Am I over-reacting?

[Monkreadusuk]

I would be interested to hear what could you do as a cyclist to avoid or at least minimise the risk of such events from occuring in the future, assuming that distracted and careless drivers will always be part of motor traffic. Apart from the obvious "avoid dual carriage ways", would better positioning would have helped, hand signals, slower / faster speed or something else?

I feel that a good mirror would have come in handy. if i could of seen the idiot getting impatient behind I may of been able to move over and let him past. or at least signal to him to back off

 

[boydj]

I would be interested to hear what could you do as a cyclist to avoid or at least minimise the risk of such events from occuring in the future, assuming that distracted and careless drivers will always be part of motor traffic. Apart from the obvious "avoid dual carriage ways", would better positioning would have helped, hand signals, slower / faster speed or something else?

That was pretty much 'by the book' cycling. The driver clearly did not like the cyclist taking the lane - as he needed to - and produced the needlessly close pass despite having a whole other lane to use. There's not a lot you can do when drivers are as ignorant (of cyclists' needs), as careless of cyclists' safety and as angry as that one clearly was.

 

[BentMikey]

I would be interested to hear what could you do as a cyclist to avoid or at least minimise the risk of such events from occuring in the future, assuming that distracted and careless drivers will always be part of motor traffic. Apart from the obvious "avoid dual carriage ways", would better positioning would have helped, hand signals, slower / faster speed or something else?

Wobble like fcuk, pedal with your knees out, and ride with one hand with a can of lager in the other. Drivers will go to the other side of the road to pass you.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Or attach a kiddie-trailer to the back of the bike, with a realistic-looking doll in it . For some reason, otherwise belligerent motorists seem to play nicely around a cyclist who they believe is towing kids.

On a more serious note, the larger profile of the above bike setup, i.e. wider from left-to-right, seems to encourage motorists to give more clearance when overtaking. The same phenomenon appears to occur when you're using panniers or anything else which makes your bike appear larger. Of course, this is just my impression gained from personal observation and what I've read on cycling forums, so I'm happy to be contradicted on this, if any of you think I'm mistaken.

 

[Alan Frame]

Or attach a kiddie-trailer to the back of the bike, with a realistic-looking doll in it . For some reason, otherwise belligerent motorists seem to play nicely around a cyclist who they believe is towing kids.

On a more serious note, the larger profile of the above bike setup, i.e. wider from left-to-right, seems to encourage motorists to give more clearance when overtaking. The same phenomenon appears to occur when you're using panniers or anything else which makes your bike appear larger. Of course, this is just my impression gained from personal observation and what I've read on cycling forums, so I'm happy to be contradicted on this, if any of you think I'm mistaken.

+1.

I'm usually toting around two fairly large rear panniers and the rear profile of bike, panniers and my rear end, is fairly wide.

I can't remember the last close pass I had, quite the opposite...a lot of motorists go to extraordinary lengths to give me a wide berth.

I am not daft enough to put this down to their humanity or concern for my welfare. They just don't want to mess up their paintwork coming into contact with a hefty mass of cyclist.

Whatever the reason, I'm happy with that.



Now watch this space for an indignant post reporting that someone has wiped the side of their car with my sleeve !

 

[BentMikey]

Or attach a kiddie-trailer to the back of the bike, with a realistic-looking doll in it . For some reason, otherwise belligerent motorists seem to play nicely around a cyclist who they believe is towing kids.

You'd think, and largely this is true. However, I seem to get more space and respect for being on a recumbent than I do towing my kids in a trailer. The trailer is still far better than being on an upright, mind.

Then you get stuff like this:

 

[Black Country Ste]

id of thought that too until last week where im almost certain it stopped me getting squashed by a lorry trying to squeeze between me and a car in lane 2 at red lights. he stopped dead when I hit the horn.

My experience hasn't put me off using a horn. The only reason it isn't on the bike at the moment is that I'm too lazy to pump it up. I've been sent a complimentary Hornit, which was a nice gesture. Clever bit of PR for them but a nice thing nonetheless. I'll set that up the weekend and give it a go.

And that was crap driving.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Only sound was me hitting the horn, which led to the driver making a hand gesture at me.

So if, as a driver, I heard a horn, I would be thinking, "where is the vehicle that's alerting me of it's presence?"

If in the instance I thought I'd done anything wrong, I'd hold my hand up to say sorry.

In this case, I think the driver's hand action was to reinforce the pass - you were in their way, they passed you close as a warning, and they got miffed at you confronting their bad driving.

At least that's how I see it?

 

[Matthew_T]

You'd think, and largely this is true. However, I seem to get more space and respect for being on a recumbent than I do towing my kids in a trailer. The trailer is still far better than being on an upright, mind.

Then you get stuff like this:

I think what is scaring the kid more than the overtake was the speed you were going! Remember, the kid doesnt have any control over the speed, so 20mph will be too fast (unless they like that kind of thing).
You luckily reclaimed the safety with the second vid (which was disrupted by the motorbike).

 

[BentMikey]

I don't understand your kid reference, Matthew? My child is in the trailer, and is quite happy with much faster speeds than this.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Matthew, my 5 year old daughter has travelled in a bike trailer since she was a baby. She is accustomed to the 12-15mph average speed, and the odd occasion I go faster she likes it even more.

You are right, the 'kid' doesn't have control, but both myself and Mikey are loving parents who would NEVER put their children at risk, and ride accordingly.

 

[downfader]

We all get cross from time to time. I didn't see that as an over-reaction. I'm with 400bhp and others on horns. I think them silly and more likely to escalate than solve a situation. Each to their own; I know that many are in favour.

Whether you over-reacted or not, the main thing for me is that you are asking yourself whether you did. That suggests a thoughtful road user.

I dislike little on our roads, but I am wary of those multi-lane roundabouts that channel you into one or another lane. Motorists who feel they can safely take these things at speed may feel frustrated being behind a cyclist in one of the 'middle' lanes. The cyclist has to be there, but some motorists are inclined to assume a 'me first' Mr Toad mindset. So are some cyclists - witness the jockeying at Central-London red lights.

There were parts of my old commute that made me a little nervous. The section in the OP's video would give me the jitters at times.

I find this odd of the UK that a horn - a valid warning device - could cause such a proposed reaction. When I was in Mexico they were ALL holding the horn. Even if the light had just gone green. Every single time.

Nobody was angry about it, oddly enough

 

[kedab]

I find this odd of the UK that a horn - a valid warning device - could cause such a proposed reaction. When I was in Mexico they were ALL holding the horn. Even if the light had just gone green. Every single time.

Nobody was angry about it, oddly enough

nobody likes to get the horn when they're not ready for it or deserving of it

 

[Cycling Dan]

This is what you call an overreaction. Amazing how one can act over nothing.

 

[Jdratcliffe]

This is what you call an overreaction. Amazing how one can act over nothing.