Opening myself up for abuse

Kieran_Burns

Driving home last night at about 4:15pm (head cold, can't even breathe properly) I turn onto a village road which can be quite heavily used and see ahead (barely!) 2 teenage girls cycling along.

1 is on the path, one wobbling along in the gutter on the road. No lights, no light clothing, no hi-vis. Basically a pair of ninjas you could quite easily miss, then hit. :? There are no street lights on this stretch, so you really could completely miss tha fact that there is someone cycling

Aaaaaanyway - the road is quiet at this point and I decide to be a little crual (to be kind)

I slow right down, straddle the centre line, dip the clutch and roll up beside them....

The Audi A4 has a really loud horn,

Her scream was ear shattering :shock:

Now I know you're going to be dividied in your opinions of my actions, but when I looked in my rear view mirror, they were both off their bikes and off the road.

Hot Orange

Kieran_Burns wrote:

when I looked in my rear view mirror, they were both off their bikes and off the road.

The shock having made them wobble off into a ditch, you mean?

Kieran_Burns

Hot Orange wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

when I looked in my rear view mirror, they were both off their bikes and off the road.

The shock having made them wobble off into a ditch, you mean?

No. Stood up and on the pavement.

CiB

At least you didn't have them in your boot and off down that quiet back road to East Leake before anyone could say Jack Robinson.

Good move - give em a scare. When they relay the tale to their parents these girls might have that light-bulb moment halfway through.

Philcho

Imagine beeping your horn for all the people you see like that...Way too many people that lack common sense these days.

Zachariah

I forgive you , even though you do drive an Audi.

antfly

They probably thought you were a mass murderer/rapist. You seem to be making a habit of scaring young girls IIRC. :shock:

pastasauce

What a daft thing to do - what if they'd come off and hurt themselves ?

Did you even mention why you crept up ?

Or are they left thinking theres a loony driving round their area ?

:roll:

Kieran_Burns

CiB wrote:

At least you didn't have them in your boot and off down that quiet back road to East Leake before anyone could say Jack Robinson.

Good move - give em a scare. When they relay the tale to their parents these girls might have that light-bulb moment halfway through.

Have you noticed that the Crematorium is right next to the allotments on that road? The veg grow suspiciously well if you ask me.

Kieran_Burns

antfly wrote:

They probably thought you were a mass murderer/rapist. You seem to be making a habit of scaring young girls IIRC. :shock:

That was not my fault :P daft tart that she was.

Jay dubbleU

Leaping out on teenage girls again eh Burns ?

notsoblue

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Driving home last night at about 4:15pm (head cold, can't even breathe properly) I turn onto a village road which can be quite heavily used and see ahead (barely!) 2 teenage girls cycling along.

1 is on the path, one wobbling along in the gutter on the road. No lights, no light clothing, no hi-vis. Basically a pair of ninjas you could quite easily miss, then hit. :? There are no street lights on this stretch, so you really could completely miss tha fact that there is someone cycling

Aaaaaanyway - the road is quiet at this point and I decide to be a little crual (to be kind)

I slow right down, straddle the centre line, dip the clutch and roll up beside them....

The Audi A4 has a really loud horn,

Her scream was ear shattering :shock:

Now I know you're going to be dividied in your opinions of my actions, but when I looked in my rear view mirror, they were both off their bikes and off the road.

Thats pretty awful KB.... I bet you left them none the wiser as to why you honked your horn. You were just some nutter in an Audi who scared the sh*t out of them while they were on their bikes. I suppose its quite interesting to note that drivers who behave like that don't do so *just* because they don't ride bikes! Oh dear

/judge

WesternWay

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Now I know you're going to be dividied in your opinions of my actions, but when I looked in my rear view mirror, they were both off their bikes and off the road.

When I was about 12 I was cycling through Grantham with no lights on. All of a sudden I Heard the sirens and horn and screech of brakes of a police car behind me... They had done exactly the same as you to me. Utterly terrifying it was.

I never ride without lights now. I have 2 front and 2 back in case one stops working.

I think what you did was fine.

Dudu

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Driving home last night at about 4:15pm (head cold, can't even breathe properly) I turn onto a village road which can be quite heavily used and see ahead (barely!) 2 teenage girls cycling along.

1 is on the path, one wobbling along in the gutter on the road. No lights, no light clothing, no hi-vis.

So you SAW them. So the lack of lights and hi-viz is irrelevant.

Sorry, this is nothing other than bloody rude and dangerous behaviour towards two young women going about their business in their own village.

Just don't try that trick on me if you like your paintwork.

mybreakfastconsisted

Knob.

Cafewanda

So I read the op and laughed hard. Was that wrong? :twisted:

K_B, you getting yourself a name mate. You might want to change your ways

Kieran_Burns

Cafewanda wrote:

So I read the op and laughed hard. Was that wrong? :twisted:

K_B, you getting yourself a name mate. You might want to change your ways

Apparently that makes you a knob

Cafewanda

Not a knob(ette)?

It's a slow day in the office. I finally have the time to catchup *shhh*

dhope

I told a ninja on BSO on Tuesday that he was damn near invisible. He laughed. An Audi horn would have been more effective.

SimonAH

Yup, sorry Kieran but opening the window and shouting "get some lights or get off the road" (or equivalent) once they knew you were there would have been fine - but how would you feel right now if your horn had caused a wobble-clip-faceplant and there was a teenage girl with a smashed up face? Didn't happen, but oh so easily could have.

Ninjas drive me potty, but that was a bit of a dicey thing to have done (and they may well have no idea that you were trying to make a point about the lack of lights in the first place)

Kieran_Burns

My God. I was right about dividing opinions :shock: from agreement and laughter to disappoint and dickheads

daccordimark

So what you're saying Mr. Burns is that you would be totally OK with a car driver blasting their horn at you without any attempt to explain themselves and then driving off. You wouldn't come on here and post in the "Rants" thread or elsewhere full of bile for the unthinking idiot who scared the living daylights out of you.

Well done, you have lowered yourself to the standards of the kind of drivers who do this kind of thing for kicks. The fact you dipped the clutch presumably to make your approach as stealthy as possible shows you were just being plain nasty.

If you really wanted to make your point you should have stopped somewhere safe and talked to them. You are lucky it didn't go horribly wrong and they managed not to fall off through total shock.

Mark.

Kieran_Burns

notsoblue wrote:

Thats pretty awful KB.... I bet you left them none the wiser as to why you honked your horn. You were just some nutter in an Audi who scared the sh*t out of them while they were on their bikes. I suppose its quite interesting to note that drivers who behave like that don't do so *just* because they don't ride bikes! Oh dear

/judge

I think if you read the post right after yours you can see that the idea does work. Joking aside, a sudden realisation of your vulnerability on the road (when you cannot be seen) may be enough to wake you up to the reality of the situation you are putting yourself in.

In the nicest way possible, I hope I did scare the hell out of them - it might make them think twice about breaking the law and putting themselves in danger

Kieran_Burns

daccordimark wrote:

So what you're saying Mr. Burns is that you would be totally OK with a car driver blasting their horn at you without any attempt to explain themselves and then driving off. You wouldn't come on here and post in the "Rants" thread or elsewhere full of bile for the unthinking idiot who scared the living daylights out of you.

Well done, you have lowered yourself to the standards of the kind of drivers who do this kind of thing for kicks. The fact you dipped the clutch presumably to make your approach as stealthy as possible shows you were just being plain nasty.

If you really wanted to make your point you should have stopped somewhere safe and talked to them. You are lucky it didn't go horribly wrong and they managed not to fall off through total shock.

Mark.

I would never deliberately put myself in a situation when someone would legitimately have reason to use their horn

From: https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q406.htm

A horn should only be used when warning someone of danger, not to indicate your annoyance at a manner of driving.

A horn should not be sounded when stationary on a road at anytime, other than at times of danger due to another vehicle on or near the road.

A horn should not be used on a moving vehicle on a restricted road (basically a road that has streetlights and a 30mph limit) between the times of 2330hrs and 0700hrs.

Buckled_Rims

What I can't understand is what makes you think they know why you sounded your horn?

Not funny. But, if they wrote down your reg plate and their fathers are waiting for you tonight with baseball bats, that is funny

notsoblue

Kieran_Burns wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Thats pretty awful KB.... I bet you left them none the wiser as to why you honked your horn. You were just some nutter in an Audi who scared the sh*t out of them while they were on their bikes. I suppose its quite interesting to note that drivers who behave like that don't do so *just* because they don't ride bikes! Oh dear

/judge

I think if you read the post right after yours you can see that the idea does work. Joking aside, a sudden realisation of your vulnerability on the road (when you cannot be seen) may be enough to wake you up to the reality of the situation you are putting yourself in.

In the nicest way possible, I hope I did scare the hell out of them - it might make them think twice about breaking the law and putting themselves in danger

I totally understand why you did it, your intentions were honourable, but do you think those girls have any clue as to what you were really thinking when you honked? I know this was meant to be a bit of a light-hearted post, but it really irks me when motorists honk me for no reason readily apparent to me while I'm just minding my own business. The beeping of a horn can mean anything from "Hello! Nice to see you, have a nice day!" to "FAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHK OFF OUT OF MY WAY YOU BIKE RIDING C***". In my experience it is unfortunately the latter.... I doubt you managed to teach them a lesson because they had no clue why you actually honked your horn. They just assumed you were an *rsehole in a car.

A horn is a bit of a blunt instrument to communicate a nuanced "Good evening young ladies, sorry to disturb, but I can't help notice that you have no lights on this rather dark road. I am concerned for your safety and would recommend you purchase appropriate bicycular illumination. I hope the rest of your evening is enjoyable, tar tar!".

Of course, if you simply meant to scare the sh*t out of some young girls and needed to use their poor roadcraft as an excuse to do so, then you would be a knob. But thats not the case is it?

iainment

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Driving home last night at about 4:15pm (head cold, can't even breathe properly) I turn onto a village road which can be quite heavily used and see ahead (barely!) 2 teenage girls cycling along.

1 is on the path, one wobbling along in the gutter on the road. No lights, no light clothing, no hi-vis. Basically a pair of ninjas you could quite easily miss, then hit. :? There are no street lights on this stretch, so you really could completely miss tha fact that there is someone cycling

Aaaaaanyway - the road is quiet at this point and I decide to be a little crual (to be kind)

I slow right down, straddle the centre line, dip the clutch and roll up beside them....

The Audi A4 has a really loud horn,

Her scream was ear shattering :shock:

Now I know you're going to be dividied in your opinions of my actions, but when I looked in my rear view mirror, they were both off their bikes and off the road.

So you believe in driving without due care and attention do you?
Onanist.

Pufftmw

KB

I love you as a brother would but that was just plain wrong mate.

Two wrongs don't make a right. Your quotation of the police/Highway Code "A horn should only be used when warning someone of danger, not to indicate your annoyance at a manner of driving" sums it up. In the first part you scared the bejusus out of someone who probably had no concept of "what danger" they were in and you made no effort to advise them of "what danger" they posed to themselves and others and the second part you most flagrantly flouted - your perception of their "lack of intellect" in driving in the dark with no lights, led to you becoming annoyed and showing that by giving them a scare. Totally peurile, dangerous and probably something that would have got you nicked for if a copper had been following.

I still love you but don't do it again.

daccordimark

If we're going to start quoting "use of horn" directives how about the Highway Code:

112
The horn. Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence. Never sound your horn aggressively. You MUST NOT use your horn

•while stationary on the road
•when driving in a built-up area between the hours of 11.30 pm and 7.00 am
except when another road user poses a danger.

Interestingly, you've highlighted "A horn should only be used when warning someone of danger" in your quote which clearly was not the case. If you had been on a collision course with the girls due to the fact you hadn't seen them or if someone else was for that matter then your use of the horn would have been justified. You cannot justify it on the basis that they may have been in danger at some point in the future if someone else had not spotted them.

Mark.

Maxticate

This is all a bit James Martin-esqe

rhext

Ah, so maybe the chavs who feel it's OK to do the same thing to me have thought there's some aspect of my behaviour they don't like and are therefore perfectly justified in what they do.

If you feel that strongly about it, then the polite thing to do might be to wind the window down and tell them how invisible they are. Didn't your parents ever tell you 'two wrongs don't make a right'?