Thought I was a goner

[ChrisKH]

Started out from Fenchurch Street station this morning, approaching Fenchurch Street from a side road. Black cab turned into the road from Fenchurch Street and was on my side of the road (my left, his right) and I thought he would pull over to his left. He's going to move over. He's going to move over. He's going to move over. At the last moment (one metre) he looked up realised I was there (wide eyes and an 'oh f$&k' look on his face) and narrowly missed me. Had he kept going he would have squashed me up against a parked car.

Professional drivers? Pah!

 

[mad al]

The jerk!!

 

[swee'pea99]

Did you shout 'OI!' as loud as you could when he was 15 yards away? I recommend it. They can hear, even through all that glass & steel, if you really go for it. I wonder how many Brits have been squashed for fear of drawing attention to themselves...

 

[HobbesChoice]

Was it out of the main entrance to the station and immediately right on that road where the cabs wait? Or did you go the longer way around?

 

[ianrauk]

sounds like a close call mate.. was the cabby engrossed in his copy of The Sun?

 

[ttcycle]

Whoa Chris- glad you made it - that was a close call

 

[ChrisKH]

Was it out of the main entrance to the station and immediately right on that road where the cabs wait? Or did you go the longer way around?

No, longer way round, since to go right out of the station would be going the wrong way down a one way street. I'm not that silly.

I was being extra cautious in any event because I got warned by a special police constable last night, just across the road, for 'scuttling' my bike along the pavement for 5 metres (you know on bike, one foot down, pushing myself along). Apparently it was for my own safety. But he wasn't going to give me a ticket on that occasion. I think he was more frightened of me tbh.

 

[ChrisKH]

sounds like a close call mate.. was the cabby engrossed in his copy of The Sun?

Cabby had a fare in the back and was potentially counting out his change. He was doing about 15-20 mph.

 

[Dayvo]

Better to take a taxi instead of taking on a taxi!

Glad he missed you! Did you have spare undies?

 

[ChrisKH]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Did you shout 'OI!' as loud as you could when he was 15 yards away? I recommend it. They can hear, even through all that glass & steel, if you really go for it. I wonder how many Brits have been squashed for fear of drawing attention to themselves...[/QUOTE]

I used a very select choice of words after the "Oi" ! The f word and idiot were involved I think. I wouldn't normally, but the situation demanded it.

 

[hackbike 666]

My finger stays on the horn button till they realise im there.

 

[HobbesChoice]

No, longer way round, since to go right out of the station would be going the wrong way down a one way street. I'm not that silly.

I was being extra cautious in any event because I got warned by a special police constable last night, just across the road, for 'scuttling' my bike along the pavement for 5 metres (you know on bike, one foot down, pushing myself along). Apparently it was for my own safety. But he wasn't going to give me a ticket on that occasion. I think he was more frightened of me tbh.

Sorry Chris, I wasn't implying you were being silly. I use those roads daily so wanted to be clear on what happened and where for my own rides.

Your second paragraph on scuttling is helpful too because I've done that a few times myself! It's before 6am with not many people round, but that won't hold much weight if I scare or hit someone, will it?

 

[ChrisKH]

Sorry Chris, I wasn't implying you were being silly. I use those roads daily so wanted to be clear on what happened and where for my own rides.

Your second paragraph on scuttling is helpful too because I've done that a few times myself! It's before 6am with not many people round, but that won't hold much weight if I scare or hit someone, will it?

'salright HC, I wasn't being that serious. To be honest I don't see that much harm in scooting as long as you give way to pedestrians. But someone will come along in a minute and tell me it's one step down from mugging or something. The Guardian article someone posted up yesterday about pavement cycling was not unreasonable about the issue. There are more important things to get worked up about.

 

[Crankarm]

.

Can you report black cabs as you can buses in London? I'm sure there will be CCTV around Fenchurch Street station to capture this idiot's dangerous driving which might actually be more damning than a simple statement of what happened. I'd say report him to plod, but more importantly to TfL if they have any powers. Or is there some other organisation that deals with driving stds of black cabbies?

Nail him!

Mind taking out his mirror as he passed would be more satisfying as he could do very little, trying clearly to run you down.