I smashed car's windshield

hangsheadinshame

Well fairplay to you cntl. I think if it was me I would probably pay if I had no other choice. I couldn't afford 365 though, was it a Ferrari?

Sorry to hear that you got yourself in this situation. Hope in future you just flick the Vs, or if you do strike out again...ride away F A S T, eh?

Big n Daft

CarKiller wrote:

I'm on a hair trigger.

Heh heh,

Wonderful attitude, lets just hope the next car driver you accidentally piss off isn't on a hair trigger to eh?

Some of the posts on this thread smack so much of 'macho' bollocks i can't believe it.

I have to be honest, i commute, i ride defensively, if i see or am involved in stupidity by car drivers, i thank god i'm not dead and ride off.

Simple physics. 1 ton of metal travelling at speed vs 10kg of aluminium and an 80 kilo (Avg) human being is only going to result in one winner.

You want to argue with cars and find causing damage to cars ok? Fine that's your choice but i wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to complain if the person you piss off decides to use you to park on. Get used to it, on a cycle, you are vulnerable.

I'm actually amazed at the logic displayed in this thread by some posters. 'It was an accident, he shouldn't pay' Ok fair enough, then by that logic the next motorist who maims a cyclist in an accident shouldn't pay as well? After all, 'it was an accident' Call me old fashioned but i'd hazard a guess that a road accident is more of an accident than a deliberate blow to a piece of glass.

Eat My Dust

I think the driver has every right to expect full payment, regardless if he's doing a fly one and claiming it off of his insurance and pocketing the rest. If someone put their fist through my wndscreen, and then told me to claim it off of my insurance, I'd be telling them they were having a laugh. I think the OPer is lucky not to be getting done for criminal damage.

BTW, how much force does it take to punch through a windscreen?

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Hear hear!

Often on this forum there is talk of hitting cars, kicking doors and even a couple of times giving them 'pedal scrapes' (though scraping a car with your pedal. whilst moving. bulls**t.) I kind of suspect much of the machoness is stuff that goes on in peoples heads as they ride off after a few blue words and a raised finger.

I've ridden away fantasizing about kicking panels or smashing windows. I never would, mind, but the thought does cross my mind on occasion. A bit like how every time I get on something high (or even looking out of my office windows) I have an almost irresistable urge to jump. I never will, but sometimes it happens in my head.

I'm not saying I'm perfect here, I am quilty of shouting abuse at numpty cyclists and drivers, and have one or twice banged on a car to make my presence known whilst being cut up.

Smashing wingmirrors off is another common one?!! How would those people like it if they endangered a ped who ran up to them at the next lights and put their foot through the cyclists spokes?

georgee

not as much a the usual drivel of cyclists putting themselves as the lowest form of road user as appears on this forum, maybe a bit of macho boll*cks is better and time is found for growing some rather than just sitting about marginalising ourselves and believing the answer to everything can be found in a copy of cyclecraft.

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Violence solves nothing. All it does is spark more. It is a base form of human life that demonstrates an underdeveloped brain.

Big n Daft

Which activity marginalises cyclists more?

A) Understanding that like it or not we are the most vulnerable road users and riding and acting in a manner likely to offer us the greatest protection or

Macho posturing, punching cars, RLJ-ing, acting like complete tossers and offering abuse or violence to anyone who dares invade our space?

A) Leads us to ride in a way that ensures we get to where were going without a 6 month stay in hospital or a permanent stay in a silk lined 7 ft long box.

Will sooner or later cause you to come across someone who took your advice and 'grew some', whilst being encased in a large chunk of metal and whilst harbouring a pathological hatred of cyclists, perhaps because they had their windscreen punched in one day.

I would in fact suggest that the idea of 'growing some' would probably be best served if applied to brain cells.

Hairy Jock

CarKiller wrote:

I gave myself a blood blister the other day on my knuckle, and I thought I might have broken my hand after belting some tw-at's side window so hard that it flexed abuot 2 inches inwards.

I do NOT start these things. I ride minding my own business.

That is ALL I do.g

CarKiller, your choice of user name says a lot about your attitude. If you want to gain the respect of others, you need to change your attitude, respect is earned on demanded. cntl has taken responsibility for his actions, that deserves some respect.

delcol

it takes a man to admit he was in the wrong and a even bigger man to stay and agree to pay,.. respect to you for that...

we all are capable of loosing it if rubbed up the wrong way some flair up quicker than others its what makes us all different,..

i waould not pay the 3oo quid what car was it,..

i would phone a few windscreen firm up my self to a quote trust me you will see a vast differance in prices,..

i had 3 windscreens in my corolla gti i had quotes from £60 to £500 so it shows the wide range in prices,..

my mate had one in his mr2 again quotes from £100 to 500...

at the end of the day if drivers would obey the highway code and give us room or give way these incidents would not happen,..

is it all to do with mass cause its you on a bike no wider than a foot or two,. car vans ect can bully you forcing you off the road,. if you were the size of a sherman tank would they do it then,.. gun or no gun :P

adifiddler

OK this is getting a little out of hand but a couple of things need to be realised.

Firstly CNTL you have my sympathy it is sometimes only natural to loss it and make a rash decision, we have all been there.

You say it was an accident and i am sure it was but from the laws prospective it was intentional you made the concise effort to gave chase and strike the windscreen, it was unintentional it broke, you are at fault but at the end off the day you were man enough to stand up to your actions and swap details and offer to pay, respect to you.

Secondly the man could indeed claim on his insurance but because of the reasons above the insurance company could decide to bring a civil claim against you to recover the money. If they were to do this i can guarantee it would cost a lot more than the cost of the windscreen.

You have done the right thing by your actions and both the police and insurance companies have not been involved which is good news for you.

Out of interest what did the driver say about the whole incident? I hope you told him why you gave chase and hit the car and i hope he had the sense to apologize.

tyskie

CarKiller wrote:

I gave myself a blood blister the other day on my knuckle, and I thought I might have broken my hand after belting some tw-at's side window so hard that it flexed abuot 2 inches inwards.

I do NOT start these things. I ride minding my own business.

That is ALL I do.g

You must be a bundle of laughs to go down the pub with.

"Don't go looking for trouble but if anyone starts on me......................................"

baudman

I thank you for posting this.

U f$#&*d up. And you were big enough to allow the rest of us to learn from your mistake.

cntl

OK. Case closed - lesson learned. I paid him the full amount yesterday, turned out to be quite a nice guy and I really felt like an idiot :oops: .

>>Out of interest what did the driver say about the whole incident?

He kept it cool, no shouting or violence. He was visibly shaken, and I immedietely started feeling sorry for him :oops: . A good, though expensive and unfortunate lesson for everybody, particularly myself.

CASE CLOSED - LESSON LEARNED

CarKiller

i thank god i'm not dead and ride off.

And just reinforce their attitudes that they can do anything they want, drive in dangerous ways, bully us off the road, and there are absolutely NO CONSEQUENCES.

The law DOES NOT PROTECT US.

I'm just stunned that so many people just roll over and say "sorry for being in yo' way massa".

Big n Daft

Ok, so in your macho world what should i do?

Beat my chest? Shout loudly? Punch in a windscreen? Pedal scrape car panels, (which is utter bullshit) Drag said motorist out of their car and administer a severe beating?

C'mon what should we do? You seem to have all the answers.

Incase you hadn't noticed, the law doesn't actually protect car drivers either, they are liable to prosecution for causing avoidable accidents, dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention, the problem is there is a burden of proof, not just your opinion.

So maybe instead of posing in a macho way, offering violence and abuse to someone for what could be a simple mistake, how about explaining in a reasonable manner what it is they did wrong, or simply putting it down to a close shave, instead of the 'nearly breaking my hand by punching a window, so hard' cockwaving you seem to think endears you to folks but which in reality makes you look no better than those motorists who do ignore, bully and attempt to maim cyclists, because that's actually what you are doing, using bullying and intimidation for your own ends.

If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves - Confucius. A fitting statement because one day you'll meet the person who see's your blow to his window as reason enough to kick the living crap out of you......or worse.

Jacomus-rides-Gen

"cockwaving" - I've got to remember to use that at some point!

CarKiller

they are liable to prosecution for causing avoidable accidents, dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention

Hah!

Nurse! My sides.

jedster

CarKiller,

ever asked why you seem to have more dodgy incidents than the rest of us?

Mate, you sound seriously stressed out - difficult to make quick rational judgments in that condition and you have to do this all the time on a bike. I seriously think you should have a chat with your GP.

All the best,

J

Big n Daft

Carkiller.

You my fellow cyclist are a fool.

You choose not to answer any of the questions i and others have posed but instead simply post ridiculous, pathetic and childish comments that add the total of nothing to the debate.

I wonder what age you really are, whilst praying if you are old enough to have a family you change your attitude before you leave your wife a widow and your children fatherless.

This is the risk your attitude towards others brings, no matter how 'tough and hard as nails' you think you are, there are those out there who will beat, injure, maim or kill you without any thought, or feeling of guilt afterwards.

Some might even say it would be karma, after all, violence breeds violence. I sincerely hope you never meet your nemesis, however, if you are in any way being truthful in the way you profess to treat other road users, i fear it will be a matter of not if but when.

As i said, the law protects no one, break it and you render yourself liable to prosecution, whether that prosecution goes ahead is dependent on many things, most important of all, the evidence. Your opinion of someone's driving is not proof of their wrongdoing. There are too many variables on the road to blame every single dodgy incident on the motorist, pedestrians, other cyclists, motorcycles and cycles filtering and indeed those of all persuasions who simply don't give a flying toss whose in their way, they all cause accidents and others to take avoiding action. Yes drivers cause accidents, so do motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. I wonder if you had caused a pedestrian some panic, what your response might be, if for example they took it upon themselves to meet out summary justice by stamping all over your wheels or pushing you off your bike at a junction?

By your logic that would be acceptable behaviour which you would accept without complaint? I don't think so, i would wager your response would be exactly the same as that of the motorist, 'I didn't see you' or 'get out the f*****g way' or indeed judging by most of your posturing, dismounting your cycle and beating them to a pulp, providing of course you think you can do it without being hurt yourself.

You and people who share your attitude are those who marginalise other cyclists, you are the ones whose actions cause hatred for and revenge to be taken on other cyclists.

Eat My Dust

Big n Daft wrote:

Some might even say it would be karma, after all, violence breeds violence. I sincerely hope you never meet your nemesis, however, if you are in any way being truthful in the way you profess to treat other road users, i fear it will be a matter of not if but when.

I had a guy the other week drive me off the road after a discussion escalated into a shouting match. What did I do, I waved a guy into a left turn he was trying to take, he didn't take the left and sat in the middle of the road. He had his window open and I said "go on mate" to which he got very agitated. I went around the outside of him and said "I was giving you the right away" at this time I was being polite. His response included lots of sweary words. I actually chuckled a bit before saying again "but I was giving you right away" more swearing from him, revving of engine, driving at me, some very loud sweary stuff from me.

You see, there are just some chuffin' fanny drivers (and cyclists) out there, no matter how you treat them!

Big n Daft

Of course there are, that i do not deny.

They exist in every race, colour, creed, profession and activity.

Some will do stupid things without any provocation at all, imagine how much worse his reaction could have been to having his window screen or side window punched, or his door panel dented by a kick?

If he drove at you for a verbal exchange....what could have happened if you had provoked him by causing damage to his car?

Scary thought?

Eat My Dust

Big n Daft wrote:

Of course there are, that i do not deny.

They exist in every race, colour, creed, profession and activity.

Some will do stupid things without any provocation at all, imagine how much worse his reaction could have been to having his window screen or side window punched, or his door panel dented by a kick?

If he drove at you for a verbal exchange....what could have happened if you had provoked him by causing damage to his car?

Scary thought?

He was a skinny little chav, I think luck was more on his side to be honest. I still had 12 miles left on my commute and wasn't going to spoil it by ending up in the clink!!

cupofteacp

Yeah but it would feel good to pull one of these fat idiots out of there cars and give them a good pasting infront of all the other motorist, I bet it would make youtube.

And hey maybe it would put some of the other idiots off trying to kill us, but then maybe if they did hit you by accident they'd drive off, oh they already do that....

Damed if you do, damed if you don't.

I say don't hit them, you'll hurt your knuckles

Jacomus-rides-Gen

I am a mere 10st and 6'0", which in many macho-men's eyes makes me an easy target to proove their masculinity on a night out. You know the sort - few Stellas and they think that smashing in the face of some slim guy will really impress people.

Usually I avoid this kind of situation entirely (I don't know how, but just never seem to find myself in trouble on a night out, not that I'm comlaining!), but on occasion I've walked / run away from verbal abuse that threatened to get violent.

Once and only once have I ever been in a fight, and it didn't last very long. The chav who wen't to hit me had not considered that I might hold a black belt in Nin-Jitsu - which I got attracted to because it is aimed at women. So none of the moves require much strength to have an impact.

I *just* avoided the first punch and converted the chav's second punch into a submission hold and called the police whilst he cried like a baby. If I had been so disposed I could have increased the pressure on his arm and dislocated his shoulder, elbow and wrist in one move, instead of just holding him immobilised and in pain.

So just because someone looks small and easy to beat, doesn't allways mean that they are. Violence is never a solution, apart from if it is safely tucked away in your minds eye!

Eat My Dust

Jacomus-rides-Gen wrote:

If I had been so disposed I could have increased the pressure on his arm and dislocated his shoulder, elbow and wrist in one move, instead of just holding him immobilised and in pain.

You should have just snapped it, that would have taught him a better lesson!!!

Jacomus-rides-Gen

To quote my teacher, who mangles the original quote:

"With power, comes responsibility, and strength is the knowledge of when to use it. Before you do anything, check what your heart, soul and head are saying. If they don't agree, you need to think not act."

Thats her favorite phrase, and cheesy though it is, it does make sense

adifiddler

Humiliation is the best lesson.

I find cycling so relaxing but the underlying tone of this and other cycling forums is often so stressful and there is so much aggression aimed at other road users. I understand that this is a great place to vent those frustration but some views seem extreme at the least. I think this is often down to lack of confidence and possibly lack of esteem.

I have never had any real problems with other road users often i have muttered something but by the time the last word has left my mouth i am well down the road. I have never felt the need (that i can remember) to stop and confront someone, in most cases i have made a mistake or driver has ether made a mistake, misjudged there position or speed or they are just annoyed by my being there. There is no need to escalate the situation yourself.

Eat My Dust

Some times it's hard for it not to escalate, a driver does something a bit stupid, and even shaking your head can be enough to set them off, never mind that they're allowed to lean on their horn for however long they see fit. I would think the amount of miles you cycle depends on how many 'incidents' you witness/ are part of. My commute alone is around 7k miles a year, plus weekend cycling, so I'd imagine I'd see a fair few 'incidents' in that time!!!

Gambatte

Jacomus, Is that Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, Through Masaaki Hatsumi? or one of the other modern inventions?

Jacomus-rides-Gen

My commute is 5765 in a year, and I ride at the weekends too, so I get to see a lot of incidents too. However the ones that blight me the most seem to be numpty cyclists then numpty cars then scooters blah blah blah. Though I see a huge number of car vs. cyclist incidents.

Actually looking at my accident stats for this year -

Incident involving only me: 60%
Incident involving other road user: 20%
Incident related to my bike: 20%

So looking at that I'm way more likely to hurt myself than get hit by a car!