the next biker they meet, get really hurt.
If they're just clumsy/useless then a loud :bang: might surprise them so much they lose attention and be even more dangerous.
Either way - banging/kicking/shouting etc can have no positive effect and just makes the whole car Vs bike 'thing' even more reinforced in both parties minds.......
...a chilled rider is a safe rider 😀
Still tough going up in 'Dale then?!!
BTW, how'd you get on with that cycling [training?] job?
Nowt as yet Dave - currently doing 3 days a week volunteering with Hollingworth Lake centre, they'll be putting me through the CTC Trail Leader Award in April so we'll see how the work pans out.
Still looking for other work tho.
Tj my mamary is that frightening someone can be enough eg spitting.
BOTP is pretty easy tho.
If a driver is actually overtaking you in a safe manner you cannot bang on their roof as it is out of reach therefore no driver can have a reasonable argument against what you have done.
[img] 
[/img]
I've rattled a few white van doors in my time, they don't half bloody rattle!!! Its basically just an empty tin can, isn't it!
I'd say so long as no damage is done, the driver should consider it a warning that he's too close.
al - at the time you told me I was wrong and that real harm had to be done to be an assault. I remember it clearly . Glad to see you now accept mine ( and the commonly held) view of what an assault is.
Harm. Can be psychological as well as physical.
You seem to remember this stuff way better than me (stw battles that is)
Thing is, how does a driver know if damage was done without getting out and looking which would really escalate the situation?
Had one on monday when, waiting at the lights the car alongside me suddenly had a bang from something - i don't know what hit it, it wasn't me but i didn't see anything. The occupants were looking daggers at me but all i could do was shrug my shoulders and shake my head.
If you can hit the roof they are too close. Doesn't the Highway code give a passing distance of a metre and a half. Only Al has arms that long
Have kicked one car. Driver looked at me coming accross a roundabout and still pulled out. Sod them they could have knacked me.
I've only hit cars when they are stopped at lights. And only do it if they have badly cut me up or gone too close.
These days i try to have a chat instead tho. Often start with the line "I've been a driver for 10 years..."
This isn't about whether or not a car driver has the "right" to be that close to you, it's about how you react to that;
a) take a hand off the bars, thereby reducing the amount of control you have over your bike in a potentially dangerous situation, and then escalate the situation into a confrontation (with you or the next poor unfortunate cyclist to come along).
b) accept the fact that some folk are just bad drivers and there's nothing you're going to do in the next few seconds to change that.
I did once manage to fall off my bike slapping a car too close to me. Lesson learn't. safety first
I open the boot at the next set of lights after a short discussion - if they really p1ss me off. And make sure I am not about to be passed again !
I'd say that if a vehicle is close enough for you to touch then they are in breach of the highway code, from a straight insurance point of view they would be at fault if, say, your bar end hit their mirror. with that in mind, they shuldn't be there, so whatever you do they would have to admit liability in order to persue any damages against you? kind of like if someone pulls out of a junction into the path of a speeding car, the car may have been speeding, but the other car shouldn't have been there. I'm sure there is something in the highway code about always passing at least a doors width from parked cars, how often do we see that?
I'm with druidh on this. All this willy waving about what you do etc, can't be arsed with it. Like I said before there are bad drivers and just as many bad cyclists on the roads/pavements.
I was cut up at a set of lights t'other day (bottom of Ardmillan into Dalry Rd for the locals). Guy came into the ASL alongside me, then pulled away sharpish and cut into the cycle lane right in front of me, forcing me almost onto the kerb.
He was riding a Specialized Tricross.
Bastid! 😡 Did you hit his helmet? Use some of TJ's 'humour' on him? Phone the police? 'Rant' online about it?
I had a wee rantette to Gheynks when I got to work....
He won't be doing that again!