how far do you go with road rage?

SimonAH

I'm a pretty big bloke and 'the glare' works quite well.

Had a good one yesterday when a white van with three blokes in it did the "what fun it is to sneak up behind a cyclist and then blast the horn" witty jape. I have to admit to a minor 'jump' but as I knew they were there it was pretty minor - but the immediate looks of 'oops' that I got when I came up off the drops and glared at the numties in the cab was worth it. 8)

Kieran_Burns

Headhuunter wrote:

....Or if it's summer and you're REALLY p*ssed off, through their open car window onto them and/or the upholstery...

Spitting at someone is assault - so you'd best be careful about doing that.

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q145.htm

Headhuunter

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

....Or if it's summer and you're REALLY p*ssed off, through their open car window onto them and/or the upholstery...

Spitting at someone is assault - so you'd best be careful about doing that.

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q145.htm

I've never actually done it, it was just a thought. I generally gesticulate or yell...

pastasauce

When I first started commuting i took offence to every little niggle and got quite argy bargy about it all.

Now it takes quite a lot to annoy me but even then I try and just move on.

Its just not worth it.

jrduquemin

damo010 wrote:

thanks for the replies,

the point about it nearly killing you is what gets me so much, how can they say of hand "well you don't pay road tax" as if it matters when your in hospital fight for your life and if we did would they then drive differently?

i got so feed up with dick drivers that i sold my road bike to focus on the MTB but i miss getting in a few road miles and its always these miles which seam to be the most dangerous.

i'm a very mellow guy but i too feel thats its just a matter of time before i end up hitting some one and that thought does not sit well with me but i don;t want to stop doing something i like due to others.

any one know where i can get a tazer gun? :oops:

Go to Andorra, they sell stun guns in electrical shops all over the place. I saw them for as little as €30. just be careful trying to get it back into the country ;-)

Alphabet

i just usually let out an incomprehensible yell and unleash the glare.

a guy at my work is a fairly aggressive cyclist, buzzing people who aren't looking when they cross the road and belting through tiny gaps - the usual dangerous stupid stuff (no RLJ though, strangely). a BMW cut him up twice on the Bromley bypass so he leant in the window at the lights, grappeb the keys and chucked them in a bush before cycling off. i quite like this idea, so long as you can disappear before they get going again

desweller

Take down their registration, find their address and kidnap their first born. Bring him/her up as a cycling advocate, attending Critical Mass and teaching Bikeability and the Way Of Cyclecraft. When the youth wins his or her first race, take them back to their estranged parent and say, 'Look at what you might have become has I not intervened.'




Too much?

MadammeMarie

Bacteria Man wrote:

Having said that I do occasionally fantasise about pulling up to the driver's side and throwing a d-lock through the window before doing a 180 and speeding off into a nearby alleyway.

Same here, but in my fantasy, D-lock has a bomb inside that explodes upon contact with the tw@t's face!

tarquin_foxglove

I've lost my temper twice, first time is described here... and the second was with a lorry that overtook on a NSL road about foot from me & gave me a massive blast on his horn as he went past. A transit van following the lorry, brushed me with his wing mirror as he went past.

The next set of lights were changing & the lorry went through on red but I caught up with the transit van & he was most apologetic, he was following the lorry 'possibly too closely', couldn't see me & because of the lorry's road position hadn't altered his course accordingly & was really sorry, glad I was unhurt etc. I accepted his apology & moved on.

The lorry got through a 2nd set of lights before I caught up with him stuck in traffic about 1.5 miles from the initial incident.

I went to ask him what that was all about and before l could speak, he was shouting 'I did it to give you a fright as you shouldn't be on the road unless you pay 'road tax' & have insurance'; I was lost for a counter argument but not for words. At the end I went to knock his wing mirror out of place to annoy him, but it didn't move like a car mirror & it snapped at the bottom & broke the mirror.

He really lost it then & went forward a few feet and while swerving towards me on the right, I got out of the way and then he began to open his door, so I thought it was time to go and I rode past him & away.

With hindsight, I should have just got his reg, got the details of the transit driver as a witness and submitted a complaint to the police/his employer.

By having it out with him cyclists are the losers; as the car drivers won't have known what it was about & will think it was another loony cyclist getting away with criminal damage, he'll continue to think cyclists are scum and I'm concerned about riding that road again as Durham isn't that big.

Next time, I'm definitely going to keep my cool for the team...

prawny

I waved my arm at someone the other day, that's about as het up as I get. It was an artic that squeezed me going towards a traffic calming island, I thought I was done for so I was justified in waving.

Apart from that I'm usually placid, as long as I'm not hurt or worse i'd rather not risk the bother, I saw a chap in a BMW ram someone on my way to work once because they beeped their horm at him - nutters in brum.

Specialized Needs

RichardSwt wrote:

When I was younger I used to get so angry and take retaliation.

Now I'm older I've learnt that although very satisfying to take revenge it could get you in a lot of trouble and normally isn't worth the risk.

Tactics that have proved effective in the past though -

1. Bending wing mirrors, not damaging, but just folding them in.

2. Opening a rear door, again no damage, but means the fecker will have to get out to close it and giving you enough time to sprint off.

I think the trick to effective retaliation (shouldn't do it at all, but if you choose to) is to cause annoyance, but leave no lasting damage and more importantly, no evidence.

I try to avoid going out of my way to irritate people who have a ready means to maim or kill me.

owenlars

It's not always cars, the red mist descended on me when a bloke on a bike jumped a red light and nearly took me out on my bike. As he was totally unrepentant I absolutely lost it with him. No doubt providing comfort and amusement to the rush hour traffic passing by us.

hambones

Yet to get annoyed beyond a shake of the head, but then again I've only been cycling for four years...

Coach H

Posted this a couple of years ago. Still relevent but I'm still a little undecided on how to morally view this event. Mind you the friend is in Afganistan now putting their life on the line every day, while the Saxo youth is probably signing on.

Coach H wrote:

Don't get much abuse but it does happen and when it does I have always found that my skin is much thicker than the brains of the abusers and just ignore them.

However for every cocky git there is always someone who they regret messing with and every now and again these people meet. When they do we can be appauled and satisfied all athe same time.

Last summer I was riding with a friend who has been trained by the MOD for a number of years to be an occasional psycopath. As we approached a town an Saxo loaded with youths tailgated us for a while honking the horn. Having got bored of this they pulled alongside and threw a cup of coke over us and bravely sped off. Friend went quiet but we carried on without much fuss. Rounding the next bend we found the culprit car stopped at railway crossing. We stopped one car behind, freind dismounted and calmly asked me to hold his bike. Just as calmly he walked over to the car, reached in the passenger window and grabed the youth by the throat. The then leant in unclipped the seatbelt and dragged the youth out of the car through the window by their hair and throat and onto the verge. There he asked the youth if he was right handed or left handed and on hearing the reply (right handed) proceded to break the thumb, index and middle finger of his right hand. he than remounted and rode off asking if I was comming. Such was the calmness that he did this neither myself or I am sure the car behind could quite relate to the violence we witnessed but it certainly had an effect on the youth and his white faced friends left in the car.

Not sure if the words 'horror' or 'comeuppance ' best describes this incident but I doubt they did it again and we didnt talk about it

hambones

I certainly can't applaud the actions described above. Pathetic!

Coach H

hambones wrote:

I certainly can't applaud the actions described above. Pathetic!

Whilst you are answering a post that has misteriously disappeared, absolutly no-one should applaud such actions. But I agree the tailgating, horn honking and coke throwing was as you say pathetic.

Chrissz

I have to confess - I get very aggressive on the bike :!: I can have a quick temper at the best of times but when I get wound up on the bike I have on occasion, had strong urges to shoulder-barge vans (I know I'll lose) and have, once, chased an artic from Hythe to Folkestone (he pulled out in front of me and then tried to push me into a line of parked cars when I went past him - I ended up on the pavement!) where I then had a 'little chat' with the driver

Bizarrely, I tend to be quite placid when driving in my car!

ketsbaia

I generally come out with an expression of disbelief.

"Oh, for heavens sake..."

or

"Oh, come on..."

Fairly sure I'll lose any argument with a two-tonne chunk of metal unless there's a pedestrianised street somewhere close by. And even then, it's just not worth it.

Other side of the coin is I dinged someone's wing mirror a few months back and we both pulled over further up the road. Swapped numbers 'cos I didn't want to see him out of pocket due to my stupidity. He rang up later, said he was surprised it was the right number and said his mate had sorted it out gratis, so not to worry.

They're not all a bunch of c***s. Car drivers = people too. Hell, I drive a car myself when I absolutely have to.

Poacher

@Coach H
The alternative approach:
http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2010-05-25

(I wish I had the skills of your friend sometimes, though).

lost_in_thought

Jesus H christ people, two wrongs don't make a right!

Coach H, your friend sounds like a very dangerous person indeed, I find it quite frightening to think that there are nutters out there who will react in such a psychotic way to a bit of youthful japery.

Bear in mind that everyone makes mistakes, don't cause damage because then you're no better than they are, especially as you're doing it deliberately, and most of all remember there are people out there like Coach H's mate, but some of them are encased in a few tonnes of steel.

coopster_the_1st

lost_in_thought wrote:

Jesus H christ people, two wrongs don't make a right!

Coach H, your friend sounds like a very dangerous person indeed, I find it quite frightening to think that there are nutters out there who will react in such a psychotic way to a bit of youthful japery.

Bear in mind that everyone makes mistakes, don't cause damage because then you're no better than they are, especially as you're doing it deliberately, and most of all remember there are people out there like Coach H's mate, but some of them are encased in a few tonnes of steel.

LIT, While I agree that two wrongs don't make a right, how else are the youth of today meant to learn some respect?

I do not class coach H's friends actions as psychotic as he was in full control. The youths know what is right from wrong but have now learnt that their "youthful japery" went way too far. This is all about the growing up process where you will come across someone bigger/faster/stronger than you!

I do not worry about the friends of coach H as it is very rare that they lose it. It is the ones that have yet to learn the lesson that they may come across someone bigger/stronger/better than them that I worry about as they do not have respect for others. These are the dangerous drivers!!!

NWLondoner

I had one asshole today, which made me see red

I was riding down Booth Road which as usual has cars parked mainly down the left hand side (my side) so I have to ride just to the left of the road centre. Anyway I can see a red car behind me but it is not safe to pull over to let him pass as the road has a couple of bends and I do not want to encourage a risky overtake on a bend. The road now straightens up and he could safely overtake me but instead all I hear I a massive blast on what I thought was his horn. I turn round and give the hand signal,glare and mouth to him "theres plenty of room to ffing overtake". As he raises his hand to say he will overtake I notice a tw@t in an Audi right up the red cars tailpipe and it was HIM that was so incensed that he had to wait a few extra seconds that he though blasting his horn and intimidating BOTH me and the red car driver. After the overtake the red car swerved too the left to let the tw@t behind him overtake.


The main issue here was BOTH drivers. The first one not knowing how and when to safely overtake a cyclist and the other one just being a tit for having NO patience.

Mr Tom

I used to really kick off when people cut me up, shouting at them and once banging the back of someone's car. I think in a way I used it as an excuse to get out stress from other problems in my life. The thing is I found that the more stressed I got, the less I enjoyed cycling. Eventually I ended up not using my bike for ages. Now I'm back riding again I tend to always take the quiet routes and ride pretty slowly and carefully and I enjoy it so much more.

zanes

Coach H wrote:

Posted this a couple of years ago. Still relevent but I'm still a little undecided on how to morally view this event. Mind you the friend is in Afganistan now putting their life on the line every day
<snipped>

Christ, we give this guy live rounds and a union jack on his sleeve.

lost_in_thought

Coopster the 1st wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Jesus H christ people, two wrongs don't make a right!

Coach H, your friend sounds like a very dangerous person indeed, I find it quite frightening to think that there are nutters out there who will react in such a psychotic way to a bit of youthful japery.

Bear in mind that everyone makes mistakes, don't cause damage because then you're no better than they are, especially as you're doing it deliberately, and most of all remember there are people out there like Coach H's mate, but some of them are encased in a few tonnes of steel.

LIT, While I agree that two wrongs don't make a right, how else are the youth of today meant to learn some respect?

I do not class coach H's friends actions as psychotic as he was in full control. The youths know what is right from wrong but have now learnt that their "youthful japery" went way too far. This is all about the growing up process where you will come across someone bigger/faster/stronger than you!

I do not worry about the friends of coach H as it is very rare that they lose it. It is the ones that have yet to learn the lesson that they may come across someone bigger/stronger/better than them that I worry about as they do not have respect for others. These are the dangerous drivers!!!

So would you sentence teenagers to have two fingers broken by a frightening stranger every time they mess around in a car? What if they just beep and shout? A thumb?

If you must retaliate, it's all about proportion in my book. Drink thrown does not equal potentially disabling injury.

Coach H's mate should have been reported.

nich

I did a double glare on Friday.

One look into his eyes, then away, then back to finish him off!

I don't know if he deserved it or not, but his maneuver in his tin car annoyed me.

You know, where it's a left turn, and they come up beside you indicating, yet slowing, and you have no idea whether they are gonna turn into you or back off and let you pass.

Why not just wait behind me Mr!

And by the looks of it he expected me to thank him because he slowed down? wtf.

dilemna

gtvlusso wrote:

I believe that yelling/shouting in someone's face can be classed as assault - anyone care to comment?

Personally - after an incident involving me breaking some tw*ts jaw and knocking a few teeth out (I lowered myself :-( )

I will now make all haste to just move on quickly and avoid, I have a long fuse, but when it goes.........kaboom!

Did you get caught by the police? If you couldn't convince them or a court it was self defence then you would be in the brown stuff big time.

coopster_the_1st

lost_in_thought wrote:

So would you sentence teenagers to have two fingers broken by a frightening stranger every time they mess around in a car? What if they just beep and shout? A thumb?

If you must retaliate, it's all about proportion in my book. Drink thrown does not equal potentially disabling injury.

Coach H's mate should have been reported.

This is more than just messing around in a car. Would they do they same thing in a pub? If so, what would they expect the response to be? Why is that any different if you are riding a bike?

Beep & shout, hey some do and can be put down to "youthful japery", we get annoyed, but there is no harm done. Throwing the drink is has taken it to the next level as it is provocation.

What would be best to happen in this situation is the first incidence reported and dealt with severely by the legal system but we all know nothing would be done . If it was incidents like this would not take place or would be dealt with appropriately!

simonc2806

funny enough the wife said to me the other day i get really wound up when i drive my car but when i'm on my bike its totally different i let everything go over my head. car vs bike is no contest

Gazzaputt

lost_in_thought wrote:

So would you sentence teenagers to have two fingers broken by a frightening stranger every time they mess around in a car? What if they just beep and shout? A thumb?

Sounds reasonable.