Threatened assault :(

Must be something in the air today…

or you were cycling in Rochdale 😉 the majority of the w@nker driver issues I’ve ever had are around there

Disclaimer – years and years of martial arts train you to react rather stongly to somone in that situation

Try that in a pair of road cleats, straddling your fully laden bike on a wet road. 🙄

Do I remember you having anger management issues a while back? If so, massive congratulations on the progress you’ve made! Good to have a practical examination once in a while 😉

Try that in a pair of road cleats, straddling your fully laden bike on a wet road.

That’s the part that used to worry me as well when I was riding my bike through London on the way to my Karate class.

Aye TJ you’d be done pretty badly for smacking someone with a U lock I think, I’d only want to do it if I knew I wouldn’t get done, and even then only for some soft tissue damage like a dead leg – no long term damage but sore as **** and disables scrote so you can have a good word.

I’m not usually a keyboard warrior but my car got vandalised again today (only the aerial, same to the other MX5 on the street) which generally raises my anger levels for a bit!

Not heard from the police yet 🙁

I’m rather surprised at my reaction to be honest, in the past i’de have gone off on one but i was very calm – for me.
Voices did get raised at the first altercation when i was trying to point out that i had every right to ride as i was doing and that he should look in the Highway Code for confirmation as to pass a cyclist safely.

Thing is, i saw his vehicle slow down and wait for me so i knew there was trouble coming up yet i didn’t rev up myself for some reason.

For those that know, it was the junction at Manchester Rd/Edinburgh Way nr Tesco where he got out of the car. Always a dodgy section as i’m going straight ahead and therefore in lane 2 of 3, regularly get idiots hooning up the outside (lane 3) then cutting across me into lane 1 so always hyped up around there anyway.

I knew I should’ve have resisted commenting. But I cant…..

The thing is, I’ve actually thought about this a fair bit (visualisation is a key skill in anticipating, and being ready to respond to situations. This is NOT the same as being a thug looking for a fight). Kicks, knees and even punches would be out. I’d suggest something like the following video, obviously the foot work that would increase the power would be impossible, but as you’re looking to knock the opponent back far enough to bugger off and hopefully not come after you as opposed to breaking his jaw, I don’t see that as something to worry about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcVillTmbNg&feature=related

However, I don’t actually recommend this to anyone at all – if I had to do it, I would, but I’d rather run away (no I’m not suggesting that MrDwarf did anything wrong) and not have to.

Good for you for staying calm – I got pushed into a hedge by a driver (after he’d got out his car) back in the summer, he got a warning from the cops for the assault.

I was just grateful that he had a personalised plate that I could remember, and for the fact that any online car insurance quote will allow you to enter the reg no. to verify the car’s make and model…..

This bloke had a personalised reg plate too 🙂

EDIT: trying to fight whilst climbing off bike and wearing cleated shoes is probably not conducive to staying unhurt i reckon.

http://www.amazon.com/Cycle-Saver-Install-Bicycles-Mountain/dp/B004II61JO
(illegal here!)

But in all seriousness staying calm is by long way the best thing to do. I tend not to even say anything to people now, but report any incidents (rare) to the police.

the problem is too many drivers cant be bothered to wait the extra few seconds it takes to pass a cyclist safely, last week whilst sat at a red traffic light (yes in a car) witnessed a guy reversing out of his drive ok near to a junction so awkward but he bought the house almost took out cyclist legally coming through lights in opposite direction he had to swerve round the car once alongside cyclist gestured what you doing not rudely only for the driver to accelerate and almost get cyclist again,driver wasnt bothered and the government want more people to leave cars at home and use alternative transport, theres been 3/4cyclists killed near where i live in last few months and i live nowhere near any major city. unless police do something were all screwed

Why didn’t you shout him down until he agreed with what you were saying? You must always shout people down until they agree with you. Shame on you. It’s the typical ‘victim is always a coward’ stance that sickens me to the core. You could have repeated the sme point over and over again until his opinion changed completely. Shame on you again.

This guy wasn’t merely impatient, he deliberately buzzed me as close as he could without actually clipping me. It’s a wide road and there was plenty of room to get past me, every other car in that lane had done so perfectly safely. He simply decided for whatever reason to attempt to scare me with his driving.

That’s what i will be reporting if the police ever get in touch…

They’re not called personalised plates they’re called vanity plates, one place where the US has it right

Zombie street sweeper time

To be fair to the Police, no one was hurt and they may have more pressing priorities tonight – have to say our local neighbourhood officer was quite quick, but I think he saw a quick win to get a recorded incident cleared off his stats!

His advice was “You can argue as much as you like, but the first one to touch the other loses the game”! Which was funny at the time but I still get jumpy if I spot a dark coloured Audi A3 when I’m out riding.

On a more serious note. I came to the conclusion after years of commuting through London that pointing out a driver’s error/misjudgement is ALWAYS a bad idea because it almost always provokes a maniacal response.

And now back to zombie sweeping

Don’t ride at exactly the same time tomorrow. Staying safe is paramount.

Must admit i’m thinking of taking a different route tomorrow night 🙁

Just in case, having watched transapp’s linked clip, be sure to strip naked and paint yourself silver before starting your journey

Naked – in THIS weather?????

😯

Well done for staying calm. Had a similar incident a couple of weeks ago Not even a busy road in traffic, was just a quiet country lane and an idiot looking for an argument.

Don’t get flustered and defeat then with persistant logical questions, idiots brains can’t cope with that!

I ask him if he’s going to assault me

😆 I can’t get the image of you saying “are you going to assault me” out of my head, you must have sounded like a proper wimp.

the worst i have to deal with here is being told taht i’m cycling on the wrong side of the street by some cantankerous codger.

I got shouted at quite regularly in Germany in the winter. Why? No idea but I think it was because I was riding on the road not on the footpath aka ‘cycleway’. Way out in the countryside mind, not in town.

Probably did – but the repeated question did the job, it stopped him in his tracks and pushed him off his mental rails.

He came barrelling up mouthing all sorts of threats. Stayed calm, still sat on my bike and said “So you are going to assault me as well?!”

More mouthing off.

“Are you going to assault me?”

More mouthing off.

“Are you going to assault me then?”

More mouthing off etc.

Clown backed off because he wasn’t getting the result he wanted. Hopefully he’ll now be getting a visit from the police for his actions and i didn’t even have to lose my temper.

I think you did exceptionally well under pressure. I had a similar circumstance a few months ago which didn’t go particularly well.

What happened Andy?

His advice was “You can argue as much as you like, but the first one to touch the other loses the game”!

I reckon that the bobby who told you that was either clueless or trying to keep his workload down.
A pre emptive strike is justified in UK law.

Beliefs

The modern law on belief is stated in R v Owino (1996) 2 Cr. App. R. 128 at 134:

A person may use such force as is [objectively] reasonable in the circumstances as he [subjectively] believes them to be.

To gain an acquittal, the defendant must fulfil a number of conditions. The defendant must believe, rightly or wrongly, that the attack is imminent. Lord Griffith said in Beckford v R:

“A man about to be attacked does not have to wait for his assailant to strike the first blow or fire the first shot; circumstances may justify a pre-emptive strike.”

The time factor is important. If there is an opportunity to retreat or to obtain protection from the police, the defendant should do so, thereby demonstrating an intention to avoid being involved in the use of violence. However, the defendant is not obliged to leave a particular location even if forewarned of the arrival of an assailant (see duty to retreat). Furthermore, a defendant does not lose the right to claim self-defence merely because they instigated the confrontation that created the alleged need for self defence. A person who kills in the course of a quarrel they started might still act in self-defence if the ‘victim’ retaliates or counterattacks.

Not tht I am advocating violence and I do feel that muddydwarf acting quite correctly in this instance but if you feel that someone is going to “do you” by their words ,actions ,gestures or movement towards you ,then you can strike first to protect yourself.

Muddy – i think i saw you was it about 5ish maybe a bit later? I was riding up to the lights and heard and saw a “discussion” between a guy in a car and a cyclist

oooh a witness!

Nick…here Mr Dwarf arguably had an “opportunity to retreat”.

Also…there’s no such thing as “UK law”.

I was riding along a signed and painted shared use pavement. Not normally any peds on it at all but yesterday morning there was a nice little old dear, probably in her 70s, bobbling towards me.

I made eye contact and slowed down to walking pace. She was on her right, so I moved as close to the kerb on my right as I could, maintaining eye contact, smiling, generally doing my best to not be a “lycra lout”.

As I got close she took a couple of steps to her left, effectively blocking my path. I stopped. She shouted “F… off” in my face then bobbled on. 😆

Next time I’m taking a D-lock…

the media stereotyping of cyclists

Unfortunately there are also some cyclists who don’t make it easy for the riders who do ride respectfully – I find myself getting annoyed at some on my normal commute and I often feel like saying something to them because their attitude makes some drivers hate all cyclists.

In Harrogate it is normally the riders who either ignore red lights or use the pavements to circumnavigate them. I had a close call before Christmas when I was going through a green light turning right to go up a hill near my house and a cyclist bombed down the hill and straight through the red light on the pavement – fortunately I spotted him but it was too close for me.

Muddy,
You did right to stay calm. Moreover you did right to report it. If nothing else it is important that the police learn that cyclists are being subjected to unwarranted intimidation. Some police have a record of not taking such incidents seriously or of assuming that the cyclist must have ‘asked for it’.

Fadass – if the cyclist wa@ wearing a bright yellow jacket then yes it was me, just after 5pm.

I saw some guy in a dark coloured Kia Soul i think it was (one of the boxy ones) having a right ding dong with a chap on a bike, then the lights changed and you (if it was you)rode down past me before my filter changed.

This is what comes of people watching too much Top Gear.

Top Gear (NOT Clarkson) actively encourage this do they? Come on.

MD Well done for not rising to the bait. If I was driving Kia soul, I’d be angry with the world too though. 😆

Make sure you double check the registration number with MD before reporting to the police, fadass 😉

This is what comes of people watching too much Top Gear.

Of course its Top Gears fault this happened 🙄