Did you know...

ChrisLS

...here's a tip for all us cycling commuters...when a car passes you very slowly and indicating their intention to turn left, either side swipping you, or turning close in front of you, causing you to break suddenly and sharply, it's OK...because as this manouver is being carried out you have slipped into another dimension and therefore do not exsist...a bit scientific, but was proven twice to me this morning... hope you get what I mean, perhaps it will happen, or has happened to you...

madmole

I find a good hard kick to the rear door of the car in the other dimension has the effect of immediately returning everything to the same space time continuem and the car will straigten back up automatically

Wearing MTB boots with metal toe studs helps the transition happen much faster

dondare

I'd regard that as something of an over-reaction. Try shouting "Wake up!" at them first.

madmole

They are not using their eyes or brains, do you think they will have their ears on? They are in a box thats designed nowadays to be as soundproof as possible and they probably have the music loud

Sorry but if they have just cut me up and either hit me or forced me into taking avoiding action then they deserve the dent. After all it would have been a much bigger dent if they'd done it to me when I was driving my armoured land Rover.

Sorry officer, I put my foot up to ward off the car as it cut me up, it was that or crash into it

Hammering on the glass or a panel with your palm is very effective as well

Maybe, just maybe they might look next time and save a cyclists life

Andy 71

What do you expect Chris?

You were in 'his' way. Or as a colleague once put it, 'blocking the road' which 'they' have paid for.

It's a well known fact that many city drivers have the touch of the Buddhist about them. Each morning along with burning some incense they chant the mantra 'The cyclist isn't there.....the cyclist isn't there'. Lo and behold, we disappear.

Mind over matter.

The motor car is king matey. What other device could pollute as much and kill more people than cancer each year, but still be revered by the majority in the developed world?

The eleventh commandment - The motorist shall have priority over everyone and every thing.

Hairy Jock

ChrisLS wrote:

...here's a tip for all us cycling commuters...when a car passes you very slowly and indicating their intention to turn left, either side swipping you, or turning close in front of you, causing you to break suddenly and sharply, it's OK...because as this manouver is being carried out you have slipped into another dimension and therefore do not exsist...a bit scientific, but was proven twice to me this morning... hope you get what I mean, perhaps it will happen, or has happened to you...

And there was me thinking it was the invisibility cloak which I put on by holding out my right arm on the approach to a T junction, causing the driver who wants to turn left to overtake me on the right :evil:

Porgy

I was stopped at some lights on the A20 and a van pulled up alongside me. It pulled ahead fo the stop line so that the driver could talk to me. He said - I'm going into the petrol station (which was the immediate left past the junction) and I don't want to hit you turning left. He then pulled a little bit ahead of me again. I said - there won;t be a problem if you saty behind me, and pulled ahead of him and waited.

when the lights changed - I way out accelerated him.

what a twat! I got the impression he'd already hit someone turning left here, or maybe had a close call. But didn't seem to get the message - that he shouldn't be racing to cut ahead of cyclists! I mean - how many fractions of a second do you reckon it would have saved him?

I'm increasingly fed up with this sort of behaviour. I had a bloke pull ahead of me yesterday indicating left. Moving slowly to a stop - I think he suddenly realised I was NOT a stationary object. I'd already slowed to a virtual stop - he hadn't managed to get far enough ahead of me so he waved me on and left me a little space to get through.

I told him to fuck himself

Gussio

Porgy wrote:

I was stopped at some lights on the A20 and a van pulled up alongside me. It pulled ahead fo the stop line so that the driver could talk to me. He said - I'm going into the petrol station (which was the immediate left past the junction) and I don't want to hit you turning left. He then pulled a little bit ahead of me again. I said - there won;t be a problem if you saty behind me, and pulled ahead of him and waited.

when the lights changed - I way out accelerated him.

what a fool! I got the impression he'd already hit someone turning left here, or maybe had a close call. But didn't seem to get the message - that he shouldn't be racing to cut ahead of cyclists! I mean - how many fractions of a second do you reckon it would have saved him?

I'm increasingly fed up with this sort of behaviour. I had a bloke pull ahead of me yesterday indicating left. Moving slowly to a stop - I think he suddenly realised I was NOT a stationary object. I'd already slowed to a virtual stop - he hadn't managed to get far enough ahead of me so he waved me on and left me a little space to get through.

I told him to fark himself

Quite nice of the fellow to give you the warning - shows a level of respect and consideration that is often sadly lacking on the roads. Perhaps he didn't realise how quickly you were able to move away from the lights?

Porgy

yeah but a bizarre way to show respect.

He more or less said, "Well I'm going to cut you up in the minute, so you'd better stay out of my way."

I'm a driver and I've never had to ask a cyclist to modifiy their behaviour to make up for my shortcomings as a motorist. In that situation I stay behind them - no need to discuss it!

Hairy Jock

Tell someone you are about to cut them up is NOT showing any level of respect, it shows contempt. It is saying because he is in a motor vehicle and you are just a cyclist, he should have priority, he wouldn't try it with another driver!

Flycatcher

I agree he might have thought he would beat you for speed simply as you're on a bike. Lots of drivers who have never ridden a bike simply think you amble along like a milk float. To give him the benefit of the doubt he probably thought he would be level or slightly ahead at his turn off point.

As for the OP I had a real near miss a few months back when a woman overtook me and swung round to turn immediatly left right across my path. How I got out of it I'll never know, not something you want to happen too often clipped in.

overmars

Andy 71 wrote:

Mind over matter.

Yes. To their mind, we don't matter.

Ah don't worry... Karma will get 'em. :twisted:

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Some drivers really are totally convinced that they are god, and nothing can be done to change them.

Most drivers do not intentionally put cyclists at risk - I have lost count of the nuber of times, when having a word with a driver at lights they said "I'm very sorry - I just didn't expect you to be going that fast". It doesn't make them ay less dangerous or inconsiderate, but at least they engage their brains afterwards, and may react differently another time.

Lots of drivers have no conception of time - being stuck behind a cyclist for 20 seconds can feel like 20minutes as their brains are still working at the speed they were previously travelling at. Its just an extension of the feeling you get when coming off the motorway into a 40 zone - it feels as if you could jump out and run faster, until your brain recalculates how fast you are travelling.

Some drivers are cyclists themselves... enough said.

I often have a little word with drivers who have dangerously passed me, and in general they either genuinely surprised that what they did put me at risk, or that weather conditions might make things very difficult for me etc.

A polite smile and gesture to put thier window down gets good results, then I will calmly explain why their idiotic move was dangerous to me. Hopefully, knowing why a cyclist feels they are in danger will help some drivers think harder about how they behave. Trying to explain that a strong blustery crosswind can push a bike around as if it had a huge sail attached is one of the most common ones.

Hairy Jock

Jacomus-rides-Gen wrote:

I often have a little word with drivers who have dangerously passed me, and in general they either genuinely surprised that what they did put me at risk, or that weather conditions might make things very difficult for me etc.

A polite smile and gesture to put their window down gets good results, then I will calmly explain why their idiotic move was dangerous to me. Hopefully, knowing why a cyclist feels they are in danger will help some drivers think harder about how they behave. Trying to explain that a strong blustery crosswind can push a bike around as if it had a huge sail attached is one of the most common ones.

This level of ignorance is why I proposed in another thread (which I can find at the minute), that before taking their driving test all potential driver be made to ride a bike around town for a year. Alright, I admit it is not something that is likely to happen, but as more people start cycling as adults, hopefully we will see a change in their behaviour as drivers.