What Would You Do?

Pufftmw

Up in Shoreditch this morning, road splits left & right and I want to go left. Licenced mini-cab people carrier just around the corner, so slow down behind him, then made to overtake and he moves out, so went to undertake and he went left. Its almost as if he wanted to block me or stop me passing. Looked through the back and saw him pressing buttons on his PDA/SatNav. He's obviously not paying attention to the road as he continues to weave, so when safe I overtake wide and as I did, slap his wing mirror to "wake him up".
He chases me down the road, so to avoid getting knocked off, I pull over and get off my bike. Driver jumps out and rants/raves/swears at me for touching his car for the next 5 or 6 minutes. He wouldn't have it that his driving was dangerous to other road users but continued to shout, threaten and wag his finger in my face. I let him rant until he ran out of steam...
What would you guys have done in the same situation?
I'm not violent in as much as I won't damage someone's car or hit them but if someone drives in a way that nearly causes them to knock me off, I will slap their car or shout at them to get their attention to what they're doing. Or as per another thread, grab their keys & lob them across the road.

Pufftmw

Also, would you report the driver to his company?

warreng

He sounds like a lost cause so there's no point getting worked up about it. Reporting him? I don't think there's anything wrong with doing that but it probably won't achieve anything

I remember taking the physical route once and got a right pasting.

MrSweary

D lock the fecker?

veronese68

Slap a window rather than the mirror, you can easily break a mirror and it's harder to break a window. Especially if the mirror has been broken before and glued together. Might be worth reporting him to the company, but I doubt they'll do anything.
I usually rant back in similar situations which probably doesn't help. I did once really wind up a particular twunt by pretending I'd phoned the police and telling him to wait until they arrived. I'd actually phoned my boss to say I'd be late. He was annoyed because I'd gesticulated with a loosely clenched fist as he was texting. I wound him up further by repeatedly calling him a w@nker. He went from threatening to run me over to apologising for being a w@nker as I wouldn't let him leave without admitting to being one. Took about 15 minutes but definitely gave a sense of satisfaction.

cruff

MrSweary wrote:

D lock the fecker?

Is the correct answer

fat_tail

if he works for add lee then report him. give them the approx time and registration. I have previously reported one of their drivers and they responded positively although not sure if they did anything.

daddy0

You can't "win" in this situation, unless you have a D-lock to hand of course. Best to avoid the conflict, but if unavoidable then take the number plate and report it. Take a photo or video of the driver if you can. Like the pretending to call the po po idea, might use that in the future if it seems like the right thing to do.

surrey_commuter

fat_tail wrote:

if he works for add lee then report him. give them the approx time and registration. I have previously reported one of their drivers and they responded positively although not sure if they did anything.

I imagine they gave him employee of the week

Sleeper Service

You should have just shook your head and moved on. Slapping his car proves nothing and puts you at risk of criminal damage if you break anything.

BobMcbob

Ignore him - smile back, call him fatty if you like, but don't let him get to you - plenty of losers and nutjobs out there, you just don't know, doubly so in London. However, If you 'accidentally' knocked his door mirror as a result of his erratic driving, then that's hardly your fault...

mtb-idle

What would I do?

Not have slapped his wing mirror in the first place.

Or at least done it where there was no risk of him chasing me i.e. in built up traffic, not somewhere where he's free to catch me up/run me down.

Another alternative is to open the rear near-side door and then just ride off. Not so easy these days with central locking but if it opens it does force them to stop, get out of the car and walk around it to close it before getting back in thus allowing you to make your getaway.

elbowloh

MTB-Idle wrote:

What would I do?

Not have slapped his wing mirror in the first place.

Or at least done it where there was no risk of him chasing me i.e. in built up traffic, not somewhere where he's free to catch me up/run me down.

Another alternative is to open the rear near-side door and then just ride off. Not so easy these days with central locking but if it opens it does force them to stop, get out of the car and walk around it to close it before getting back in thus allowing you to make your getaway.

...and when he's stopped, to close his door, you put a banana in his exhaust pipe (not a euphemism).

Oh Axel, you card.

Actually does putting a banana in the exhaust disable a car?

Snakebite the 2nd

Difficult one.

If you do smack his car and he stops then state clearly he hit you, just keep saying that and add that you are going to report him to the police.
That might defuse the situation, and has done for me.

Reporting him won't get you anywhere if you weren't hurt in the incident.
I've learnt this the hard way!

Another one is to remain perfectly calm, stare them down and say "get back in your car and jog on before you get hurt".
A bit of a bluff, but again has worked for me.

D-Locking the git is a last resort and going to get you grief of another sort.

The best and most obvious solution is to just let it wash over you and keep going, but it is hard.

(In a car related incident I did jump on someone's bonnet kick the windscreen in and attempt to drag him out of the opening.
All that got me was a caution at the nick.
Was it worth it?
Yes, as a learning curve because it taught me what I am capable of and that it could have ended a lot worse for me if I hadn't been dragged off by an off duty cop. (He was sympathetic, told me what to say at the nick which made it easier for me).
Since then I have tried to be calmer as if I had carried on like that I would have eventually killed someone!

ugo.santalucia

I think you did the right thing. I would have probably pulled out a mini pump from my rear pocket and poke his eyes out of the orbits, hence why I applaude your cool!

You can report him to his company, but chances are they won't give a toss, as they are biased against cyclists as a category...

dyrlac

Snakebite the 2nd wrote:

(He was sympathetic, told me what to say at the nick which made it easier for me).

Curious to know what you do say at the nick. Might come in handy one day....

corriebee1

Snakebite the 2nd wrote:

(In a car related incident I did jump on someone's bonnet kick the windscreen in and attempt to drag him out of the opening.


Since then I have tried to be calmer as if I had carried on like that I would have eventually killed someone!

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

veronese68

Memo to self:
If I ever meet Snakebite the 2nd in real life be very polite.
Nobody ask what happened to Snakebite the 1st.

Seriously now, I'd love to know what they told you to say at the nick.

rjsterry

Some people get irrationally upset about someone touching their car. Anecdotally, there appears to be a high correlation between that group and those that cannot accept any criticism of their driving. 9 times out of ten it just turns bad driving into overtly aggressive driving. Avoid and report.

On whether reporting does any good: on an individual case, probably not, but if one driver keeps popping up again and again then he will become a problem to his or her employer regardless of their views on cycling. If you don't report it, then it definitely won't go any further.

Snakebite the 2nd

Veronese68 wrote:

Memo to self:
If I ever meet Snakebite the 2nd in real life be very polite.
Nobody ask what happened to Snakebite the 1st.

Seriously now, I'd love to know what they told you to say at the nick.

I can tell you, but then I'd have to kill you

What happened was that a car undertook me, clipped the kerb, came back out, hit me and sent both of us down a grass bank. I managed to stay on the bank, but he spun twice on the southbound carriageway and came to rest on the other hard shoulder.
After checking the wife and daughter were ok I just flipped.

The officer, who saw what happened, told me to say I was in shock, didn't realise what I was doing (not a million miles away from the truth) and that I was very, very sorry.
Him having a word with the attending officers also helped I think.

I do tend to flare up very quickly when I feel threatened, I fight rather than flee, but come back down just as quickly.

Snakebite the 2nd

rjsterry wrote:

Some people get irrationally upset about someone touching their car. Anecdotally, there appears to be a high correlation between that group and those that cannot accept any criticism of their driving. 9 times out of ten it just turns bad driving into overtly aggressive driving. Avoid and report.

I'm not keen on people abusing my property/car, and would be rather annoyed to say the least, however if it was my fault I'd put my hands up.

Whilst driving I cannot stand idiots, but I also make mistakes and will always apologise to the other driver.

Admittedly it did take time to learn to do this, because when I was younger I was perfect in every way and it was always someone else's fault, but as I got older I like to think I got wiser................

veronese68

Snakebite the 2nd wrote:

After checking the wife and daughter were ok I just flipped.

I think that's understandable given the circumstances.

navt

+1 for letting it wash over. If I let examples of bad driving get to me cycling around London, I would never get to my destination.

Pufftmw

elbowloh wrote:

Actually does putting a banana in the exhaust disable a car?

You actually have to make an airtight seal but it should do. Exhaust needs to get away from the engine but if the passageway is blocked then its got nowhere to go and the engine will stall.

keyser__soze

Pufftmw wrote:

elbowloh wrote:

Actually does putting a banana in the exhaust disable a car?

You actually have to make an airtight seal but it should do. Exhaust needs to get away from the engine but if the passageway is blocked then its got nowhere to go and the engine will stall.

Mythbusters etc proved bananas/potatoes wouldn't be sufficent to create the seal and withstand with the buildup of pressure
without being expelled. If you put bananas or potatoes in the exhaust and it forms an initial seal you're more likely to injure any following cyclists when the object is shot out the exhaust.

rjsterry

Snakebite the 2nd wrote:

I'm not keen on people abusing my property/car, and would be rather annoyed to say the least, however if it was my fault I'd put my hands up.

Quite. Although I think there's some space between tapping a window and abusing property. The one guy I did it to - tapped a door panel rather than a window -reacted as though I'd touched something much more personal. You never know quite how much of a nutter someone might be.

itboffin

I heard snake bite v1 turned teetotal and started eating tofu so had to be "taken out"

True dat