Holding onto people's cars - do you do it?

[thefollen]

If the cyclist is having a clipless moment and they have to put a hand on my car to prevent themselves falling over or the bike potentially scratching it, no problem providing no damage is done.

If they do it simply because they're too lazy to clip out I'd tell 'em politlely to buzz off. Wouldn't go nuts at them however...

 

[snapper_37]

I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't go nuts if someone did it to my car but I'd feel a little - erm, violated.

This. I've never had anyone lean on my car but I don't think I'd have a right fizzer if they did. Unless they were sprawled all over it. If he was say, right by her or the passenger window, I can understand feeling uncomfortable but not threatening to bost their hands.

 

[ColinJ]

It's pretty sad really. Touching a car with a hand is not the same thing as leaning a bike against it. Okay, you shouldn't be doing it and I can see why drivers don't like it, but irritation would be an appropriate response rather than rage. If merely touching a car induces rage, then is that driver really capable of coping with all the crap that goes on on UK roads?

If somebody moved my bike at a cafe stop because it was in their way, I'd be okay with that if they treated it with respect and were careful not to damage it. If I saw them just throw it to one side, then they'd better watch out!

Many people see their cars as extensions of their bodies so touching the car would be like 'copping a quick feel' in a crowded lift!

 

[benb]

It's one thing getting angry because someone actually leans their bike against your car - that could leave proper damage - but this woman massively overreacted to someone merely touching it. Not exactly likely to scratch it.

I wouldn't do it, and I think it's a bit rude of the cyclist to do it, but the woman's response is utterly disproportionate.

 

[Moodyman]

Many people see their cars as extensions of their bodies so touching the car would be like 'copping a quick feel' in a crowded lift!

Are you speaking from experience here Colin?

 

[snapper_37]

I'm off to shoot stir. I was thinking of something along the lines of 'if you cycled to work once in a while you might not get so stressed out at someone fingering your Micra'.

 

[Linford]

[QUOTE 1783097, member: 45"]I once tapped on the window of a car which had just brushed past me. The driver chased me up the outside of a line of queueing traffic and threatened to kill me.

I'll not be doing that again.[/quote]

They wouldn't do that to a motorcyclist. I've had one or two in the past on mine, and they may not like it, but are usually a bit stunned that someone is doing this, but by and large, they know that they couldn't outrun a biker on an open road, but would have little difficulty doing this with a cyclist. I've had bottles of drink poured over me on my old MTB before now when I've been cycling along, and kids throwing stuff at me from above when I've been riding through underpasses (legally). Cyclists get little respect on the road.

 

[Hip Priest]

I'd never do it because I'd fear the reactions oulined above. But cyclists are welcome to put a hand on my car. I couldn't care less.

 

[ColinJ]

Are you speaking from experience here Colin?

I always use the stairs! (Waits for comments about crowded stairwells ...)

I used to work on the top floor of large building and would race the lift. My colleagues would be getting in on the ground floor as I walked past the open lift door to the stairs. I'd run up 3 double flights and beat them to the office every time. My heart would be pounding like a drum, but I didn't let on that I'd been running. They always looked at me as if they were thinking "How did you do that!"

 

[Boris Bajic]

I wouldn't do it when cycling and would consider it very rude if a cyclist did it to my car. It's never happened to me. One hears about it, but I've never seen it done.

I can well understand the woman in the OP 'venting' while on a break in the office. If she really did shout at the cyclist, she might want to have a little think about responding rather than reacting; but she is not wrong to have found it rude. It is rude.

Confession: I used to use the pole at the rear of a Routemaster for a sly tow in the 70s and 80s. On a bicycle and on a skateboard. Best done when the conductor was at the front or upstairs. I wouldn't do it now, but I was immortal and thoughtless in my teens.

On the matter of a £50 BSO being leant against a carbon superfandango: That can appear thoughtless too, although it does make me giggle how some riders come across as slightly precious about their steed. Sometimes there is simply nowhere else to lean a bike (bike park at the Emirates on match day). Sometimes there is.

I suspect that the person most likely to be precious about a perceived danger of scratching was not a cyclist five or ten years ago, rides a full-carbon whizzbang and fascinates about bar-tape colour, heart rate, wattage and energy drinks.

The nice thing about how cycling across the decades has panned out is that most of those won't be riding in a decade or so.

 

[SquareDaff]

Would never put my mitts on a car. Having seen the state of some of the cars I'd get my hands dirty!!

Seriously, I just wouldn't. It's just not polite and shows a complete lack of respect for someone elses property.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Some people have an irrational obsession about their cars.

However, why would I hold onto a moveable object that is under the control of someone else and may move or do something unexpected at any time?

 

[Bigsharn]

Only with people I know, which in York includes most bus drivers, as I lean up against their cab window and idly chat to them waiting for the light change

 

[Jezston]

This love of the car - must be a British thing. I recall reading that in Paris it's a common sight seeing cars with bumps and scrapes. Something to do with drivers leaving their handbrake down which allows others to nudge them in tight spaces to squeeze theirs in.

I think people in Paris tend to take an approach similar to what we do with our 'pub bikes' or 'winter bikes' or 'beaters' - the rich Parisians may have their fancy Merc parked in their underground car park to drive out to the countryside at weekends, but for their general getting about the city they have their old Renault that's covered in dents and scratches and fully expect it to get bumped and shoved about as part what it is to drive (and park) in Paris.

This sense of "I don't really care about this car, let alone yours" contributes to the generally laissez-faire approach to road use in Paris, but also seems to result in a great deal more respect towards more vulnerable road users as perhaps they are thinking less of the tin box they are in and more of the people themselves.

That and you REALLY don't want to mess with Paris traffic cops.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Would never put my mitts on a car. Having seen the state of some of the cars I'd get my hands dirty!!

Seriously, I just wouldn't. It's just not polite and shows a complete lack of respect for someone elses property.

Good decision, my car is filthy at the moment