My mistake, but...

[chris42]

some people spell taxi this way.....
moron.
don't worry about it. he is the one with the problem

 

[col]

Over reacting taxi driver,may have been shocked or annoyed because your presence shocked him as he was going too fast,and took it out on you with his horn(fnarr)

 

[Cab]

What I want to know is why you feel the need to continually provoke people Cab. This guy was obviously just going about his legitimate business.

Go on then Troll. What did I do to povoke him? I made an error, I totally accept that. His response was appropriate how?

 

[Cab]

I'm amazed at this, especially coming from you Cab.

You concern yourself with safety on the road and are I think it's fair to say quite outspoken on the subject. Fair enough, your prerogative, and you're probably right to be that way. You are always at pains to point out dangerous behaviour when it's reported on here.

Going by your description of the situation, the taxi was right to toot his horn.

That I don't question (and haven't questioned). What I did question about his first horn sound was the speed at which it came; I was looking his way, I stuck my nose out a not unsafe distance but I can quite see why it could have looked like I'd suddenly appeared there and might be about to rush out under him. So sounding a horn doesn't seem ufair; but I'm staggered by how fast he sounded it. I saw him as soon as he saw me, his horn sounded so fast he must have been going along with his hand over it or something.

Be that as it may, what wasn't acceptable was continuing to sound his horn as he passed. That was just pointless, it's against the rules for how you're meant to use your horn.

It seems a reaction to what he thought was dangerous behaviour. Now, WE all know that you cycle a lot and that you seem a conscientious fella, but HE wasn't to know that. So quite apart from him being correct to beep you to begin with, why should he not emphasize the effect your behaviour as he perceived it had on him? Maybe his thinking was it might make you stop and think before doing it again.

Because that isn't what a horn is for, its not what you're meant or allowed to use if for.

As some have already pointed out, horns are used a lot more than they possibly should be and you might have dismissed a quick blast rather than registering this one. Let's face it you would not have began a thread on it here for starters.

I would have done actually.

We all make mistakes on the road, hopefully we don't make many, but I've been thinking for while that we need more threads where we admit such mistakes.

As for the post immediately above this one - !!!!!!!! [edit - the one before Dom's I mean] That's a wind up, right? How often do you think motorists feel aggrieved when cyclists complain about their behaviour when, in the motorist's perception the cyclist was neither hit, hurt, or forced to take evasive action? Unbelievable!

A bit more understanding of the other side of a situation would do no harm.

No, it wasn't a wind up. I for one don't recall complaining about a motorist doing something that doesn't require me to take evasive action or doesn't put me at risk. If someone hasn't done something downright dangerous then I'm rather at loss to know what there would be to complain about.

 

[Cab]

driving in a straight line with the right of way?

as opposed to pushing out of a blind turning?

why is anything his fault, he's alert and quick on the horn to alert the cyclist

Amazingly quick, so quick I rather suspect he was the kind ot taxi driver who's always ready to honk. However, I can't really be too aggrieved about someone honking their horn to alert me to what they see as danger. I DO think that someone who then keeps honking is a pillock.

 

[domtyler]

What I want to know is why you feel the need to continually provoke people Cab. This guy was obviously just going about his legitimate business.

Go on then Troll. What did I do to povoke him? I made an error, I totally accept that. His response was appropriate how?[/QUOTE]

Ouch, that hurt! I'm not a troll! Am I?

As for your provoking him, let's just say I'd like to hear the drivers side of the story, I think it may vary quite considerably from yours.

 

[Cab]

Ouch, that hurt! I'm not a troll! Am I?

As for your provoking him, let's just say I'd like to hear the drivers side of the story, I think it may vary quite considerably from yours.

The facts are as stated. I got to the end of the driveway with limited visibility, stuck my nose out a tiny bit, but from his perspective he'd have seen a cyclist appear and stop; could have easily looked to him that I was about to whoosh out in front of him. He could have swerved round. He could have sounded a warning on his horn. He could have slowed down. He sounded his horn and took no evasive action that I could make out, and continued sounding his horn. From whatever perspective you look at it, using your horn like that is against the rules.

Your response on any occasion where I mention a motorist who I think has been a bit of a div is that I've provoked him. You don't then follow that up with any justification of how I may have provoked him. You therefore appear to be posting that just to get a response, without engaging in any sensible discission thereon. Looks like trolling from here.

 

[magnatom]

To me this sounds like the sort of situation that is difficult to describe in writing. It's one of those 'you had to be there' incidents. It is entirely possible that this taxi driver was completely over reacting, or that maybe Cab is over reacting. Without having been there it is difficult to tell.
Cab sounds like a decent bloke so I tend to err in his side, but then thats probably more cyclist bias than based on anything real .

Cab You didn't happen to have this on helmet camera did you?

Maybe you just need that AirZound to hit get your own back

 

[Cab]

Cab You didn't happen to have this on helmet camera did you?

Naah, I was only popping in to town for Lunch. Didn't think to take it.

Maybe you just need that AirZound to hit get your own back

The AirZound is a great gadget, but the last thing you should do is get into a honking contest with someone whos horn doesn't run out of pressure

 

[magnatom]

The AirZound is a great gadget, but the last thing you should do is get into a honking contest with someone whos horn doesn't run out of pressure

Probably true, but the taxi driver would think twice about honking at a cyclist again

 

[Cab]

I used to have an air zound. Trouble is, if you lock your bike up in the street someone'll just come and make a noise with it.

 

[Arch]

The AirZound is a great gadget, but the last thing you should do is get into a honking contest with someone whos horn doesn't run out of pressure

OT a bit, but I heard a story once of some diesel locomotive restoration enthusiasts who got hold of the two tone klaxon off a big diesel. Took it home and decided to wire it up to a car battery to test it...

Blew their front room windows out...

Bit bulky to carry on a bike though....

 

[Keith Oates]

Arch, I liked the windscreen washers, made me smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Arch]

Arch, I liked the windscreen washers, made me smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, we were both giggling a bit when it happened...

 

[goo_mason]

The AirZound is a great gadget, but the last thing you should do is get into a honking contest with someone whos horn doesn't run out of pressure

OT a bit, but I heard a story once of some diesel locomotive restoration enthusiasts who got hold of the two tone klaxon off a big diesel. Took it home and decided to wire it up to a car battery to test it...

Blew their front room windows out...

Bit bulky to carry on a bike though....[/QUOTE]

There's a clip on YouTube I wish I'd bookmarked with two guys who've rigged up a ship's horn to their car driving about the streets and occasionally giving it a 'toot'. It's very funny to watch, but probably very disturbing to have been a pedestrian having the poo scared out of you by the sound of Titanic sneaking up on you from behind...