My first confrontation and why it will be my last.

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Milzy

Guru
Well that didnt stop the driver in this video having a go at me:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DHIjwxnQFU&feature=g-upl


I see this everyday. He was a bit close but you were making a mountain out of a mole hill. All people with head cams seem to do this. What's the point of reacting like that. When you think of British soldiers who hear the snap crackle & pop of enemy bullets shooting past their ears, I bet even they don't react as much.
 

dodd82

Well-Known Member
"All people with head cams seem to do this."

I have to pick you up on this. Have you considered that the pattern is actually the people with head cams who are prepared to spend time putting close passes on YouTube, rather than people with head cams in general?

I bought a head cam last year - have uploaded only two incidents, one of them is for comedy value with my mates as I fell off my bike, and another is to complain because a truck nearly hit me.

Other than, I ride mainly quite calmly, and the head cam hasn't changed that.
 
Location
Hampshire
We were talking about this sort of thing on the club run today; why do some people turn into complete t00sers when they're in a car, when you could probably walk right into them on the pavement and they'd apologise to you?
Possible explanations mooted were;
That some people have little control over their crappy lives, hate the boss but have to brown nose to get on, sit in a traffic jam for an hour to get home from work etc. and all the pent up anger is released at someone they don't expect to have any trouble with because they're cocooned in a little metal world.
And/or;
They're the same people who used to go on about 'blacks' and 'poofters' etc. but now cyclists are just about the only 'minority' group it's seen as ok to have a pop at.
I haven't been in a stand up fight for nearly 20 years and I can't imagine any other circumstances where I would these days, other than when I'm out on a bike.
 

Andrew_P

In between here and there
The car vs human makes them feel powerful, that and a jealousy that they are not even aware of. The fact that Andrew didn't react back enforced his sense of power. In other words they farking bullies
 

Andrew_P

In between here and there
I also managed not to simper or apologise without raising the testosterone levels of the encounter.
I wasn't saying you did anything wrong, doesn't detract from the fact that his bullying escalated as he was making the decision of possible retaliation.
 

jarlrmai

Veteran
I'm not sure I'm a confident enough rider to attempt that maneuvre!


bonus points if you can do it without unclipping.
 

Milzy

Guru
Cams are great yeah, if he had hit you then you'd have the t0$$er by the balls. My point is some people with cams make something out of nothing. There's a guy on youtube from London with stacks of vids & he's just shouting wooooaaah at every car that goes past. Yes he did have a few moments when he rightly should have done, but loads of stuff he could have ignored.
 
No confrontations so far. But no doubt it'll happen. And when I am confronted and lose it I have a habit of swearing like a rabid Irishman (or woman) :ninja:
(no offence intended for any lovely Irish folks out there ^_^)
{I blame my interesting language on working in stables when I was younger. Nothing works quite as well as swearing when a horse has it's hoof on your foot and you can't move it - the horse that is}
 

albion

Guru
What I found interesting was that the drivers can be genuinely ignorant.
When that guy suggested I 'might get killed' I asked if it would be 'by him'.

There appeared to be little recognition in his exasperated look of his own 'in a rush' dangerous overtaking earlier.
 

jarlrmai

Veteran
I think for some the argument is for trying to make sure drivers know it's not acceptable, you let shoot go all the time and no-one ever even thinks about it and nothing changes, then that same driver knocks someone off.

The trigger point for some drivers is very low, even riding in primary to avoid some serious pot holes whilst approaching a red light, got me a beep and a "Share the road" from a driver the other day, when I asked if she saw the potholes she said no, I said maybe you should look at the road then.."

It's easy to get conditioned to it being "just the way it is" and I see some cyclists with an almost Stockholm syndrome attitude towards drivers, having a go at people who challenge dangerous driving "I get close passed all the time and I don't say anything, man up, ignore it" kind of attitude.

I think the only way is better enforcement and a true culture change which will probably only come about if more people start to cycle and the Kevin Bacon number gets lower for actually knowing a cyclist, which is probably a chicken and egg scenario as people won't cycle if it feels unsafe.

That or dedicated cycle highways with true separation, then it will probably be roadies versus casuals ;)
 
I see this everyday. He was a bit close but you were making a mountain out of a mole hill. All people with head cams seem to do this. What's the point of reacting like that. When you think of British soldiers who hear the snap crackle & pop of enemy bullets shooting past their ears, I bet even they don't react as much.

Is this a joke? In what way was it an overreaction? Stopping your car & reversing on a main road, thus presenting a hazard to any other users of that road, in order to confront a cyclist who reacted in the same way anyone would under similar circumstances is an overreaction. Was he hoping to make an example of this cyclist in front of his children? I bet they really enjoyed watching dad have a half arsed pop at someone who'd done nothing wrong.

If you think this was an overreaction on the cyclists part, you're utterly stupid & I sure as wouldn't ride with you.
 

Milzy

Guru
I think for some the argument is for trying to make sure drivers know it's not acceptable, you let s*** go all the time and no-one ever even thinks about it and nothing changes, then that same driver knocks someone off.

The trigger point for some drivers is very low, even riding in primary to avoid some serious pot holes whilst approaching a red light, got me a beep and a "Share the road" from a driver the other day, when I asked if she saw the potholes she said no, I said maybe you should look at the road then.."

It's easy to get conditioned to it being "just the way it is" and I see some cyclists with an almost Stockholm syndrome attitude towards drivers, having a go at people who challenge dangerous driving "I get close passed all the time and I don't say anything, man up, ignore it" kind of attitude.

I think the only way is better enforcement and a true culture change which will probably only come about if more people start to cycle and the Kevin Bacon number gets lower for actually knowing a cyclist, which is probably a chicken and egg scenario as people won't cycle if it feels unsafe.

That or dedicated cycle highways with true separation, then it will probably be roadies versus casuals ;)

Totally agree. We have so many pot holes now, we have to go far into the road. Fixing them or building stand alone cycle routes both costs money they won't spend. Drivers need educating. I've never had a problem with any cyclist before. I did get cut up on a roundabout for the first time last week as some imbecile was in the wrong lane. The government needs to look at dishing points out to get people 12 month bans to remove idiots from our roads, then they will be more careful the next time.
 
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