Wolf616
Über Member
We all have those one or two junctions on our regular route home that inspire fear and boredom in equal measure. The one in particular that I am thinking about is near Deptford Market in London. There's a small side road you end up on after cycling across the market (don't worry, not pedestrianised as such!) and it leads to a major road with traffic lights just off to the left. I have to turn right onto this main road, and will often need to wait until the traffic lights (that are not on a timer, as far as I am aware, and therefore need to be activated by pedestrians) turn red before I get a chance to pull out as it's normally not safe to do so otherwise.
The only problem is that this road is very narrow, so narrow in fact that if I am at the front of the queue I cannot really stand to the right to let left turning traffic past as any cars turning left into that road barely have enough space to do so anyway. I also tend to queue as cars etc. would, rather than filter past, as there just isn't really room to do so.
Normally this is fine; most motor vehicle drivers, I find, are reasonable and understand the need for me not to fly out into traffic and hope it's okay. Last night, though, an angry and impatient driver decided to honk his horn at me, gesture wildly and shout at me to 'get a farking move on'. I'll admit I panicked slightly - I turned around quickly to shout back at him, pointing out I wasn't just going to pull out into traffic and he should shut up, before doing exactly that and pulling out into traffic hoping I wasn't going to die. Realistically I had made a split second decision that there was a tiny gap and oncoming traffic wasn't approaching THAT fast, but it wasn't the safest junction manoeuvre I've ever done. Would he have honked his horn at a car? Probably. Would that car have pulled out before they were ready? Possibly not.
What do you do in such situations? What is the appropriate action here? Sometimes I manage to keep my cool and ignore the honking, continue to patiently wait and then pull out when ready. But for some reason last night I just snapped and reacted in a completely irrational way. On the plus side, I cycled the second half of my journey home faster than I ever have before due to the adrenaline and rage pumping away.
The only problem is that this road is very narrow, so narrow in fact that if I am at the front of the queue I cannot really stand to the right to let left turning traffic past as any cars turning left into that road barely have enough space to do so anyway. I also tend to queue as cars etc. would, rather than filter past, as there just isn't really room to do so.
Normally this is fine; most motor vehicle drivers, I find, are reasonable and understand the need for me not to fly out into traffic and hope it's okay. Last night, though, an angry and impatient driver decided to honk his horn at me, gesture wildly and shout at me to 'get a farking move on'. I'll admit I panicked slightly - I turned around quickly to shout back at him, pointing out I wasn't just going to pull out into traffic and he should shut up, before doing exactly that and pulling out into traffic hoping I wasn't going to die. Realistically I had made a split second decision that there was a tiny gap and oncoming traffic wasn't approaching THAT fast, but it wasn't the safest junction manoeuvre I've ever done. Would he have honked his horn at a car? Probably. Would that car have pulled out before they were ready? Possibly not.
What do you do in such situations? What is the appropriate action here? Sometimes I manage to keep my cool and ignore the honking, continue to patiently wait and then pull out when ready. But for some reason last night I just snapped and reacted in a completely irrational way. On the plus side, I cycled the second half of my journey home faster than I ever have before due to the adrenaline and rage pumping away.