Confrontation with a motorist: I did nothing wrong this time

[MrJamie]

Then they need to grow up! I often ask other drivers, with whom I interact on the road and with whom I get to talk, how my cycling was. It's important to be open to criticism, especially when doing something as dangerous as driving. Those who are not open to criticism really shouldn't be operating a 3000lb vehicle at speeds in excess of 15mph.

Absolutely, I just dont believe its worth telling off drivers because so many are so resistant to it and get very aggressive as a result. Matthew is in the right and should be entitled to express his opinion on poor driving. With all due respect to Matt who seems like a very nice guy, he bravely stands up for himself sometimes when he would be better imho to realise he needs to exit the scenario or avoid the whole thing in the first place by keeping his head down. It shouldnt have to be like that but I dont want to hear of him getting hit by an idiot or their car. :/

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Waiting at a junction where you

Nope, just trying to tease out his bike which has been wrapped...up his nose

 

[Dan B]

this gets my vote for bullshit comment of the day

OK fine, in what way is a white line designed to be driven over? My understanding is that it acts as a separator between traffic going in one direction and traffic going the other way, not as a set of guidelines to slalom over

From HC rule 180: "Do not cut the corner. "

 

[Hip Priest]

The driver's words seem a little slurred.

 

[fossyant]

Pretty minor thing the cutting the corner. Driver total over reaction, and if that old bar steward had come after me I'd be advising him to do one before I smashed his face.

He picked on you as you were a youngster.

That said, the driver is in the poo if the car is not insured. Make sure you report the incident, and say that someone has run the reg through askmd website. PS the askmd website is advertised on the radio quite a lot.

 

[dawesome]

At the very least that driver's going to find his car insurance is going to rocket.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

My thoughts (rare occasion...thinking)

He cut the corner, realistically ...so what, it happens and we do it as cyclists.
Was t worth getting into dialogue, no, but once in, hard to drag out.
Re your "see ya" comment, uncalled for and slightly confrontational, but surprised he would have heard it considering you said rather than shouted it and e was driving away at he time.
His subsequent chase, pull up in front of you and confrontation was well out of order and ge needs to be taken to task by the police.
Your responses at that point were quite measured and I hope/hope you ad realised you were in a dangerous situation.

All-in-all an avoidable but very threatening situation.

You seem to be a bit of a target Matthew_T

 

[ianrauk]

I do find this amazing with Matthew. This is now the second time that he has been confronted by a motorist in a very short amount of time. In seven years of commuting the mean streets of London only once has a motorist dared to confront me. (He didn't win) Maybe it's because I am an ugly sourfaced tattooed git who has a very good angry face rather then a little young kid that looks like he can be easily bullied. Because that is what it is.. bullying. But at the end of the day, why put yourself in that situation? I do agree with a poster above. There was no need for the 'See Ya' comment or the reading of his number plate to him. That inflamed the situation. The motorist must be a little unhinged to say the least to have stopped anyway so why escalate the situation? Matthew, a helmet cam is not going to save you from a beating. Sometimes you just have to let things go. Make your point and go.

But this moton nutter does need reporting.

 

[addictfreak]

My thoughts for what it's worth.

Not a great bit of driving in the first instance. But it didn't cause anyone ( Matt in particular) any problems. So was there a need to pass comment, I think not. Matt seems to have the knack of winding people up often with sarcasm or condescending comments.
What occurs after the original confrontation however is totally out of order on the part of the driver. The driver certainly needs a visit from the law.
What amazes me are the amount of 'incidents' he is involved in. I commute everyday at peak times, as well as covering many miles a week general cycling, which I have done for many years. In all that time I may had one or two incidents worthy of being called confrontational.

 

[lit]

As has been said many times, sometimes it's best not to say anything unless you feel happy with what might happen (I don't think you expected him to go after you - I've had drivers try and block me for showing displeasure with their overtakes -you've got 3 choices, stop them blocking you in, have an escape route or be prepared to stand up to them.

 

[CopperCyclist]

Ok, I've had a think, and I think this is the best way to say it.

If I leave my front door unlocked, and then come home to find I've been burgled, it's not my fault. I've done nothing 'wrong'. The burglar is entirely in the wrong, they are the one that should be vilified and brought to justice.

However, leaving my door unlocked is not smart. It's not advisable. I gain nothing from it. It's something I could have changed that MAY have prevented the burglary.

Therefore, I (as a sensible person) will choose to lock my door, even though I don't have to.

 

[gaz]

I do find this amazing with Matthew. This is now the second time that he has been confronted by a motorist in a very short amount of time. In seven years of commuting the mean streets of London only once has a motorist dared to confront me. (He didn't win) Maybe it's because I am an ugly sourfaced tattooed git who has a very good angry face rather then a little young kid that looks like he can be easily bullied. Because that is what it is.. bullying. But at the end of the day, why put yourself in that situation? I do agree with a poster above. There was no need for the 'See Ya' comment or the reading of his number plate to him. That inflamed the situation. The motorist must be a little unhinged to say the least to have stopped anyway so why escalate the situation? Matthew, a helmet cam is not going to save you from a beating. Sometimes you just have to let things go. Make your point and go.

But this moton nutter does need reporting.

probably the bold bits :P

 

[fossyant]

probably the bold bits :P

I can do the bits without a tattoo.

 

[Thomk]

Matt was childish and unwise. Angry man committed assault. The two things are a mile away from each other. We are all childish and unwise sometimes (especially my 4 year old) but we don't all go around committing assault (although my 4 year old does do this as well). Angry man is dangerous and needs to be punished for his actions.

 

[Thomk]

[QUOTE 1897240, member: 45"]Matthew, I hope you've seen that in the past I've been supportive of you rather than flaming you as some have....

This is about age. An older bloke was admonished in a pretty condescending manner by what he saw as a young boy. You being cheeky to him. I can understand him getting wound up by the way you spoke to him, regardless of his driving. Add to that a bit of hurt pride and this just escalated.

Of course he was wrong to threaten you. I don't see a problem with him coming back to talk to you though, as it's only what most of us have done at some point. And you pretty much invited it with your "see ya" comment when you saw that he'd got out to speak to you.

This needn't have escalated as it did, and you're both to blame.[/quote]
I agree with most of this and think you are right. But you can sometimes be right and yet wrong.

They are certainly both to blame. But how much of the blame is really Matt's for the assault upon him? Yes he is to blame for the incident continuing but the assault itself is the fault of the adult who chose to commit it. He laid hands on the lad and he needs to tale FULL responsibility for that. It is against the law and not acceptable in a civilised society.

I agree with your analysis of angry mans actions but he went over the line and that, as far as i'm concerned, is that.

I agree that Matt needs to reassess his methods of communication.