Got buzzed by a car driver

[Kirstie]

Thanks Longers, Mr Pig and Comedy Pilot.

Days like this, although idyllic cycling days, are also drink driving days, so it's wise to avoid areas of high chav density I guess.

 

[Joe]

+1 on the weather, I've had loads of close passes and aggressive drivers in the last couple of days

Whilst I'm too much of a pussy to do anything myself, other than call them a twat and shake my fist, I fully approve of cyclists taking revenge.

Dangerous drivers have essentially nothing to fear from the law so if the fear of losing a wingmirror/getting keyed etc makes them think twice about buzzing me/throwing things at me/shouting and screaming at me for nothing more than riding my bike then I'm all for it!

 

[fossyant]

had some car drive past us and then let out some veeeery thick black smoke on purpose from his exhaust - no idea how this was done but I really should have grabbed the number plate....definately a malicious (WHAT THE F*CK...two doves have just entered my room) act

Nah it's a modern low fat (co2) diesel...chuffin orrible for cyclists...I hate diesel - the soot is not good for our primary drive systems..low co2 or not, the soot is a massive problem for cyclists.......

 

[longers]

I've just read on ColinJs Hebden Bridge thread that PaulB got more than buzzed today.

A bit like Kirsties oncoming near miss but this one got him

I've quoted the bit from the post.

The day was marred by a phone call from PaulB as I was riding out with goodspeed to meet him. He'd just been knocked off his bike by a driver who took a bend wide and found Paul in the way.

Fortunately Paul wasn't seriously injured. He said that his shoulder was painful and his bike was damaged. I have to say - he sounded more cheerful than I'd have managed in the circumstances!

Hope he's ok - his bikes are too small for me.

 

[Kirstie]

 

[Black Sheep]

the small stone in the valve cap trick?

http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2008-12-12

read the couple before it to get context, but i'll summarise below;

someone has been putting ball bearings in valve caps to cause the tyres to go down (in this case the ghost of a rider who got knocked down and killed by a car) which causes someone to loose control while driving resulting in an accident.

if your going to do something to make a point, please think of the possible consequences of it.

 

[Black Sheep]

had some car drive past us and then let out some veeeery thick black smoke on purpose from his exhaust - no idea how this was done but I really should have grabbed the number plate....definately a malicious (WHAT THE F*CK...two doves have just entered my room) act

there's two ways to do this, have a very old and bad condition diesel and change down a gear and floor it

or have a really old car with manual choke and pull the choke all the way out while flooring it.


if the car didn't rev loudly while doing it then it was just him changing gear in a car that needs a lot of tlc

 

[ianrauk]

terrifying, glad you are ok, not a nice experience

I've just returned from a long Sunday ride in the sunshine and I nearly didn't return! I was just south of Barwell in a lane, and I heard a screech of tyres. I looked up and coming the other way, on my side of the road, on a blind bend, was a white vauxhall astra doing about 70. He'd almost lost control of the car and was drifting out, trying to correct the steering. So I screamed, dived into the grass verge, and they missed me by inches. I could give a good description of the car itself, but not its occupants, and I didn't get the reg. cos I was too busy diving! Not sure if I've got enough info to report it. And I'm not going to go that way again.

Thanks for listening because I'm really shaken up...

 

[buggi]

Thanks for listening because I'm really shaken up...

it's a good job we have this forum to let off steam or there would be a lot of dickhead car drivers, white van men and lorry drivers getting killed every minute in mysterious circumstances

 

[Paul_L]

i don't know what it is about some drivers, usually young, almost always in a group where the driver is showing off to his idiotic mates.

I mean call me old fashioned but i don't see the entertainment value in scaring the sh!t out of a cyclist by whizzing them. I'm sure they just see it as a laugh, rather than a dangerous act, but WTF?

Few years ago, i had a car pull alongside me on a climb on an A road, so the 3 or 4 occupants could shout all manner of un-amusing insults, then before they drove off the front passenger gobbed at me, hitting me square on the chin. Absolutely f**king disgusting!

I'm very much an "after the event" ranter, whereby i don't think of any witty respostes and i tend to keep my gob shut so as not to imflame the situation, so i was just cycling along ignoring the abuse and concentrating on my ride.

Beggar's belief!

 

[John the Monkey]

"The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong ever done them by man, beast, or fate. The only thing that keeps them in line is their own fear of death, jail and lawsuits...which are much less likely if they can find a motorcycle to challenge instead of another two thousand pound car or a concrete abutment.

A motorcyclist has to drive [sic] as though everybody else on the road is out to kill him. A few of them are, and many of those who aren't are just as dangerous - because the only thing that can alter their careless, ingrained driving habits is a threat of punishment, either legal or physical, and there is nothing about a motorcycle to threaten any man in a car.

A bike is totally vulnerable; its only defence is manoeuvrability, and every accident situation is potentially fatal"

-Hunter S. Thompson, "Hell's Angels"

 

[Joe24]

Ive had trouble with young twats in cars before. They all seem happy to shout abuse, but none will stop for a chat about it.
One lot were shouting and sticking their fingers up at me, and one threw, what i thought, was a bus ticket out the window for me.
I find it more amusing they are swearing at me And i pitty them for doing it.

And the main thing i think is that the driver will probably be trying to show off, take a courner too fast, crashing off the road and killing his friends. Ofcourse, if they die and he doesnt then he will feel even more like shoot.
And, if the car looks like its their mums, just take the mirror out

 

[John the Monkey]

Hmm.

Before advising anyone to start "taking out mirrors" do bear in mind that;

1) They are in about a half tonne of metal that can travel much faster than you.
2) They've already shown a willingness to put your life at risk *without* you doing anything to provoke them.
3) The penalty for them knocking you off (unless they are drunk whilst doing so) is pathetic, and unlikely to deter them.

I don't consider myself to be particularly handy (although I did do a bit of boxing training in my youth) but even if I did, I wouldn't fancy my chances against four people who seriously wanted to do me harm. It's not always possible to have a measured response to having your life put at risk, but people should be wary of escalating things to a point where they get seriously dangerous.

 

[Mr Pig]

Hmm.

Before advising anyone to start "taking out mirrors" do bear in mind that;

1) They are in about a half tonne of metal that can travel much faster than you.
2) They've already shown a willingness to put your life at risk *without* you doing anything to provoke them.
3) The penalty for them knocking you off (unless they are drunk whilst doing so) is pathetic, and unlikely to deter them.

I don't consider myself to be particularly handy (although I did do a bit of boxing training in my youth) but even if I did, I wouldn't fancy my chances against four people who seriously wanted to do me harm. It's not always possible to have a measured response to having your life put at risk, but people should be wary of escalating things to a point where they get seriously dangerous.

Man's talking sense here.

 

[JamesAC]

Man's talking sense here.

Well, we can slink away with our tails between our legs and pretend it didn't happen.

Or, now and again, from time to time, when someone really oversteps the mark, it's right and proper that ordinary men and women let the scumbags that litter our streets know that they've gone too far.