What do you do about idiot drivers?
Comments
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mikebikemike wrote:JamesB5446 wrote:I keep a stanley knife in my saddle bag.
Not a good idea
i agree, you should put it in your pocket for quicker access!0 -
velvetytoast wrote:I'm starting a campaign to get all drivers to have their lights on and wear Hi-Viz so it is easier to see them in these situations - anyone like to second it?
*Yawn...*0 -
Top tip. Thanks.Garry H wrote:mikebikemike wrote:JamesB5446 wrote:I keep a stanley knife in my saddle bag.
Not a good idea
i agree, you should put it in your pocket for quicker access!0 -
On my daily commute i'm allways struck by how little attention drivers take, dont they realise how fragile we are?
As others have alluded to good karma is the key for me. I smile and thank drivers who give the extra inches or pause before pulling out. Its all to easy to let the adrenalin take over, get worked up & give in to the road rage so lighten the mood- we are all just trying to get where we are going.
One last thing; as a driver nothing makes my blood boil like idiots on bikes...0 -
Ignore them, a car quickly becomes a ton and a half of lethal weapon if the driver loses their head.
Some situations can be avoided by stuff you can do yourself. Anticipating a situation, thinking about your position on the road and keeping your options open to make sure you don't ride yourself into a situation where the only outcome is an accident. Expect the worst and plan accordingly, then at least if it does happen you can hopefully limit the damage.
I find there are just as many dicks in cars regardless of if I'm in my car, on my motorbike or if I'm cycling, you just notice them more generally while cycling as you are more vulnerable. the main difference is you see more of them on the bike since you're going slower and they're trying to pass you.
Unless its blatant dangerous driving and you have it captured on tape from start to finish, reporting them to the police will likely result in them unable to do anything.0 -
Simon Masterson wrote:
Cyclists are often difficult to spot in good weather, so the refusal of some to wear high-visibility clothing and/or use good lights (or any lights in some cases) because it makes them look uncool/spoils their Mark Cavendish fantasy
If it wasn't for all the jersey etiquette nazi's these guys would be clearly visible in their multi-coloured rainbow bands and more obvious to motorists.
Maybe in the interests on road safety the UCI should change rainbow to grey scale and the TDF yellow to camouflage so these bright colours can once again be used on the roads without ridicule
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shandyout wrote:On my daily commute i'm allways struck by how little attention drivers take, dont they realise how fragile we are?
As others have alluded to good karma is the key for me. I smile and thank drivers who give the extra inches or pause before pulling out. Its all to easy to let the adrenalin take over, get worked up & give in to the road rage so lighten the mood- we are all just trying to get where we are going.
As of the time of new year resolutions etc I cycled in under the good karma mode. Having started to get a little annoyed at various incidents from motorists which have ended me shouting a bit of abuse at the offender in their vehicle with no really likelihood of being able to hear me anyway and so probably looking like a bit of an idiot. I have decided to try and be a little less hot headed. Not really my style to be hotheaded about any thing really but went I feel my life has been endangered it is easy to get angry before being able to think more rationally.
17 mile circuit on the way to work, with the aim to be in good karma mode.
1-white BMW squeezing in on top of me on a roundabout - friendly wave to warm my presence.
2-Hill climb through a twisty bit of road with a tanker stuck behind me, lots of cars the other way, pulled in to a layby to let the tanker pass and so not hold him up.
3- bit further up a close call when this red estate car brakes very hard behind me after a botched overtake, lots of squealing brakes from the car and a good bit of bad language comes automatically out of my mouth for that incident, the response from the car after his botched error was lots of horn use all the way down the road after he did overtake
4- white van man is briefly stuck behind me and then passed with a loud blast on the horn, Just kept cycling and ignore, (pleased I kept calm on this case as there was a police land rover behind and so made him look bad rather than me reacting as I can do sometimes)
5- Approaching a blind summit, this car slows right down, keeps well back and then passed nice and wide and slow so give wave of thanks than is reciprocated. This part did make my ride in as it was a textbook perfect approach to overtaking followed by thanks for being thanked!
I still need further work on the good karma riding!0 -
Simon Masterson wrote:Cyclists are often difficult to spot in good weather, so the refusal of some to wear high-visibility clothing and/or use good lights (or any lights in some cases) because it makes them look uncool/spoils their Mark Cavendish fantasy, or they simply can't be bothered, doesn't help matters.
I'll phrase this nicely: Do you agree that woman who wear shorts skirts deserve to be taken against their will?
That comment was over the top to be honest, but I'll leave it in because the point i'm making is: Victim blaming - sorry I'm not having it. If you want to wear high viz then fine, if you don't then also fine (good road positioning is far more effective in my opinion). Are black or dark coloured cars banned from the road? No. Should they be? Is that what you're saying?
As long as you're road legal (and 100% you should have decent lights in the dark) then it's 100% the duty of the driver to follow the most basic tenet of the highway code and use their freaking eyes. If you wanna help them by wearing high viz and reflective clothing than that's fine by me, but I'm not gonna blame cyclists who don't just because a driver didn't follow the most basic rules of the highway code and hit them.0 -
If you cycle along Euston Road from the direction of the Marylebone flyover towards Kings Cross there's in inordinate number of left turn feeder lanes. The one time I went this way, as I was going straight on, I would move to the outside of these lanes (i.e. into the straight in lane) to avoid cars cutting me up whilst turning left. This didn't half annoy cars coming up behind me though!0
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I advise chasing after them and then kicking in their door or ripping off the wing mirror or both on those extra angry days - after that make sure you take their license plate - break into the local police station and get their home address - after that make sure you burn their house down, after taking the address of their friends and relatives from their address book and do the same to them - repeat until you feel saited - by the end of the month you should have created a swath of demolition across the country.
Either that or position yourself properly at traffic lights where there is a left turn immediately after them (generally I find this takes less effort then the above - and less petrol).0
