Dangerous motorists (On or Off Road) - your rants!
KonaKurt
Posts: 720
Sorry to post something so negative, but I think it's time for some rants and stories about bad motorists. Whether on or off road (maybe a 4x4 ?), let off some steam with your rants amd adventures here..!
I'll go first...!
A big thank you to the stupid grey haired plum in his black Range Rover (registration PSU ???) who drove down from Shotover Hill (Oxford) down along Old Road this afternoon. Thank you for not only pulling out from a private driveway somewhere, very suddenly without checking if a cyclist was coming down the hill at a sensable 20ish MPH... but thank you also for looking at me in your mirror over and over again, and deliberatly hitting your brakes suddenly again and again ....
It's quite obvious to me that you don't like cyclists from the way that you kept checking to see if you could make me rear end your tail bar while going downhill. I wish I had my helmet-cam turned on, because your dangerous driving today, not to mention your nerve at provoking a cyclist for no obvious reason, deserves to have your license suspended and a hefty fine.
A good job I decided to descend the steep hill slowly and sensabilly, otherwise this plum would have sent me rocketing through the air to my death, no doubt.
My apologies to any responsible and sensable Range Rover drivers out there...
KK
(I owe my life to my superb Hayes 9 brakes... and keeping my balance)
I'll go first...!
A big thank you to the stupid grey haired plum in his black Range Rover (registration PSU ???) who drove down from Shotover Hill (Oxford) down along Old Road this afternoon. Thank you for not only pulling out from a private driveway somewhere, very suddenly without checking if a cyclist was coming down the hill at a sensable 20ish MPH... but thank you also for looking at me in your mirror over and over again, and deliberatly hitting your brakes suddenly again and again ....
It's quite obvious to me that you don't like cyclists from the way that you kept checking to see if you could make me rear end your tail bar while going downhill. I wish I had my helmet-cam turned on, because your dangerous driving today, not to mention your nerve at provoking a cyclist for no obvious reason, deserves to have your license suspended and a hefty fine.
A good job I decided to descend the steep hill slowly and sensabilly, otherwise this plum would have sent me rocketing through the air to my death, no doubt.
My apologies to any responsible and sensable Range Rover drivers out there...
KK
(I owe my life to my superb Hayes 9 brakes... and keeping my balance)
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VOODOO CANZO
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This is made more tricky when they try to drive into you. :evil:
Basket.
KK.
If you assume everyone driving a car is a complete, myopic numpty you should be reet.
Cheehee
<edited, Damn Northwinds lightning fingers>
Guess it's been a long time since most motorists have been on a bike, so they just see us a a nuisance and show no respect even though we have a right to be there. You could stay on the trails but like me, many folk like to mix their rides with a bit of road riding to link up the off road sections.
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And I had one yesterday with a boozey red faced old codger (who is local) driving a tank of a diesel Merc at speed round similar blind bend single lane road, where by he had no clue as to how wide he was and the distance he left between wall and road. I had no choice but to slam the anchors on (and I'm barely travelling because i know it's a bad blind bend - and so does he) and he actually stopped dead by the side of me and asked if i was all right - like I was the problem. I said I was now you've stopped and I'm waiting for you to go past at reasonable speed.
Apart from those two incidents I've found motorists to be pretty road savvy and aware. Unlike walkers who are, well....let's leave it there.
then yesterday on my cycle to work i was pedalling hard, tyring not to hold up too many cars, i was a good bit in front of the nearest car anyway then the censored in his big BMW beeps his horn at me and out the window, angrily signals for me to move over for him, i had nowhere to go. as he overtook he shouted from his window, didnt quite catch what he said, but i can imagine. further up the road i overtook him.
for example: once i was at traffic lights, they were at red so i was doing a trackstand 8), then as I beat the person in the car behind me off, the line, he beeped his horn at me
That got me annoyed
Another time some noob pulled out of a junction a i was screaming along the road at 20+MPH, I had to slam on the brakes and skidded to a halt. I saw this guy had his window down so I shouted some profanities at him
The first - Riding up a narrow street in Brighton on the way home from work, some chap decided it was a good idea to park in a loading bay and open his car door at the precise moment I rode past. This happens to me a lot and always manage to swerve, but unfortunately at the precise moment he opened his door I had glanced back to check if there was anything coming up behind me. Luckily there wasn't but unlukily I crunched against his door trapping my foot and spinning off my bike onto the tarmac. I've still got a red impact mark on my foot and it happened 6 weeks ago!
The second - This was the closest call I've had other than the above. Shooting down a dual lane street in Brighton at about 20mph when some woman pulled out right in front of me without looking. I hit the brakes and managed to skid and narrowly avoided a collision with the rear end of her car, it would have been nasty. I promptly pulled up beside her at the next set of lights and informed her she's almost knocked me off my bike, she was very apologetic.
The more that these things happen, the easier I find it to spot these people early enough to avoid them!
Russ
i ride on the road but ride as if i am a proper road user, not some c0ck on a bike, i wait my turn in traffic and keep out of the way of traffic, this way no one tries to knock me off and apart from one near miss with a lorry driver, ive had no trouble.
i hate road riders who ride 2 abreast, i wouldnt if they were riding at a sensible speed but riding at 15 miles an hour occupying the whole road round blind bends is annoying as it can be averted by riding in single file.
i hate road riders who think they have right of way when they dont, i was more than prepared to smash into one such individual who made eye contact and rode straght towards me in a trafic calming sytem which would only allow one car to pass and i was there first and had right of way. he quickly saw sense and shfited pretty expertly out of the way.
i very nearly killed a youngster on a road bike today (who suprisingly was fully kitted out in high vis kit) as she pulled across the road as i attempted to overtake her slow censored . she didnt look to see if anything was behind her, its probably only my expert driving training which stopped me from running straight over her and her bike.
this happens all of the time, more than i can remember so although the OP was clearly justified in being pi55ed at the driver in his story, i wonder how many riders who hate "bad drivers" are responsible for their own treatment.
The other side of the story is cyclists on major roads (mostly roadies tbh) who take up a whole lane, and do it at 15 mph. they look behind, see the LONG line of cars behind, then preceed to cycle PAST a layby or junction. That kind of thing really gets on my nipples.
had this happen to me before after a set of trafic lights steared into me but then he sh** him self wen i caught up with him and his mirror fell of by its self.
how i kept my self from lamping the guy i dont know.
Maybe we should all wear more helmet cam's, with yellow warning stickers on the back of our helmets...?"Helmet Cam in operation"? or "I love a courtroom and a good home movie".?
KK
PS: Check out this cycle accident legal specialist, I strongly recommend them! At least someone cares about us!
http://www.bikeline.co.uk/
BUT, as I just said, this doesn't excuse the car drivers of driving stupidly, and dangerously. It does maybe explain some the of the 'irrational' hatred and abuse we recieve.
Sick to the power of rad
Fix it 'till it's broke
Strictly speaking, she shouldn't have to look behind her, so long as she stayed within the lane she was in. She is in front and therefore has priority. The onus is on the overtaking vehicle to make sure it is safe to overtake, not the overtaken vehicle.
The fact that she may have been cycling near the kerb to begin with, is a courtesy she is extending to overtaking vehicles i.e. she is doing YOU the favour, she doesn't have to. In fact, the official recommendation (see Cyclecraft) is to hog the entire lane, if it prevents vehicles from overtaking unsafely. Cycling 2-abreast achieves this automatically, and is entirely legal.
By the time I realise what he's doing I'm along side him and I only just make it through, clipping the kerb with my pedal! I kept my cool but as I've gone past he gives me abuse so I flick him the bird and he then busts a gut to get past me again and once more drives inches from the kerb blocking me off.
I decide I've had enough and this time overtake him on the right handside and pedal off into the distance...
What I'd love to point out to this pr*ck is that I'm actually helping him out by not contributing to the ridiculous amounts of traffic he's currently sat in and that I, like him, am just trying to get to work 8)
It's like most things really 99% of folk are respectful and courteous its just the 1% of morons out there that need a good slapping and unfortunately its those people you here most about.
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You shouldn't be trying to overtake on a blind corner, I would suggest the cyclists in these cases are trying to protect themselves from morons doing exactly this by keeping the traffic behind them.
And if you are quite prepared to smash into a cyclist for whatever reason you should really start to think whether or not you are mentally stable enough to be in charge of any vehicle on or off the road!!
There are always people out there on the road who don't take things seriously or are even aware that they are putting lives in danger. Put your 'expert driving skills' to good use and be happy that you may have helped them to live another day
And why does it matter what they do round blind bends? You 100% should not be overtaking there anyway.
Highway code Section 163 "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car"
Ahh just noticed. 2 abreast is legal, 3 is not.
There you go. Highway code is a handy thing to read. 8)
If it doesn't move and should, use the WD40.
If it shouldn't move and does, use the tape.
Good point, it is legal to ride two abreast................
Guilty. :oops:
I pulled out in front of a car yesterday, I was very lucky not to be hit. Obviously I didn't do it on purpose, I just didn't see him :oops: the driver was rightly very p155ed off.
I've learned a lesson.
Still when I think of all the times I've been on the recieving end, I think I'm owed one.
Yup... Riding 2 abreast can be a valuable defensive riding tool, since it helps stop idiots from squeezing past you in the same lane. But unfortunately it brings out the worst in some cretins, who'll then get angry and possibly do something even more stupid, so it's a useful tool but you need to be very careful with it.