Anyone ever thrown a full bottle at a car?

[ComedyPilot]

People are educated when they learn to traverse the roads, be that on foot, bike, car et al.

Violent and abusive rage towards others on the road is not something that needs educating out of them, it needs punishment.

 

[nigelnorris]

I remember reading through Auntie Helen's recent write-up of her German cycling tour that several times when they were on the road rather than the cycle path, they got shouted at by motorists to get off the road.

Sadly, that's the situation we'd end up with if we had a Dutch style infrastructure.

By all means have some Sustrans paths meandering around if you want to pootle in the countryside, but I want to use the roads to get from A to B and I fail to see why I should be bullied off them by Audi or BMW drivers.

To get the little old lady happy with going shopping on a bike, it would be far better if road rage in all forms were eliminated by better driver education, as well as other intiatives such as 20 mph zones, removing street furniture etc, to allow all bike users to be comfortable using the roads.

Is pretty much word for word what I was about to post. One one hand I agree with CP that dutch style cycle lanes would benefit the most people, but they would make life intolerable for those of us who wish to continue to use the roads. So my vote would be against.

 

[Flying Dodo]

People are educated when they learn to traverse the roads, be that on foot, bike, car et al.

Violent and abusive rage towards others on the road is not something that needs educating out of them, it needs punishment.

Don't worry - I'm all in favour of proper punishment. None of this £120 fine and 6 points on your licence for killing a cyclist nonsense.

 

[magnatom]

Where's Magnatom these days?

Very busy with life at the moment! Sorry...

 

[Bollo]

Very busy with life at the moment! Sorry...

Prioritise man, prioritise!

 

[magnatom]

Prioritise man, prioritise!

Aye, and selling the house is a priority!

 

[Bollo]

Aye, and selling the house is a priority!

I thought you just used eBay in Scotland?

 

[yenrod]

I went up the last incline today at VERY SLOW SPEED - and heard "cant you pedal faster" being screamed out of the window of a car behind...

So IT - an Audi, overtook and and seen a woman in a baseball cap & 2 girls in the backseat - it was the teenage girls who were doing the shouting...and the woman driving wasn't doing thing to shut them up, rather, laughing.

 

[Eddy_Mc]

I'm going to sit on the fence, where as I think we should have a greater infrastructure for Cycling, I do not believe that we should be moved too far away from normal roads. I do think there should be cycling roads at dangrous places, heavy traffic flow junctions and such.

I also believe that there should be set guidelines for cyclists for visibility and such, there should be a law for high visibility vests that is a stright fine if you are seen without one put helmets/lights etc in there also.

I do believe that all cyclists should have to go to some form of cycling proficiency course and pass to be allowed on main roads. There are some cyclists out there that are dangerous not only to themselves but to other cyclists/pedestrians.

As Cycling increases on the UK roads there should be a section for Cyclists in the car test(I have not done my test so there might already be), the government should make sure that ALL drivers know that cyclists have the same right of way as a person driving a car/van etc.

We should also have a tax and insurance if we used main roads often, we are using the roads some of us just as much as a Car driver. We should pay a tax that would allow the Government to help with the Cycling infrastructure, and remove some of the stigma that road users have in that they pay tax and we don't.

 

[trsleigh]

I remember reading through Auntie Helen's recent write-up of her German cycling tour that several times when they were on the road rather than the cycle path, they got shouted at by motorists to get off the road.

Sadly, that's the situation we'd end up with if we had a Dutch style infrastructure.

By all means have some Sustrans paths meandering around if you want to pootle in the countryside, but I want to use the roads to get from A to B and I fail to see why I should be bullied off them by Audi or BMW drivers.

To get the little old lady happy with going shopping on a bike, it would be far better if road rage in all forms were eliminated by better driver education, as well as other intiatives such as 20 mph zones, removing street furniture etc, to allow all bike users to be comfortable using the roads.

I worked for a week in Germany ( Munchen Gladbach ) and took my Brompton for the 10 mile daily commute. I was advised by all & sundry that cyclists must use the facilities provided and so as my German isn't up to having a frank discussion with the local plod, I used the facilites.
I did not enjoy it one bit. The facilities were as variable as the ones in the UK, some reasonable, some crap. For example, one cycle lane on a pavement was marked on the road side of the pavement, next to parked cars, with a little one to two inch ridge separating the cycle bit from the pedestrian bit. So to avoid any opened car doors you ran the risk of coming off when moving over to avoid the door. Another section was on a narrow pavement with house front doors opening straight onto the pavement with alleyways off to the side to garages, totally blind for anyone driving a car out onto the road. And turning left ( our right ), what a palaver, following the correct path the long way round the junction, with each arm light controlled.

The odd thing was there were very few cyclists, any there were all seemed to be confirmed trundlies.

What joy it was when I returned to Waterloo and could mix it with London traffic as a responsible adult, free to ignore all the nonsense.

So be careful what you wish for, not everything on the continent is wonderful. I too would like to see most cycle facilities done away with, spend the money saved on driver / cyclist training and far more 20mph zones properly enforced.

 

[jonny jeez]

I'm sure I read on a forum, think it was a US one, that a rider, or riders, had taken to carrying a small hammer clipped to frame. When cut up would catch car and crack windscreen.

I can't find this now, anyone know it or is it just an urban legend I've picked up?

Urban legend.


I know someone how knows someone who's babysiteters hairdressers husband (etc)...used to carry a cog tool to scrape down the side of cars who offended him. he had it on a magnet under his crossbar.

If this were true, he'd be dead in a week..or in prison

 

[GreenMambaGreen]

I'm sure its only time.

I keep thinking of some really devious things to do, but that will just mess up my karma.

 

[recumbentpanda]

Hammer or . . . Brompton!

Not an urban legend: My mate (who is berserk) used to cycle through London traffic one handed, swinging a large builder's hammer in the other . . .

. . . it's not something I would recommend.

I myself, who am a wuss, once smashed the back window of a nice lady's car, when she braked to a sudden halt in front of my still rolling Brompton. I bounced lightly off her (car's!) rear quarter into the gutter, but the mini bar-end on my handlebars gave the back window a delicate tap . . . I stood up somewhat shakily to survey a scene of dramatic wreckage, thinking 'goodness me, did I really do all that?'

I paid the bill. Like I said, I'm a wuss.

The Recumbent Panda

 

[J4CKO]

Confession time - big spray from a 750ml bottle into an Audi A4 cab after the front seat passenger shouted "get a car you gay knobber" passing me (very closely) in Wilmslow.

As they turned right after she shouted it I sprayed! Worried for ages afterwards that they would double back and find me, so took a route back via the airport.

Not a clever or sensible thing to do (the juice had a high fruit content) but what the heck. If you're that peed off after waiting behind a cyclist for 30 secs (and approaching the lghts anyway) then you're fair game.

As I said, not big or clever, but boy that squeeze felt good!

Excellent, I live in Wilmslow and there are some right w4nkers, kind of ironic a man sat in an Audi Cabriolet should question your sexualty, it being one of the most girly cars you can get, as driven by Princess Diana.

 

[hackbike 666]

....an Audi what?