article on how we are treated by motorists

[Drago]

Get down the gym, get bulked and ripped, ride around in a muscle vest 2 sizes too small and people will suddenly leave you alone. Only one old feller ever got seriously gobby on the road with me and I swear I could hear his sphincter give way when I stood up straight and put on a lat spread.

Works for me on the road and in life - people like that are cowards and won't behave like that once they get a momentary reminder that in any given situation they're a lot lower down the food chain than they thought. Given the choice id rather be left alone, and this generally ensures that people are quite keen to do just that.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Get down the gym, get bulked and ripped, ride around in a muscle vest 2 sizes too small and people will suddenly leave you alone. Only one old feller ever got seriously gobby on the road with me and I swear I could hear his sphincter give way when I stood up straight and put on a lat spread.

Works for me on the road and in life - people like that are cowards and won't behave like that once they get a momentary reminder that in any given situation they're a lot lower down the food chain than they thought. Given the choice id rather be left alone, and this generally ensures that people are quite keen to do just that.

The idea of the ripped muscles and the (torn, perhaps?) muscle vest greatly appeals but unless I go down to the gym and kidnap a possessor of such, at gunpoint, and force him to ride shotgun for me as I pedal my sit-up-and-beg bike along the road, it's not going to work for me, sadly ...

 

[AndreaJ]

Most drivers here are fairly good but it is a rural part of Shropshire so I don’t see that much traffic. I do have to pass our village Primary school on my way to work at dropping off time and the level of stupidity the school run parents are capable of amazes me especially considering that it’s their children who are most at risk. To be honest they are as likely to run you off the road if you are in a car or walking so it’s not just cyclists they dislike!

 

[matticus]

The idea of the ripped muscles and the (torn, perhaps?) muscle vest greatly appeals but unless I go down to the gym and kidnap a possessor of such, at gunpoint, and force him to ride shotgun for me as I pedal my sit-up-and-beg bike along the road, it's not going to work for me, sadly ...

Gotta be worth a try?

 

[KnittyNorah]

Gotta be worth a try?

Unfortunately at something beyond my allotted three-score years and ten, I no longer have the ... erm ... appeal that I might once have brought into play to coerce said muscle man into 'assisting' me. And I gave up my shotgun licence about eight years ago so ...

 

[oldwheels]

I live in an area of single track roads with passing places and between passing places I ride in the middle of the road mostly. I don't get much in the way of close passes but the sheer volume of traffic in the current tourist season means drivers have to stop in passing places for me on my trike. Some idiots have no idea what passing places are for but do slow down significantly when they realise a camera is pointing at them.
The main problem is just sheer volume of traffic which means I have to stop in most passing places so never really get to build up any rhythm. There can be comedy when convoys of more than 4 cars meet and try to negotiate small passing places. This gives me a bit of peace until they sort themselves out.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Is that because of Operation Close Pass

That is little more than a PR job. Unless you have decent video footage then plod will do diddly squat.

 

[mjr]

That is little more than a PR job. Unless you have decent video footage then plod will do diddly squat.

I suspect you are confusing Operation Close Pass (unmarked police cyclists with cameras, combined with "catcher" cars up the road directing incompetent overtakers to an education session) with something else, but a PR job could change some driver behaviour.

 

[C R]

I suspect you are confusing Operation Close Pass (unmarked police cyclists with cameras, combined with "catcher" cars up the road directing incompetent overtakers to an education session) with something else, but a PR job could change some driver behaviour.

Some time ago a senior officer in South Worcestershire tweeted that close pass operations of that sort were too dangerous for the officer in the bike. .

Linky:
https://bikeworcester.org.uk/2020/09/close-pass-too-dangerous-say-police/

 

[matticus]

Nothing wrong with "PR Job"s; although the devil can be in the detail.

c.f. Drink Driving - yes, there was a big enforcement push, but I'd propose that the PR campaign to make it sociably unacceptable also played a big part. (Citation Matt?? Sorry, not today ... )

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Some time ago a senior officer in South Worcestershire tweeted that close pass operations of that sort were too dangerous for the officer in the bike. .

So it's safe enough for the general public, but unsafe for those who are supposed to protect the general public.
More bent coppers.

 

[gbb]

Certainly when things began to open up there were a lot more incidents from my riding experience, possibly due to drivers being out of practice. I was a bit.

In Kirklees it's just a few selfish idiots, who know there's little come-back or policing.

Funnily enough, I was talking with a non cycling colleague today and he remarked how he was seeing lots of poor driving since things have opened up, uncertainty from drivers at roundabouts, poor perception etc...which you could argue is just people being out of practice as you say.

 

[gbb]

So it's safe enough for the general public, but unsafe for those who are supposed to protect the general public.
More bent coppers.

While I agree with the sentiment, surely just a clottish thing for one copper to say.

 

[cyberknight]

The idea of the ripped muscles and the (torn, perhaps?) muscle vest greatly appeals but unless I go down to the gym and kidnap a possessor of such, at gunpoint, and force him to ride shotgun for me as I pedal my sit-up-and-beg bike along the road, it's not going to work for me, sadly ...

I'm 5 foot 6 and 145 llbs even if I bulked up I would look odd 🤣

 

[kayakerles]

Yup.
Same as it ever was.

People notice different things; get a bad day, write a moany blog about it, the internet piles in. It's not data.

Totally agree. As Matticus and Brian Eno (Once In a Lifetime) both said... “same as it ever was.” But over on this side of the pond, I choose where I ride very carefully. Being just outside of DC I have to. I also don’t let myself respond with rage to anyone, it’s not worth it, and is just asking for it. Not with words, hand gestures or evil faces. Ragers can be nuts. I once saw 2 car drivers here race each other to a stoplight corner (on slick streets in the winter), both wanting to turn first. When they both slid to the corner, they just jumped out of their vehicles and started wailing on each other! But yeah, choose wisely and ride safe, there will always be good days and not such good days. Same as with most things in life. Tomorrow is just another day, same as it ever was!