I punched a car and I liked it........

[fossyant]

Hum the sentances below to the song.."I kissed a girl"....

I punched a car and I liked it........
But the driver did.....n't............

Coming back out of town this morning, keeping up with traffic on the A34 Anson Rd after the Dickenson Junction headding south, through the hole that is the back end of Rusholme/Levenshulme....

Riding just on the dividing line of the cycle lane/main carriageway - cars a good 4 feet away from the cycle lane (nice wide road)..... coming towards a set of traffic lights, there is a car 2 cars in front starting to indicate right. I've pulled level with a car 2 cars behind the indicating one - him 4-5 feet away to my right. Car in front of us, then starts to dive for cycle lane to go inside the indicating car which is still approaching the junction....

Guess what.....car next to me then pulls over towards me.....doesn't even look, bugger this I'm not being squeezed off the road.........'boink'.... I slap the front passenger door with the back of my hand - my brake hoods were within wing mirror width of the car....(I didn't even stretch, just dropped my arm down and moved it slightly)

Lights then go red - so he can't go anywhere....

Turn and look at the driver, and he's got no clue - seems to think I'm bonkers and I point out the cycle lane he's sitting in. Just an old dodderer in a car.....

No slanging match - just hasn't a clue that there is a wide cycle lane there. Just one of those 'filtering' incidents you have to watch out for, even on a 'wide' road....

First time I've slapped a car though.... might have to rattle one next time rather than a quick 'boink'....

 

[Theseus]

The last time I slapped the passenger windon of a van the driver went out of his way to chase me and offered to step out on the pavement so he could "stick" me with a knife. When I declined and rode off he then followed and enquired after my sexuality before offering to engage in sodomy. I left, confused as to whether he loathed or loved me.

 

[BentMikey]

That sort of thing is why I rarely touch a car. I think Fossy's example is one where I make an exception - there you're simply saving yourself.

 

[StuartG]

Exactly. To be used as a last resort when about to be squashed. Its remarkably effective as it sounds many times worse inside the vehicle than out. You can't anticipate whether the driver will react by stopping, swerving or any combination so use with extreme care.

It seldom helps with making drivers more cycle-friendly so please only for prevention and not revenge of an incident!

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

I disagree i think it's your duty to point out there stupidity which is generally not using there mirrors. Some of the morons might actually start using them then. And being offered to the kerb to sort the argument out would be ace! It would let me demonstrate what twenty years of boxing will do to there face! I'm often seen round these parts educating car drivers!

 

[ufkacbln]

Surely you simply fended off from a vehicle that was too close?

Much more dignified, responsible and civilised... however the two can easily be mistaken,and I am sure that thos is what the OP meant

 

[Tynan]

a lot of drivers react to any contact with their car as an assault on them, I'd always avoid it unless it was to get their attention, assuming shouting didn't work

if you're moving, hitting anything isn't a very good idea anyway

 

[killiekosmos]

The last time I slapped the passenger windon of a van the driver went out of his way to chase me and offered to step out on the pavement so he could "stick" me with a knife. When I declined and rode off he then followed and enquired after my sexuality before offering to engage in sodomy. I left, confused as to whether he loathed or loved me.

EDinburgh's famed hospitality and broadmindedness?

 

[bauldbairn]

Glad your ok fossyant - makes you feel so much better punching a car(only as a last resort though).

 

[small fish]

i did this once - rapped on the back door of a shiny new Audi RS4, the second time it overtook me in busy traffic with literally a couple of inches to spare.

There were two things i hadn't fully thought through...

First, I was wearing a ring and the knock on the back door was a bit harder and a LOT louder than expected...

Second, people who drive brand new Audi RS4's like a psycho in busy traffic generally do so because they are.... dangerous psychos...!

Driver - who looked like a drug dealing, gun toting gangster - went absolutely ballistic and drove at me as i pulled in front... then started to follow me. Thankfully I lost him in the traffic and got home, where i spent half an hour hiding behind the curtain watching as said psycho drove up and down my road as he'd obviously seen me turn off.

I was so afraid of running into him that I changed my route and started wearing different clothes on my commute aand it was a good 6 months before I stopped panicking every time i saw an Audi.

so, i won't do that again!

 

[Theseus]

EDinburgh's famed hospitality and broadmindedness?

Yep, he even had the courtesy to comment on my English heritage.

 

[fossyant]

Glad your ok fossyant - makes you feel so much better punching a car(only as a last resort though).

First time I've done it - was a case of hit it or get squashed as the guy was going for the curb without looking. The old man thought I'd bumped his car......

Could have combed my hair in his wing mirror, on the move, if I had planned it better.... blooming helmet hair.....

 

[redjedi]

Are those actual pictures of the incident Fossy?

I'm not a driver, but in the first picture I would consider that to be in the drivers blind spot (happy to be corrected on that) and not somewhere I would choose to be if I'm keeping up with the traffic flow

But I do hate it when drivers do the swerve to get around someone waiting to turn right.

 

[fossyant]

They are from the video (can't edit video at work, just a quick screen grab) - I was out pacing the cars at that point - he started moving in as I was by the passenger front door. First shot is me passing - he's very wide, lots of room, I continue to pass, then next second I'm staring at the wing mirror/front wing.

There is another shot much closer (i.e. slightly later), but the cycle lane was out of shot. TBH it's common on that road for folk to switch into the cycle lane - just pointing out a risk that we all take - I wasn't hanging about in a blind spot.

I was doing about 20-21 mph and I had both Hope 1's on and the Flashy Toad on.........

Just one of those things to watch out for...especially when using the 'cycling facilities'...........dozy buggers in cars.

Certainly don't try and touch cars, as a few posters here have mentioned the psycho's - I've shouted "Too close" a few times.

 

[redjedi]

They are from the video (can't edit video at work, just a quick screen grab) - I was out pacing the cars at that point - he started moving in as I was by the passenger front door. First shot is me passing - he's very wide, lots of room, I continue to pass, then next second I'm staring at the wing mirror/front wing.

There is another shot much closer (i.e. slightly later), but the cycle lane was out of shot. TBH it's common on that road for folk to switch into the cycle lane - just pointing out a risk that we all take - I wasn't hanging about in a blind spot.

I was doing about 20-21 mph and I had both Hope 1's on and the Flashy Toad on.........

Just one of those things to watch out for...especially when using the 'cycling facilities'...........dozy buggers in cars.

Certainly don't try and touch cars, as a few posters here have mentioned the psycho's - I've shouted "Too close" a few times.

That's fair enough, always hard to tell from a couple of stills.

I have a stretch like that on my way home. Even with a painted green cycle lane, motorists still swerve into it without looking, even thought they have just passed me, and I'm not easy to miss