First run in with driver for a while

antfly

And my crappy camera was off...
Be careful out there, you never know who is behind the wheel. I got honked by the car behind for no good reason so when I overtook the milk float in front I turned around and said "what?" and carried on through the traffic. About 3 miles later, on a quiet road, he catches me up and revs his engine and swerves towards me as he passes. I gave him the Vs and he stopped in the middle road up ahead and sat there. I didn't fancy overtaking him and being at his mercy so deciding discretion was the better part of valour I did a u-turn and bolted. I normally don't gesture at drivers at all as it seems to be just the excuse some of them are looking for and things like this spoil my ride, it's much more satisfying just ignoring them. My only similar incident happened after a v-sign too.
I just wanted to get it off my chest.

Cleat Eastwood

Think you didi the right thing. If he/she stopped they were not doing so for a polite chat and the car V bike contest is a no brainer.

Its a tough one though isnt it, if you dont let your feelings known then the driver could potentially just drive away thinking their behaviour was acceptable, and flick the V's and its a right can of angry worms.

I tend to use the itallian sort of arm gesture as if to say "what the feck"....but at times i do wish i had an uzi.

antfly

That's not a bad idea, it will be the the Italian WTF next time, nobody can take offence at that.

downfader

antfly wrote:

That's not a bad idea, it will be the the Italian WTF next time, nobody can take offence at that.

Wanna bet. I use the open palm to the sky to say "whats the matter?" and I've had one or two peeps get nasty for it.

northernneil

meeeh

depends, people do things on the spur of the moment and usually regret it 0.1 seconds afterwards.

twice I have pointed out to drivers that have stopped for a 'chat' that I am wearing a helmet, gloves and am obviously an awful lot fitter than they are ...... both times they got back in their vehicles

antfly

Very bad things can also happen on the spur of the moment and he wasn't showing any signs of getting out of his car, just sitting there waiting, which is a bit more worrying.

downfader

antfly wrote:

Very bad things can also happen on the spur of the moment and he wasn't showing any signs of getting out of his car, just sitting there waiting, which is a bit more worrying.

Exactly, he could have tried to door you, swerve or anythiing. :?

Ben6899

downfader wrote:

antfly wrote:

Very bad things can also happen on the spur of the moment and he wasn't showing any signs of getting out of his car, just sitting there waiting, which is a bit more worrying.

Exactly, he could have tried to door you, swerve or anythiing. :?

Or he might have been reaching to grab his Glock out of the glovebox...

dodgy

northernneil wrote:

meeeh

depends, people do things on the spur of the moment and usually regret it 0.1 seconds afterwards.

twice I have pointed out to drivers that have stopped for a 'chat' that I am wearing a helmet,

Surely you don't think a bicycle helmet is an advantage in a street fight? If I got into an altercation it would be straight off!

finchy

dodgy wrote:

Surely you don't think a bicycle helmet is an advantage in a street fight? If I got into an altercation it would be straight off!

It is if you get a punch in the head. I'd get my cleats off sharpish and keep the helmet on.

TuckerUK

Just pull along side and say in your best Dixon of Dock Green accent, "Is this your vehicle sir?" and/or "Can I see some identification please?", bonus points for talking into your lapel. I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as impersonating a Police Officer.

dilemna

To the OP - what was the make of car and registration?

Don't you have a helmet cam front and back?

northernneil

johnfinch wrote:

dodgy wrote:

Surely you don't think a bicycle helmet is an advantage in a street fight? If I got into an altercation it would be straight off!

It is if you get a punch in the head. I'd get my cleats off sharpish and keep the helmet on.

aye I didnt mention that if i unclipped I would look like a wobbling duck !!!

antfly

downfader wrote:

antfly wrote:

Very bad things can also happen on the spur of the moment and he wasn't showing any signs of getting out of his car, just sitting there waiting, which is a bit more worrying.

Exactly, he could have tried to door you, swerve or anythiing. :?

And how is having a car drive into you or door you not something to worry about? :?
{I thought you were being sarcastic, re-reading it maybe you weren't}

I have one of those crappy muvi cams on my helmet but the battery is dying and it only lasts an hour so it had gone off. Thankfully these incidents are rare as i'm not one of those cyclists who goes looking for trouble.

morstar

God it's horrible when sh!t like this happens.

The reality is that head has to rule heart and you accept that the odds are stacked against you and you turn the other cheek with the moral high ground.

I've been directly involved in 3 verbal altercations in just under 20 years.

1. Banged a guys window with my fist as he just ran me off the road on a roundabout. When he pulled up, got out and ran down the road towards me it was squeaky bum moment and I was long gone in the other direction.

2. guy cut me up in the most ridiculous and pointless fashion which did very nearly end up with me under his car. I followed him into the car park he had just entered and just let loose with an uncontolled verbal tirade.

3. A bus squeezed me out into the gutter once and I let him know my opinion of his driving when we pulled up next to each other (in seperate lanes!) at traffic lights.

All of the above incidents just left me feeling that mix of emotions at the complete disregard for my safety but ultimately mouthing off achieved little and did risk things escalating. Antfly, you did the right thing.

As for fighting with a cycling helmet on. I wouldn't put too much faith in that. Ice hockey players who want to fight lose the helmet straight away for two reasons. Part of it is machismo (a clean fight) but also part of it is not wearing something that is easy for the other guy to get a good hold of whilst he smashes your face in!

Buppy (banned)

I got punched in the face in June by a driver just for looking at him funny or something. Complete nutcase had alread tried to run me off the road - I was in the correct lane and ahead of him, and he was behind to the right of me, tried to get into the left lane through me. So I was forced to go left too. Slowed down and stopped at the red light, as did he, and I just looked at him, and he went utterly mental. And his 10 year old daughter sitting in the passenger seat got to see the whole thing. Surely if anyone had the right to go mental it was me. Despite having the reg number, two witnesses and a description the police never caught him. Or I suspect they didn;t even try. Rant over.

Oh hum, never mind...it's only taken me four months to get back to the level of fitness I had before he sent me to the hospital.

drewfromrisca

Hang on he sent you to hospital!?!?! And officer never gave you reason for not tracing driver??? I'd be onto that asap to find out about the investigation. Coppers like that pi** me off for giving rest of us a bad rep when we work our ar*e* off trying our best!!!

Buppy (banned)

drewfromrisca wrote:

Hang on he sent you to hospital!?!?! And officer never gave you reason for not tracing driver??? I'd be onto that asap to find out about the investigation. Coppers like that pi** me off for giving rest of us a bad rep when we work our ar*e* off trying our best!!!

The last thing that happened was the policeman asking me if I could take down a reference number when I was in the ambulance and no-one had a pen; I wasn't really in a position to write anything down at the time as I was bleeding pretty badly.

The officer said I'd get a letter. All I got though was a photocopy of a "sorry you've been a vicitm of crime" leaflet.

With no reference number I haven't tried to follow it up - I don't even know which station to contact.

drewfromrisca

Ok first try your local nick (what force you covered by?) it should have been recorded. If police attended there will be a log created so even if officer in case hasn't recorded it properly then there will be record of incident. If you've got a VOC leaflet then it must have been recorded though. To be honest the officer giving you a fer number like that is in no way professional at all. It's not something I or colleagues I've been with have ever done if a person is injured. There will bound to be other officers coming on and giving their opinions and possibly saying I'm wrong but hey ho, each to their own.

Buppy (banned)

I don't know where Linslade is but from what I hear coppers outside of London seem to be much more professional than the Met Police.

I'm looking forward to getting out of London in the next 5 years. Roll on that day!!

Anyway - cheers for that advice, I'll see where it gets me.

drewfromrisca

Ermmm I'm a copper in the Met

Well I have to agree with you. Haven't always been in the Met. I know what you mean about getting out of LDN. I couldn't wait, moved out after 4 yrs in Feb and quality of life is now amazing. Plus I have money!!!

Anyway good luck, anymore help needed let me know.