Road Rage Protection

woodyonthebeach

The only protection you should really be concerned with is a camera to record the event on (Jeremy Vine school of cycling). Okay not the cheapest investment if you go for a good one, but as long as you have a clear image of the person and registration number of the car if one is involved.

If I had a camera all of about what I am telling probably wouldn't have needed to happen at all. Im not proud of this but I have unclipped my d-lock from belt once (first and last time) when I got into an altercation with a Mini Cab driver, there was some dangerous road manoeuvre going on and I took great displeasure at this and threw some pretty nasty phrases at the guy which he objected to.

Long story short, he left when he realised my level of anger was more than he was expecting and 2kg d-lock in hand.

As I said Im not proud and haven't done anything like it since.

Huismans

Whew. Makes me glad I live where I live at. The country has its perks. Granted I've had crap thrown at me by teenagers who thought it was funny to throw their fast food drinks at me a few times, but mostly it's either other people biking from their farms to in town to save gas for their tractors and stuff, or Amish people who don't have a non-Amish friend with a car.

Still. Always avoid confrontation. As someone said, keep something handy on you to keep yourself protected (Maybe a small stun gun, and a knife), but never ever go for them in the first place. Because yeah, if someone is willing to seriously cause you harm they'll more than likely have a weapon on them.

Instead keep a sturdy cell phone on you that can take pictures. That way in case you need to you can take down license plate numbers, photograph who's trying to assault you and to call 911 just in case of an emergency.

Above all, ALWAYS avoid escalating the situation, and try to diffuse it by leaving. You might feel like a coward, but trust me. Its better than someone injuring you or worse.

milemuncher1

Get yourself a decent sized chunk of spark plug ceramic.

fat daddy

Huismans wrote:

(Maybe a small stun gun, and a knife).

ahhhh, spot the American

... awaits the Afgan Taliban delivery rider to come on here in a moment, suggesting "avoid confrontation but maybe carry an Ak47, no more than 3 fragmentation grenades and a MON-100"

Any true cyclist worth his salt is not going to be carrying weapons ...... they weigh too much, how the hell are you meant to get those Strava times whilst carrying 1kg of extra metal around with you. ... Yeah you might "feel" safer or more badass (whatever your motivation) .... but when you get home and check your times and realise you were only the 12th fastest on that climb for the day ... meh, whats the point, you might as well drive and spend your time getting cross with other people

fenix

Jeezuz christ. You're glad you live somewhere where you think carrying a knife and a stun gun is a good idea.

That is not normal.

FWIW - I've done 35 years of cycling and never needed lethal weapons. Having them will only make the situation worse and I'm sure you'd get arrested for carrying a knife. And stun guns must be illegal in the UK too ?

tootsie323

The biggest issue I generally have is with sheep and cows. Sheep generally back off but some cows can be quite curious. Fortunately all I have to do is whip out my George Foreman Lean Mean Griddling Machine from my backpack and they get the message.
Yeah.

moarspeed

This is going to be controversial, I guess i'm partly agreeing with all the previous posters (to a degree), but I would say regarding the carrying of a spare handlebar, I carry one in my backpack, not for commuting as such, but for XC mountain biking.

Unless I take my bike in the car to my local trails (which I don't like doing), I have no choice but to either ride through one of two really dodgy estates OR down a canal toepath that runs between them. I've heard of cyclists being attacked and their bikes stolen in those areas, so I carry the spare bar. I've also had some physical abuse from walkers armed with walking sticks and kendal mint cakes, when they failed to notice they were walking down the middle of a dedicated MTB trail.

The key though is to try to make a fast exit if trouble kicks off. Certainly don't start swinging a handlebar toward people, that's a good way to get it used against you, the very second you become the aggressor, you have already lost.
It would be used as more of a defensive item, it's very similar in size to an escrima stick. Heck I reckon just holding it would cause an aggressor to focus on that enough for them to totally miss your right foot making it's way toward the crown jewels.

The Rookie

I wouldn't be posting on an open forum admitting committing a criminal offence!

Anyway the other day I was walking my dogs (fully under control) down a canal towpath when this moron cyclist came shooting round the corner at speed and started a cyclist rage incident as this idiot was trying to claim the towpath was a dedicated cycle route and not open to other users such as walkers (or people living in the canal boats for that matter). I tried to diffuse the situation but he just got madder and madder and then whipped out a spare handlebar as a weapon, I just pushed him in the canal so he could cool off and went on walking the Rottweilers.

moarspeed

^^ True story

essex-commuter

ManiaMuse wrote:

Here's my advice from cycling in Manchester for the last couple of years which has its fair share of foolish drivers (I'm from Nottingham though so feel your pain about cyclist hating drivers).

If someone is aggressively beeping or swearing:

1. Ignore them and don't say/gesticulate anything
2. Ignore them and don't say/gesticulate anything
3. If you catch up with them at the next set of lights/queue of traffic don't bother overtaking and sitting in front of them, it just tends to wind them up more
4. Ignore them and don't say/gesticulate anything

If someone is consciously trying to scare/attack you with their vehicle (swerving at you, brake checking etc), for whatever reason:

1. Mount the pavement as soon as possible, stop and point your bike in the opposite direction
2. If they actually stop and get out of their vehicle then you can just cycle off and leave them for dust while they waste their breath running and shouting
3. If they try to do a U-turn and chase after you in their vehicle then remember you can easily out manoeuvre them on a bike, just keep changing direction or aim for a queue of traffic or pedestrianised area if there is one nearby.

Honestly starting a fight, either with words or fists, really isn't worth the effort. You won't change their point of view and you will spend the whole day feeling angry about it but if you just ignore it you can bask is the smug satisfaction that whoever it is has angry man/woman syndrome and you don't.

Perfect.