Racing Into Pinch-Points

karl j

WTF is that all about ? had one this morning raced me to the pinch point / pedestrian refuge thingie driving like a maniac so fast he went up the kerb of it and barely missed the plastic upright bit by mm's . 60 (or it might have been 45, i aren't entirely sure) seconds later (yep, you know what's coming....) i passed him as he waited for the traffic lights.

what am i missing here ?

Greg T

Give away half a gap and some arse will try and get in it.

The majority of the times I've been taken too close I could put down to not taking up primary position early enough (or primary + a bit if truth be told....)

ChrisLS

...primary everytime when going through pinch points, also a look behind so that you know that they know, you know they are there...

dirk_van_gently

Primary, and then some!
And as ChrisLS writes, look over your shoulder, and eyeball them.

Of course you could hold back from the pinch point, wave them past, then catch them at the lights that would reeeaaalllyy FTO

spen666

karl j wrote:

WTF is that all about ? had one this morning raced me to the pinch point / pedestrian refuge thingie driving like a maniac so fast he went up the kerb of it and barely missed the plastic upright bit by mm's . 60 (or it might have been 45, i aren't entirely sure) seconds later (yep, you know what's coming....) i passed him as he waited for the traffic lights.

what am i missing here ?

Well unlike the driver, you appear to be missing the kerb and the stress of the traffic jam

jedster

He is a dangerous idiot. That's the key point.

The point about primary and eyeballing them is spot on.

Weren't you tempted to have a word with him? I wouldnt normally bother but he could easily have bumped off that kerb and hit you. I'd have tapped on his window and given him a few tips.

J

JonEdwards

Give away half a gap and some ars* will try and get in it.

or alternatively

"leave a hole and some c0ck will fill it"

...and yup, ride way out into the lane through pinch points (get out early if you need to)...

mrchrispy

Ooooo dont tap on his window...he might have a knife.
:roll:

karl j

Been thinking about this all day and still no nearer understanding this sort of behaviour. I was in the primary position leading up to the pinch point but i guess he must have, mistakenly, thought he had space (ie. i was going slow enough) so he could get back in in time. Where on earth he thought the 5 seconds he saved would get him though i really can't imagine.

That's exactly it Mr Chrispy, i aren't shy of "conversing" with this sort of person, but i don't fancy being nicked for fighting in the street first thing in the morning.

Slim Middleton

Riding into Brum a few years back, I took up the primary position and held up a driver for ooh all of 3 or 4 seconds. When he overtook me he sounded his horn and gesticulated wildly. I made a gesture to suggest that I had formed quite a low opinion of him and he stopped the car in the middle of the road. I couldn't see an easy escape route - he ran up to me, grabbed me by the throat and threatened to punch me in the face - it is no understatement to say he was apopleptic with rage. I couldn't really do much about the situation other than try to diffuse it. Which I did - somehow. He got back into his car and joined a queue of stationary traffic at the lights - literally 20 metres further along (a great opportunity to make a big song and dance about writing down his no. plate).

SO, he had time to do all of those things without making any difference whatsoever to his overall journey time but he was pssised with me for riding in primary and preventing him from joing the queue of traffic 3 or 4 seconds sooner. I've never been able to work that one out either. He wasn't too thrilled about the Saturday morning visit he was compelled to make to the local constabulary after that either.

abbots_mike

last time a guy grabbed me by the throat i headbutted him

Slim Middleton

Good on ya mate!!

el_presidente

ABBOTS MIKE wrote:

last time a guy grabbed me by the throat i headbutted him

Morning Mr Prescott

mrchrispy

good lad.

beegee

It's the same sort of thing when they overtake you only to have to stop behind a parked car because of oncoming traffic. And of course blocking you into the bargain. The only possible explanation is that drivers don't bother thinking more than 2 seconds ahead.

fossyant

I have a run of 3 pinch points on a wide road in the morning - coming up to the middle of the three, in primary and more, as I was about to overtake another cyclist, some silly woman goes wide then cuts in - and like the others, gets stuck in a traffic queue 50 yards on, as I sail past for the next half mile. There are lots of impatient folk about, that's it, even wide and obvious primary doesn't work sometimes.

That's life...... they sit in traffic, I don't !

karl j

fossyant wrote:

That's life...... they sit in traffic, I don't !

yes i think thats about the only conclusion i can come to too.

Interesting observation re. primary also, it can work against you, the problem is there's no way of knowing what sort of looney tune is in the car behind.

chuckcork

karl j wrote:

fossyant wrote:

That's life...... they sit in traffic, I don't !

yes i think thats about the only conclusion i can come to too.

Interesting observation re. primary also, it can work against you, the problem is there's no way of knowing what sort of looney tune is in the car behind.

Yes. Got overtaken on a corner i Twickenham, in the middle of the left lane, the lady driver wanted to go left as well. Cut me up nicely, but I had plenty of room (had other drivers do that when I had less than plenty). I saw she was a lady driver as she was looking into her backseat, obviously at the baby in the baby seat, as she was going around the corner! Not looking where she was going at all.

I passed her on Kingston Bridge 3 miles later. I thought of asking her about her driving but I doubt she'd remember, along the lines of no point in punishing your dog 5 minutes after its crapped on your lawn, it just won't make the connection.