Taking off the door mirror...

[Banjo]

Greg we all get angry on times and some peoples fuse is shorter than others .Right up till my late 20s I was involved in more bar fights than I care to remember .Then it dawned on me that wether I was right or wrong still standing or bleeding on the floor I still felt like shoot in the morning. All of us have to develop ways of dealing with stress and anger.

 

[ianrauk]

It's quite simple really. Act aggressive & bullying against me with a ton of metal then you get what what is coming to you. You never know what a car driver may be like or act if you touch their precious car?, well, you never know what this cyclist will be like or act if you put this cyclists life in danger.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Equally I think sections of the cycling community demonise drivers as somehow having this capability.

I've never knocked a wing mirror off but I've been bloody tempted. Like twice this morning. Already had a bad day home yesterday, to find out that my Mother had been doored on her way home. The Police are now (at a second attempt) involved.

Twice this morning I have had drivers get right up my arse and give me some serious threatening abuse because they couldnt overtake. They've acted like spoilt toddlers and I lost my rag on both occasions and shouted back. These people need to be taken to task, I'd rather in reality push hard to force some kind of change. Force of will is a powerful thing, and I think my correspondence over some 3-400 letters last year might have helped not just cycling's image but my own bloody sanity.

I also think that if you accept cycling as part of your lifestyle you start to see the roads in a completely different context to noncyclists. There can be benefits to that as well as negatives the question is are we prepared to push and promote those benefits? I dont see that we have any choice but to.

Since Boo, my splendid daughter, bought me a helmet cam for Christmas anyone who clips me, or otherwise makes contact, or plain ole drives like a twunt near me, is getting reported to Operation Crackdown.

 

[glenn forger]

I've done it, never on the bike, but if someone parks on the pavement I may be less careful about scraping a key down three panels of the car and taking the wing mirror off. No point doing it on a bike because so many drivers have no hesitation about using their vehicle as a weapon. A three-panel gouge will write off a £1000 car.

Good.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Greg we all get angry on times and some peoples fuse is shorter than others .Right up till my late 20s I was involved in more bar fights than I care to remember .Then it dawned on me that wether I was right or wrong still standing or bleeding on the floor I still felt like s*** in the morning. All of us have to develop ways of dealing with stress and anger.

Bloke got stabbed in a pub in town the other weekend and was dragged into the street and given a good kicking until the ambulance arrived. No doubt he provoked it or escalated it. Should I stop going to pubs just in case?

 

[uclown2002]

Since Boo, my splendid daughter, bought me a helmet cam for Christmas anyone who clips me, or otherwise makes contact, or plain ole drives like a twunt near me, is getting reported to Operation Crackdown.

Don't forget to switch camera off when you rip that mirror off.

 

[ianrauk]

You don't give enough visual clues?

They get fair warning.

 

[sazzaa]

Vandalizing a car or any property is such a lowlife scummy thing to do, deal with the person face to face if you want a fair exchange or a fight. Just because you think you're at a disadvantage in the situation, doesn't excuse underhand tactics, it just makes you a shoot person.

 

[glenn forger]

Would it not be more constructive to scratch "pavements are for people" in the paintwork, otherwise your message is lost when they just view it as mindless vandalism.

I thought of that, I drug the owner then tattoo that message on their forehead.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Don't forget to switch camera off when you rip that mirror off.

Why would I need to do that? Sussex plod quite happy to prosecute on the basis of video evidence and some of them take a very dim view of folk who use their cars carelessly or as weapons.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Excellent, thought provoking, range of responses, folks. Ta. I'm off to my bed but feel free to carry on, in my absence and I'll wade back join in, on the morrow.

 

[Banjo]

Bloke got stabbed in a pub in town the other weekend and was dragged into the street and given a good kicking until the ambulance arrived. No doubt he provoked it or escalated it. Should I stop going to pubs just in case?

No and neither should you give up cycling . Im just saying shrug your shoulders and let it flow over you sometimes. Your aggressive responses obviously bother you or you wouldnt bring it up on here .

 

[glenn forger]

Here's a tip, don't try wrenching, don't try tugging, hit it straight down vertically and it comes straight off, lol.

 

[ianrauk]

Here's a tip, don't try wrenching, don't try tugging, hit it straight down vertically and it comes straight off, lol.

Yup. That's what I did.
I honestly didn't mean to break off the wing mirror, I just bashed my closed fist down on to it and it just came off....surprised myself at how easy it broke..

 

[Banjo]

Since Boo, my splendid daughter, bought me a helmet cam for Christmas anyone who clips me, or otherwise makes contact, or plain ole drives like a twunt near me, is getting reported to Operation Crackdown.

I wish the plod round here had a similar scheme to op crackdown . It looks as if one report gets the driver a warning letter. Two reports and it gets serious.Should be nationwide.