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I went out for another ride today & came back the same way as I did last Wednesday.
Coming down the same hill at virtually the same spot where angry man's 4x4 had been there was a car on my side of the road passing the parked cars (some sort of sign perhaps as I virtually never see traffic on this bit of road).
I carried on a bit until I could edge in a few inches & stopped as before to allow the car to edge past, deja-vu.
Except this time the driver was a nice elderly lady, beaming from ear to ear who thrust her arm out the window to the shoulder and waved vigorously in thanks as she crept past. I smiled back & we went on our separate ways 😊
Such a very different response to an almost identical situation.
As has been pointed out, it's the person not the vehicle.
I had one recent experience, I was half way across a (small'ish) roundabout when a car approached from the left, I was already on the roundabout and leaning when the driver looked directly at me then carried on but as he did this he gave me the middle finger!
Now I'm usually fairly calm but I barely managed to stay on my road bike, as I braked my bike stood upright and I almost created my own exit directly in to a lamp post. The shock of almost crashing and the guy sticking his finger up at me made my blood boil.
Now I know the road well and knew there were temporary traffic lights a short distance ahead, I just needed the traffic light gods to be on my side.
I approached the first car in the queue and it was that car! I'm not going to lie, I was raging and the guy genuinely looked scared when I pulled up to his window. He locked the door and ignored me, I can't remember what I said but he didn't respond and the passengers (that he was trying to impress) gave the impression that they knew he was being a dick.
The lights turned green and I waved all the cars behind him on, I explained this wouldn't have happened and he would've been on his merry way if he'd waited at the roundabout.
Just as the lights changed to amber I cycled off, leaving him to wait in the queue for a second time.
Not my proudest moment but had I crashed at the roundabout I would've been in a horrible mess at the side of the road and (more importantly!) my bike would have been wrecked. Maybe this incident will make him think twice in the future?
Since the pandemic road driving has got much worse, everyone is in such a hurry and cyclist are seen as a massive inconvenience. I've cycled in other countries and their attitude towards other road users is so much better and everyone feels more relaxed as a result.
Have we done this one yet?
We have just got to accept that all outdoor space is for taking dogs for a shit. Everywhere is their garden and if you don't like it you'll get your ****ing head kicked in alright.
Nobody really wins when it gets verbal and you just spend the next few hours annoyed. So...
Step 1: Eyeball driver and quickly estimate your chances of winning in a fight.
Step 2: If yes, strike car. If no, zero response.
Nobody really wins when it gets verbal
Disagree. My one above left them fuming and me laughing, so I call that a win. If I'd struck their massive and very expensive vehicle, who knows where it would've gone.
Every situation is different, assess and act as appropriate, not according to any bollocks rules someone else has made up.