Angry threats

[col]

Of course the numbers matter. You are saying that I get shouted at more than most! I have provided figures that in fact I have been shouted at 5 times in 16 months, and only two of them when I was in motion. How can you possibly say, looking at the figures which don't lie, that I get shouted at more than most?

Do you have figures for how often most get shouted at?

No i dont have figures,but it seems that way.I have never been shouted at or threatened,in thirty odd years of cycling,granted there was a gap of a few years.Blimey mag,you even had other forums verbally attacking and possibly threatening you because of your riding style?Surely all this would make you at least think about how you ride?

 

[col]

Fair enough, but you are putting yourself at increased risk by doing so. That is a compromise that I am not willing to make and should not be expected to make.

I'll ask it one more time col, do you agree that the perception that I am involved in a lot of incidents, looking at the figures, is wrong? Yes or no!

I dont believe i do,in fact when showing that im making efforts to help them,i get better treated by them.
The figures do say to me that your shouted at more than i have ever been,so on that basis,no

 

[magnatom]

No i dont have figures,but it seems that way.I have never been shouted at or threatened,in thirty odd years of cycling,granted there was a gap of a few years.Blimey mag,you even had other forums verbally attacking and possibly threatening you because of your riding style?Surely all this would make you at least think about how you ride?

No col. Go and read the other forums. I was being shouted at and abused for being a cyclist and daring to suggest that we deserved respect and a little room. I was also being accused of being a drink driver and for getting bus drivers sacked, all of which was slanderous and lies. Go and read the threads. You'll be surprised how little abuse related to road position.

 

[Tetedelacourse]

Fair enough, but you are putting yourself at increased risk by doing so. That is a compromise that I am not willing to make and should not be expected to make.

I'll ask it one more time col, do you agree that the perception that I am involved in a lot of incidents, looking at the figures, is wrong? Yes or no!

Magnatom, a perception is a perception. I hold the same perception as Col. If Col and I perceive this to be the case, then it's not wrong. Do you follow?

If you genuinely get irritated by people commenting on your vids who hold different perceptions to you then you know what you shouldn't do

Lastly, your "stats" are all about you. They neither prove NOR DISPROVE that you get shouted at more than most. Surely even a physicist can follow that?


oh yeah, I just remembered why I replied to this post; you say Col (and I suppose me) puts himself at increased risk and yet Col (and I) have happily not met with serious incident. Not really a valid statement then, is it?

 

[magnatom]

I dont believe i do,in fact when showing that im making efforts to help them,i get better treated by them.
The figures do say to me that your shouted at more than i have ever been,so on that basis,no

Yes but you claimed that I was shouted at more than most. Feel free to back this up, if you can!

 

[MERV]

Fair enough, but you are putting yourself at increased risk by doing so. That is a compromise that I am not willing to make and should not be expected to make.

What sort of risks? P*nct*res,Potholes Left Hooks?

Im pretty sure if you block a motorist in at the wrong time it will lead to a negative incident.

We all know what they are like.They will do a dangerous overtake and then stop 50 yards up the road at traffic lights IMHO.

Seen it time and time again.Basically when im out there my riding style doesn't really differ a lot other cyclists.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

I got asked today if I had a deathwish by some t*sser in a white van because (I presume) I took the primary position in the second lane to go from traffic lights on a three lane road (third lane is for turning right only) round to the left onto a four lane road for which I needed to be in the third lane (2 go straight on, 2 bear toward the right).

When I asked him what the problem was he just shouted 'Cock' at me. I retorted with a friendly gesture and intimated that perhaps he was a student who excelled in the art of onanism, and we parted company.

I did nothing wrong, and as Mags says, had I taken the more submissive route of staying over to the left in the first lane I'd have been hard pressed to cross the traffic round the corner to get to the third lane required.

 

[magnatom]

What sort of risks? P*nct*res,Potholes Left Hooks?

Im pretty sure if you block a motorist in at the wrong time it will lead to a negative incident.

We all know what they are like.They will do a dangerous overtake and then stop 50 yards up the road at traffic lights IMHO.

Seen it time and time again.Basically when im out there my riding style doesn't really differ a lot other cyclists.

Ok lets look at Col's advice for roundabouts. Cycle in the secondary position. This would encourage overtaking on a roundabout, which could (and I have seen this happen but not to me) result in a car pulling off the roundabout and cut across your path, placing you in significant danger. This is what Col suggests I should do at this roundabout. Would you agree that taking secondary could encourage this behavior and conversely by taking the primary position discourage it?

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

I see many people on bikes going exceedingly slowly right next to the pavement/verge, swerving in and out of parked cars as the need arises without a care in the world.

The cars manage to avoid them, but some get close to the cyclist. They're never shouted at though as traffic just passes them by and they have no chance of catching it back up.

If you are (and I'm not assuming this is the case) such a rider then maybe you haven't had much verbal grief. If you are such a rider and haven't had any near misses then I can only assume you are very lucky.

Mags rides at speed and forces car drivers to think about how they pass him, thus 'creating' tension in their minds as they can't simply drive past and forget all about the cyclist (which in all honesty some may not even have registered). It is the correct approach but, as I know only too well, can cause friction with drivers who see themselves as the only ones worthy of being on the road.

Different styles, different outcomes...

</rant>

 

[domtyler]

We are looking at two different ends of the spectrum here. col (and MERV) are both taking an old skool, passive and submissive strategy, avoiding confrontation at all costs and accepting a small hit in safety levels. Magnatom, like myself are both a little younger and more assertive, staking our place on the road and demanding respect.

The submissive guys don't get shouted at because they are conforming to the motorists idea of where cyclists should be and are mostly ignored. In fact, I am confident that if you stopped and asked most of the motorists if they had passed any cyclists recently a mile after passing them, most drivers would have zero recollection.

Magna gets an earful every now and again because he is daring to confront the traditional idea of where a cyclist should be in the road, i.e. in the gutter and "Out t'****in way lad".

 

[Cab]

Magna gets an earful every now and again because he is daring to confront the traditional idea of where a cyclist should be in the road, i.e. in the gutter and "Out t'****in way lad".

He (like many of us) is trading a quiet life for improved safety. It may seem like a small improvement in safety, when you consider that many cyclists manage to ride very passively (with great care!) for years with no accidents. But thats the nature of assessing risk; you're wrong if you assume that because you've been doing things a certain way with no accidents it is equally safe to another way of doing things, because you're a sample size of 1. You need to consider the bigger picture when assessing risk.

 

[BentMikey]

oh yeah, I just remembered why I replied to this post; you say Col (and I suppose me) puts himself at increased risk and yet Col (and I) have happily not met with serious incident. Not really a valid statement then, is it?

It's quite valid when you remember just how safe cycling is. We're talking about a very small risk that's being reduced still smaller by proper cyclecraft. The risk is so small that you'd likely only see the difference over a large number of cyclists in a recorded study. Perhaps it's a little like the difference between driving here in the UK, and in France. Quite a bit more dangerous in France, but not so as any one of us is likely to notice by ourselves. That small risk is still worth taking action over.

 

[MERV]

Err what was the question again?

 

[BentMikey]

He (like many of us) is trading a quiet life for improved safety. It may seem like a small improvement in safety, when you consider that many cyclists manage to ride very passively (with great care!) for years with no accidents. But thats the nature of assessing risk; you're wrong if you assume that because you've been doing things a certain way with no accidents it is equally safe to another way of doing things, because you're a sample size of 1. You need to consider the bigger picture when assessing risk.

Funnily enough I found I was getting a lot less abuse from irritated drivers when I started riding more assertively.

p.s. most of magnatom's video and forum abuse comes from the outrage of drivers who don't think it's fair that their failures are held up for the world to see on his camera. That bit of quiet life is certainly being traded in, but I'd also venture that many of these drivers wouldn't dare to drive like the nobends they are anywhere near Magnatom's camera.

 

[MERV]

We are looking at two different ends of the spectrum here. col (and MERV) are both taking an old skool, passive and submissive strategy, avoiding confrontation at all costs and accepting a small hit in safety levels. Magnatom, like myself are both a little younger and more assertive, staking our place on the road and demanding respect.

I wouldn't really say at all costs.Believe me sometimes I lose it out there with the comedians boy racers and god knows what.

Yes I do ride a bit of Primary but when I can start to trust motorists then perhaps I could ride in a different way.

Cant say I really trust motorists with some of them it would be like trusting a looney with a gun.