What do you do to cars?

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Hi guys, I thought with the debate that is currently kicking off, i would try and get some stats on cyclist vs. car

Eat My Dust

I've not hit a car in a long time. The last time I slapped a guys window for being a prat, it ended up him trying to run me over, chased me for about 1.5 miles, it ended up in fisty cuffs at the side of the road!!!

Hairy Jock

I try to avoid contact where possible but sometimes (very rarely) it is necessary to fend off a driver who hasn't looked. Most of the time bellowing OOYY makes then look.

delcol

i never struk at out a car yet had few choice words and gestures,..

i even asked one guy to pull over to see if he could see me now,.... but he sped off tail between his legs.

its not worth getting into the arguement with like you said resulted in fisty guffs these days you dont know what your going to get stabbed with or pointed in your face,..

i know its hard sometime especially when you know you aint in the wrong but you have to think of the wifey and kiddie at home who could be minus a father for what a pointless arguement...

i have to admitt it does infuriate me when some one invades my space or nearly kills me and i do have a short fuse but 7 times out of ten i let it go,..

like i said i had one incident were i nearly got knocked off way to close for my confort zone wer i asked the driver to pull over he shot off,.. now i tohught after how stupid i was putting my self in that situation if he had pulled over and got out what then,..
change of words or an assault charge.....

it really aint worth it,...

may be we should start a petition for the goverment to make drivers aware of cyclist and the higheway code about passing cyclist ect.

Totalnewbie

I've never done anything to a car although I've had plenty of stuff shouted at me/too-close overtakes etc.

Since the last fight I had was of the pulling-hair variety at school, I don't want to provoke anyone, and there are a helluva lot of nutters out there. I'm not perfect, I sometimes feel violent, but thus far have not acted on it (although I doubt I'm strong enough to do much damage anyway) :roll:

adifiddler

getting into a fight wearing cleats is never a good idea. I normally shout something or just shake my head although recently i have started to sit up in the saddle and lift my arms up and out to the side and shout "Give me strength" at the top of my voice, this seems to have an amazing effect on all those around me and the offender seems to shrink into his seat and drive of very quickly.

If you do get into a face to face situation with an aggressive person take an open stance using one arm as a guard and say loudly and aggressively "get back" or some other commands at the same time ring 999 on your mobile whilst talking to the police still give direct commands to the aggressor. Its also a good idea to give a full description of the aggressor and the car. This will often be enough to make him disappear and if not and he does start ripping you apart the police can hear it on the phone and they will already be responding, it also gives them a chance to get an ambulance rolling to scrape you up of the ground.

dazzawazza

The only time I remember touching a car was on my first day clipless when I had to extend my arm out to stop a full sideways fall. I apologised profusely, but actually prevented any damage to the car than if any of my bike had made contact.
However I have had two drivers leave their car after verbal exchanges.

Black Keith

delcol wrote:

may be we should start a petition for the goverment to make drivers aware of cyclist and the highway code about passing cyclist ect.

absolutely the best thing anyone has said in this forum, ever.

Cunobelin

A loud "WATCH OUT" or "DO NOT TURN" can be effective, and gains attention.

Witnesses will see it as a valid thing to do and by not swearing or shouting abuse you maintain the moral high ground.

fossyant

Wow or Oi, usually works or a big 'F****NG SHIFT" to dosey chavs who see you approaching at 40 mph down a big hill and think it's ok to amble along - 13 stone in your face is going to hurt at that speed ! Cheeky little oik thought he could gesture a fist - all 8 stone of him !

owen_MTB

a man got out his car to me shouting the odds a while back because i called him a silly pr*ck because he pulled out straight in front of me without looking and im only 14 :!: lol it was funny at how annoyed he got over that. You'd have thought he'd have ignored a 14 year old kid but nope :P :evil:

Aidocp

Ive never hit a car, although sometimes I've been tempted, sods law I would come off worse. I was once overtooken by a box van which suddenly cut in on me to advoid a traffic jam in his lane, my lane was clear (bus lane). Luckily he was so big he couldn't do it in one go, so I gave his door a few slap to alert him to my presence and to stop him encroaching further.

fluff.

Never hit a car either, it sounds like a good idea sometimes but in practice it never enters my head. A shout or a bit of eye contact seems to get enough attention, sometimes I suprise myself with how vocal I can be on a bike.. this voice just `appears' when you're going 20+ and you see a muppet inching his way out of a sideroad etc.

Yantmk

Generally I just overtake cars, but that wasn't an option.
The last van I slapped was a case of slap or be run over.

baudman

I've tapped on the driver's window on the odd occasion, and slapped a rear fender once.

I always (try to) talk calmly and rationally with the driver. They are (generally) very sheepish.

CarKiller

I'm going to start a thread "When did you stop beating your wife".

You missed "Sneer at them with a look of utter hatred on my face". That would be the test answer because it's the most common thing.

Jacomus-rides-Gen

CarKiller
I'm going to start a thread "When did you stop beating your wife".

Nice one! That would be both interesting and informative, though I reckon a lot of people might take a leaf out of your book simply add stupid comments :roll:

CarKiller
You missed "Sneer at them with a look of utter hatred on my face". That would be the test answer because it's the most common thing.

We might have just stumbled across the root cause of your conflicts with cars - observation. The most common thing, by a fair margin, is "The odd slap if I'm in danger".

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Actually carkiller, joshing aside, I do have a serious question for you.

- What would you do if your SO came home in tears because a cyclist had pounded on her window so hard that it flexed 2 inches, maybe smashed her wing mirror off and had unloaded a torrent of abusive threatening behaviour?

--> What would you do if you met the cyclist who had done it?

--> Would it make a difference is sed cyclist was 6'9" and 19st of bodybuilder, or 6'0" and 10st?

ScottDougall

well - Ive done a lot of damage to cars in the past

bent a front door the wrong way and sort of peeled it in a curvy shape like the page in a book - I did this with my chest after the old bag driving it opened the door without looking...

smashed a wing mirror off with my lower abdomen a few years ago and its actually still sore if I move the wrong way...

took a rear bumper off once by landing on it after an articulated lorry thought it might be fun to reduce the space I was filtering up to nothing and my handle bars went in a drivers window...

so if a car comes close to deliberately, maliciously, f**king with me out of bad temper or ignorance on the part of the driver I will make him or her aware of how I feel...

Eat My Dust

Jacomus-rides-Gen wrote:

Actually carkiller, joshing aside, I do have a serious question for you.

- What would you do if your SO came home in tears because a cyclist had pounded on her window so hard that it flexed 2 inches, maybe smashed her wing mirror off and had unloaded a torrent of abusive threatening behaviour?

--> What would you do if you met the cyclist who had done it?

--> Would it make a difference is sed cyclist was 6'9" and 19st of bodybuilder, or 6'0" and 10st?

To be fair I've never lost my temper with a woman really. If I'm going to have an argument with someone, I'll have it, no matter what size they are!!

Jacomus-rides-Gen

*gasp* thats sexist, surely!

mrchrispy

I had to shout down 2 chavs the other day that swing left inches in front of me. They started to get shirty but I stood my ground and gave it back just as strong, they ended admitting it was a stupid thing to do. Now I wouldn’t have tried this it was dark and there was no one about as I’m sure I’d have got a kicking but it was fairly busy and I’ve a feeling one of them lived on that street they turned down. There is nothing wrong with standing up for yourself – not enough people do and thats why there are so many bullies about, just be aware of your environment and assess the situation carefully.

jedster

scott

do you ride sufficiently defensively?

bent a front door the wrong way and sort of peeled it in a curvy shape like the page in a book - I did this with my chest after the old bag driving it opened the door without looking...

she screwed up but so did you - you were cycling in the door zone - schoolboy error

smashed a wing mirror off with my lower abdomen a few years ago and its actually still sore if I move the wrong way...

no idea what happened here

took a rear bumper off once by landing on it after an articulated lorry thought it might be fun to reduce the space I was filtering up to nothing and my handle bars went in a drivers window...

Got to be really careful filtering near artics. Sounds like you were cycling a bit quick for the narrowness of the gap - clearly you didnt have enough time to react.

Hope you learned from your mistakes and make more effort to protect yourself these days. I supect there are some people who are REALLY keen that you make it home in one piece.

J

ScottDougall

i do now...

WyS

UPS van over took me on the wrong side of the road at about 35mph yesterday on greys inn rd, towards red traffic lights!! i caught up with him 5 seconds later and said, "mate are you in that much of a rush to get to the red light?" he had nothing to say, until i cycled off and he hollered "You should get off the fucking road!!!"

I took pictures of his van/plate when it was parked up and ill write a shitty letter :>

Then on the way home, down pentonville rd, i was bombing it so i could over take the bus in front so i dont get stuck outside the thames link.. along side him he looks at me and starts pulling out. I left a good dent in his bus with my foot. adding to the one that was allready there.

I carry my dlock in my back pocket, anyone punches me ill punch them with that.

:twisted:

Jacomus-rides-Gen

oooh WyS, you should be careful about D-lock in pocket. What if you landed on it? Cycle shops are now reccommended to warn customers who buy the messenger style 'round the waist' Abus locks, that in an accident they dramatically increase the chance of damage to the riders hips.

WyS

never thought about that. only do that when i dont have a bag.. landing on it would really hurt now i think about it. :S

Big n Daft

WyS wrote:

I carry my dlock in my back pocket, anyone punches me ill punch them with that.

Again, i'm intrigued, why the need for this?

Of course some would simply smile if you pulled that, whilst asking if perhaps it might be bullet or stab proof...... :shock:

Surely the absolute best thing is to not allow the situation to escalate to this point in the first place?...which is pretty much the opposite of what is going to happen if punching, kicking and abuse is the way you do things........

I understand a lot of the frustration, really i do, i ride my cycle, i also ride a motorcycle, pretty much anything stupid road users can do, i've seen or done. sometimes by mistake and other times because i simply had no choice. But i really cannot understand or rationalise the seeming thirst for revenge that people display, when to be honest, the vast majority of people that share the roads are not in fact trying to kill anyone at all, but we have to accept that sometimes mistakes, accidents or brain farts happen, like it or not, none of us are 'perfect', all of us take stupid risks that in hindsight we probably shouldn't have.

If we want to make the roads a safer place for cycling then we need to be at the forefront of setting an example, cycling on pavements, RLJ - ing, intimidating pedestrians, kicking and punching vehicles and abusing other road users are all things i have personally seen cyclists do, what do you think this causes, what change in attitude does this cause....might folks get round to thinking that all cyclists are this way and are therefore not worthy of any respect at all?

ddraver

Big n Daft wrote:

WyS wrote:

I carry my dlock in my back pocket, anyone punches me ill punch them with that.

Again, i'm intrigued, why the need for this?

Of course some would simply smile if you pulled that, whilst asking if perhaps it might be bullet or stab proof...... :shock:

if they had a gun yes...but if not you could simply ask them to imagine it wrapped around their face (or other such trash talk)

Big n Daft

Which is exactly the point i was trying to make.....

Its all escalation isn't it? At the end of the day they have the ultimate trump card.

A ton of metal, that will accelerate far faster than you can.

Of course, you could always meet someone who might very well not look the part but are capable of inserting said D lock right up your 'arris, without breaking sweat.

But hey ho, its your risk to take.

Jacomus-rides-Gen

Big n Daft
Of course, you could always meet someone who might very well not look the part but are capable of inserting said D lock right up your 'arris, without breaking sweat.

See my post in here -

Jacomus
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!

It's rare, but it can happen - the best policy is to protect yourself. If they are unresponsive to a polite word about how they just nearly killed you, shouting at them is not going to cange their pov, better (in my view) to leave with the moral high ground before anything nastyer than some blue words can be exchanged.[/url]