"You don't pay road tax" knobend

MadammeMarie

DonDaddyD wrote:

If the cyclist had tapped on my car I'd be having severe words.

If the van pulled out on me like that I would have had severe words.

However its sometimes hard to judge a cyclists speed - I've been caught out and have caught out people.

Had I been the cyclist I would have tapped the brakes and been prepared to stop as from the video I could tell the van was going to pull out - Hazard awareness.

To be quite honest, I think the van driver saw the cyclist riding fast, pulled out dangerously on purpose and then deliberately slowed down to pi$$ him off. Typical hooligan WV driver!

This reminds me of something I read in Mark Cavendish's book, Boy Racer: team had to train outside the UK because they were driver off the roads many times by the WVM (hounded was the workd Cavendish used). That's really sad. Not only infuriating, but very sad state of affairs.

And to those who commented that riders with helmet cams get into more trouble (what's this, a Daily Mail forum?), that's not true. I have one of those, and I don't get into trouble every day. I did film a few stupid actions, but nothing vicious. And I ride in London!

davis

MadammeMarie wrote:

To be quite honest, I think the van driver saw the cyclist riding fast, pulled out dangerously on purpose and then deliberately slowed down to pi$$ him off. Typical hooligan WV driver!

Stop. Please.

Headhuunter

davis wrote:

MadammeMarie wrote:

To be quite honest, I think the van driver saw the cyclist riding fast, pulled out dangerously on purpose and then deliberately slowed down to pi$$ him off. Typical hooligan WV driver!

Stop. Please.

I have to agree that there is a section of WVM drivers (and some car and taxi drivers) who appear to purposely move across to block cyclists' way through when traffic is dribbling along and you're filtering. I've experienced it a few times and whilst it's not always possible to say without doubt that the driver did it on purpose, sometimes it's pretty obvious.

Surely others here have experienced that drift across the lane to cut you off before? I very rarely, if ever, react as, as pointed out, it's not always possible to say that without doubt that it was done with intention, but often there seems to be no other reason for the driver to move across in front of me...

bails87

Clever Pun wrote:

bails87 wrote:

zanes wrote:

Still, I suppose riding as I would drive (courteously, clearly indicating, holding primary), letting people out of side roads, stopping to ask people broken down if there's anything I can do and generally having a "let most things go" attitude has it's upsides.

I can't see the video, but....
Didn't work for me the other day....

{snip}

I may have lost my composure a little by the end :oops:

The "you kiss you child with that mouth?" will always make them think a little

To be honest, I was just turning off onto the towpath, so could quite easily have booted the side of the car, or removed the wing mirror, only to dash off towards the canal and vanish! But I'm not that kind of person

notsoblue

MadammeMarie wrote:

And to those who commented that riders with helmet cams get into more trouble (what's this, a Daily Mail forum?), that's not true. I have one of those, and I don't get into trouble every day. I did film a few stupid actions, but nothing vicious. And I ride in London!

I often ride with one myself. I don't think helmet cam riders get into more trouble per se, but I do think that you're more likely to get into a situation that escalates like that if you feel you have it all recorded on SD card. It does change your attitude to minor incidents like that. Or that might just be me and my frailties :P

joebatz

What a complete bloody idiot.

ride_whenever

Something like this goes through the thin aluminium on the size of a van really quite easily...


Just putting it out there.

In my opinion both the rider and the van occupants were obnoxious, the rider clearly inflames the driver and the driver is clearly a small willied ponce.

The only time hitting a vehicle is sensible is when they clearly haven't seen you. In this case he clearly had and was driving like an ass, so of course it is going to inflame you. The two instances I've hit cars it has been when the driver hasn't seen me or is attempting to pull into me whilst still alongside. In both instances they immediately slammed on the brakes and apologised.

DonDaddyD

ride_whenever wrote:

Something like this goes through the thin aluminium on the size of a van really quite easily...


Just putting it out there.

Joke or not, that is one f*cking stupid suggestion.

MadammeMarie

davis wrote:

MadammeMarie wrote:

To be quite honest, I think the van driver saw the cyclist riding fast, pulled out dangerously on purpose and then deliberately slowed down to pi$$ him off. Typical hooligan WV driver!

Stop. Please.

I won't.

El Diego

Do people with helmet cams intentionally avoid taking evasive action in order to make a point? A vast majority of clips displaying bad driving seem like the incidents could be avoided, with a bit of anticipation.

I'm not denying that the driving is bad, however cars are large, potentially lethal and frequently piloted by idiots, so avoidance should take priority over making an example of bad driving.

The Rookie

And the side of most bodies (as opposed to chassis cab with 'luton style body) is steel anyway!

The van was obviously pulling out, obvious from teh moment you could see it, yes it was a littl;e cheeky, but in excercising reasonable care a driver only has to make sure another road user doens't have to take avoising action, and lifting off a throttle 9stopping pedal) is not deemed as such.
See van, ease off, touch of brake maybe, safe and no situation developing, rider 'started it' van driver reacted badly.

Simon

thistle_

White vans pulling out in front of cyclists is a problem and happens to me a lot.

But white vans pull out in front of me when I'm driving my car and I have to brake hard to avoid a collision.

Lorries, cars and motorbikes pull out in front of me too (and the odd cyclist and pedestrian).

White vans also frequently move over (left or right as appropriate) to stop you over/undertaking them - as do cars, lorries etc. Cars also do it to other cars when there's a left turning lane at a junction and they don't like people to passing them on the inside.

I've only had one or two confrontations on the bike, I try to avoid them. But I've also had confrontations in the car....


It's just the general state of things on the roads in this country.

Mithras

Dangerous driving and common assault just for starters....

Anyone know if he has reported this to Hants Police...If not I know somebody who would be very interested!

Kieran_Burns

Mithras wrote:

Dangerous driving and common assault just for starters....

Anyone know if he has reported this to Hants Police...If not I know somebody who would be very interested!

It says he has on the comments....

The Rookie

And I suspect the Police will decide the rider 'started it' and take no action...along the lines of John Prescott punching the guy who threw an egg at him.....

Simon

rjsterry

El Diego wrote:

Do people with helmet cams intentionally avoid taking evasive action in order to make a point? A vast majority of clips displaying bad driving seem like the incidents could be avoided, with a bit of anticipation.

I'm not denying that the driving is bad, however cars are large, potentially lethal and frequently piloted by idiots, so avoidance should take priority over making an example of bad driving.

The quiet uneventful journeys probably don't get posted. Not much of a market for 'Here's my route to work - nothing happened' videos on Youtube.

MadammeMarie

rjsterry wrote:

The quiet uneventful journeys probably don't get posted. Not much of a market for 'Here's my route to work - nothing happened' videos on Youtube.

There are lots of those in the helmet cam thread, especially at the beginning.

Bikerbaboon

The Beginner wrote:

And I suspect the Police will decide the rider 'started it' and take no action...along the lines of John Prescott punching the guy who threw an egg at him.....

Simon

Prescott threw a punch not a tonne of steel. ( not sayting that the rider was right as he did ride in to it)

El Diego

rjsterry wrote:

El Diego wrote:

Do people with helmet cams intentionally avoid taking evasive action in order to make a point? A vast majority of clips displaying bad driving seem like the incidents could be avoided, with a bit of anticipation.

I'm not denying that the driving is bad, however cars are large, potentially lethal and frequently piloted by idiots, so avoidance should take priority over making an example of bad driving.

The quiet uneventful journeys probably don't get posted. Not much of a market for 'Here's my route to work - nothing happened' videos on Youtube.

I appreciate that but many of the clips displaying bad driving are also demonstrations of bad riding.

Mc Smiley

Rider didn't have to bang but you can understand there wasn't a gap and he had to slow down. You fail your driving test for causing another road user to slow down when pulling out.

However the driver shouldn't have pulled over aggressively twice and chucked a bottle.
Blame on both sides but I'm going to go with over-reaction caused by shocking driving.

If I get pulled across on, often people apologise, or I kindly to ask to watch more carefully for cyclists.

The road tax one always goes down well not, but frankly if they already pulled out on you they probably won't understand it anyway.

dexradio

Seems to me that whole incident could have been avoided at the earliest stages of it developing.

That said, no excuse for the van driver to make a space to "bait" the guy up the inside and then have a shouting match about road tax. And then for him to encroach on him is a bit "sick".

I'm resigned to the fact that I have to ride defensively and whether or not you feel you are in the right or not, getting into a fight with any vehicle means you're likely to lose if it all goes wrong. And usually I have no issues whatsoever on the road, although I don't commute in a city environment (used to years ago so I do know the challenges).

Van driver is a pratt, no dispute with that, but I meet lots of pratts during the day whether on the bike or in the office.

Dex.

Clever Pun

MadammeMarie wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

The quiet uneventful journeys probably don't get posted. Not much of a market for 'Here's my route to work - nothing happened' videos on Youtube.

There are lots of those in the helmet cam thread, especially at the beginning.

Exactly, no one remembers the good/nondescript journeys

rich_e

I've had my fair share of altercations, but in my experience the one thing that will really wind any motorist up and they won't back down however wrong they are is if you touch their vehicle.

I was sat in an ASL last year, when a rather rotund woman in a big Merc was slowly creeping forward into it. She was smoking and looking out the drivers side window, oblivious to the fact that she was creeping forward into me.

I felt her bumper touch my rear wheel, at which point I had to half try and drag my bike to the side out of the way. At the same time I pounded my fist on her bonnet a couple of times. She immediately span around and went mental, not once realizing the fact that she wasn't paying attention to the road and had nearly knocked me off my bike. The other cyclists waiting also pointed out what an idiot she was, but she still kept swearing at me.

In all my time on the road, I've only once had one person apologize to me, which was a van driver who pulled into the cycle lane I was in without looking. He really apologized when I came alongside him. Everyone else I've ever had an altercation with, be it a pedestrian, driver or motorcyclist is usually nothing more than a waste of time, as they won't back down. You are best off uttering some obscenities and leaving it at that.

tom101

in my experience the one thing that will really wind any motorist up and they won't back down however wrong they are is if you touch their vehicle.

True that. Even if it's the most dent ridden $200 piece of rusty sh*t on the planet, with the slightest touch the person inside turns into a barely evolved neanderthal squawking in almost incoherent rage, usually starting with the oh-so-original "YOU TOUCH MY F*CKING CAR AND.....". I swear most people would be less displeased if you smacked their own mother instead of their precious automobile.

Why is that?

There must be some psychological reason. Off the top of my head something like that they feel all warm and secure inside their little metal and glass bubble and the feeling gets ruined by outside interference.

Robstar24

i've had people apologise to me a couple of times for cutting me up, and i usually just give them the thumbs up and a smile, rather than a load of grief, i reckon it might make them think next time that a cyclist is a person rather than some ball of rage who will explode if they go too near them.

and i've only really had abuse twice, for fairly minor reasons, but the people giving it were morons.

greg66_tri_v2.0

tom101 wrote:

in my experience the one thing that will really wind any motorist up and they won't back down however wrong they are is if you touch their vehicle.

True that. Even if it's the most dent ridden $200 piece of rusty sh*t on the planet, with the slightest touch the person inside turns into a barely evolved neanderthal squawking in almost incoherent rage, usually starting with the oh-so-original "YOU TOUCH MY F*CKING CAR AND.....". I swear most people would be less displeased if you smacked their own mother instead of their precious automobile.

Why is that?

There must be some psychological reason. Off the top of my head something like that they feel all warm and secure inside their little metal and glass bubble and the feeling gets ruined by outside interference.

For a lot of people their car is their second most valuable possession.

Or, for a different perspective, how would you react if someone gave your top tube a tap-tap as they went past?

el_presidente

Rich_E wrote:

IYou are best off uttering some obscenities and leaving it at that.

this is my philosophy to life in general

tom101

how would you react if someone gave your top tube a tap-tap as they went past?

I'd be a bit surprised and probably say 'Hey!' or something like that, which would be the same if someone slapped my car, or my most valuable possession, my house, after all, it would be quite difficult for someone to damage any of these things with their hand.

What I would definitely not do, is think it gave me carte blanche to go absolutely crazy and start screaming threats and obsenities all over the place. But then I'm not a particularly aggressive person. Why, how would you react?

AndyManc

El Diego wrote:

Do people with helmet cams intentionally avoid taking evasive action in order to make a point? A vast majority of clips displaying bad driving seem like the incidents could be avoided, with a bit of anticipation.

I'm not denying that the driving is bad, however cars are large, potentially lethal and frequently piloted by idiots, so avoidance should take priority over making an example of bad driving.

The onus is on the motorist to take extra care with vulnerable road users.

All cyclists have varying skill and fitness levels, ages range from pre-teen to octogenarian (and older), all are subjected to appalling road surfaces and weather conditions, all those in killing machines need to apply extreme caution, most do not, it's not up to cyclists to rely on their avoidance techniques.


.

greg66_tri_v2.0

tom101 wrote:

how would you react if someone gave your top tube a tap-tap as they went past?

I'd be a bit surprised and probably say 'Hey!' or something like that, which would be the same if someone slapped my car, or my most valuable possession, my house, after all, it would be quite difficult for someone to damage any of these things with their hand.

What I would definitely not do, is think it gave me carte blanche to go absolutely crazy and start screaming threats and obscenities all over the place. But then I'm not a particularly aggressive person. Why, how would you react?

Well, on quite on point, but close. When we used to live in North London, our area was plagued by chav-shite-scum who rode around at speed on stolen mopeds. Plod had standing instructions not to try to give chase, because it was too dangerous. So you can imagine how that worked out over time.

One evening riding home, I was "buzzed" by a group of them who came in pretty close. The last one past slowed and gave me a patronising back on the back, just a *little* too hard, and sped off up the road.

How did I react? I went ab-sol-fcuking-lutely ballistic*. I pretty well popped a nut trying to catch them, and were it not for the fact that they generally went the wrong side of islands when the traffic was tight, and ignored Give Way junctions, I might have do so before they got the other side of a traffic lit junction that caught me on red.

Quite what I would have done had I caught them I hadn't planned. I suspect it would have involved a doomed attempt to start a fight with some kids wearing full face crash helmets, probably carrying knives, whilst I sported frictionless-soled bike shoes and some lycra clothing.

I count myself, this notwithstanding, both before and after this incident, as a very physically unaggressive person. So it's easy to say how you think you would react, but it's not much of a marker as to how you will react.



* I should point out that they - by which I mean this brand of scum, and not these particular scum as far as I could tell - had twice previously run into my car causing on each occasion a good few hundred quid of gratuitous damage, including once while it was parked in our road. So you could say I bore an animus towards them, I suppose...