Revenge on aggresive drivers?

jonny_trousers

Of course it is utterly stupid to think in terms of getting your own back on aggressive drivers and I would never advocate doing so (I may, or may not, have my fingers crossed as I type), but why don't more people do it?

It's so-far-so-good for me as any altercations I have had have been rather mild, but having watched a few helmetcam vids here, I can't help but think revenge would be completely justified.

Let's face it, most cyclists will be fitter, stronger and faster than your average white van man (no offence to the few WVM who drive intelligently) so why let them get away with trying to cause you serious harm (by swerving into you they may not actually plan to hurt you, but you don't need to be a genius to realise that the results could be catastrophic)? A screwdriver down the paintwork as you pass them in traffic? A dash of paint stripper across the bonnet when next you see them? Surely this must happen?

Like I say, I am a pretty passive guy, and I do not advocate breaking the law, but if someone tried to run me off the road then I would certainly be looking for a little vengeance.

UndercoverElephant

<= LGFSS This way.

D-Lock the lot of them.

WesternWay

Very silly move to pick a fight like that while your opponent is encased in a big metal box with an engine whilst you are pedalling on exposed in my opinion.

Best to try and maintain a calmness and not let them get to you.

N.B. This does not mean I have not had a driver out of his car, nose to nose yelling at each other in the pouring rain, in a far from calm manner, but I try.

el_presidente

Confucius say:

"The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm."

mats

long story short ! I tried to drag a guy out a car once, screaming girlfriend, yadda yadda.
and to be honest once it was all over I just felt a little stupid. I no longer cycle on the road ......the pavements are much safer!

roger_merriman

can't say I've ever had a shouting match etc, though did smile to my self as the lorry that attempted to squeeze into the lane I was in, was about 100 yards behind me. ended up in the wrong lane for the junction, but thats about as far as it goes for me.

HamishD

mats wrote:

long story short ! I tried to drag a guy out a car once, screaming girlfriend, yadda yadda.
and to be honest once it was all over I just felt a little stupid. I no longer cycle on the road ......the pavements are much safer!

Grow up, on both counts mate . . . :roll:

Unless, of course, you're taking the p1ss, in cwhich case - hook, line and sinker!

Gussio

I would like to wish a plague of locusts on the driver of a black Golf along the King's Road this morning. He was right to look concerned after coming within a cat's whisker of clipping me.

Is this the new rants thread...?

Headhuunter

I've yelled at drivers, pedestrians and other cyclists now and then (some woman on a BSO pulled out in front of me from a left turn this very morning without the slightest look for traffic.... I shouted "watch out" as I slammed the brakes on and then she noticed me and apologised).

I'm trying not too vocalise my road rage these days although it's hard to hold it in sometimes... I've banged on car or van doors, or bonnets to make myself known but never actually caused physical harm or damage.

VespaTrek

Going across roundabout on north side of Richmond bridge going east from Richmond centre, taxi comes across the bridge from our right and pulls up to drop people off (on the fkin roundabout), reverses slightly and my son and I just about manage to avoid going into the back of him. I bang on the roof as we pass by and call him a ^&*(^&*( ^&^&*(.

He catches us up going up Richmond Hill and asks what the problem is and we have a shouting match where I try to explain that he stopped on the roundabout and nearly caused a 10 year old to go into the back of him, but wait a minute he's a taxi driver and has to drop people off. Cue more %^&%&^ ^&&^* ^&*( from me and the cnt sped off.

Is it legal to stop on a roundabout? Did I over-react?

SimonLyons

The more times I swear/feel aggression on my journey the smaller I feel once I arrive at my destination.

I try to keep a feeling of inner balance and ride defensively(not timidly) to keep me on the road over a longer period. Know your limitations and expect the worst of everybody else - cars, lorries, pedestrians, bike riders.

kelsen

el_presidente wrote:

Confucius say:

"The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm."

Confucious also say:

"Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways is going to Bangkok"

roger_merriman

thats one of the reasons I go by bike I can take a nice serene ride though the park etc, I don't have to ride though the town center. Why bother to go though all that stop start traffic?

Kieran_Burns

I ONCE exacted revenge on a bad driver. Arsewipe in Merc and horseface braying wife who took great amusement in cutting me up deliberately and near sending into a wall.

They were not so amused when they were subsequently stuck in traffic and II scraped my metal pedal down the rear wing, rear passenger door, front passenger door and front wing. I *really* dug the pedal in as well so can only imagine what the repair cost was.

This was over 20 years ago, and I have since adopted a much more Zen like approach to cycling (I do also admit to a cheeky wave and smile as I belted off leaving them stuck helplessly at the lights)

I now tend to curse under my breath or make sure the unobservant driver is aware of my presence when occasion demands.

glauciaregina9

I tend to take the view that 'dangerous' motorists generally fall into two groups:

1) those that deliberately and intentionally drive dangerously toward cyclists
2) those that are just bad drivers and make silly decisions etc

Shouting and ranting at group 1) will make no difference to them as they've clearly got deep-seated issues with bikes, and you're more likely to incite further aggression toward yourself.

Group 2) will generally be apologetic or just embarassed when they realise. Let's faceit: people make mistakes. A polite chat or gesture along with a parting smile works for me.


In any case, I would never advocate taking any kind of 'revenge'

Rightly or wrongly, cyclists already have enough of a negative perception, so reacting inappropriately just fuels this, and gives motorists more reason to resent us.

cee

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Let's face it, most cyclists will be fitter, stronger and faster than your average white van man (no offence to the few WVM who drive intelligently) so why let them get away with trying to cause you serious harm

In other news...people who cycle to work are generally desk jockeys, whilst people who drive vans are more likely to have a more physical job....

In general...which group would you really put money on in a head-to-head?

suzyb

cee wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Let's face it, most cyclists will be fitter, stronger and faster than your average white van man (no offence to the few WVM who drive intelligently) so why let them get away with trying to cause you serious harm

In other news...people who cycle to work are generally desk jockeys, whilst people who drive vans are more likely to have a more physical job....

In general...which group would you really put money on in a head-to-head?

In a stand up fight, van drivers ftw.

In a kick in the privates and make a run for it, I'd bet on the cyclist.

mtb-idle

I avoid getting angry, it's really not worth it. As already mentioned you are the one with no protection and they are the one in a half ton piece of metal capable of 100mph.

Mainly I feel that it's just so many bulls running around looking for a red flag.

mroli

Fighting in cleats. Impossible. Also, what good is it going to do? If you just calmly get on with your life rather than effing and blinding and assaulting, things are likely to be better for all road users - rather than provoking escalating conflict...

Eau Rouge

glauciaregina9 wrote:

1) those that deliberately and intentionally drive dangerously toward cyclists
2) those that are just bad drivers and make silly decisions etc

I am way more scared of group 2 when I cycle. Group 1 won't actually want to hit you and know exactly where you are. Group 2 are the ones that are going to kill you.

wordnumb

There's no excuse for raising your voice or acting violently when a driver almost kills you. All it takes is a quiet word at the driver's window - then reach in, nab the key from the ignition, lob it somewhere inaccessable, and ride off laughing.

Bikerbaboon

Eau Rouge wrote:

glauciaregina9 wrote:

1) those that deliberately and intentionally drive dangerously toward cyclists
2) those that are just bad drivers and make silly decisions etc

I am way more scared of group 2 when I cycle. Group 1 won't actually want to hit you and know exactly where you are. Group 2 are the ones that are going to kill you.

+ loads.

Blond women are atracted to me :shock: they must be as 2 of them have put me in hospital in the last few years both did not see me and pulled out from a left hand junction. One even said it was my fault as she did not even know what direction i was traveling in at the time of the crash... well the dent is in your right front wing love.

sorry mate did not see you. does not make broken bones heal quicker or hurt less.

jonny_trousers

I will just add that I completely agree that the Zen approach is the better approach in general. It was just having watched the helmetcam video here of that silver van deliberately waiting for the cyclist to come alongside on the left and then swerving inwards that made me think people like that deserve retribution. Sure, it's best if it comes from the police or their employer, but I would not have been shocked if that particular cyclist had found himself dragging his keys down the side of the van at some later date.

I really am only referring to the tiny percentage of deliberately aggressive drivers.

WesternWay

glauciaregina9 wrote:

1) those that deliberately and intentionally drive dangerously toward cyclists
2) those that are just bad drivers and make silly decisions etc

The problem is that some of those in group 1 are also in group 2

tgotb

Best revenge I ever got on a dangerous driver was to fill in this form:
https://secure.met.police.uk/roadsafelondon/

Got a nice email a couple of days later to say that the police had written to the driver and recorded the incident in their "system"...

Has many advantages over direct action, not least of which is that the police should filter out cases where the cyclist was partly to blame.

AndyManc

Get a headcam, use footage to report to the police , upload to you-tube, report to their employer, whatever most approrpriate.

There must be an insurance organisation you can report the antics of these idiots to, I'm sure a massive increase in premiums would go some way to 'revenge'.


.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

I will just add that I completely agree that the Zen approach is the better approach in general. It was just having watched the helmetcam video here of that silver van deliberately waiting for the cyclist to come alongside on the left and then swerving inwards that made me think people like that deserve retribution.

Listen to that footage at 17-19 seconds. That's the sound of the cyclist walloping the side of the van. Context (but not justification, obv) for what follows.

AndyManc wrote:

Get a headcam, use footage to report to the police , upload to you-tube, report to their employer, whatever most approrpriate.

Footage that shows a cyclist hitting a vehicle and then the driver driving like an arse may not be top of the upload list, however.

zanes

Greg66 wrote:

Footage that shows a cyclist hitting a vehicle and then the driver driving like an ars* may not be top of the upload list, however.

Which then means the uploader will just "accidentally" edit out them hitting the vehicle.

And people are surprised when the rozzers don't grab this footage and jump up and down on the driver with it :roll:

jonny_trousers

Greg66 wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

I will just add that I completely agree that the Zen approach is the better approach in general. It was just having watched the helmetcam video here of that silver van deliberately waiting for the cyclist to come alongside on the left and then swerving inwards that made me think people like that deserve retribution.

Listen to that footage at 17-19 seconds. That's the sound of the cyclist walloping the side of the van. Context (but not justification, obv) for what follows.

AndyManc wrote:

Get a headcam, use footage to report to the police , upload to you-tube, report to their employer, whatever most approrpriate.

Footage that shows a cyclist hitting a vehicle and then the driver driving like an ars* may not be top of the upload list, however.

Can't really agree with this. It looks to me as though he slaps his hand against the van as it is pulling very dangerously (and I suspect intentionally) into the curb. It could easily be explained as the cyclist warning the driver that he was there, not as an act of agression.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

I will just add that I completely agree that the Zen approach is the better approach in general. It was just having watched the helmetcam video here of that silver van deliberately waiting for the cyclist to come alongside on the left and then swerving inwards that made me think people like that deserve retribution.

Listen to that footage at 17-19 seconds. That's the sound of the cyclist walloping the side of the van. Context (but not justification, obv) for what follows.

AndyManc wrote:

Get a headcam, use footage to report to the police , upload to you-tube, report to their employer, whatever most approrpriate.

Footage that shows a cyclist hitting a vehicle and then the driver driving like an ars* may not be top of the upload list, however.

Can't really agree with this. It looks to me as though he slaps his hand against the van as it is pulling very dangerously (and I suspect intentionally) into the curb. It could easily be explained as the cyclist warning the driver that he was there, not as an act of agression.

In that case, may I suggest an urgent trip to Specsavers?

Rider shouts as the van driver begins to pull out. Rider comes up the inside and taps. Driver pulls across onto the zig zags and brakes to a stop.

Although you can't really hear the first thing the driver says, it's likely to be "what's your problem?", as the cyclist says "your driving".

Pretty obvious the cyclist was trying to dispense a telling off by hitting the van. He had plenty of room on the inside until his tap-tap resulted in the driver closing the door.

cyclingmev

before you get the wrong idea, i'm usually a very calm, chilled out bird...but if wronged whilst out cycling, i become a bit hulk-esque, not in the ripping off of ones cycling kit or turning green, just the lack of anger management type stuff...not good, considering i'm only a wee girly and only have my trusty Trek as a means of escape. Don't think i ride dangerously or badly, just the drivers around this neck of the woods have probably never even seen a bike, never mind actually ridden one..so, have slapped a land rovers side as it was queuing in traffic across the cycle lane...gesticulated at contractor white van drivers (usually scaffolders, bizarrely), sworn at pedestrians stepping off pavements and into my path, almost thrown my water bottle at a car, had a confrontation with a knob of a driver who pulled out at a roundabout at me, shouted at a tractor driver who pulled out at a junction in front of me, don't even MENTION volvo or BMW drivers....i just think, one day, Karma will get 'em.....sweet..