Road rage - your action?

Mikey23

I did mix it with a crazy woman once ... Who unfortunately had a big scary partner who caught up with me the next day... Ever since, I have been inclined to smile and move on in the interests of my personal safety ...

hmm

Last weekend a passing Mr Neanderthal started ranting that I was riding two abreast, but was too stupid to notice I was actually overtaking a slower rider. After flipping him the bird as he drove in front he screeched to a halt immediately in front of me. I stepped off my bike and politely asked him to exit his vehicle if he wished. He declined so was then told to go forth. I've not been that close to punching someone since my rugby playing days; arm was cocked and ready.
Although I claimed the moral victory I still felt bad that I reacted that way. It ruined an enjoyable ride, and he probably hates all cyclists even more now.
Sorry guys.

vitesse169

Hmm wrote:

Last weekend a passing Mr Neanderthal started ranting that I was riding two abreast, but was too stupid to notice I was actually overtaking a slower rider. After flipping him the bird as he drove in front he screeched to a halt immediately in front of me. I stepped off my bike and politely asked him to exit his vehicle if he wished. He declined so was then told to go forth. I've not been that close to punching someone since my rugby playing days; arm was cocked and ready.
Although I claimed the moral victory I still felt bad that I reacted that way. It ruined an enjoyable ride, and he probably hates all cyclists even more now.
Sorry guys.

I've had similar encounters... I never feel bad after, if a person is driving like a prize prat I would tell them. In my Policing days I did so. I stopped plenty of drivers for things like failing to indicate at junctions/RAB's etc. All fairly minor I know - but the standard of driving in this country is like India/Asia = pish poor. How many times have you been at a junction when a driver has failed to indicate when coming off the hazard leaving you stranded and stuck. Minor failings like this lead to laziness as a driver and we end up with drivers thinking they are king - not so & I'll tell them. I realise that I may put myself at risk, but I refuse to be pushed off the roads by tw@ts behinf the wheel of a car....
rant over...

CaMun

To me it does depend on the severity of their action (be it driving or abuse) if it's really bad then I take their number plate and report them at a later date. I also tend to film my commute, which I then add to the report.

Juddlinski

I'm Scottish, living and commuting in London. And when I get annoyed I get more Scottish, so the couple of incidents I've been involved in have consisted of me shouting at the driver and the driver just looking confused. Just as well really in hindsight. I'm 5 foot 6 and hit like a girl.

redhanded

I'm from Northern Ireland and live and commute in London and find that a strong norn iron accent has the same impact. It must be something about all that TV and films that portray most of us as a bunch of pyschopathic nutters...

tootsie323

redhanded wrote:

I'm from Northern Ireland and live and commute in London and find that a strong norn iron accent has the same impact. It must be something about all that TV and films that portray most of us as a bunch of pyschopathic nutters...

Does this follow the type? I do find an Eire accent much softer than the harsher Ulster accent and, if I wanted to sound hard, I know which one I would adopt!

HebdenBiker

I never have this happen to me. What do you people all do to drivers? :-)

If it did happen I'd probably just ignore it.

Juddlinski

tootsie323 wrote:

redhanded wrote:

I'm from Northern Ireland and live and commute in London and find that a strong norn iron accent has the same impact. It must be something about all that TV and films that portray most of us as a bunch of pyschopathic nutters...

Does this follow the type? I do find an Eire accent much softer than the harsher Ulster accent and, if I wanted to sound hard, I know which one I would adopt!

Just to test our theories out, I tried shouting at a white van driver in a Southern Irish accent on my commute today and there was a marked difference. The guy took me for several pints of Guinness, some Craic and gave me the winner of the 3:45 at Navan.
Actually that's a good point - what did I do with my bike?

markhewitt1978

Juddlinski wrote:

I'm Scottish, living and commuting in London. And when I get annoyed I get more Scottish, so the couple of incidents I've been involved in have consisted of me shouting at the driver and the driver just looking confused. Just as well really in hindsight. I'm 5 foot 6 and hit like a girl.

Are you from Glasgow or can you do a Glasgow accent? That automatically doubles your hardness rating.

mcj78

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Juddlinski wrote:

I'm Scottish, living and commuting in London. And when I get annoyed I get more Scottish, so the couple of incidents I've been involved in have consisted of me shouting at the driver and the driver just looking confused. Just as well really in hindsight. I'm 5 foot 6 and hit like a girl.

Are you from Glasgow or can you do a Glasgow accent? That automatically doubles your hardness rating.

Unless you're still in Glasgow of course!

Last "incident" I had on the morning commute was 2 (not bad looking) women hanging out of a convertible with the roof down shouting "show's yer fuckin' baws!" aggressive morning cougars, the worst kind, I shudder to think what they would have done with me

Probably best to avoid confrontation just in case some lunatic decides to run you over, but some people will back down you ask them if they really want to risk the absolute hiding of a lifetime from a man wearing tights...

bdave262000

During the last few years of commuting I only have two instances that stick in my memory. The first one was on a dark and wet January morning, a WVM took a dislike to me as I cycled around the Wandworth roundabout, then cut me up trying to knock me off, I have no idea what the issue was, but I stupidly gave him the finger. The next thing is hes chasing me down the bus lane, its was only for intevention the guy on the bike behind me who managed slow him down that stopped him ramming me.

The other was me losing my cool with someone who cut me up after he had made an illegal left hand turn, when I shouted out he stopped, got out of the car and came at me, I squared up to him and we both just stood there calling each other names until he gat back in his car and drove off, all very silly.

carmenjb

I had a nasty “close call” last night (Sunday) at around midnight on an empty, large road in south london. I was streering clear of a series of pot holes so cycling in the middle of my lane as opposed to right up against the curb, which is clearly where this driver wanted me to be. So I hear this speeding car coming behind me, so I naturally headed back a little closer to the curb when he honked at me and attemped to overtake me at great speed level with an island. So I decided to stop as he was honking at me because it was clear that he was a dangerous driver, after noticing that I had stopped he slammed the breaks on and started screaming a slur of profanities at me, it was fairly clear that what he wanted was an argument so after 10-20 seconds of listening to his rubbish I decided to head on as I didnt feel safe there, he then sped right up again and pretty much headed for me leaving about 1 - 1.5 feet between the car and the curb to over take me level with the next island, this threw me off the road and my bike. I was left fairly unscathed, bent pedal, ripped handle bar tape and a scuff on my jeans but I dont feel comfortable with this driver out there. with no witnesses, registration plate or really even CCTV I fear that I have no hope in getting this reported..

Just to set the scene; I had my lights on and regular clothing.

Has anyone been in a similar position / have any advice?

Ps. sorry if on the wrong thread, I'm a newbie.

slowbike

carmenjb wrote:

Just to set the scene; I had my lights on and regular clothing.

Has anyone been in a similar position / have any advice?

Ps. sorry if on the wrong thread, I'm a newbie.

Some ppl are just spoiling for a fight - perhaps they've had some trouble elsewhere and are "fired up" ... so the cyclist "in the way" is just a tipping point.

Best thing to do is to just get away - that could be back the way you came - or a turning you wouldn't normally make - any way to get away from them as they'll give up if it's too difficult - they'll think they've won and in a way they have - they've intimidated a cyclist off the road - but unless you're good at fighting I doubt there is any way you could "win".

mcj78

carmenjb wrote:

I had a nasty “close call” last night (Sunday) at around midnight on an empty, large road in south london. I was streering clear of a series of pot holes so cycling in the middle of my lane as opposed to right up against the curb, which is clearly where this driver wanted me to be. So I hear this speeding car coming behind me, so I naturally headed back a little closer to the curb when he honked at me and attemped to overtake me at great speed level with an island. So I decided to stop as he was honking at me because it was clear that he was a dangerous driver, after noticing that I had stopped he slammed the breaks on and started screaming a slur of profanities at me, it was fairly clear that what he wanted was an argument so after 10-20 seconds of listening to his rubbish I decided to head on as I didnt feel safe there, he then sped right up again and pretty much headed for me leaving about 1 - 1.5 feet between the car and the curb to over take me level with the next island, this threw me off the road and my bike. I was left fairly unscathed, bent pedal, ripped handle bar tape and a scuff on my jeans but I dont feel comfortable with this driver out there. with no witnesses, registration plate or really even CCTV I fear that I have no hope in getting this reported..

Just to set the scene; I had my lights on and regular clothing.

Has anyone been in a similar position / have any advice?

Ps. sorry if on the wrong thread, I'm a newbie.

Personally i'd report it to the local constabulary - the more you can tell them about the vehicle/driver the better obviously, but it's always possible this is some idiot who indulges in this sort of behavior frequently & you might not be the first to experience it - there's always a chance someone else has reported his behavior previously & did get the reg plate giving the police something to go on... i'm sure there was a spate of incidents recently where someone was going round pushing cyclists off their bikes & it wasn't too long before someone was able to identify them.

If there's actual harm/damage then you have material evidence to support your claim - as opposed to having a near miss or if someone's clipped you but you managed to stay on the bike.

Good luck!

woodyonthebeach

I have an Irish mate with a proper thick accent, any threat made with an Irish instantly means death and if they have a big smile of their face it feels some much worse. I get generally scared and Im riding with him.

I prefer to stick the oldies

- Do you have a phone. Call somebody who gives a fuck
- Do you have thrush as your an irritating ______ (please fill in as appropriate)

- Religious chanting seems to work as well. This one particularly
Romans 13:4 - For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.