Stubborn car driver

ricardo666

I ride my old hardtail to work everyday, but this morning things was hit a new low in fact bottom of the barrel. Using a cycle lane to Liverpool University on mulberry street in one direction and a single lane for tin boxes in the other. A large lorry took up the whole of the road. I am cycling towards him, but a tin box pulls out onto the bike lane, so I stood my ground and refused to move. He then decided to get out of his tin box. And has a rant saying he cant go back. So I said "This why you have reverse gear" teliing him to stay out the bike lanes I rode off. Anyway I'll ring the polics tonight when I get in and have a rant about this road. Otherwise not alot I can do. Just gets my back up cars using these short cuts

Big G Specialized

You should've just ridden over his car....oxygen thief that he is!

jayson

The sad and frustrating thing is the old bill wont give a dam, they're completely biased for car drivers over cyclists evrytime without question, atleast they are round my way :evil:

dave_hill

ricardo666 wrote:

Anyway I'll ring the polics tonight when I get in and have a rant about this road.

Not a lot of point. The rozzers have got bigger fish to fry - obstructing the flow of traffic isn't really a major crime...

ratty2k

Without seeing it, how is the bike lane marked? Some do allow cars into them.....
I'm a bad one to talk (have anger management issues) but its best to just walk away (ride...) and try and forget it.....

ride_whenever

I know someone who was cut up really dangerously by a beemer whilst on his bmx, and he just tossed it onto the bonnet...

That was interesting...

shae

i would of draged him out the car, i get real road rage all the time, gets me into trouble !

Steve_F

So that was the driver's only way round a blocked road?

Sounds like a bit of an overreaction. Could you not just have let him past and carried on your day in a nice happy mood?

I would've probably done the same if some ar$e in a lorry had blocked the road when I was driving and don't think it would have bothered me on the bike.

Not trying to start arguments, just seems a bit petty?

JxL

Hard to say in this situation, but I had times where I was driving along A6 road about 40mph, and cyclist was in bike lane, and small traffic island on the right. I slowed down to let the cyclist through first, and then followed ahead, but noticed the cyclist was swearing at me calling me a t****! Had no idea why he did that. If I had not slowed down he would have been really close to my car.

England is actually really good for cyclists - other european countries don't have as much bike lanes, usually cyclists go on pavements to avoid drivers.

antfly

Steve_F wrote:

So that was the driver's only way round a blocked road?

Sounds like a bit of an overreaction. Could you not just have let him past and carried on your day in a nice happy mood?

I would've probably done the same if some ar$e in a lorry had blocked the road when I was driving and don't think it would have bothered me on the bike.

Not trying to start arguments, just seems a bit petty?

I agree,well said,not worth getting upset about.Pretty petty.The thread could be called stubborn cyclist.

cheehee

Let me tell you a story............

I had just filled up my motorbike with petrol and was leaving the petrol station. A nob head in a car had decided that it was too far for his fat trog of a wife to walk back to the pump once she had paid, so he had parked his car in front of the petrol station shop so to save her walking an extra 20 yards. In doing so he had half blocked the way forcing other cars to squeeze past him whilst he obiviously waits for his wife.

I ride past him as his wife gets in the car and whilst I am just beyond his wing, he goes to pull away nearly hitting me. I swerve away and stop in front of him and tell him to watch what he's doing.........he tells me to f**k off and move.

I then go to leave the petrol station which is a left only turn and dickhead jams his car down the left of me about 2" away from my leg and speeds off........

I see red and go after him to ask him what the f**k he thinks he is doing..........He slams his brakes on and brings his car to a total stop. I manage not to go into the back of him but come off my bike.................

I wake up in hospital - inter cranial bleed, neck and back pain, knees cut and bruised. The guy did stop and call an ambulance and according to witnessess was repeatedly saying;

"I just slammed my brakes on"

A few hours later the guy told the police:

" a car pulled out in front of him and he had to stop suddenly. He then heard a noise a saw me in the road"

I was wrong to over react and it taught me how vulnerable I am when on two wheels. A lot of people in cars are c**ts and will continue to be c**ts no matter how much you remonstrate with them. In my opinion it is best to let them go and get on with their cu*ty lives in their cu*ty cars.

Take care out there

Cheehee

pilsburypie

count yourself lucky you have a cycle lane! On my 6 mile journey to work i have one about 50 yards long. They have built a cycle lane next to the pavement about 1" lower in green tarmac. there is also a traffic light for a pedestrian crossing bang in the middle of it so you have to mount the pavement or go in the road to get round! As I said no more than 50 yards long..... a pointless exercise costing thousands i bet. I propose a public flogging for the idiot that commissioned it! :roll:

Justinjured

I was wrong to over react and it taught me how vulnerable I am when on two wheels. A lot of people in cars are c**ts and will continue to be c**ts no matter how much you remonstrate with them. In my opinion it is best to let them go and get on with their cu*ty lives in their cu*ty cars.

totally agree with Cheehee. the more i have to cycle on the roads, the more loathing i have for cars and some of the idiots that drive them. there are idiots who just have total contempt for cyclists for whatever reason, dont see the need to give you room when passing, even though there is plenty of space, and think it is acceptable to pass you with cm to spare.

To me peoples behaviour when in their car is totally different to how they would behave otherwise. people become bad tempered and agressive (not just to cyclists,) and i personally believe the fewer cars on the road the better.

teulk

Is it illegal to park on / obstruck a cycle lane ? Now a while back (id say about 10yrs) when i didnt do any cycle i parked my car out the front of my house hald on a cycle lane and half on the grass verge - needless to say i got a ticket off a policeman for 1. obstructing a cylceway and 2. parking on a grass verge. Fair enough i thought but recently out front of mine there are about four cars that are always parkedd either in the same manner as mine was all those years ago or just parked on the road blocking the cycle way. So, is it illegal parking just like it was 10yrs ago or have the rules changed ?

JxL

Yes, there are wayy too many morons who are able to drive cars, but don't generalise to ALL drivers. As someone else pointed out, they dont just show ignorance towards cyclists but also to other car users. I drive every day to uni/work/etc and find people cutting me off, driving about a metre behind me on motorway, pulling out in front of me on a roundabout etc.

The slamming on brakes thing happened to me as well, except I was in a car behind him and managed to stop in time, the guy was a total w****r. They think its funny because if you run into them its your fault, and they can claim insurance on you and get a nice extra for apparent whiplash.

I find it is mostly older and experienced drivers that do this, as to pass a test it was easy back then. My dad is 60 and he drives like a maniac without consideration to road rules, whereas most of my friends around 20 years old drive more sensibly, or at least according to rules.

stumpyjon

On a more positive note I was driving last week and came up behind a roadie doing about 20 mph on a winding road. Instead of trying to push around him when I couldn't see I hung back until it was safe to go around. What impressed me though was the fact the roadie clearly thanked me for not trying to push him into the ditch.

He was completely in the right and I was only doing what I was supposed to but he still made the effort to acknowledge the fact that I had taken his existence into account, made me feel good too. If drivers do show some consideration it is worth acknowledging the fact.

However I do like the idea of chucking the bike onto the bonnet of an expensive car that's just cut you up :twisted: .

deadliest

I would have left him sleeping :twisted:

BobbyTrigger

i always acknowledge cars for letting me out on my commute - unfortunately it doesn't happen that often as i'm sure that a lot of drivers don't see bikes or consider them to have equal rights on the road. Always nice when drivers let you out though.

I've been commuting on the bike daily for about a year now and its really opened my eyes i must say. i reckon i get cut up/pulled out on about once a week. I swear some people drive with their eyes shut. That's rush hour for you!

lost-time

teulk wrote:

Is it illegal to park on / obstruck a cycle lane ? Now a while back (id say about 10yrs) when i didnt do any cycle i parked my car out the front of my house hald on a cycle lane and half on the grass verge - needless to say i got a ticket off a policeman for 1. obstructing a cylceway and 2. parking on a grass verge. Fair enough i thought but recently out front of mine there are about four cars that are always parkedd either in the same manner as mine was all those years ago or just parked on the road blocking the cycle way. So, is it illegal parking just like it was 10yrs ago or have the rules changed ?

It is a contravention if the cycle lane has a solid white line. A dashed white line is only advisory....

KnightofCydonia

BobbyTrigger wrote:

i always acknowledge cars for letting me out on my commute - unfortunately it doesn't happen that often as i'm sure that a lot of drivers don't see bikes or consider them to have equal rights on the road. Always nice when drivers let you out though.

I've been commuting on the bike daily for about a year now and its really opened my eyes i must say. i reckon i get cut up/pulled out on about once a week. I swear some people drive with their eyes shut. That's rush hour for you!

from my riding already, I find that most don't bother signalling at roundabouts so I have to wait until they're definitely going one way before I can pull out. Apart from that I've had a few waves from drivers, as if I'm approaching a junction and i know there's nothing behind me, i'll wave them out knowing I'm gonna be taking longer to get there than they will take to pull out. There are some awful drivers around here though, especially those who are female with big cars picking their kids up from school. Had one try to reverse out of my road (which borders a school) in a 4x4 as I'm trying to turn in. Just shouted at her & told her that what she was doing was illegal and she'd be paying for years to replace my bike to to use her eyes & turn around properly, not back out onto a busier road. I think she got the message

tarquin_foxglove

teulk wrote:

Is it illegal to park on / obstruck a cycle lane?

lost-time wrote:

It is a contravention if the cycle lane has a solid white line. A dashed white line is only advisory....

If the cycle lane is contra-flow (as in the OP) it should be mandatory/solid white line unless it divides the carriage way from parking, drives or side roads in which case it would be advisory.

robmanic1

BobbyTrigger wrote:

i always acknowledge cars for letting me out on my commute - unfortunately it doesn't happen that often as i'm sure that a lot of drivers don't see bikes or consider them to have equal rights on the road. Always nice when drivers let you out though.

They're probably cyclists who are using there cars that day

I try to adopt the same attitude towards bad drivers whether I'm cycling or driving, that my good driving/cycling skills are making up for your poor driving, then just smile smugly to myself (usually), and continue on may way with a warm feeling of superiority.

Other times I just want to drag them out of their cars and rip their heads off! :twisted:

Graydawg

What drives me banannas is when people pull out of a junction joining the road your on when you are right next to that junction, so the basically come driving towards you and swerve to miss you with inches to spare!

That and when they overtake you with again inches to spare and cut you up going barely 2 mph faster than you are going and expect you to move or hug the kerb so there is no room for you to slip up the inside of the traffic - thats just plain deliberate!!

I think some people think that because "you dont pay road tax on that bike" you have no right to be riding it on public highways!!

Either that or some people are just ignorant, rude and just plain inconsiderate!

JxL

Graydawg wrote:

What drives me banannas is when people pull out of a junction joining the road your on when you are right next to that junction, so the basically come driving towards you and swerve to miss you with inches to spare!

That and when they overtake you with again inches to spare and cut you up going barely 2 mph faster than you are going and expect you to move or hug the kerb so there is no room for you to slip up the inside of the traffic - thats just plain deliberate!!

I think some people think that because "you dont pay road tax on that bike" you have no right to be riding it on public highways!!

Either that or some people are just ignorant, rude and just plain inconsiderate!

I think the drivers who are inconsiderate to cyclists, are the same drivers who are inconsiderate towards other drivers. There are many of them.

Graydawg

JxL wrote:

Graydawg wrote:

What drives me banannas is when people pull out of a junction joining the road your on when you are right next to that junction, so the basically come driving towards you and swerve to miss you with inches to spare!

That and when they overtake you with again inches to spare and cut you up going barely 2 mph faster than you are going and expect you to move or hug the kerb so there is no room for you to slip up the inside of the traffic - thats just plain deliberate!!

I think some people think that because "you dont pay road tax on that bike" you have no right to be riding it on public highways!!

Either that or some people are just ignorant, rude and just plain inconsiderate!

I think the drivers who are inconsiderate to cyclists, are the same drivers who are inconsiderate towards other drivers. There are many of them.

Absolutely! Just because you pass a test to drive a car doesn't make you a good driver!

nozzac

You can't usefully generalise about car drivers. Almost every adult in the UK is a car driver. It hardly defines a stereotypical group of people.

You get some pretty inconsideate cyclists too - people cycling the wrong way up one way streets, people who cycle with no lights giving you a terrible scare when you nearly hit them by accident, cyclists who come whizzing up the inside when the traffic slows only to pull out in front of your causing you to have to brake to avoid hitting them, cyclists who cycle full pelt along pavements etc.

having said all that...my worst run it was many years ago when a car shot past me so close and fast he drove me off the road onto the verge. I shouted at him and flicked him a V. He screeched to a stop and then reversed fast back to my spot. I must admit my heart went into my throat. He got out and came at me and I decided attack was the best form of defence, I chucked my bike onto his car and we ended up lamping each other and rolling about. After a bit I think we both came to our senses and looked at each other and saw that neither of us was really up for it. So we shook hands and he drove off!

antfly

That`s an odd story,how could you chuck your beloved bike?