I think i was just threatened with death...

spasypaddy

Pulling up to some lights, look over my shoulder, see a car, see i have room to pull around the bus without having to slow down into the second lane (Overtake not undertake!), guy beeps at me, expected to be honest but i knew what i was doing, knew the amount of space, knew where he was. He then pulls up alongside me and shouts some abuse, so i take my earphones out and start 'discussing' with him the incident, which to me was not even an incident to me it was just being on the road, day to day peril sort of thing.

He then turns around and says "If you aren't careful you'll be a white bike chained to the railings" he then pulled off and attempted to get away. Next set of lights i pull up along side him and 'discuss' with him the fact that he had just threatened to kill me.

He drove off and turned left next lights i called him a c...u...next....tuesday..... and im not even ashamed :oops:

Oh the joys of riding in central london.

always_tyred

Meh. I was threatened to be shot once.








okay, it was by an aparrently harmless elderly lady who probably had neither a full set of marbles nor any form of weaponry, but I was quite miffed.

Rockbuddy

It sounds more like he thought you were putting yourself in harms way and that if you weren't careful you would become a statistic, rather than threatening you. Did you indicate when you changed lanes? You were wearing earphones!? Maybe he thought you weren't paying much attention and maybe he was going faster than you thought?

doog442

wheres the threat to kill :?:

b0y1nterupted

spasypaddy wrote:

He then turns around and says "If you aren't careful you'll be a white bike chained to the railings" he then pulled off and attempted to get away. Next set of lights i pull up along side him and 'discuss' with him the fact that he had just threatened to kill me.

i think he may have been trying to tell you to be more careful or you'll end up being in an accident not that he was gonna kill you

spasypaddy

there was no need to signal because when i made the manoeuvre he was a long long way off. I always look more than once before moving otherwise i dont move if its not clear, thats the only reason i moved. Also the lights were red so i was overtaking the bus to put myself in a safer position, why would i do this by endangering myself?

The threat was the fact that he threatened to turn my bike into a white monument on the side of the road, these monuments are for when a cyclist is killed on the road. He knew what he meant, he also referred to me as a courier which is slightly more annoying than the death threat.

spen666

I can't see any threat in that exchange

woodyonthebeach

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

cat_with_no_tail

So there I am driving home yesterday, approaching a set of lights when some munter (possibly a courier) pulls out right in front of me without signalling. I beeped him to show my disatisfation at this dangerous move, then when I pull alongside I notice that he is wearing earphones! Clearly not paying much attention to his surroundings.
I point out to him that with riding like that if he is not careful he will wind up as just another white bike chained to a lamp post.
At this point he completely flew off the handle at me, accused me of threatning to kill him then called me a c...u...next....tuesday and rode off.
Bloody cyclists! :evil:

agnello

It's all relative isn't it?

As the Austrian patent clerk once said...

heavymental

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

What a prik. You are.

always_tyred

spen666 wrote:

I can't see any threat in that exchange

What if he said it whilst pointing, revving the engine and cackling like Dr. Evil? That's at least a bit threatening.

woodyonthebeach

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

What a prik. You are.

Yes completely agree with you. But when you are faced with being put over the bonnet of a car how are going react.

Give them a nice little slap on the wrist and go oh what a naughty boy........

always_tyred

woodyonthebeach wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

What a prik. You are.

Yes completely agree with you. But when you are faced with being put over the bonnet of a car how are going react.

Give them a nice little slap on the wrist and go oh what a naughty boy........

Generally, its not advisible to attempt to damage cars though. Sorely tempting, but not the right thing. I've done it once, myself, in a circumstance where I could have tried marginally harder to avoid running into the back of someone who was brake testing me, and it effectively dissipated the situation. In general, though, it will inflame the situation. As other people have pointed out, rapping a wing or door with your knuckles sounds like a thermonuclear explosion from inside the car and does no damage. Even that tends to inflame the situation.

antfly

It could have been the fact that you were wearing earphones that annoyed him.In London traffic too.

heavymental

woodyonthebeach wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

What a prik. You are.

Yes completely agree with you. But when you are faced with being put over the bonnet of a car how are going react.

Give them a nice little slap on the wrist and go oh what a naughty boy........

What actually happened? Given that your story doesn't make sense its hard to draw a conclusion as to what would have been the right thing to do.

spen666

Always Tyred wrote:

spen666 wrote:

I can't see any threat in that exchange

What if he said it whilst pointing, revving the engine and cackling like Dr. Evil? That's at least a bit threatening.

Unless I was present, I would still not be able to SEE any threat in that exchange

cee

spasypaddy wrote:

there was no need to signal

I would say.....yes there was a need to signal. if you had, he might have seen your intention and not beeped his horn.....

but then..I am a signalling maniac...i indicate every move I make, even in the car....i don't understand why people don't use their signals......why miss an opportunity to communicate with other road road users, what your intentions are?

Then should the worst happen, the other person just says....he didn't signal, your defence of 'there was no need' would seem silly.

lost_in_thought

cee wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

there was no need to signal

I would say.....yes there was a need to signal. if you had, he might have seen your intention and not beeped his horn.....

but then..I am a signalling maniac...i indicate every move I make, even in the car....i don't understand why people don't use their signals......why miss an opportunity to communicate with other road road users, what your intentions are?

Then should the worst happen, the other person just says....he didn't signal, your defence of 'there was no need' would seem silly.

+1 to that... can't expect telepathy from other road users, especially as the moves cyclists make are often foreign and unpredictable to drivers.

woodyonthebeach

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

What a prik. You are.

Yes completely agree with you. But when you are faced with being put over the bonnet of a car how are going react.

Give them a nice little slap on the wrist and go oh what a naughty boy........

What actually happened? Given that your story doesn't make sense its hard to draw a conclusion as to what would have been the right thing to do.

I decided not the raise to the occasion. First of all what have I done to you for you to call me a prick, very juvenile don't you think, you may also say that about my behaviour as well.

What happened was....

I was approaching a busy T junction and this driver obviously saw a gap in the traffic and put the boot and pulled out the junction with out looking see me at the last minute locks up and comes very close to have me as a bonnet ornament. so things exchange as stated previously......

Rockbuddy

woodyonthebeach wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I had incident like this not so long ago. Some idiot in a dirty great big rang over, although very nice tried to take me. So I had a discussion with him but he got a little a irtate about the fact that I called his driving a load of sh*t. So an attempt was made to show displeasure towards him he drove off

All I can say is good bless SPD cleats made a lovely mark on his Rangy

What a prik. You are.

Yes completely agree with you. But when you are faced with being put over the bonnet of a car how are going react.

Give them a nice little slap on the wrist and go oh what a naughty boy........

What actually happened? Given that your story doesn't make sense its hard to draw a conclusion as to what would have been the right thing to do.

I decided not the raise to the occasion. First of all what have I done to you for you to call me a prick, very juvenile don't you think, you may also say that about my behaviour as well.

What happened was....

I was approaching a busy T junction and this driver obviously saw a gap in the traffic and put the boot and pulled out the junction with out looking see me at the last minute locks up and comes very close to have me as a bonnet ornament. so things exchange as stated previously......

Woodyonthebeach, is your first language English??? Just wondering, as I don't seem to be able to make much sense of your posts!? :?

woodyonthebeach

struggling a bit today. having to deal with developers and having an all mighty hang over

Rockbuddy

woodyonthebeach wrote:

struggling a bit today. having to deal with developers and having an all mighty hang over

Ah, that could explain it

always_tyred

spen666 wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

spen666 wrote:

I can't see any threat in that exchange

What if he said it whilst pointing, revving the engine and cackling like Dr. Evil? That's at least a bit threatening.

Unless I was present, I would still not be able to SEE any threat in that exchange

Ken Dodd once said that if you tell a joke in Edinburgh the audience will laugh out loud, but in London the just won't get it.

DonDaddyD

FFS! This is utter and absolute bollocks I can't believe people think the Spasypaddy has done wrong.

He was in the left lane, there is a bus in front of him, he moves his bike into a position that looks as though he is going around the bus.

Firstly. Regardless of the vehicle, road position is an indication of intent. If it had been a car that wasn't indicating but moving over to the right the assumption would be that the car was intending to move around the bus.

Secondly. Faced with a bike that looks like it is about to move lanes and considering it has to because there is a hazzard (bus) infront of it the oncoming driver can either anticipate this and slow down (which is what they teach you in driving lessons these days - I passed in October) or he can keep going at normal speed, make himself another hazzard for the bike and increase the chances of him crashing into the bike. If it was a car, he'd have slowed down. He should have f*cking slowed down for the bike.

Thirdly. I don't advise listening to anything when cycling but until they completely ban car radio's, stereos and bluetooth devices so you can't use the a mobile phone in a car I'm not going to say a person shouldn't listen to something when cycling.

Finally. Making a signal when making a manouver isn't safe. It means you have to take your a hand off the bike while the bike is off balance, I can do this but I'm not going to tell everyone to do the same. I would have made an early signal, looked over my shoulder and positioned my bike, but often this isn't even enough, motorists don't like waiting or slowing down for bikes.

The motorist was a pr!ck.

heavymental

Well Woody, just seems to me that booting someone's car, causing permanent damage, isn't going to make the situation any better, for you, him, or anyone else on the road.

Rockbuddy

DonDaddyD wrote:

The motorist was a pr!ck.

Woah there DDD, I know this is a cycling forum and I am all for cars taking us seriously on the road but I can't really say the car driver did much wrong here. If I was driving the car and someone was pulling into the lane I was in whithout indicating as I approached, bike or car, I would prob beep them to let them know I was there / that they did something stupid. I may even tell them that they should maneuver more carefully for their own safety, aswell as mine. Then to be called a c#*t for his troubles!?! As for earphones they are a stupid thing to be wearing in traffic and illustrate the point of not fully being aware. How many times does someone state 'the ped was wearing earphones' and didn't hear me shout to them etc. I'm not saying the driver wasn't impatient but clearly not all his fault!

vorsprung

spasypaddy wrote:

Pulling up to some lights, look over my shoulder, see a car, see i have room to pull around the bus without having to slow down into the second lane (Overtake not undertake!), guy beeps at me, expected to be honest but i knew what i was doing, knew the amount of space, knew where he was. He then pulls up alongside me and shouts some abuse, so i take my earphones out and start 'discussing' with him the incident, which to me was not even an incident to me it was just being on the road, day to day peril sort of thing.

He then turns around and says "If you aren't careful you'll be a white bike chained to the railings" he then pulled off and attempted to get away. Next set of lights i pull up along side him and 'discuss' with him the fact that he had just threatened to kill me.

He drove off and turned left next lights i called him a c...u...next....tuesday..... and im not even ashamed :oops:

Oh the joys of riding in central london.

We only have your PoV for this

The critical fact that you cannot give us is- how far back was the car and how fast were you going relative to the car?

However by your own admission
* You were wearing earphones which to me says you weren't really paying attention
* You swore at the car driver: says you don't have much self control

always_tyred

Rockbuddy wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

The motorist was a pr!ck.

Woah there DDD, I know this is a cycling forum and I am all for cars taking us seriously on the road but I can't really say the car driver did much wrong here. If I was driving the car and someone was pulling into the lane I was in whithout indicating as I approached, bike or car, I would prob beep them to let them know I was there / that they did something stupid. I may even tell them that they should maneuver more carefully for their own safety, aswell as mine. Then to be called a c#*t for his troubles!?! As for earphones they are a stupid thing to be wearing in traffic and illustrate the point of not fully being aware. How many times does someone state 'the ped was wearing earphones' and didn't hear me shout to them etc. I'm not saying the driver wasn't impatient but clearly not all his fault!

If there are two lanes, yes, you have to indicate and although it would be curlish, there's no obligation to let you in immediately and you shouldn't cycle as though there is.

If there is one lane, however wide, its an overtake - the cyclist gets there first, so the driver should wait. Pinching cyclists behind parked cars and the like is dangerous and ignorant. If this is what happened, the motorist deserves to be dragged bodily from their vehicle and made to change their own oil and filter (this seems to be an exceptionally grave punishment).

il_principe

Rockbuddy wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

The motorist was a pr!ck.

Woah there DDD, I know this is a cycling forum and I am all for cars taking us seriously on the road but I can't really say the car driver did much wrong here. If I was driving the car and someone was pulling into the lane I was in whithout indicating as I approached, bike or car, I would prob beep them to let them know I was there / that they did something stupid. I may even tell them that they should maneuver more carefully for their own safety, aswell as mine. Then to be called a c#*t for his troubles!?! As for earphones they are a stupid thing to be wearing in traffic and illustrate the point of not fully being aware. How many times does someone state 'the ped was wearing earphones' and didn't hear me shout to them etc. I'm not saying the driver wasn't impatient but clearly not all his fault!

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

MrChuck

There's a difference between pointing out to somebody the likely consequences of their actions (as you see them) and a threat.

Like a couple of other threads lately there seems to be a bit of a lack of objectivity- people slating pedestrians/drivers/whoever for acting unpredictably, while at the same time justifying themselves basically doing the same thing by saying "Yes, but I knew what I was doing."