This morning I was cycling my usual route to work here:
When a guy in a Meriva forces me into the kurb (I ride 1/3 the way out the kurb) - I raise my arm (just my arm) in objection. The guy knows exactly what he was doing as several times he points out the window as the cycle path on the opposite side of the road.
Now this cycle lane lasts for 500 yards - you need to cross the road twice one with a pedestrian crossing so surely that would hold the traffic up?
I have ridden this road on my commute for 7 years now - what gives him the right to tell me to use the cycle path when I am in my rights (and IMHO it is safer) to use the dam road I have paid for in my council tax! Is trying to hurt or intimidate a cyclist the right way of going about it - I think not!
I just don't know what we are going to do about these kind of drivers?
Sorry for yet another rant 😳
If you'd had a cycling partner(s) you could have ridden 2, maybe 3 abreast, and this would never have happened.
I've had this from a truck who thought that he could come within 1 1/2 feet of me because there was a cycle lane attached to the road. Said cycle lane is wet, off camber, covered in leaves and has about 5 semi-blind exits. Great!
Just console yourself in the fact these people are usually fat and look very unhappy with their lives. Im yet to meet a cyclist who fits both of these criteria at the same time.
[i]I just don't know what we are going to do about these kind of drivers? [/i]
Sussex police have a 'report dangerous drivers' form on their site - no idea what happens but I guess if the same reg comes up more than once then they have a word.
Just console yourself in the fact these people are usually fat and look very unhappy with their lives.
Yes - I expect they would die prematurely from coronary heat disease 🙂
Sussex police have a 'report dangerous drivers' form on their site
Trouble is I am always to annoyed that I forget to get it - bike cam time 😉 On the whole drivers around my way are pretty good TBH - just the odd ****t!
Report him for aggressive/dangerous driving? Or road rage? The police won't do anything about it without witnesses or video evidence (and even then they may not do anything) but if you're lucky it might go down on the record against that number plate. Enough complaints (or if he gets flagged up on ANPR) and it'll help.
Sadly though he's just an ignorant moron. You get them in all walks of life, this one just happened to be in charge of a ton of metal. 🙁
There's no requirement to use a cycle path or lane so he's wrong.
Always wondered how hard it would be to put an elbow through someone's side window when that happens. Either that, or figure out how to attach one of these to your handlebars
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On the whole drivers around my way are pretty good
This is my experience.
However the small number of idiots can be very frightening. You are at such a big disadvantage - they don't 'feel' anything whereas the poor cyclist has their life flashing before their eyes.
Reporting them is the only way to make them feel any 'pain' metaphorical or otherwise 😮
Best to be careful, the roads are useless and drivers can be loony x mental.
"Always wondered how hard it would be to put an elbow through someone's side window" very hard i couldn't do it with a punch when a guy pulled out smack in front of me.
LOL - very temping Realman 🙂 Perhaps on of these ;0 :
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Always wondered how hard it would be to put an elbow through someone's side window when that happens.
Bloody hard! Chapeau to anyone who does it without then falling off themselves, I imagine the 'equal and opposite reaction' would send one a fair distance away from the van!
@ foxrider. I was going to suggest one of those glass hammers...! 😀
I think that if someone repeatedly did this to me, I would try & gesture for them to pull over to ask them why they think this is acceptable. It would really wind me up.
I think that if someone repeatedly did this to me, I would try & gesture for them to pull over to ask them why they think this is acceptable. It would really wind me up.
I wanted them to stop and have a pop so I could fathom why myself? Little car dictators me thinks!
Bloody hard! Chapeau to anyone who does it without then falling off themselves, I imagine the 'equal and opposite reaction' would send one a fair distance away from the van!
very hard i couldn't do it with a punch when a guy pulled out smack in front of me.
🙁
Must get a glock.
A MERIVA, the shame the driver must have, makes him take out seeming over the top aggression on innocent cyclists.
Best just to put your index finger and thumb about 2 inches apart and shout loudly small cock small insignificant car, that usually has a reaction.
Always wondered how hard it would be to put an elbow through someone's side window when that happens.
Years ago as a student I saw a cyclist punch the side window of an old Ford Fiesta. His hand went straight through - not sure who got the biggest fright the cyclist or the driver...
Dunno if the glass was thinner then or if we were just 'arder!
Had a bus do that to me once (and I still have no idea what he thought I'd done) - complained to the bus company who (said they) threw the book at him.
It's bloody scary. I had to stop before I went into the side of it. People can be nutters...
equal and opposite reaction
Indeed, somewhere a Meriva driver is ranting about inconsiderate bike riders.
😀
forget punching/elbowing the window through - it hurts and theres only one winner.
He was driving a Meriva which is a 5 door. Simply wait until he is stuck in traffic or at lights, open the rear passenger side door and cycle off. Driver will have to get out of car and walk round to close door before he can set off again.
If he comes after you - hit him with your pump.
My own personal favourite was earlier this year when some moron nearly disected me in anopen top sports car - I shouted at him and waved my fist, as you do.He gave me aload of verbals back - about 200yds later he was sat in traffic , so I rode passed and casually squirted him with blackcurrant juice from my bottle - looked good on his white shirt. I simply rode off laughing.
Some people are frickin nutters! Why would anyone endanger someone's life just to make a (wrong) point about road rules?
Sadly, judging by the various videos on YouTube, it seems to happen far too regularly.
If you have his reg or a decent description of the car and a note of the time then it is definitely worth reporting it to the local police.
Some forces have a Road Safe team where you can report dangerous driving.
e.g. the Met: http://www.met.police.uk/roadsafelondon/
Best just to put your index finger and thumb about 2 inches apart and shout loudly small cock small insignificant car, that usually has a reaction.
Yep, great idea that, antagonise someone who's already on the brink of doing you a serious mischief with their ton of metal. 🙄
I'd sooner give the vehicle a smack, that [i]may[/i] provoke a positive reaction - insulting them definitely won't!
Indeed, somewhere a Meriva driver is ranting about inconsiderate bike riders.
Unfortunately probably true in his delusional ignorance!
Thanks guys - I feel calmer now 🙂
I think I will try and make a note of the reg next time - something needs to happen - although drivers will moan that cyclists are too unaccountable - pushing for a bloomin' registration or something ?
I think it's true that the arseholes are the minority - unfortunately with the number of cars on the road that means we still meet a couple of them on each journey. I stopped "gesturing" at people who nearly hit me a couple of years ago after one of them chased me, forced me off the road and threatened me (the dickhead even waved his fist around near my face until it just clipped my chin). I just ignore them now - not worth being beaten up over.
shout loudly small cock small insignificant car
Spoken like a true Audi/BMW driver.
You need to get in touch with your inner KUNG FU, some punk ass couchie gets out of line.
Kablamb no window, kapow big **** off moron! dent to the door, whaa chaa, wing mirror into orbit.
I tend to try and find a middle ground with people, but if they give me shit I send it back with interest accompanied by laughter 😀
Be careful what ever you decide to do, it's wild out there!
nick if the glass broke youd most likely end up in beside the driver - as there would be no oppose force 😀
big bar ends and just let him move in onto it - result likely a written off car with a gouge out the side and all his own doing
What we all need is a second bottle on your bike, filled with brake fluid. Casual squirt on the offenders car if you get chance 😈
Just don't forget and drink it!
I just think that if every motorist (if physically able) was forced to cycle one day on the road they they might be a bit more understanding of a cyclists vulnerability?
Just don't forget and drink it!
Having a few more silver hairs I expect I'd just do that!
big bar ends
a written off car
wow [b]BIG[/b] bar ends
I just think that if every motorist (if physically able) was forced to cycle one day on the road they they might be a bit more understanding of a cyclists vulnerability?
Or at a minimum every bus and taxi driver before they get their license...
"Always wondered how hard it would be to put an elbow through someone's side window" very hard i couldn't do it with a punch when a guy pulled out smack in front of me.
Bang [u]Down[/u] on their wing mirror, it not only does the mirror but also crumples the bodywork below it...
nick if the glass broke youd most likely end up in beside the driver - as there would be no oppose force
Well yes, and getting dragged along with him I suspect - or nailing the kerb and looking like a total pleb! A hammer may do it though!
What we all need is a second bottle on your bike, filled with [s]brake fluid[/s] human excrement. [s]Casual[/s] Targeted squirt on the offenders [s]car[/s] face if you get chance
Good idea 🙂
I just think that if every motorist (if physically able) was forced to cycle one day on the road they they might be a bit more understanding of a cyclists vulnerability?
Definitely - weren't they doing that with HGV drivers in London - so they can see the other side of the coin as it were?
As tempting as it is and difficult not to lose one's rag and hurl abuse, objects, fists, bullets in the direction of these drivers, it's these reactions that tend only to fuel their preconception that cyclists are inconsiderate weirdos who ought to pay "road tax", get out of the way, only ride cycle lanes, be banned from breathing etc. etc.
Even a calm word often tends to throw them in to self-justifying, defensive mode where they'll say they had no choice but to run you into the gutter because they were late for an important meeting. Cyclists, by definition, in their eyes, can't be doing anything important or they'd be driving a car like important people do.
Best response is to raise an eyebrow, chuckle to oneself and report to the police at the earliest opportunity. If you must, suggest that their driving was so poor it seemed to you that they must have been drinking. Perhaps they had, in which case they might really cop for some hassle.
On most occasions I've got angry with dangerous, inconsiderate drivers I've been the one left feeling bad. Remember, you can't educate pigs. Fighting with them just leaves you both covered in shit, but the pig loves it. Things might be different if I was built like a brick outhouse. My brother seems to have more success in this respect. However, some people get out the wrong side of the bed every morning, go out with weapons and don't need any provocation to use them. Google "Kenneth Noye" if you need convincing on this point.
Then there was the time I lobbed a lit cigarette back through the passenger window it'd just been chucked from at me. That did feel quite nice.
You need to find a witness who saw the driver do this and get them to report it.
All made worse of course by a society ill at ease with itself.. lots of unhappy people swerving round one another in metal cans or absorbed in their mobile phone when on foot...
The banks are robbing them, their wives and girlfriends or mothers are ugly, and they have little power to weild elsewhere in their empty ignorant serfdom world..
Remember, you can't educate pigs. Fighting with them just leaves you both covered in shit, but the pig loves it.
Love that analogy 🙂
What we all need is a second bottle on your bike, filled with brake fluid human excrement. Casual Targeted squirt on the offenders car face if you get chance
I guess the issue with causing permanent damage to a car is that it opens you up to legal action. I read somewhere about someone spraying a "sticky" liquid on the windscreen that smeers. It causes no damage and is non toxic but it is bloody annoying. Does anyone know more / have any suggestions about what it is?
Try having a chat with [url= http://www.cycleaid.co.uk/ ]CycleAid[/url] - they may be able to suggest something 🙂
Chocolate syrup?
Ultimately, in response to the stress of fairly frequent run-ins on my commute, I read John Franklin's book "Cyclecraft". This helped me fine tune my road riding making me less likely to be a victim of aggressive or inattentive drivers. I also changed my route to avoid hotspots.
I guess it could be argued that the "bullies" have won and I have relinquished my rights but it wasn't a battle I wanted to fight any more. Now my ride into work is much more pleasant, mainly along a canal towpath.
I suspect that the drivers are still sat in their cars, with temple veins throbbing, on the point of emotional breakdown/thrombosis/doing something they'll seriously regret and taking it out on someone else.
Getting into a fight isn't going to help. You WILL lose. Maybe not right that second but two days later when the driver of the car you damaged happens to be on the same road again... Smashing a car up will leave you open to
a) retribution
b) criminal proceedings
You survived. Ride off knowing that you're right and, more importantly, you're safe.
a "sticky" liquid
😯
This is what heavy Kyrptonite D-Locks were invented for. When I used to live in Glasgow I rode with a great bike steel basket on the front of my bike, so my lock was always to hand for smashing someones car if they threatened my life.
EDIT: I don't do this anymore, I prefer to just chill out and remember to breathe.
+1 crazy-legs
Similar happened to me yesterday.
On a busy road, negotiating a queue I was cycling gently between the queue and the kerb (the oncoming traffic was V busy and too dangerous to consider going outside)which was about a 3ft gap.
About 3 cars up, a car pulled over to leave about 1ft between me/the kerb. I could see it was deliberate as I could see the driver looking at me in his wing mirror. As I inched passed, his window was open and I may have used the W word.
But whats the point? Its just agitation for agitations sake IMO, jealousy cause he couldnt move forward and I could.
If, to protect yourself, you had to put up your spd clad foot, wouldn't that be a shame????
I got forced on the pavement by a motorist trying to get out of the way of an ambulance, windows open I asked him what the hell he was doing ‘moving over to let the ambulance through’ was the answer he looked a bit embarrassed when I said I didn’t want to be in the next ambulance and he was a bit miffed when I pointed out that the gouge in his car door was going to be expensive to fix.
What was really nice the woman in car behind him stopped to say she had seen everything and if I wanted to call the police she would wait. What I didn’t know was that a woman cyclist lost her life only a couple of yards from where we were 5 months earlier and she knew her. I took her details and his registration number reported it to the police, un surprisingly no action taken.
Chugg08 In a very similar vain I've thought about sorting out some stickers to put on windscreen of Car's/Vans which park consistently on pavements/cycle route cause obstructions. There are a few on my commute which bug me
I guess the issue with causing permanent damage to a car is that it opens you up to legal action. I read somewhere about someone spraying a "sticky" liquid on the windscreen that smeers. It causes no damage and is non toxic but it is bloody annoying. Does anyone know more / have any suggestions about what it is?
Engine oil would prob do the trick. No lasting damage, but would wash / wipe off very easily. Although it would potentially obscure their vision which may not be a good idea!
next time carry a frozen turkey with you in an Asda bag and take a swing at his wing mirror, should do the trick.
Worked for my uncle....
Nowadays my tactic is to make sure it spoils their day more than it spoils yours - so do get angry with them - laugh at them make it obvious. ride away laughing.
I don't always manage this but its what I aim to do.
A slap on the top of a car makes one hell of a noise and no damage but is best for the dozy ones who don't know you are there
I have tried having a big heavy lock to hand - the trouble is you get tempted to use it and I did - did a chunk of damage to a van. I have kicked lumps out of a car in the same situation as the op - he just kept coming back for more and getting angrier - each time he got another dented panel leading to hundreds of pounds worth of damage to a big 4x4. You do have an excuse / defence to that - if the car is close enough that you can touch it its too close - you were only trying to warn him / fend him off. I have also been right down the side of a car that pulled out on me - bar end too a full length scratch.
The best remains I think to laugh at them for being so stupid and ride off. spoil their day more than it spoils yours a good insult or two helps as well? "got a driving licence?" "from a cornflake packet?"
"Where'd you get your license? In a cracker"
- Ric Mayall in Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
should read [b]don't get angry [/b]with them
DOH
I just don't know what we are going to do about these kind of drivers?
Helmet Cams are the only real "solution" IMO, catch the ****ers and their number plates in the act, if you want a conviction out of it though don't bother the Rozzers direct though get it straight up on youtube - this appears to get more attention and hence more done about it...
Or see it from his POV... The poor shit drives a Meriva, no wonder he's riddled with angst, plus there's every chance a harsh stare would put a significant dent in the door, no need to bother with fists/elbows thought the window....
TBH the Karmic approach that others suggest is ultimately the best way to deal with these things, avoid the confrontation/violence, a suitably disapproving look is enough, they will either know they were in the wrong straight away, in which case pointing it out doesn't really solve much (they've probably already learned), or they "Know" they are NEVER wrong in which case pointing it out won't change their mind and is also ultimately fruitless...
Helmet Cams are the only real "solution" IMO, catch the **** and their number plates in the act, if you want a conviction out of it though don't bother the Rozzers direct though get it straight up on youtube - this appears to get more attention and hence more done about it...
Yep. Direct quote from that Met Office Road Safe site mentioned earlier:
"Occasionally, as well as reporting something to us, people post video footage in the public domain e.g. YouTube or similar sites. In the course of dealing with your information we may direct others to any material that has been openly posted, to raise road user awareness and to promote safety. "
I've found that cars give me more room on my MTB, could be the thought of my bar ends gouging a big scratch down their nice BMW or Audi!?
Yes - If it starts to get worse again (shouldn't) I might get a cheap helmet cam 🙂
Direct quote from that [b]Met Office [/b]Road Safe site mentioned earlier
Crikey, they've branched out! 😉
I don't know if I'm blind to this sort of thing, a better rider (unlikely) or just lucky, but considering I do a lot of road riding, on some of the busiest roads in the country, I can count on the fingers of one hand how often I've actually been involved in anything where I'd even consider saying anything! I've thumped a few car roofs to let people know I'm there, but most of the time I just get on with it, can't let shit drivers ruin your day, there's too many of them!
You don't need to punch windows or carry a hammer.
Let your pedals do the work. Nice curved gouge out of his paintwork and irrefutable proof he came too close.
Drivers won't give even a seconds consideration to what you're saying if you point out the errors of their ways at the roadside. People in general are just not wired up to respond well to that sort of thing from strangers, people in their cars even less so, and the sort of driver who'd be giving you grief even less so again.
What'll most likely happen is one or all of:
- they'll drive off still thinking they were in the right, but with their preconceptions about arrogant cyclists reinforced
- they'll get even angrier
- you'll get wound up
None of those are very productive so I try and just let it go, or not let it happen in the first place. Obviously adrenaline sometimes takes over though.
Thought this was funny - mad me feel better as he was burning his wages to get to Tesco to buy up everything in the place because it might be shut for 2 days 😉
However, some people get out the wrong side of the bed every morning, go out with weapons and don't need any provocation to use them. Google "Kenneth Noye" if you need convincing on this point.
I shall try and remember not to get into an altercation on the road with my drugs supplier who I owe money to 🙄
Also worth remembering that to err is human?
Someone who has just realised how close, through a moment's inattention, they were to hurting/killing someone and suffering the personal consequences of their actions/inactions may be as much in shock as anyone else.
Last thing they need is a torrent of abuse, damage to their vehicle, the threat of violence. Ultimately a near miss is still a miss. "As good as a mile", my mum used to say. A karmic response is probably most likely to help both parties in the long run.
I shall try and remember not to get into an altercation on the road with my drugs supplier who I owe money to
😆
Someone who has just realised how close, through a moment's inattention,
True but doing it on purpose to intimidate you into using the cycle lane is not excusable in my book 🙂
aluminium bar-plugs, or bar-ends.
If they're close enough to hit you on the bike, then there's no reason why the end of your handle-bar won't scratch along the side of the car as they get too close.
If they complain, ask why they were so close to you, and then try and claim on their insurance for new bar-ends 🙂
It's a common enough experience. I've had it several times when I've been avoiding dangerous cyclelanes in favour of the safer open road where I am put in less conflict with other users (ie where the cyclelane has 100 driveway entrances directly next to me which are all hidden from my vision until I'm two yards from them). And you are right, these prats get very upset for some reason, but I'm not going to put myself in danger to satisfy their troubled minds.
Another thing that winds me up is jesticulating motorists who do not appreciate that the time gap on certain traffic lights is not long enough for a mountainbike to get through before the lights change the other end.
Duddon Bridge anyone!
I think this all boils down to a lack of understanding, empathy and tolerance.
Feel free to cut it and paste it to use it in any argument you wish about anything 😉
As always - Sheldon Brown has the answer
[url= http://sheldonbrown.com/lirpa.html#bayonetz ]bayonetz[/url]
Outwit them by staying calm and polite. Ride away laughing knowing their day is spoiled more than yours 😉
[b][i][u]OR[/b][/i][/u] carry some smashed up ceramic particles from the insulated section of a spark plug in a convenient pocket and flick a piece at the cars' windows. If you hit, you'll score! (Plan getway first though...) 😈
The majority of road accidents occur between 8-9am and 4-6pm. I recall a statistic indicating most accideents caused by aggressive driving occur post work between 4pm and 6pm. Makes sense, work sometimes pushes us to cracking point, perhaps a bullying manager, and voila! That angry man who's had a bad day is now behind you!
Which leads me on to the flow of negative energy that results.. if like me you hold on to it you can find yourself barking at the moon, well other cars, and so what started as 2 people upsetting one another, ends with a whole school full potentially.. the waves of hostility scattering from one person to the next..
Makes sense, work sometimes pushes us to cracking point, perhaps a bullying manager, and [b]viola[/b]!
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😆
I would think its illegal to drive whilst playing the Viola? 😀
If I get the chance, I just tell drivers how they scared me to death, and that I thought they were going to knock me over. Usually takes the wind out of their sails.
This approach may work better coming from me as a female, rather than a six-foot, well built bloke!
That is jeenyis! 😀Simply wait until he is stuck in traffic or at lights, open the rear passenger side door and cycle off.
I cannot understand the cars that bib you as they pass you. They get alongside ( and thus are overtaking ) and then just bib, like you shouldn't be there or something. Mind you last time that happened a car overtook and hadn't left enough room ahead to safely pull in before a crossing island, so i guess they then assumed you are in the wrong for being in the way. Sometimes though they just bib, whilst overtaking. Think I need to find a quieter route tbh.
"bib"?
sound the horn ;0)
Well, to give a bit of balance, i've just had a nice experience with a motorist.
Riding home tonight, pulled out through the lights onto a 40mph dual-carriageway and headed uphill towards the lights. I could see/sense a car behind me seemingly waiting, then the car pulled [i]right[/i] across into the 2nd lane as it overtook. I caught up at the lights and pulled alongside, looked down, smiled and mouthed "thank you" at the driver.
In return i got the biggest, most beaming smile from an absolutely stunningly beautiful young Asian lady 😀
AND she was driving an Audi!!!!
8)
I find most motorists are good tbh.