Riding in this morning through the delight that is Manchester City Centre traffic, the standard daily oh-so-predictable event took place.

Myopic idiot in car makes a cursory glance to the right at a junction, completely failing to register my presence (as I’m not a big square metal box, I don’t actually exist) and pulled out on me, very nearly collecting my front wheel in the process. Ho hum. Usual stuff

However, he then pulls in to the kerb to drop someone off, then as I’m going past him, level with the side of his car, he pulls out from the kerb, forcing me into the oncoming traffic. Not even a glance behind or alongside him, no indication. Nothing

Cue: the red mist descending. To put it mildly – I went off the ****ing deep end!!!! There was lots of hammering on his window and in-your-face screaming of vitriolic abuse. His parenthood was questioned quite forcefully. As was his resemblance to female genitalia. He sat cowering at the lunatic that, clearly up until that point, he’d been totally unaware of. He looked terrified!!

I don’t usually bother, but nearly taking me off twice in 200 yards has to be some kind of new record. the ****!!!!

Unfortunately it really doesn’t help to do it, but I can fully understand where you’re coming from. Maybe about 3 times a year?

I have been there and afterwards you do feel like you went off on one but at the time the adrenaline will be flowing and you have to rant.

You’re note the only one….

Something must be up with the c**ts in their cars in Manchester today. Nearly got taken out three times on the ride to work this morning. Three f***ing times in 20 minutes. I’m starting to wonder if the forum on icouldn’tgiveash*taboutotherroadusers.com has a bet on to see how many cyclists they can take out in a day.

Either that, or I’ve p*ssed someone off enough that they had three contract killers out after me today….

Hopefully he’ll be more aware in the future now. If so then job done!

its perfectly acceptable -if you nearly get knocked off you bike twice, by the same muppet in a short space of time, then i think they deserve a warning of some sort or another.

Perfectly acceptable imo. In fact I’d have been trying to drag him out of the car and kerb stomp him.

In fact I’d have been trying to drag him out of the car and kerb stomp him.

you need help mate

not my favourite but this happened to me
Car pulls out turning right from the off side fails to see me does it so slowly I could not out break them so I was forced to overtake them a sthey did it
They then overtook me about 50 yards later on a blind bend and then turned left on me 50 yds later without indicating.. i did as you did
Not clever
Not proud
Not sure it helped

Just take your rage out on hora by roofie-ing his drink next time you’re out and savagely beating him with a series of cucumbers, root vegetables, before finally launching a red cabbage into his heaving gut.

And send it to you’ve been framed.

what if you’re actually invisible?
didn’t think about that did you…

No problem at all. Put it in perspective. He did 2 things in the space of minutes that could very well ended up in your death.

Hopefully your vitriolic screaming session may have made him more aware of his surroundings.

Good work…..sounds like it was entirely justified.

I once had a real go at a couple of blokes in a car who got in the wrong lane at a roundabout and literall tried to force me off the road so they could cut across me. They ended up stopped at the edge of the roundabout while I hurled abuse at them. They then decide to tell me in broken-East-European English that I shouldn’t be on the road…..

As I drove off two blokes in a Transit who had seen what happened gave me the thumbs up. Excellent!

I reckon it wams the blood and keeps you on yor toes. A good rant and rave is good for the soul.

I’ve had someone actually hit me (I stayed up) who then drove off even after I banged my hand on the side of her car.

Queue red mist…..
Engage persuit mode…..
Catch silly bint as she’s parking her car…..

Big rant…. Best bit of which was “Where did you get your driving license? Out of a cornflake packet?” from me.

And breath….
🙂

Big rant…. Best bit of which was “Where did you get your driving license? Out of a cornflake packet?” from me.

blimey, the rest must have been really shite!

Nick – Member

In fact I’d have been trying to drag him out of the car and kerb stomp him.

you need help mate

What, to get him out of the car, or to flatten him after that?

I got forced (with contact) down a left turn I wasn’t planning on taking by a middle aged woman in a car who hadn’t seen me. I saw the queue down the rode so I rode down after her containing my adrenalin and anger. I knocked politely on the window and asked “do you know what you just did?” She said yes and apologised, then started on some excuse about having just been to the hospital and was very upset about something. I didn’t listen – to be honest, if you’re that wound up don’t drive, sit in the cafe with a tea until you are together – I just said something like ‘keep your eyes open next time’ and rode off. I could’ve pointed out that if she wasn’t more careful then my wife could be the one leaving the hospital in tears as well as her, but I didn’t think of that til later 🙂

Anyway the point is, don’t go mental because that just gets people angry and defensive, and they’ll not learn anything and just end up hating cyclists all the more. A few calm words is better. Do you know what you did wrong? Did you see me? If so, why did you pull out anyway? If not, then pull your finger out and concentrate on what you’re doing.

molgrips – I just said something like ‘keep your eyes open next time’ and rode off. I could’ve pointed out that if she wasn’t more careful then my wife could be the one leaving the hospital in tears as well as her, but I didn’t think of that til later

I too am a brilliantly witty person…..about five minutes after a confrontation.

Anyway the point is, don’t go mental because that just gets people angry and defensive, and they’ll not learn anything and just end up hating cyclists all the more. A few calm words is better. Do you know what you did wrong? Did you see me? If so, why did you pull out anyway? If not, then pull your finger out and concentrate on what you’re doing.

I have to disagree actually. If a cyclist, driver or pedestrian tried to take the high hat with me I dont think I’d sit there and listen to a lecture. If a person went completely spastic at me – I’d probably shut up and listen.

There’s a different personality behind the wheel of every car, you really never how “driver x” will react so I’d say just be yourself.

If you just wag your finger and tut, the driver will have forgotten two hundred yards down the road – if you let it all out they’ll remember you and possibly excercise some caution the next time they see a cyclist.

*disclaimer* I am no way advocating aggression or violence by cyclists towards other raod users. Cyclists doing so take their lives in their hands so make sure you’re ready to back up your words.

A few calm words is better,Did you see me?

Tried that once, when he said no, i saw red!! 😈

I have a very low threshold to drivers’ stupidity, and am sometimes so enraged, that I can’t even form coherent words. FFGGHHGHGHGHHHHHSSSSSSSFFFFAAAAHHKKINNCAAAAAAAAHHHHNNNNT!

I have been known to inflict damage on vehicles, and once or twice on the person driving. Not a particularly sensible course of action.

But I do find myself surprisingly calm, after a good rage, whereas if I suppress the anger, I find it nibbles away inside my head, for a long time.

Bit like a fart, I spose. Better out than in.

I remember quite a few years ago someone pulled out in front of me. Bike right into his front wing and be over the bonnet. He got out and started swearing at me saying I had dented his front wing!

He then bent down to examine it closely so I kicked the back of his head into the front wing causing a nasty dent and almost breaking his nose. Not big, not clever but extremely satisfying.

When the coppers turned up to sort out the fight that ensued he asked me very carefully if I might have banged my head when I hit the ground and explained that I might have been suffering from shock and concussion so was unaware of my actions. Nice cop and I got a new wheel and forks out of the blokes insurance.

WorldClassAccident –
He then bent down to examine it closely so I kicked the back of his head into the front wing causing a nasty dent and almost breaking his nose. Not big, not clever but extremely satisfying.

No, the clever thing would have been to put him away right there, thus avoiding the ensuing fight.

Blimey, WCA, I never had you down as a mentalist hooligan!

Thing is, when your life has just flashed before your eyes, after a potentially lethal situation, you are not gong to be at your most rational. Couple that with a natural tendancy towards aggression, and you have a very dangerous mix. I have learned to be calmer in recent years, but just can’t help myself seeing red, sometimes.

No, the clever thing would have been to put him away right there, thus avoiding the ensuing fight.

Being quite petite, I am all too aware of the fact that someone might be physically a lot stronger than I, and have leraned that the best thing to do, if faced with a violent confrontation, is to render the opponent unable to strike back, as quickly as possible. This usually means taking some pretty extreme action. One bloke was getting out of his car to have a go at me, so I booted the car door, wich trapped his leg. I kept doing this, until I was sure that he was now unable to pursue me. I suspect I might have broken his leg, actually.

It’s pretty bloody shocking, tbh, the lengths you can go to, in such situations. I’ve found some of the things I’ve done, pretty sickening. And it’s my propensity to anger and violence, that has made me want to address it, and be able to use alternative methods of dealing with a situation.

But there’s times when it’s ‘me or them’, and I’m sorry, but it’s always gonna be me. Simple natural defensive instinct.

Fek me.

Here’s me thinking WCA was a nice bloke too….
😉

I only ride a short distance to work but I still have plenty of near misses every week. Venting some anger & frustration when someone’s nearly killed you is a good thing but there really needs to be a big change in the way the driving public perceive cyclists.

I’m realising that bright lights and luminous coats are only part of the solution – there’s a real inequality on the roads a lack of empathy. Quite often drivers see me but I don’t seem to matter because I’m on a bike.

A reprogramming of the driver’s mindset is the only way to make our cycling journeys safer.

Hunt him down and pop a cap in his ass!

It was a few years ago and I was quite upset at the time. Plus it was in Portsmouth so that was probably considered quite mild.

Hopefully he’ll be more aware in the future now. If so then job done!

Therein lies the problem. These fekkers are TOO THICK for the ranting to make any difference whatsoever.

One every ride for me though!

RudeBoy –

It’s pretty bloody shocking, tbh, the lengths you can go to, in such situations. I’ve found some of the things I’ve done, pretty sickening. And it’s my propensity to anger and violence, that has made me want to address it, and be able to use alternative methods of dealing with a situation.

But there’s times when it’s ‘me or them’, and I’m sorry, but it’s always gonna be me. Simple natural defensive instinct.

Take up judo, brazilian jujitsu, submission grappling etc. You wont have such fear going into a confrontation so you wont react so violently. Also, you can choke someone out and by the time they come around your long gone and they have no idea what’s just happened.

Black Cab drivers and I have an ongoing war here in London… I hate the feckers and they hate me (and indeed all cyclists from what I can tell!) The number of times I’ve been cut off or almost run over as one of these t0ss3rs pulls over to pick up a fare… it drives me insane!

My best instance was when one actually clipped my front wheel, albeit the lightest of touches (a second later and he would have collected the entire bike and most likely killed me!). This was due to him deciding to pull a left turn from the outside lane so as collect his next £10 fare.

I stopped and pointed out to him (politely I might add) just how close he had come to a major incident; he then had the audacity to abuse me and tell me to watch what I was doing, ‘stupid effing cyclist, shouldn’t be on the road, blah blah blah’ and then he drove off with his passenger… to say I was stunned was an understatement!

Then the red mist hit and I was off like a shot in pursuit, catching him up about 500m down the road where he was stuck in traffic… at this point I was insanely overdosing on adrenaline and I simply punched in his driver side window and smashed off his side mirror! Gave him a serious serving of abuse for 30 seconds to finish and then sprinted off into the distance, never to be seen again…

I don’t look back at it proudly, but I am amazed at just how angry I got in a very short space of time, along with the degree of violence I resorted to 😈 Honestly, if I’d had a gun I probably would’ve shot the guy probably!

Psychle, I totally, totally understand that. When someone treats you like you have no right to a life. Nasty, selfish, ‘orrible ****. And there are plenty of them, in that particular profession, sadly.

I’m glad that others are able to talk about their own anger/violence experiences here. Helps to get s aperspective, and understanding of what others feel. I certainly know i’m not alone!

What about a weekly ‘STW Anger Management/Rage Counselling Group Session’?

Would probbly not be as crazy as it sounds, you know.

Intersting, reading some of the above posts it sounds to me like people are experiencing something very similar to to being in a fight. I’ve been involved in numerous street fights and scuffles in my time none of which were big or clever, all of which I’ve gone into in a fairly blase fashion, not wanting to hurt anyone until I get hurt, and then I realise Im in a fight, my adrenaline gets going and that’s when things turn nasty.

Being cut up or almost knocked off your bike by a car is potentially fatal for us. Through stupidity or lack of concentration these drivers are putting cyclists in an almost life or death situation – the violence that results is a pretty natural reaction to someone almost killing you. A surge of adrenaline and aggression – seems pretty natural to me.

Poor fools in their cars probably have no idea whats going on, or that cyclists are all mentalists.

I ride a bike and I drive a car (like most of us I guess!). I have nearly been hit by a car whilst riding and have nearly hit a cyclist whilst driving.

I was approaching a roundabout at dusk in my car. A cyclist was approaching from the right. Most cyclists I see on the road do not have super-powerful lights and this guy’s lights – being pretty much side-on to me – were not easily seen. Fortunately I did see him at the last minute and much hard stomping on the brakes by me meant an accident was avoided.

Now before anyone starts ranting at me, I accept that I could have been paying more attention and I did apologise with hand signals as best I could to the cyclist. Since then I have dressed up like a fluorescent 80’s reject when I cycle on the roads in anything other than broad daylight. I look an idiot but at least I’m seen by a few more people.

Slightly different but I remember a mate got knocked off his bike by some bloke in a Merc ML 4×4. He got up, chased after it and ripped off the wing mirror and started swearing at the driver only to realise it was the wrong car.

He looked a bit sheepish and rode off quickly before the terrified woman worked out what was happening.

…that said some of the posts that are up here do suggest some absolutely idiots driving around down London way!

Not just Manchester – car pulled away from the kerb to do a U turn in front of me today – saw me just in time and stopped

TBH, the driver was quite cute and in a nurses uniform. With hindsight I’d have swerved into her just to get her details…..

..the violence that results is a pretty natural reaction to someone almost killing you. A surge of adrenaline and aggression ..

Well said.

Now where are all the “violence is wrong” lot. They not signed up for new accounts since Christmas or something?

well violence generally is wrong tbh, it doesn’t help a situation usually, just makes it worse! I’m sure my cabbie didn’t learn anything from my violent retribution, if anything he probably now has an even deeper abiding hatred of cyclists, nice work psychle 🙁

at this point I was insanely overdosing on adrenaline and I simply punched in his driver side window and smashed off his side mirror!

A Black Cab window? That’s toughened glass! Bloody hell, you must have hit it with extreme force!

I punched a car’s side window through once. Sudden blinding flash of rage. It actually went through surprisingly easy. And I was amazed that I suffered no injury to my hand. Sometimes, you’re capable of doing stuff you’d never think about, when ‘calm’. I threw my bike through the windscreen of a Black Cab once, after the **** turned left on me, nearly crushing me against some railings, and then screamed at me to ‘get off the faahkin’ road!’. You don’t really ‘think’, you just ‘do’.

Most of the violent incidents have left me quite upset. I spose it’s part of being in a state of shock.

Dez; I’m surprised, too. mind, I think there’s an amazing amount of honesty and sense being spoken here.

Now where are all the “violence is wrong” lot. They not signed up for new accounts since Christmas or something?

The thing is I am not sitting in my computer chair what I would describe as an aggresive person, but when something happens to you that is life threatening just because of someone not bothering to look then anyone would react the way everyone mostly on this thread would do, we are only human.

In fact my husband warns me to remember that I am female and on my own when I describe something that happened on the road that day, what I have dangling between my legs does not occur to me when someones nearly tried to kill me whether it was on purpose or not.

Not much we can do about how we feel afterwards, if you do something in self preservation mode, it’s usually the right thing.