Mini Rant - Nut case Drivers

I've been of the opinion for a while now that if people behaved the same outside of their motor vehicle as they do in them then the streets and supermarkets would be bloody carnage.

A van driver once wound down his window and shouted at me cos I looked at his van. I glanced across to check he wasn't going to lefthook me (there was a right turn just ahead) and he lost it.
Some people just have nothing joyous in their lives and need to vent. They are the losers.

I’ve been of the opinion for a while now that if people behaved the same outside of their motor vehicle as they do in them then the streets and supermarkets would be bloody carnage.

Black Friday then?

Could be a lot of things, from a general loathing of other humans to an early incident that you're getting the pent up frustration for. Not a lot you can do to get through to them in my experience, unfortunately.
I think you handled it extremely well though, and your lack of engagement with him might have even be the catalyst for some of the subsequent anger. Not worth the aggro!

As much as the guy is obviously a weapon, this isn't going to defuse the situation, it's an escalation: "He still wouldn’t shut up when all I did is repeat his company name and the reg plate back at him, and tell him he’s reported." Sadly best just to ignore and file it away as just another bell-end.

Some people have serious anger issues

Part of my road is a one way street, and a guy refused to reverse back the way he'd came when I pointed this out to him and refused to move myself. He was literally in a purple faced, spittle flecked rage at me for 5 minutes rather than just shrug and reverse up the road for 10 yards. Eventually when he did reverse back up the road, he got out of his car - ready to confront me, and I just drove past him. Too much coke too early in the morning. 

Given the level of weed I smell from passing cars/vans in the mornings, it's not helping calm some people. I'm glad my commute is mostly off road these days, only the occasional snappy dog or suicidal squirrel to deal with. It's just how enraged he became because I wasn't in the cycle lane.

The guy just went absolutely mental all because I wasn’t riding in a debris strewn cycle lane

Which is one of the reasons why I am not a fan of cycle lanes with wands. They will never ever get swept and it makes some moronic drivers believe that you are only allowed to use a narrow side bit of the road.

The fact that he kept getting stuck in traffic and you kept sailing past will have added to his frustration. I would have just smiled, possibly laughed.

I'd have completely ignored him. You can't reason with someoe who's unreasonable. Anything you say will just wind them up more, and they've already demonstrated they don't really care about your safety.

 I’m riding just outside of the lane as it’s covered in debris
I just cycle past him as he get’s stuck, and look at him
all I did is repeat his company name and the reg plate back at him, and tell him he’s reported

So you were not riding your bike where you should be, you were passive aggressive, and then wound him up even further.

you could have apologised and explained why you were not riding in the cycle lane. Cyclists give cycling a bad rep at times dont they

So you were not riding your bike where you should be, you were passive aggressive, and then wound him up even further.

He said in a legally incorrect and passive aggressive manner.... 😉

What causes drivers to suddenly lose it and become total mental at 8am in the morning ?

Late for work, been awake long enough to put pants on, half cut still from the night before.

So you were not riding your bike where you should be,

Objection.

So you were not riding your bike where you should be, you were passive aggressive, and then wound him up even further.

you could have apologised and explained why you were not riding in the cycle lane. Cyclists give cycling a bad rep at times dont they

Is this satire?

Personally I always stay in the bike lane when there is an obstruction in it. Even if it means riding over parked cars.

So you were not riding your bike where you should be

Yeah that's the problem with cycle lanes, people come out with nonsense like that.

So you were not riding your bike where you should be, you were passive aggressive, and then wound him up even further.

you could have apologised and explained why you were not riding in the cycle lane. Cyclists give cycling a bad rep at times dont they

The three cars who drifted towards me over the white line this morning while their drivers looked at their phones didn't stop to apologise to me. Should I hunt them down?

The majority of the adult public never ride bikes and don't understand why anyone would want to cycle to work or anywhere even, they just see cyclists on the road as weirdos getting in their way slowing them down.

Yeah that’s the problem with cycle lanes, people come out with nonsense like that.

I agree. Gives drivers the license to go full gammon. They can sometimes funnel into you into dangerously close pass situations etc in places where they've historically tried to squeeze a lane into a road that really doesn't fit and you just know the drivers are thinking 'well, I'm in my lane, he should ****ing be in his, the cycling ****'

I tend to take primary position, and smile and wave at everyone.

After a bit if too-and-fro with a diver a couple of weeks ago in a new Wales 20MPH zone, he got in front of me but then hit a queue for some temporary traffic lights. He could see me coming down the inside of the queue so purposely got wheel-scuffingly close to the kerb to cut me off. 

Shot a glance over as I overtook on the outside, (obviously!) I swear I never saw anyone so purple with rage. Luckily I turned off the main road before he caught me up again. 😁

As mentioned above, he probably hasn't had his morning jazz fag.

Given the level of weed I smell from passing cars/vans in the mornings, it’s not helping calm some people.

I have noticed this more and more of late, I'm sure a lot of the crazy and stupid driving I have seen of late is drug induced...

tell him he’s reported. On looking the company up, it’s a tin pot builders of two directors, so pointless. I’ve also mis-remembered the reg. 

Sod reporting to the company. See if they have social media with a photo of the van with reg, then report to police on their website.

Can't wait for AI/fully self driving cars. AI doesn't get stressed/drunk/distracted, and as a bonus, you might be legitimately allowed to get bladdered at some point in the future and get driven home (whilst you car has been out paying for its keep by taxi-ing people to the shops)

Cocaine - possibly.  Weed?  Unlikely

Can’t wait for AI/fully self driving cars. AI doesn’t get stressed/drunk/distracted,

Depends on the human weighting the algorithm for those difficult choices.

<IF AVOID=0 AND "COLLIDE" = HUMAN, ANIMAL, VEHICLE or CYCLIST, SET "COLLIDE" = CYCLIST> 🙂

tjagainFull Member
Cocaine – possibly.  Weed?  Unlikely

Dunno , my wife can't handle it, becomes mind blowingly paranoid about anything and everything . Pun intended.

Came upon a queue of cars waiting behind a bus at a bus stop cunningly situated right by an island in the road (so the cars couldn't get by). Of course Mrs Slow and I sidled up through the queue, between the bus and island, and went on our merry way. Two minutes later AMG Marc roared past foot to the boards to make maximum "I am annoyed" noise. My word, we were impressed by his show of power.

The three cars who drifted towards me over the white line this morning while their drivers looked at their phones didn’t stop to apologise to me. Should I hunt them down?

YES

You never know what's going on in other peoples lives, for all we know he could have found out last night that his wife is divorcing him, or someone in his family has just died, or hes had his van broken into, or hes been hit with a bill he doesn't know how he will afford, or hes suffering with mental health problems, or even a combination of any of the above.

Some people get sad, others when feeling sad get irritated and angry.

Or he could just genuinely be a prick with a hatred for everyone around him from not being given enough love and attention as a child, who knows!?

I always try to have benefit of the doubt and try to not let other peoples anger bother me too much, and will actively try to refrain from getting swept up into whatever situation or drama they're orchestrating. I like a nice easy quiet peaceful life so will often laugh and move on.

Personally I always stay in the bike lane when there is an obstruction in it. Even if it means riding over parked cars.

Understated trials skills bragging.

Horrible driver and those incidents can spoil your ride,  morning,  day.   Hopefully it doesn't. 

I generally curse and hold my breath when I see new bits of cycle path appearing.  So often poorly designed and so often a cause for road rage not a prevention!  We need proper driver education and behaviour change not more white lines and narrow lanes strewn with debris 

I’d have completely ignored him. You can’t reason with someoe who’s unreasonable. Anything you say will just wind them up more, and they’ve already demonstrated they don’t really care about your safety.

Agree, you are off to a loser from the start. I however find it hard not to react to them, feels like it is adrenalin based at the time.

As I rode along at the weekend, a line of 4-5 bikes came towards me with 2 cars behind them.  The car furthest back went to overtake the lot of them which meant driving head on towards me.  I stuck my arm out in the international shrugging gesture of "Uh?!?", in return he gave me the finger while bellowing through his windscreen.

Seemed a strange way to say "I'm sorry for not paying attention and sending 2 tonnes of metal towards your face".

You never know what’s going on in other peoples lives, for all we know he could have found out last night that his wife is divorcing him, or someone in his family has just died, or hes had his van broken into, or hes been hit with a bill he doesn’t know how he will afford, or hes suffering with mental health problems, or even a combination of any of the above.

Some people get sad, others when feeling sad get irritated and angry.

Or he could just genuinely be a prick with a hatred for everyone around him from not being given enough love and attention as a child, who knows!?

I always try to have benefit of the doubt and try to not let other peoples anger bother me too much, and will actively try to refrain from getting swept up into whatever situation or drama they’re orchestrating. I like a nice easy quiet peaceful life so will often laugh and move on.

I came here to write this.

Despite it being incredibly hard sometimes, I now just don’t engage, and make sure anyone driving in such a manner is in front of me where I can see them.

I may be right, but I’m the more vulnerable one and my kids would like me to come home. No engagement of any form from me is ever going to change someone else’s driving.

No engagement of any form from me is ever going to change someone else’s driving.

That is true.

Giving driving 'feedback' is akin to 'your cock's too small' or 'your wife's ugly as sin and only stays with you out of charity' or some such. It's not constructive and almost certainly won't help the situation. Unless you're really good at fighting and have a force field around you, best to chill the fkc out and let the fin de cloche (©Cougar) get on with being a prize twit.

What causes drivers to suddenly lose it and become total mental at 8am in the morning ?

Getting up too early or not enough sleep or got kicked out from the bed or simple time pressure.

No engagement of any form from me is ever going to change someone else’s driving.
That is true.

Giving driving ‘feedback’ is akin to ‘your cock’s too small’ or ‘your wife’s ugly as sin and only stays with you out of charity’ or some such. It’s not constructive and almost certainly won’t help the situation.

All this.

I used to engage, but it's pointless and I once had a prize weapon stop the car in the road after I had done the feedback thing and then he went after me on foot in a stupid chase down some pavements and into a carpark. Just chill and let the dicks be dicks. It's their problem.

There is something about white van drivers though. I generally have near zero problems with drivers in and around Glasgow. The last two arseholes were both white van men.  First one overtook on a blind bend/summit causing an oncoming car to brake to prevent a head on crash.  The other one I was going round a roundabout and had to swerve to avoid being wiped out by a white van entered the RAB without giving way. and would have knocked me off if I hadn't. I'm convinced he saw me but just didn't care and was relying on me avoiding him.

And don't start me on cycle lanes. A few sections of road I used to used regularly have been ruined by Covid era seperated cycle lanes which are now debris filled puncture magnets.  The best urban cycling

conditions IMO are share bike/bus lanes.  No cars or vans and the bus tyres sweep the crap off.

I'm sure it's related to the number of cyclists in the area.

Twenty years ago, Cambridgeshire was the same. Now (almost) every driver is very cyclist aware, courteous, sensible. Not all, but the exceptions are so rare that it's quite surprising when it happens. Every type of vehicle - BMWs, audis, white vans, buses especially, seem to be very much better than before.

But it takes years, and it's not easy, and quite a few cyclists have been killed along the way.

@irc

Oil!! I'm a cyclist; mtb and road; and I have a white van, a Renault Master I'll have you know! I take great offense at that judgemental remark! 🤗

So you were not riding your bike where you should be, you were passive aggressive, and then wound him up even further.

you could have apologised and explained why you were not riding in the cycle lane. Cyclists give cycling a bad rep at times dont they

TBF cycle lane use isn't compulsory, and the OP has no responsibility to explain anything to Billy bellend in his Van.

Do you really think he's going to get a reasonable and nuanced debate out of some windmill who's tried to carve him up a couple of times already in a company vehicle?

Road raging drivers are just another flavour of the "professionally offended" just at a different point on the spectrum, what they really need is a good chat and a hug...

Ah, road interactions are a way of life, have been for forever, you just have to put it to the back of your mind or it just eats away at you and annoys you for a while.

Weirdly i've had more bad interactions with other cyclists or pedestrians (dog walkers mainly) on cycle paths around Bristol (B2B & Ring Road), than on roads with car drivers, angry people are all around us!

I've had that before, the 'cycle lane' was so narrow, my handle bars were wider than it, so I have to ride on the line or slightly beyond it.

Never mind drain grids, debris, pinch points for traffic islands and cars parked on it.

what they really need is a good chat and a hug…

By a Grizzly Bear! FTFY

They are running late. Because they spent too much time on the shitter, reading Daily Mail inspired anti cycling posts on Facebook.
Buts it's ok, they can make up the 12 mins late that they are running by driving like a wgbe for the entire 12 minutes journey.
And they will only be a minute late, in their tiny minds , till you appear in front.
Qué full on rantification. Flipping Gaylord on a bike , riding in the road instead of the cycle path my taxes pay for. Flipping waste of millions of pounds putting in all these cycle lanes no one uses. That money would be better spent fixing pot holes so all the cars benefit. Etc .
It's probably not far from the truth. So you become the target of his apoplectic rage and off he goes