Anyone encountered road rage?

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Yep - Road rage experience

The worst one was a guy who used his car as a weapon and knocked me off then drove at me. It went to court and he was prosecuted.

So get the Reg No and report these people to the cops. Very least is it goes on record. After 3 they the cops go to the next level in the scale and so on.....

 

[HLaB]

Touch wood, I've had nothing thrown accurately at me from cars just the usual verbal diarrhoea. The one I find funny is the car/van thats going the opposite way as me slows down (causing them selves delay, inconvenience ) and spouts off.
And touch wood again, I've only had one car deliberately drive directly at me, the rest of the time it has been SMIDSY.

 

[j66]

Not road rage exactly but I was up off the Taff Trail the other day and was nearly hit by a 2 litre bottle of Tesco Coke which had been flung off the back of a lorry, closely followed by a large plastic basket containing another bottle of coke and a pack of 4 Blueberry Muffins. Bit heavy in the backpack so we shared it out. Shudder to think what could have happened...

 

[swee'pea99]

It can all get a bit depressing, hanging around here, but remember, people do tend to post the bad stuff, so you get a distorted picture.

Without wishing to tempt fate, I've commuted probably 70 miles a week into and out of central London on a daily basis for seven or eight years, and only had half a dozen gnarly incidents and one really bad one. As long as you know what you're doing and ride confidently and considerately, it's mostly ok. (I used to get much angrier when I relied on public transport...people pushing in bus queues sent my blood pressure skyrocketing, and I used to risk serious grief by blatantly blocking the routes of would-be pushers in. Never quite came to fisticuffs, but I came a lot closer than I ever have on a bike.)

Oh, and look on the bright side - Magnatom, aka Mr flak-magnet is always out there, bringing out the worst in people and making it safer for the rest of us!

 

[Debian]

I've only ever been the subject of road rage when I was in a car; the police are still dealing with that one - assault, dangerous driving and criminal damage.

I've yet to get any serious grief whilst on a bike and I put that down, rightly or wrongly to my assertive riding style. I think that if you look confident and assertive on the road then others are less likely to square up to you. Or maybe I've just been lucky?

 

[vernon]

There's relatively few inconsiderate motorists out there.
[*]Individuals' perceptions of risk varies widely - what is a near wipe out to one cyclist is merely a close encounter to another.
[*]The behaviour of well behaved road users goes unnoticed whereas that of the boorish prat is seared into one's memory waiting to be shared with like minded victims.
[*]Localised behaviour is not indicative of the national picture.
[/LIST]

I'm not disputing individual's accounts of their misfortune at the hands of others but I refuse to extrapolate from their experiences and present them as the national picture of misery for the cycling community.

Since taking up cycling again six or so years ago I have been been beeped at twice, had nothing thrown at me, had countless motorists acknowledge my thanking them for their considerate behaviour, have not been verbally abused, have not been left hooked, have not been intimidated and have had a thoroughly good time in the considerable distances covered so far.

I'm sure that I am not alone and, like most others in my position, do not feel compelled to start a thread describing a non eventful life on a bike. Besides - who would want to read it?

 

[swee'pea99]

God Vern, what a *boring* post...

 

[psmiffy]

I have had things thrown or squirted at me on a number of occasions - but it never comes to road rage - the people who do that sort of thing are not only prats but cowards - never have any intention of waiting around to "discuss" thing

I tend to adopt the "Ghandi" approach when I am cycling and rarely get into a confrontation with drivers -it just escalates things -It is not my job to police these people - take reg No. - type out written statement of events - report to Police

However one I did not report to the police - mainly because I found it to be so amusing - and apologies if I have described it on here before

I was waiting on the white line to turn right into a road near where I live when I heard a load of horn honking going on behind me - a white van pulls alongside me and a very red faced geezer starts to mouth off extremely excitedly and aggressively about that I should have been in the gutter I replied with a single word and made my right turn - looking back the guy had stopped in the road got out and was continuing his diatribe to my back.

The next night I went to my gym - did my workout and afterwards went to sit in the sauna - The same guy comes into the sauna and immediately continues with his invective in the same loud and aggressive manner - you did this, you called me a so and so etc - to which I politely replied that he deserved it - after about a minute of this the rather large muscular gentleman on my left took him by the arm and gently walked him off - never seen him again

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Threads like this attract confirmatory posts and can distort readers' perceptions of the risks on the road. It's important to get things into perspective.

• There's millions of considerate motorists out there.
• There's relatively few inconsiderate motorists out there.
• Individuals' perceptions of risk varies widely - what is a near wipe out to one cyclist is merely a close encounter to another.
• The behaviour of well behaved road users goes unnoticed whereas that of the boorish prat is seared into one's memory waiting to be shared with like minded victims.
• Localised behaviour is not indicative of the national picture.

I'm not disputing individual's accounts of their misfortune at the hands of others but I refuse to extrapolate from their experiences and present them as the national picture of misery for the cycling community.

Since taking up cycling again six or so years ago I have been been beeped at twice, had nothing thrown at me, had countless motorists acknowledge my thanking them for their considerate behaviour, have not been verbally abused, have not been left hooked, have not been intimidated and have had a thoroughly good time in the considerable distances covered so far.

I'm sure that I am not alone and, like most others in my position, do not feel compelled to start a thread describing a non eventful life on a bike. Besides - who would want to read it?

I quite agree. It's very easy to get the impression from reading this forum that every day brings a new thing to be angry and upset about. It's really not the case for most of us and if you ride considerately and don't lose your rag with any motorist who does get a bit close, you're unlikely to have too many problems. I sometimes wonder how many potential cyclists are put of by dropping in here and reading the daily litany of terror and hatred people seem to encounter.

 

[psmiffy]

Rhythm Thief & Vernon - Totally agree

 

[XmisterIS]

Solution - ride MTB x-country - no cars to worry about then!

 

[Debian]

Solution - ride MTB x-country - no cars to worry about then!

True, just groups of "Mr & Mrs Angry" bobblehats, skittish horses and dog walkers with their dogs on near-invisible 20 foot leads!

 

[Bman]

Well isnt this forum full of bad news posts today!

I dont think the situation is getting worse. It seems to me like its always been this way.

But its ok. Us cyclists will be the majority one day and *we* will be the ones with the training behind us

 

[chillyuk]

I have only had two dodgy incidents in the last year, and both involved police cars from Essex's finest. The first was approaching Epping, northbound. There are a couple of very tight pinch points. I usually take the middle of the lane to prevent overtakes, but this occasion my concentration had lapsed and and a police car decided to overtake right in the narrowest bit, and her mirror hit my hip nearly having me off. The other was the other day down my own street. Narrow, with cars parked down on side. A police car pulled into a gap to drop his mate off, I was approaching on the empty side. With no signals or proper observation, the police drive just suddenly pulled out into the road in front of me, then reversed into a parking bay on the other side of the road forcing me to stop. I offered him my glasses as I went past but he ignored me and not wanting to be slapped across the bonnet, handcuffed and have CS gas sprayed in my face I left it at that. I haven't formally complained. I don't fancy being marked out every time I go out in my car.

These are the twats who are supposed to enforce safe driving.

 

[addictfreak]

I have only had two dodgy incidents in the last year, and both involved police cars from Essex's finest. The first was approaching Epping, northbound. There are a couple of very tight pinch points. I usually take the middle of the lane to prevent overtakes, but this occasion my concentration had lapsed and and a police car decided to overtake right in the narrowest bit, and her mirror hit my hip nearly having me off. The other was the other day down my own street. Narrow, with cars parked down on side. A police car pulled into a gap to drop his mate off, I was approaching on the empty side. With no signals or proper observation, the police drive just suddenly pulled out into the road in front of me, then reversed into a parking bay on the other side of the road forcing me to stop. I offered him my glasses as I went past but he ignored me and not wanting to be slapped across the bonnet, handcuffed and have CS gas sprayed in my face I left it at that. I haven't formally complained. I don't fancy being marked out every time I go out in my car.

These are the twats who are supposed to enforce safe driving.

Must have good riding on your part, to be struck on the hip and not be brought off. I take it your hips are considerably wider than your handlebars!