Does this wind you up?

fatbloke8

Not technically a commute but did happen yesterday afternoon while I was on bike working delivering some letters in my local area (I'm not a postman btw)

Typical residential road with cars parked on one side of road (clear my side). Believe highway code states that if there is an obstruction on your side of the road you have to wait for traffic coming the opposite way to clear before proceeding?... maybe I'm working from an out of date publication.

4x4 approaching from opposite direction ignores me (who is already threading his way past parked cars) and just swings out into my path. No major drama but did not like ending up in gutter to prevent collision. Said to the guy i'll C him next tuesday and carried on.

Why does this wind me up so much :x am I the only one ?

always_tyred

No, you are not the only one. I have been known to simply make cars that do this stop, and point out where the centre of the road is.

I obviously do this politely. :shock:

blu3cat

no, winds me up as well. It's just inconsiderate. Happens regularly to me.

Don't forget that if you are in a 4x4 you ALWAYS have right of way.

Paulie W

It frightens me how often, when I've taken a stand and tried to 'enforce' my right of way in such a situation by taking up a prominent position, the driver still comes straight at me, making me get into the gutter.

Landlocked

Drives me mad.

There's a width restriction on my commute with one way having priority over the other.

You always get some muppet thinking that you dont count as traffic and just goes straight through.

roger_merriman

my wifes had that with one way cycle paths and other bikes, to the extent of just stopping and pointing to the ruddy great direction arrows.....

Aidy

It would annoy me if the 4x4 driver moved out far beyond what he/she needed to. And also if they swung right into my path, actually.

But really there's normally plenty of room for a bike and a car to get past each other, even on quite narrow sections - I think consideration all around is needed.

ride_whenever

I've had that, but at the end of the day they aren't going to hit you, purely because of the enormous cost of fixing dents.

Plus, worst comes to the worse you can run -free-running style over the top of the car... 8)

downfader

I've had that a LOT today. And I mean 8 or 9 times each way and it really started to hack me off. There simply wasnt the space for them, and I was also heading uphill on the correct side of the road but they still barge in

BUNCH OF &*(^*&$ "£$%!@#£ !!!!!! :x

I swear to god I will get a set of smoke grenades and throw them through their open window oneday. :roll: Shouting warnings at them doesnt seem to work, everyone is in cuckoo land today. :roll:

salsajake

My understanding is that if the car is already passing the parked cars before you arrive, you should wait, as you have come across the hazard, so its not really about which side of the road is clear and which is not (which is what most people think, and I thought before I did the IAM test). If someone pulls out to pass cars and makes themselves a hazard because you have nowhere to go, then you have every right to be mad!

downfader

salsajake wrote:

My understanding is that if the car is already passing the parked cars before you arrive, you should wait, as you have come across the hazard, so its not really about which side of the road is clear and which is not (which is what most people think, and I thought before I did the IAM test). If someone pulls out to pass cars and makes themselves a hazard because you have nowhere to go, then you have every right to be mad!

In my case I was already well on my way before they'd arrived, which is why I was/am particularly p***ed off with it.

salsajake

downfader wrote:

salsajake wrote:

My understanding is that if the car is already passing the parked cars before you arrive, you should wait, as you have come across the hazard, so its not really about which side of the road is clear and which is not (which is what most people think, and I thought before I did the IAM test). If someone pulls out to pass cars and makes themselves a hazard because you have nowhere to go, then you have every right to be mad!

In my case I was already well on my way before they'd arrived, which is why I was/am particularly p***ed off with it.

I know how you feel. I increasingly get less mad at what I see on the road though, because very little surprises me now and I know that getting angry is only usually likely to make a situation worse. A bit of adrenaline often speeds up the next session too! Would have been good if you could engineer a stand off and get him to reverse back down the road, but not worth the risk of him not having seen you/changing radio station/sending a text etc etc and driving straight over you

MrChuck

salsajake wrote:

My understanding is that if the car is already passing the parked cars before you arrive, you should wait, as you have come across the hazard, so its not really about which side of the road is clear and which is not (which is what most people think, and I thought before I did the IAM test). If someone pulls out to pass cars and makes themselves a hazard because you have nowhere to go, then you have every right to be mad!

It's common courtesy & consideration if nothing else. Somehow I'm still surprised every time someone does it!

nielsamd

Landlocked wrote:

Drives me mad.

There's a width restriction on my commute with one way having priority over the other.

You always get some muppet thinking that you dont count as traffic and just goes straight through.

+1 (in terms of it happening to me). Doesn't even matter if you are in primary position with right of way. You are merely a bike. Get out of the way. They think.

fossyant

I had this on a training run last year, but the road wasn't wide, and the 4x4 was completely on my side.....did I stop...nope. Made him stop and then I shot down the side of him. :twisted:

Fireblade96

Grr...don't get me started on this one!
Coming home the other afternoon, a similar situation arose. A car coming the other way decided to barge through in spite of the fact that I was already in the gap left by parked cars on *their* side of the road. I had anticipated this would happen, was prepared for their action, so I pulled in to the kerb (nearly had to mount the footpath to leave enough space), stopped, unclipped, and waited for at least a wave of thanks.....and what did I get ? Nothing, she did the "you're on a bike so although I forced you to pull over and stop I'm not even going to acknowledge your existence" thing. "Thank you", I shouted loudly after her.....

Middle-aged people nowadays :roll: no manners at all !

chuckcork

I wouldn't mind it so much if the drivers didn't give at least 3 feet of clearance to the cars they're passing and leave less than 2 foot of road and gutter for me to avoid them, sometimes not even that.

oscarbudgie

+1

Absolutely hate it and it happens a lot. Drivers don't even seem to realise they've done anything wrong most of the time - even when treated to what I imagine is my most withering look. A squirt of sticky drink on their window as they pass can be effective but make sure you've got an escape route ...

fatbloke8

downfader wrote:

salsajake wrote:

My understanding is that if the car is already passing the parked cars before you arrive, you should wait, as you have come across the hazard, so its not really about which side of the road is clear and which is not (which is what most people think, and I thought before I did the IAM test). If someone pulls out to pass cars and makes themselves a hazard because you have nowhere to go, then you have every right to be mad!

In my case I was already well on my way before they'd arrived, which is why I was/am particularly p***ed off with it.

Me too was inbetween the first & second parked car when it happenned guy pulled straight out whilst I was negotiating the Hazard

Edit: I take some comfort from the fact that it happens to other people and we share the same raw nerve ..... but it still doesn't make it right !