what would you do in this situation?

don_don

I should have just let it go but to have him shouting about the cycle lanes was just too much to take when I'd had to stop to avoid an accident because he wasn't going to stop to let me out.

Just imagine how small their c :shock: cks must be. That'll diffuse some of the anger!

NWLondoner

I had 2 near misses this morning.

The first was going past Lords cricket ground around The Wellington Road Roundabout.

The road is 2 lanes and I new that the 13 bus in front of me would stop at a bus stop, so I was riding on the white lines so I could pull out in time pass the bus. However a National Express coach had other ideas and came right up behind me at high speed and even though you could see that the bus was stopping in front he forced me back into the lane directly behind the bus.

My second near miss was MY fault. Going down the Kilburn High Road I was just ahead of a lorry when I had to get past yet another parked bus. I thought the lorry driver had seen me, however he didn't until the last second. Several load blows of is horn and we both came to stop at the red lights. He made some gestures to say that he could not see me from his position and i made gestures to say that it was my fault (i hope that's how they came across anyway). He seemed more annoyed that i could have got hurt more than anything else so i took this as a very important lesson.

Ruari

Had two moments today.
On the way out, a small two lane road with a car parked in the left side. Oncoming in right lane, no prob, slow slightly to allow them to get past... Boy racer behind has other ideas and screams past me, then suddenly brakes and stops behind parked car. I had to slam on brakes and skidded. They (OF COURSE he had chavvy gf next to him!) just gawped at me moronically, and drove off with no apology.
On the way back, cruising at fair pace, see a women blithley step out , crossing from right to left, with her pram. She had a head scarf on and hadn't seen me, nor had she made any attempt to look. I slowed rapido and said 'Watch it! Look out next time!' To which she directed a torrent of abuse my way... Hope the baby isn't too impressionable!

whyamihere

Had one last year, some guy in an MG (the modified Rover 25 one, not an old cool one) passed me very close up a climb, practically clipping my bar. I gave the finger and carried on, thinking nothing of it. Passed him at the lights at the top of the hill, then he comes screaming past down the other side, even closer than before. I gestured in a way to show that he enjoyed masturbation, he slammed on the brakes right in front of me.

I went around the right hand side of the car and removed my earphone, noticing that he'd opened his window. We continued to have a conversation on his conduct at 25mph down the hill side by side. He asked me why I'd done that, I asked him why he'd tried to murder me.

He drove off at high speed, and I laughed. Not my proudest moment, I must admit...

girofan

I am 6'4" and 14 stone. Motorists don't mess with me!!!!
Being a woman, it puts you at a severe disadvantage. So tell them you know where they live, and your partner who's 6'7" and 16 stone, will be visiting them shortly!!!!!!!!!!

ricadus

Popette, there are a lot of cruel and unhappy men on the roads and unless you had a more powerful weapon than the one those two were driving you did the right thing by anticipating the danger and giving way behind that parked car.

Being on the roads is like being in a cage with wild animals - you've got to be alert and observant to predict how they are going to behave.

Tom Butcher

vermooten wrote:

calvin1966vintage wrote:

Hmmm... Was this an act of aggression on the part of the bus driver? From what I see, all he did was to overtake the cyclist and not leave room for the cyclist to proceed on the bus' inside. There's no cycle lane, and the bus clearly is just within the lane marker for that inside lane. Where else could he go? The cyclist would have seen all of this unfolding before it happened.
.

Surely the point is the bus driver should not have started to overtake the cyclist at all in that situation - and if they did and then realised their mistake then the correct thing to do would be to stay out rather than pull in and potentially push the cyclist into the kerb. Put it this way - if the bus had overtaken a car would it be OK for it to just pull in before it had passed causing the driver to brake sharply or be pushed off the road ?

It's situations like that which a competent cyclist can deal with but which would probably knock someone learning to ride off their bike. If it happened to me I would definitely not be happy - though I'd probably be riding further out approaching the lights so as to prevent vehicles doing that.

el_presidente

NWLondoner wrote:

I had 2 near misses this morning.

The first was going past Lords cricket ground around The Wellington Road Roundabout.

The road is 2 lanes and I new that the 13 bus in front of me would stop at a bus stop, so I was riding on the white lines so I could pull out in time pass the bus. However a National Express coach had other ideas and came right up behind me at high speed and even though you could see that the bus was stopping in front he forced me back into the lane directly behind the bus.

I do that roundabout every day - it can be tricky as it is not a proper roundabout and the give-way markings can be confusing. Coming from the Lords direction traffic has priority and can go quickly. Be assertive and get in primary position quickly is my advice.

NWLondoner

el_presidente wrote:

NWLondoner wrote:

I had 2 near misses this morning.

The first was going past Lords cricket ground around The Wellington Road Roundabout.

The road is 2 lanes and I new that the 13 bus in front of me would stop at a bus stop, so I was riding on the white lines so I could pull out in time pass the bus. However a National Express coach had other ideas and came right up behind me at high speed and even though you could see that the bus was stopping in front he forced me back into the lane directly behind the bus.

I do that roundabout every day - it can be tricky as it is not a proper roundabout and the give-way markings can be confusing. Coming from the Lords direction traffic has priority and can go quickly. Be assertive and get in primary position quickly is my advice.

Don't worry i will next time.

drewfromrisca

My best so called near miss had to be when riding from work on a lovely sunny evening on Fulham Palace Road when some knob turns into a junction right in front of me and I plough into the side of his car and somersault over the handle bars and lad...in his back seat!!! He had the top down on his brand new convertible that had a huge dent in the side and scuff marks from my pedals on the leather interior!!! The Pr*ick even had the nerve to ask what I was doing until I politely (ahem) explained the situation was all his fault!!!

dessertwarrior

Several years ago I did a week with the Oxford Ambulance Service as an observer & one of our callouts was to a bike vs car RTA. Turned out that a Taxi had decided to stop in a cycle lane & the cyclist had ridden straight into the back of the car & ended up going through the rear window! Granted the cyclist should have been watching where he was going but the Taxi should not have been there at all.

I have also experienced the 'overtake/brake' habit of drivers who simply have to get past the cyclist before stopping immediately at the TL or queue of traffic. I try to stay calm & simply ignore them as I deliberately ride past & carry on my way to the front of the queue. I also enjoy being able to sprint away from TLs where I can usually beat a car over the first 20-30 yards. Gives me a certain perverse pleasure to hear some drivers thrashing their engines to pass me (again) especially if I can do the same at the next set of lights.

I must be lucky as I tend to find that it is the drivers of larger vehicles that give me plenty of room when I am riding around town & often show patience on the up hill bits. It is the plonkers in their 'Chelsea Tractors' that are the worst.

Just remember that in town, in traffic it is best to to be on a bike!

rustychisel

Commiserations Popette.

Another one which works rather well for my SO, and given recreational cycling is now at an all-time high in these parts, is to ask the offending driver, nicely, if they'd do the same thing to their wife/husband/child/cousin/aunt etc. Nearly everyone knows a cyclist, so ask them if they want their son brought home in pieces...

hisoka

sounds horrible there, I've had similar before but I've managed to keep myself in check by mostly concentrating on keeping myself upright as they go by.
But I would have lost it the other night when I was clipped by a car/van (couldn't tell) and ended up hitting a lamppost because of it. Was off work for a week with a twisted knee ankle and hip. B*stard didn't even stop to check I was alive or anything.