Road Rage

boneyjoe

I'm with Shoulder of Orion on this one. Drove by car across West-London the other day, and got hooted and sworn at a couple of times. Truth is in a city of 7 million, your mere presence is likely to wind people up pretty often - its inevitable! When the anger builds up, just let it go. Easier said than done though in some cases, especially if you're knocked off, which thankfully hasn't happened to me so far. My wife would kill me if I was, so I am super-careful!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Fireblade96 wrote:

I've fairly much got over my road rage cycling days. Nowadays rather than swearing/ gesticulating/ kicking cars I generally resort to either the Sorry Shake of the Head, or for ultimate power the Waggy Finger of Disapproval. Both make your point without being overly aggressive.

Glad I'm not the only one.

I try to take the view that they're all borderline retarded, and cant' really help themselves. If someone in a wheelchair ran over your foot, you wouldn't push them over, would you (well, having heard you lot, it's plain that *you* would. And you've kick them while they were down)?

Closest I've come recently was over the summer. Aged pony-tailed greasy type in a Jag gave me a nudge with his bumper. At > 40k on the Embankment, with nowhere for him to go. We had a chat in the queue of traffic he was racing to join. I contented myself with painting a graphic picture to him of how badly he would be sodomised in prison.

always_tyred

Greg66 wrote:

be sodomised in prison.

Greg. I think you have an anal fixation.

Fireblade96

If someone in a wheelchair ran over your foot, you wouldn't push them over, would you

Funnily enough, retards in cars have run over / parked on my foot more than once when I've been on the motorbike. Not while moving, obviously.

I now wear these !

gtvlusso

mountainroadie wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

Mate - you are not alone.

I have to live with the fact that I broke a fella's jaw and knocked some of his teeth out after he knocked me off (fairly deliberately). I feel like a fool now, but he did assualt me first by pushing me after I had got up off the floor. I had a several witnesses to the event who were prepared to testify against him for dangerous driving and assaulting me pre my punching his lights out......

Not my finest hour......I felt great at the time. But now feel that I lowered myself and the whole of the cycling world to his level.

Still, he will think twice about messing with a lycra and floura clad bloke on a race bike again!!

in nine years of training in tae kwon do at 2nd dan black belt i have never seen anyone break a jaw n knock teeth out with a punch .... this is possible with a side SNAP KICK . but WOW UNBELIEVABLE.....maybe you should take up a martial art,boxing to teach you self control DISCIPLINE.

Alright champ...we know the glory. In martial arts in a controlled environment injury should not occur, and externally it should never be used....from what I have heard?

Boxing is in my blood, Both my Grandads were title holders as was my dad and my great grandad was a bare knuckle fighter back in the day. I am a distant relation to the infamous Tom Spring, apparently....look him up on google. I boxed as a yoof and still attend a boxing gym now - sadly, I am out of "fighting" shape...not enough in the arms or the chest.....:-(

However, rage got the better of me, I do have a fairly long fuse - but I take offense to someone pushing me over me after I have just got up off the floor, after they knocked me off...Unfortunately, I lowered my standards severely...so, I accept that I lost it completely.

Often go down the route of "Cheers pal!" and give them a thumbs up or blow them a kiss.....I am a calmer dude nowadays (since my wife bollocked me for lamping a bloke!)

lost_in_thought

mountainroadie wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

Mate - you are not alone.

I have to live with the fact that I broke a fella's jaw and knocked some of his teeth out after he knocked me off (fairly deliberately). I feel like a fool now, but he did assualt me first by pushing me after I had got up off the floor. I had a several witnesses to the event who were prepared to testify against him for dangerous driving and assaulting me pre my punching his lights out......

Not my finest hour......I felt great at the time. But now feel that I lowered myself and the whole of the cycling world to his level.

Still, he will think twice about messing with a lycra and floura clad bloke on a race bike again!!

in nine years of training in tae kwon do at 2nd dan black belt i have never seen anyone break a jaw n knock teeth out with a punch .... this is possible with a side SNAP KICK . but WOW UNBELIEVABLE.....maybe you should take up a martial art,boxing to teach you self control DISCIPLINE.

I've watched a bloke break another guy's jaw and knock out teeth with one punch in the pub I used to run. It is entirely do-able, it seems. And no, I didn't intervene. I called the police.

gtvlusso

lost_in_thought wrote:

mountainroadie wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

Mate - you are not alone.

I have to live with the fact that I broke a fella's jaw and knocked some of his teeth out after he knocked me off (fairly deliberately). I feel like a fool now, but he did assualt me first by pushing me after I had got up off the floor. I had a several witnesses to the event who were prepared to testify against him for dangerous driving and assaulting me pre my punching his lights out......

Not my finest hour......I felt great at the time. But now feel that I lowered myself and the whole of the cycling world to his level.

Still, he will think twice about messing with a lycra and floura clad bloke on a race bike again!!

in nine years of training in tae kwon do at 2nd dan black belt i have never seen anyone break a jaw n knock teeth out with a punch .... this is possible with a side SNAP KICK . but WOW UNBELIEVABLE.....maybe you should take up a martial art,boxing to teach you self control DISCIPLINE.

I've watched someone break a jaw and knock out teeth with one punch in the pub I used to run. It is entirely do-able, it seems. And no, I didn't intervene. I called the police.

Wise move!
I feel like such a tosser for doing this though - I really lowered myself to this guys level....However, I did learn allot about myself.....I did no one any favours that day - cyclists or drivers and I apologise.

Stuey01

gtvlusso wrote:

I feel like such a tosser for doing this though - I really lowered myself to this guys level....However, I did learn allot about myself.....I did no one any favours that day - cyclists or drivers and I apologise.

Sounds like he thoroughly deserved it, knocking you off then trying to start a fight with you, what an absolute asswipe!

You didn't provoke it, I don't think you should feel any guilt about this. He just clearly underestimated you, you probably taught him a valuable life lesson. I'd venture he is much less likely to pick on others as a result of this incident.

antfly

I`ve only lost it twice but then I don`t live in London where people seem to be very violent.Once was when yoofs threw a mcdonalds from a car that hit me on the back the other time was when descending a steep hill fast a tow truck towing a car overtook me with a car coming the other way.I looked to my right to see this towed car getting closer and closer and I was forced onto the verge and into a hedge.Both times I went after them but didn`t catch up which is just as well for me,probably.I enjoy the cut and thrust of riding in traffic and can`t imagine punching anyone just because they cut me up.

Soul Boy

Talking of shooting, a bit back up the thread now....last year while I was cycling along the bus lane on Marylebone Rd, I noticed a silver BMW right on my wheel. As I was in the bus lane and he wasn't supposed to be, I maintained my position. After a while he managed to squeeze past, forcing me to the curb. As he headed down the road I gave a shake of the hand, the universal sign of T0SSER! He saw in his rear view and slammed on the brakes, as I caught up, he sped off, I gave him another, he slammed on the brakes, I caught up (now I'm assuming the reason he was using the bus lane and not queuing with the traffic was that he was in a hurry, apparently not, he's just a runt). This happended a couple more times (I know it was childish, but I was interested to see how many times he'd jump on the anchors in an attempt to intimidate me). He finally decided he wasn't a bus afterall and rejoined the queue. the cheery on top was as I passed him, he wound down the window, made a gun shape with his fingers and said "bang, bang, it's as easy as that" :shock: . I smiled and said I thought it was a little bit of an overreaction and continued on my way. This all happended in rush hour traffic.

I do now try to let things slide, lifes easier that way, but there are still times when I do get steamed - a prang for them could be death to us.

One of the weirdest incidents I saw though was a moped rider and cycle courier having a go at each other up Holborn. I reckon the moped rider was under the influence, he was very unsteady and erractic. Thing is he choose the wrong fella to argue with and at a set of lights the courier got off his bike, lent it against the railings, walked over to the moped rider and calmly but expertly put two punches down the guys open visor, walked back to his bike, swung his leg over and off he went. I was quite aghast, but did chuckle....the moped rider just sat there wondering what had hit him :?

gtvlusso

To be fair - I am on quiet roads now, so I don't know how you London guys cope - It was bad enough when I was living and commuting there. I was much younger and gave less of a crap about stuff!! I don't think I could do it in my grumpy old age...

Kieran_Burns

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys should come and try my commute. It's so relaxing it's unreal

It's something to look forward to as a way to destress, not something to be in fear about.

lost_in_thought

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys should come and try my commute. It's so relaxing it's unreal

It's something to look forward to as a way to destress, not something to be in fear about.

I'm the same though, and I commute in London. Sure, there's the occasional numpty, but they are vastly in the minority and 95% of them are forgotten about half a mile down the road.

I wouldn't commute by bike if I didn't enjoy it, I find it a great stress-reliever!

Kieran_Burns

lost_in_thought wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys should come and try my commute. It's so relaxing it's unreal

It's something to look forward to as a way to destress, not something to be in fear about.

I'm the same though, and I commute in London. Sure, there's the occasional numpty, but they are vastly in the minority and 95% of them are forgotten about half a mile down the road.

I wouldn't commute by bike if I didn't enjoy it, I find it a great stress-reliever!

All I dodge are sheep, pheasants, the odd yorkshire terrier, and cow / horse crap. Plus the odd pothole and VERY VERY rarely someone getting a little close as they pass.

I think I'd need a two-wheeled APC to get around London sometimes.... :?

lost_in_thought

Kieran_Burns wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys should come and try my commute. It's so relaxing it's unreal

It's something to look forward to as a way to destress, not something to be in fear about.

I'm the same though, and I commute in London. Sure, there's the occasional numpty, but they are vastly in the minority and 95% of them are forgotten about half a mile down the road.

I wouldn't commute by bike if I didn't enjoy it, I find it a great stress-reliever!

All I dodge are sheep, pheasants, the odd yorkshire terrier, and cow / horse crap. Plus the odd pothole and VERY VERY rarely someone getting a little close as they pass.

I think I'd need a two-wheeled APC to get around London sometimes.... :?

Honestly, it's really not that bad.

People don't remember the hundreds or thousands of drivers, pedestrians and scooter-riders who cause them no inconvenience whatsoever, but they do remember the one that does.

What's more, they certainly don't post on internet forums saying '2,487 drivers caused me no trouble today'.

I'm lucky in that I have both the city and the open countryside to ride in, and I have to say that as a percentage of total drivers I encounter in both situations a far higher proportion of rural drivers are a pain - they're not as accustomed to sharing the road with bikes as their London counterparts.

Much as I enjoy riding in the countryside, I wouldn't swap my London commute for a country one.

EDIT: I also think there are some people, not specifically aimed at anyone on here, who like to amp up the risk of commuting in London, perhaps to make themselves feel big. It's the same thing as the people who say 'Cold? You think this is cold? You should try *insert possibly colder situation here*'.

mountainroadie

GTV LUSSO cannot agree with the conrolled enviroment part off what you say .
in martial arts there are injures all the time spesh in competition
broken noses ,teeth,jaw,arms ,legs broken and this is with guards and gumsheilds on .
nobody wins a streetfight . if someone cuts you up in the street SO WHAT ....

channel it into something you like doing whether it be running ,lifting weights , football ,rowing etc etc....

improve your times improve yourself

you will smile in the end

Porgy

lost_in_thought wrote:

Honestly, it's really not that bad.

People don't remember the hundreds or thousands of drivers, pedestrians and scooter-riders who cause them no inconvenience whatsoever, but they do remember the one that does.

What's more, they certainly don't post on internet forums saying '2,487 drivers caused me no trouble today'.

Exactly - I nearly said this myself a while back. As I work for TfL I have free transport in London, and by bus, DLR and tube I can get to work in 1and 1/4 hours, pretty much the time it takes me to cycle. So saving the cost of travel card is no incentive, getting into work quicker is no incentive - except DLR breaks down more often than my bike and any little hold up can make me late - hold ups just do not happen cycling - except for very rare catastrophic failures.

So what is the incentive? I must enjoy it. This despite the dangerous/aggressive drivers, the pollution, the potholes, etc. It's still more enjoyable than sitting in an overcrowded train/ bus/ underground.

And I think it gets me a sort of respect from my colleagues. they may not like cyclists much, but they respect the fact that I stick at it be it rain or shine. Of course, being the environmental manager now, I do need to be elading from the front on this. I can;t advise anyone else on cycling to work if I don't can I?

Of course it's more than all of that - I was born to cycle. I need to cycle. It's an addiction that cannot be satisfied any other way.

<speech over> :oops:

biondino

mountainroadie wrote:

channel it into something you like doing whether it be running ,lifting weights , football ,rowing etc etc....

Spitchips is on the money here.

redvee

When I hit the means streets of London for the Xmas drinks I was concerned about the traffic, I could cope with Brizzle traffic no problem but London did scare me a little. The main areas of concern were MA and HPK but both these had wide bus lanes so presented no problem at all. I did have a close encounter with a can in Parliement Square when he tried to pull out in front of me so I tapped his mirror and disappeared down past the HoP and the single lane traffic.

chuckcork

Ditto with the approach that it ain't all bad. My once a week ride to work is surprisingly filled with drivers who are polite to me and give me plenty of room.

OK, there was one plonker who overtook me on Tues with about 6" clearance, but other than that drivers wait patiently behind me to overtake, give way at roundabouts and junctions etc. That one non-incident was the worst I've had in the 4 times I've done the 50 mile round trip to work (Surbiton to Frimley)

I mostly put it down to looking like I know what I'm doing, know where I'm going, being in control of where I am etc, in short behaving like a proper road user than a grow up child on a bike...they even wait politely behind em to overtake if the road ahead isn't clear to pass or the sight lines aren't good enough.

Makes wonder (amazingly) where I could comment that the driving I'm seeing is amazingly polite in order to encourage more of it.

cjcp

Kieran_Burns wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys should come and try my commute. It's so relaxing it's unreal

It's something to look forward to as a way to destress, not something to be in fear about.

I'm the same though, and I commute in London. Sure, there's the occasional numpty, but they are vastly in the minority and 95% of them are forgotten about half a mile down the road.

I wouldn't commute by bike if I didn't enjoy it, I find it a great stress-reliever!

All I dodge are sheep, pheasants, the odd yorkshire terrier, and cow / horse crap. Plus the odd pothole and VERY VERY rarely someone getting a little close as they pass.

I think I'd need a two-wheeled APC to get around London sometimes.... :?

Sheep are very aggressive. And they just stare at you. Stare at you, I say.

NGale

cjcp wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys should come and try my commute. It's so relaxing it's unreal

It's something to look forward to as a way to destress, not something to be in fear about.

I'm the same though, and I commute in London. Sure, there's the occasional numpty, but they are vastly in the minority and 95% of them are forgotten about half a mile down the road.

I wouldn't commute by bike if I didn't enjoy it, I find it a great stress-reliever!

All I dodge are sheep, pheasants, the odd yorkshire terrier, and cow / horse crap. Plus the odd pothole and VERY VERY rarely someone getting a little close as they pass.

I think I'd need a two-wheeled APC to get around London sometimes.... :?

Sheep are very aggressive. And they just stare at you. Stare at you, I say.

actually I have been out on a ride when a sheep ran at one of my fellow cyclists and forced him into a ditch. apart from being highly funny, my colleague at ambulance control didn't know whether to triage the call as a traumatic injury or an animal attack aside from the laughing

The broken collar bone wasn't funny mind

OldSkoolKona

LiT, couldn't agree with you more. I've commuted in several towns in the UK and I actually find London less stressful to cycle in than other places. Sure, its daunting the first time you hit the streets, but cycling on a unknown route in any large town/city is disconcerting at first. Apply what Cyclecraft teaches you and you'll be amazed at how much less stressful your ride is.

Regarding reacting to poor driving, while in the past I got wound up and reacted, :shock: I now rise above it. Basically, what do you achieve when you are agressive in response to a motorist? Do you think they will behave any different in future. Unlikely, you'll probably wind them up more. Second, do you benefit from getting wound up? Not in my experience, you get more distracted and therefore more likely to have another near miss due to inattention. Just chill, and let it go. Learn to channel your agression into your pedals 8) (obviously if it is a serious incident, report it to the police)

Here's something to try. When you're cycling to work, count how many cars you are overtaken by/overtake. At the same time, count how many 'wrong you' in some way. I did this on my hour commute and it was an eye opener to realise that the majority of motorist aren't out to run you over.

rhann

never used to get road rage but recently, and would let people get on with it, but having seen many incidents....
at lights car behind starts beeping and shouting out of window, so takes middle of road and goes very slowly to annoy him further as he now can't get past.

cycling down a hill at 30 car overtakes 6 inches off my pedal I catch her at the roundabout and knock on her window, to which she said she was late for work so I telling her what could have happenned, some drivers just really dont care.

Jay dubbleU

Couple of points - black cab drivers - get their number - cab number that is - and report them to the local council - they can lose their licence if they have too many reports

Second - like SoO I adopt a calm approach to these matters - what the hell - its their ulcer/heart attack :twisted:

I have to say I'm surprised by the politeness of most drivers - people wave me on, give way and I even got a smile from a blonde in an SUV last week

ocaaaaa

Stupid drivers all over London, I just try not to get too wound up as its not worth it - although sometimes have to shout - especially at pedestrians that wonder into the road without looking :evil:

Jay dubbleU

Ah pedestrians - can't help feeling there is some kind of genetic link between pedestrians and sheep - especially mothers walking to school and texting at the same time - too busy to keep and eye on the kids or watch where their going :roll:

ocaaaaa

Was cycling through Tooting earlier on today - on the high street I nearly ran into one pedestrian as he was crossing the road, without looking of course .. no rage thought just a quick "watch out mate!"

Few minutes later cycling behind someone who very nearly ran into another guy doing exactly the same thing :roll:

jmaccyd

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Couple of points - black cab drivers - get their number - cab number that is - and report them to the local council - they can lose their licence if they have too many reports

Sadly not true any more and it is the Public Carriage Office that 'run' London Taxis and local councils outside of London. As a London Cabbie of about eighteen years I have sadly seen the standards of the PCO drop so that driving incidents are not taken seriously as they where when I started in the trade.

However, even as a cyclist myself, my respect for London cyclists has frankly gone down the pan. I reamin sanguine about RLJ and such antics, but the complete and unter disragard for pedestrians leaves me aghast. Watch out of you are wheeling a disabled person across a zebra crossing because two cyclists zoom through the crossing (witnessed this last week, both 'proper' cyclists by the look of their kit/clothing) Also saw a pedestrian aim a kick at a cyclist barging thorugh a packed zebra, can't really say I blame him. What is that saying, when you point a finger at someone else there are four pointing back?

Oh by the way gooby and nasty behaviour by cab drivers I don't defend either but what have I seen hit and injure cyclists almost 100% - vans, and what has 100% killed cyclist in London (what I have the misfortune to come across) - LORRIES

NGale

I had a case of internal road rage today with a cyclist.....he wasn't doing anything wrong, using the cycle lane and I passed him without any problems.

Why the road rage? because the b*****d was out on his bike on a wonderfully sunny day in the South Hams and I was stuck driving a tin can!

I have well and truly gone beyond the point of no return