Road rage

Landlocked

Sooo.... cycling along this morning come up to a T junction with a mini round about in it.

car coming from the right but i just get in front of him. So he bibs me.

I give it the "what?" wave to which he obviously takes offence and decides to start swerving.

I go past him on the left he pulls to the left so i go behind him. He turns left so i attempt to go past on the right and tell him to f##k off while behind him.

he stops the car and decides to open his door just as im going past. I kick the door to stop it going into me and my back wheel and cycle off.

He decides to chase me cutting me up doing u turns etc so i cycle along to a police station nearby.

Police woman says for us to just exchange details etc.

I'm not paying for a dent to his door! Worst of all he was a driving instructor!!

Sorry, just needed to vent my frustration somewhere!

STEFANOS4784

Cyclists don't require insurance, anyway you should have stayed calmer. Or battered him and rode off, you can't damage someones property and then turn up the police station and expect sympathy!?!?!?! :roll:

Landlocked

Wouldnt have touched the door if he wasnt trying to whack me with it!!!

STEFANOS4784

Hmmmm, not sure how that would stand up in small claims, learn for next time though to cause the damage then ride off
Glad you didn't come a cropper though, coulda ended a lot worse

redvee

I guess the 'door was damaged as he hit me with it' line is out of the question?

Landlocked

redvee wrote:

I guess the 'door was damaged as he hit me with it' line is out of the question?

Hmmm I guess there is an element of truth to that though!

easyboy

The rules of the road are for every road user this includes bicycles ,i am sure you know that road users must give way to other road uses approaching from the right at junctions
As you said in your post "you just managed to get in front of him"
or am i missing the point here

downfader

easyboy wrote:

The rules of the road are for every road user this includes bicycles ,i am sure you know that road users must give way to other road uses approaching from the right at junctions
As you said in your post "you just managed to get in front of him"
or am i missing the point here

It needs more clarification on what happened, distances to the line etc before anyone jumps to conclusions :? Even if he did cut the guy up the driver should have left it, have a word by all means if he thinks the guy put himself in danger, but you dont use your car as a weapon. :?

skyd0g

downfader wrote:

easyboy wrote:

The rules of the road are for every road user this includes bicycles ,i am sure you know that road users must give way to other road uses approaching from the right at junctions
As you said in your post "you just managed to get in front of him"
or am i missing the point here

It needs more clarification on what happened, distances to the line etc before anyone jumps to conclusions :? Even if he did cut the guy up the driver should have left it, have a word by all means if he thinks the guy put himself in danger, but you dont use your car as a weapon. :?

This is why I hate mini-roundabouts. It is all too easy for one person to be 'on' the roundabout as the other person approaching from the right is still 5/10 yards away. They therefore think that you should have stopped to give-way to them. :?

northstar

car coming from the right but i just get in front of him. So he bibs me.

9 times out of 10 they are just being a arse for the sake of it or because they are in a bad mood or they just don't like cyclists being in "front" of them.

If anyone bibs me and I know i'm doing nothing wrong I just ignore them, which is what they really don't like but deserve.

downfader

northstar wrote:

car coming from the right but i just get in front of him. So he bibs me.

9 times out of 10 they are just being a ars* for the sake of it or because they are in a bad mood or they just don't like cyclists being in "front" of them.

If anyone bibs me and I know i'm doing nothing wrong I just ignore them, which is what they really don't like but deserve.

Exactly.

I got beeped at last year when riding up St Denys road. Poor road surface at the time because a massive puddle had formed so I'm about 20cm from the kerb avoiding that, but that wasnt good enough for the driver behind. Add to that it was nice and wide road near the school and b*gger all else on the road for the time.

As he went past he was trying that evil eyes thing on me, not watching the road ahead. Would have been well funny had he hit a pothole.

wicked

You could (if you have his details) report him to the Driving Standards Agency, he can be removed from the register of approved driving instructors. They will take a dim view of such behaviour.

easyboy

Quote downfader
It needs more clarification on what happened, distances to the line etc before anyone jumps to conclusions Even if he did cut the guy up the driver should have left it, have a word by all means if he thinks the guy put himself in danger, but you dont use your car as a weapon.

i dont think it needs clarification
and i again quote from landlocked's original posting
"car coming from the right but i just get in front of him. So he bibs me".
cyclists do not have right of way over other road users,they are by definition other road users and the same rules apply.
and yes skydOg mini roundabouts must be the worst junctions of all

easyboy

personally i ride about 2 feet from the curb ,if anyone wants to pass then they can
I drive a truck,i drive a car,i ride a sportsbike and i ride 2 bikes (not at the same time though)I am a road user and i watch out for other road users,
when out with my mates we always ride side by side,this is not to annoy,this is so they have to think about passing safely and not barge past venting anger in our direction by going dangerously close

northstar

As he went past he was trying that evil eyes thing on me, not watching the road ahead. Would have been well funny had he hit a pothole. Broken Image: Wink

Oooh i've had the evil eyes before, it makes me laugh, i just smile at them because heck i'm enjoying myself on a lovely ride and they are in a car (though you might find someone who doesn't mind but just think of the fun they could be having using their own legs).

rick_chasey

Next time someone has road rage, blow kisses, don't kick their doors.


Then chuckle at how easily people get angry.

If they're still angry, pretend a little nipple play.


If they still try and assault you, police!

disgruntledgoat

Rick Chasey wrote:

Next time someone has road rage, blow kisses, don't kick their doors.

My usual strategy, just give em a friendly wave. Spread the love, baby.

mroli

If he was a driving instructor, you could have taken his details and just reported him straight away. No excuse for his driving, but it appears from your story as though you pulled out in front of him, failed to apologise, was aggressive to him. That resulted in his aggressive driving (unforgiveable) which was further escalated by you swearing at him and then escalated by further (unforgiveable) driving resulting in damage to his car.

Maybe if you had just apologised for pulling out in front of him, this would never have happened?

Have you reported him?

downfader

The DSA wont care unless you have his ADI number off his triangular badge. Even then you need proof or witnesses.

Easyboy, I stand by what I said. It does need more clarification on how far the driver was from the line when the cyclist took the RAB. To some people the OP could mean 1m from the line, 10m or a cm.

Garry H

The car could not have been that far from him if it was already on the roundabout, it was a mini one. Seems to me as though the op exacerbated an incident that could have been avoided had he just acknowledged the driver. They both would have forgotten about it by now.

andy162

I was in the bunch in an race some years ago. Bloke overtakes said bunch but cuts in sharply nearly knocking off a mate. Said mate explodes in an adrenalin fuelled rage & takes off after van driver....

We all sit in thinking once a suitable telling off has been delivered he'll sit up & rejoin bunch. He carried on like a steam train & won by a f***ing mile! He was an ex Belgium based Elite so definately had the legs for it, but that day road rage won the race!

I'm away to San Remo with him at the weekend & I guarantee this story will surface at least 5 times in 48 hours.

daviesee

First up, using a car as a weapon is never excusable.

But, we need more clarification as I read it, the OP broke one of the first rules of the road.
Never pull out or change lane if it will cause another road user having the right of way to change speed or direction.

Did the OP pulling out cause the driver to change speed or direction?

Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear.
Yellow card to you for the first instance. Red card to the driver for retaliation. (if I read right).

Cunobelin

redvee wrote:

I guess the 'door was damaged as he hit me with it' line is out of the question?

You were mistaken .....

Surely what you meant was "As I was approaching the car he opened the door, I was unsure whether I was going to be able to avoid it and fended myself off using my foot to avoid the collision"

..If of course that is what happened.

zanes

I suspect all that was needed here was a simple hand wave acknowledging "sorry, I've done something stupid". Even if you'd pulled out and were miles away from him it may well of defused the situation. I know it's not ideal (adrenaline, pride etc.) but realistically with a pissed off driver and a cyclist if it really hots up there will only be one winner. Cyclist it will not be.

Unless you do what I did last year, really wind up a van driver (my fault) and then ride the quickest and most aggresive 3/4 of a mile ever and lose him in the local estate through some questionable junction technique.

dilemna

Seems to me you are the author of your own circumstances. What possessed you to pass so close to his vehicle that you risked being hit by his door as he opened it? I would have given him a very wide berth.

You seem to have difficulty with road positioning. Perhaps a little less confrontation might save your life. It's not good to go around provoking people when you are on a bike however aggrieved you feel as you are very vulnerable. The fact that you say he chased you must mean that you had abused him and were trying to lose him but he wouldn't give up. A nasty combination which is only going to end in tears or death ....

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/c ... -23432533/

This terrible story is not a million miles from your situation.

I was over taken on a blind right hand bend today by a pillock in a silver MG (new one) driving too fast and beyond his capabilities. I had clocked him a few times as he approached so knew he was approaching. Unfortunately as he was passing me a car came in the opposite direction and he swerved back toward me. I was forced toward the verge to avoid being run down. I shouted "C-R-A-S-H!" as he squeezed by me. He slams on his brakes 50 feet in front. I continue after him. He sees me going to his rhs to pass so swerves to his right to stop me, so I go to his LHS near side, he swerves his car to the left to try to block me. He has the roof down so shouts "You f*cking dork!" at me. I know there is a car behind watching everything. I shout back "Careful - don't scratch your car ar$ehole!" At which point he gives me a lot more room, fears my bike might make contact with the side of his pimp mobile, swears some more at me, gives me the finger and speeds off. The car waiting patiently behind, a Renault people carrier, the driver gave me a friendly toot and a thumbs up as he passed wide. There are some pyschos on the roads who would as sooner drive over you than pull out to pass you. Another thing the guy in the silver MG reg FK03CNU was a fat c*nt about 55-60 years old, so old as well. A lethal combination IME being fat, old and driving a vehicle.

You need to think smart otherwise you are going to get yourself killed if you are not careful.

sicknote

I think you are aloud too go if you get the round about first if you are on the left but like the mini one near me, alot of people drive too fast up too it and still think you should have given them right of way :roll:

Will have to find my high way code but I am sure that is right and think that might have been the case with the op ( could have it wrong ).

daviesee

Sicknote wrote:

I think you are aloud too go if you get the round about first if you are on the left but like the mini one near me, alot of people drive too fast up too it and still think you should have given them right of way :roll:

Will have to find my high way code but I am sure that is right and think that might have been the case with the op ( could have it wrong ).

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Humour? :?:

owenlars

Mini roundabouts are very simple, you give way to traffic from the right. How much easier can it be?

antfly

The op comes across as a bit arrogant, telling the driver to fcuk off was probably what annoyed him most. These situations can be diffused or aggravated by the cyclist usually.Having said that I might have done the same in the past.

giant_man

wicked wrote:

You could (if you have his details) report him to the Driving Standards Agency, he can be removed from the register of approved driving instructors. They will take a dim view of such behaviour.

+1 - I know I would! Arrogant bar steward ..

antfly

Just as if he`s going to get removed from the register over that. He just needs to say "a cyclist cut me up, told me to fcuk off and kicked my door".