Abuse from car drivers

Beckers62

Ha, since my return to the road, I got my first abuse today.

Half a mile from home, riding some back roads, cars parked end to end along the opposite carriageway kerb, so literally a cars width of tarmac on my side.

I hear a car revving quite hard behind me, trying to catch up and overtake before 2 lanes effectively become one. He's quite a way back, and fails to catch me by quite a bit. So he has to slow down for a full 80 yards or so before overtaking. During this he is revving and honking his horn (which I just ignored)

As he gets alongside me, the passenger window goes down and I get the full Mr Angry "GET OFF THE F*****G ROAD YOU C**T... YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ON THE ROAD"

I chased on and shouted back "I think you will find, chum, that I have as much right to be on the road as you do"

He rants back about not paying road tax etc etc etc... So I just shouted "F**k off you tw@t" (not big or clever, I know) and cycled off.

Back home part of me wished I had followed him home to explain to him the error of his ways But I would have probably ended up with a smack in the mouth for my troubles, and I don't "do" violence

I'm interested to know what others do in this sort of situation, as I am sure it'll happen again

pinarellokid

just give em a wave and carry on. not worth the argument with these ars*holes

bus_ter

A lot of drivers have the simple mentality that roads are for cars and you should move and get out of their way so they can pass without being held up (not even for 5 seconds).

There's no point trying to stop and 'educate' them, all you'll do is make them more angry and risk a violent confrontation. Try and carry on and be safe.

iPete

Blow a kiss and move along!

Saying that someone in a polo honked angrily at the club ride I was on today, she looked a bit more sheepish when she hit traffic and everyone cycled past laughing

Barteos

1. Kill them with kindness and wave cheerfully.
2. Ignore them completely.
3. Ignore them completely and at the same time pretend you're adjusting something on the bike...

All their effort will be wasted and their anger will have nowhere to go.

smoggysteve

Follow him home and stab him on his driveway in front of his wife and kids.

Or ignore him, your choice i guess

CStar

LOL @ blow them a kiss.

Like that.

I tend to give them a salute and they never quite know whether I'm being polite or rude.

campbellrae1

As iPete mentioned above, blowing them a kiss seems to confuse them

farrina

Hello

Welcome to the world of cycling!

Unfortunately as you have discovered as with all aspects of life there are some weird and pointlessly angry people out there. If I could have had a tenner for the amount of times over the years I have heard "you don't pay road tax" I would be a wealthy man indeed.

Beckers62 wrote:

Ha, since my return to the road, I got my first abuse today.
I'm interested to know what others do in this sort of situation, as I am sure it'll happen again

I have found such observations as its called vehicle excise duty or I do as I have a car myself are a waste of time and prefer to smile and wave happily at the miscreants although this sometimes has the (un)desired effect of making them even wilder.

At the end of the day your personal safety is paramount so it is probably best to put it down to experience and as far as possible ignore things.

That said many years ago I experienced a gentlemen driving an American sports car who took great exception to me delaying him whilst I was travelling over a bridge (at 25mph!) and having pulled alongside for a chat which was easy with a left hand drive car ( the usual how dare you slow me down/get in my way you don't pay road tax etc...) then decided when I observed that I did as I had a car of my own proceeded to try and run me off the road.

His big mistake was that he did it in front of an independent witness (details obtained) and that one of my cycling friends just happened to be an off duty police officer. We dropped into the local nick on the way home (strangely they were most accommodating) and I next saw the miscreant at the magistrates court were he suggested that I swerved into him multiple times.

The local beak was having none of that and hit him were it hurt in his wallet and points so sometimes you do win.

It's not all bad news though, as over the years I have had ladies mooning out of cars at me (I regret to say I was so taken aback I forgot to slap the said cheeks and by the time I caught the car of ladies up at the traffic lights they did not seem so inclined to play.

Then there was the time I was peddling along in a world of my own in relatively slow traffic when I felt a hand on my posterior again from a passing lady car passenger ( not the same one as previously).

Unfortunately now I am no longer a spring chicken and have grey hairs I don't seem to experience such things anymore.

I did have someone throw a brick at me once, but they obviously were skipping school (or at least their physics class) as the muppet threw it directly at me, which given I was motoring landed some yards behind me ...

Dogs can be fun but I fear I might bore you if I go on and on.

Enjoy your cycling and remember the vast majority of cyclists and drivers are accommodating (if occasionally thoughtless) if you ride defensively and control your road space you should be fine. Just recognise that when the pathological nutter comes along forget the testosterone and get the hell out of the way.

Enjoy your cycling.

Best wishes

Alan

ben@31

Got abuse this afternoon.

What worries me is.

1. The drivers lack of awareness.

I was wearing the most brightest dayglo cycling jacket known to man, bright red bike, bright red overshoes, so how can the car fail to see me? If his eyesight is that bad he should not be behind the wheel of a ton of metal doing 60 mph.

As I set off from a junction it should be blatantly obvious I'm not going to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 7 seconds, not even Chris Hoy could do that on a bike.

2. The drivers lack of consideration.

Us cyclists are so vulnerable, unless the driver wants a manslaughter charge he has to be patient and give us more space.

Yet he squeezed past me at a junction, beeping his horn, middle aged woman passenger mouthing off. Of course he incorrectly thinks it's all my fault. Maybe he should think about his actions.

The fact that it ruined my ride is small fish, as he put me at risk. I would happily put drivers like him through court, maybe that is what it takes to educate these people.

Salsa

I just tend to ignore people like that as it's never really worth the hassle of arguing with an idiot, especially not an unpredictable one in two tons of metal. It just gets me that car drivers think cyclists slow down cars, I often find that through town it's cars that actually slow me down on my bike. Do I throw a wobbler about it though, no

verylonglegs

Speak to them in a foreign language in a cheery manner, that really throws them off when they think you don't understand what they are saying and don't acknowledge their anger.

hipshot

Even the pros get stick when they are out training so we're all in good company.

Ignoring aggression and resisting the urge to shout back or flick the finger can be incredibly difficult in the heat of the moment, thing is, when I manage to not take it personally and rise above it I always feel glad afterwards.

barrowmatt

I wonder if the driver uses the same argument to those in new ultra efficient cars and classic cars which also pay no tax :?

Beckers62

Thanks for all the replys.

The incident didn't spoil my ride. I didn't even get particularly wound up during the exchange of words.

What really angers me is the blind ignorance of some people. Worth saying that this bloke was old enough to know better (mid 40's at a guess). It's so different on the continent. 2 weeks ago I don't think anything passed me with less than a six foot margin.

This sort of attitude is not restricted against cyclists. You should see how some drivers close a gap deliberately when you are filtering on a motorbike

Next time maybe I will smile sweetly

nmt

I had a driver pull out on me today at a roundabout, the annoying thing is thast he came to a stop looked straight at me then pulled out, i then raised a hand in disaprovement but then the red mist came over me and the raised hand turned into a w@nker sign at which he slammed his brakes on and pulled up at the side of the road but then decided to drive off as i was dismounting the bike. I always try to ignore them but i had my 10 year old son with me which wound me up more as he could have knocked him off.

stepdavi

Road fund licence is based on CO2 emissions. A car that emits below 99 is free so a cycle falls into this catogery. Either remind people of this or I suppose using there horn to scare you and then abuse you would probably come under "driving without due care and attention" or if all else fails I suppose you could resort to violence?

slowmart

Why argue with an idiot?

Which is hard to do, especially when you do a life saver, arm out to signal for some idiot to accelerate into the gap and then brake as the lights are on stop. :roll:

I just gave the idiot the evil eye when he wound down his window to launch a verbal assault. Knobby then drove off and how I smiled when i caught up with him at the next set of lights.

You can understand why the american death rate by firearms is so high. Simply a permanent solution to a temporary problem which proves there are a lot of angry and dysfunctional people out there.

doublem_1

It still baffles me how car drivers don't seem to realise that they pay CAR tax not road tax. Road tax was abolished in 1937.

Silly Old Hector

We're currently in the "wave and smile" brigade, although at times we get a bit OTT

Suggest taking the reg number for this level of abuse and let the BiB "' 'ave a word "

The_Slowboat

Had the opposite today, riding up a hill that was a good 10% (Disley, Buxton Old Road) and trying not to pass out. Car pulls up at a junction to my left, window comes down and the woman banters about how she can do go well on it with electric assist, little chuckle before I soon went back to panting away.

cheaterkiller

Beckers62 wrote:

Ha, since my return to the road, I got my first abuse today.

Half a mile from home, riding some back roads, cars parked end to end along the opposite carriageway kerb, so literally a cars width of tarmac on my side.

I hear a car revving quite hard behind me, trying to catch up and overtake before 2 lanes effectively become one. He's quite a way back, and fails to catch me by quite a bit. So he has to slow down for a full 80 yards or so before overtaking. During this he is revving and honking his horn (which I just ignored)

As he gets alongside me, the passenger window goes down and I get the full Mr Angry "GET OFF THE F*****G ROAD YOU C**T... YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ON THE ROAD"

I chased on and shouted back "I think you will find, chum, that I have as much right to be on the road as you do"

He rants back about not paying road tax etc etc etc... So I just shouted "F**k off you tw@t" (not big or clever, I know) and cycled off.

Back home part of me wished I had followed him home to explain to him the error of his ways But I would have probably ended up with a smack in the mouth for my troubles, and I don't "do" violence

I'm interested to know what others do in this sort of situation, as I am sure it'll happen again

When ever someone argues the "you dont pay road tax" reply with "you have that option too, now on ya bike fella!"

slowbike

There is another way.... Pull a trailer behind you.... I did 12 miles with one today - complete with child in the back - and not one cross driver, hoot or anything ... But it does slow you down somewhat, especially a 7% uphill drag for a couple of miles - that took some time!

Pituophis

The other evening while coming to the top of the final hill on my 30 mile loop, and about to turn left (so travelling pretty damn slow at this point) a car appeared at the side of me, going just barely quicker than I was.
This set off the alarm bells, as we were now about 20 feet from the turn in.
The car just about passed me, by inches, when it turned left across my path. The driver had no idea whether I was going straight on or not!
As I had 2 rear lights flashing away, and a high vis vest on over my jacket, I'm fairly sure they knew I was there.
I turned the corner, after giving a bit of a verbal "thank you" (which I don't usually resort to these days as there isn't much point :roll: ) and saw the car pull onto a drive not 30 yards away.
The old red mist suddenly descended with the though of actually catching up with our chum, and I jumped off my bike directly behind the car, to explain my concerns with their lack of manners.
No idea who was in the car at this point, but the bloke in the passenger seat never moved. Neither did the driver.
After about 10 seconds 2 little scared faces peered at me out of the back window, and seeing the kids, I got back on my bike and slowly peddled off.
When I was about 20 yards away I could hear some woman ranting away.
Probably didn't do much for driver/cyclist relations, but it cheered me up immensely

Since I've switched to riding a road bike (I kept fit for mtbing by riding it on a road loop during the week) I have actually had very few problems and in 6 months, I would say that that was the worst incident.
But on the mtb for some reason I had all sorts shouted at me, and one day a kebab thrown at me out of a taxi! And on another occasion, a stone which actually hit the top tube! :shock:
It's usually kids and teenagers that give you abuse, and I can take that in my stride. :oops:

slowbike

Pituophis wrote:

No idea who was in the car at this point, but the bloke in the passenger seat never moved. Neither did the driver.
After about 10 seconds 2 little scared faces peered at me out of the back window, and seeing the kids, I got back on my bike and slowly peddled off.
When I was about 20 yards away I could hear some woman ranting away.
Probably didn't do much for driver/cyclist relations, but it cheered me up immensely

Oh I dunno ... if you'd got a rant in I would guess everything you said would be disregarded the instant you leave .... however, (assuming he was driving) the effects of an ear bashing from the wife will last a lot longer ... you just have to hope that she was chastising him for cutting you up !

Gabbo

Violence shouldn't even enter the equation.

You should have caught him up and in a civil manner, educated him on his wrongdoings followed by reporting him to the police for harassment, abuse, and reckless driving.

As someone has previously mentioned, take the reg number and report. Okay, he's only one in a million, but that one person could make a difference to someone else's family.

mlgt

I suffered some gesturing for the first time on my road bike on friday night. Heading home from my 30 mile cycle which I was coasting down a hill, a young man in the passenger side of the taxi decided to shout some rude words followed by some hand signals.

I could see the lights turning red further down so I powered down and caught up with the taxi. I went right up the window and said, "did you have a nice night out?" he then closed the taxi window and turned his face away.

Why do people bother? If you have the balls to shout at someone and not answer for it? I just laughed at him and finished my cycle home.

I wasnt planning to have any fisticuffs, but what an unusual person lol.

phreak

As the saying goes, sticks and stones....

Don't mind verbals, it's the aggressive driving that worries me. Riding up a lane the other week that is probably just over a cars width wide (with passing places at various points). A white van comes belting down the hill towards me, no sign of slowing down or moving to the side. He had all sorts of junk under his vehicle so I thought perhaps his brakes were broken or something. Practically had to jump into the hedge to avoid being hit.

Got round the corner and he'd done the same to another group of cyclists, and up the lane it had been barricaded off due to fly tipping (hence the junk under his car - he must have driven straight through the barriers).

Really is sad the disregard for life some folks have.

chrispsmith83

It's good to see the sprit of the nation getting behind wiggo last year and the rest of team GB cyclists has worn off already. Maybe try cycling in a football kit and you will be met with cheers of joy.

my advice is to ignore and give a nice smile and a wave, used to get this kind of stick all the time while cycling 2 a breast at my local bike club. Despite the fact that the highway code says it's ok. People with these kind of attitudes to cyclists will never change in this country. They are in the right and you are in the wrong.

logie48

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cy ... 311131.ece

Always good to hit them with this when it happens

nickyboy zz

Been road cycling for about 9 months in which time I have done about 3,000 miles.

Never been abused by a car driver in that time. Maybe I'm lucky. But one thing I always do which I think helps is if I hold someone up (there are loads of hills and twisty lanes around here so this happens a lot) I give them a "thanks" with the hand as they are starting to pass me.

We're all road sharers.