What are your emotions after a near miss?

[Glow worm]

Anger and a strong desire to commit murder, then an even stronger wish that I had been born a Dutchman and wouldn't have to put up with the kind of crap we do here.

 

[Hip Priest]

If I deem the incident to have been malicious, then I usually just feel sadness. If it is an obvious mistake, then I just feel relief.

 

[Black Country Ste]

The one major near miss I've had so far my reactions were, in order: fear, rage, shock then disbelief.

It was a SMIDSY from a side road on the left. I saw it coming and stopped pedalling but still had to pull off an emergency stop going downhill. Had I been going any faster I would have gone splat up the side of the car.

 

[Recycle]

I never know how I will react. On one occasion I was so consumed by rage that managed to get in front the HGV offender & stop him. His choice was to stop or run me over. Not particularly clever on my part since nearly run me over is what caused the rage in the first place.

On another occasion I had a close call with a woman who cut across my path from a side junction. I missed the side of her car by inches and was close enough to see the look of horror on her face as she passed in front of me. Her eyes were as big as saucers and I felt sorry for her. Weird.

 

[HLaB]

I try to laugh off minor SMIDSYs maybe an audible and sarcastic 'dont worry I'm not here' but occasionally I cant help the wtf or stronger out loud. Touchwood, this is the last significant outburst I remember.

 

[Monkreadusuk]

A split second of %*^! then a few seconds off 'phew that was bloody close' then 'haha sucks to be the driver, police are going to be contacting him about that!'

Thats how I used to be, until I realised that the police arent interested half the time

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I know I get too angry and I'm working on it, funny really....I've managed to change my attitude whilst driving, I drive like a chilled out old man now......

......I'll be happier and less stressed when I can do this when riding, small steps I suppose.

 

[Moodyman]

Sigh and a little tut tut

 

[Matthew_T]

I have a moment of anger which is normally followed by reflection and I then think about what actually happened. It is normally followed by planning what to say to the driver which is usually "Did you even look?" or "Did you see me?". I am not abusive to the person because the adrenaline (cant spell) is still pumping.

I am not an aggressive person in nature, just big mouthed (which is worse).

 

[Licramite]

fortunately I don't carry a gun. - else -
I take attempts to kill me very personally

 

[Gary E]

i'm usually angry at the driver or myself .... one or both us contributed to the near miss

Ditto. If it's my fault (which has been known to happen) I'll always try to catch the car and apologise, after all we don't want motorists thinking were all a bunch of cycling louts. If it's not my fault I'll still try to catch up with the car but this time with other motives!

 

[slowmotion]

Anger and a strong desire to commit murder, then an even stronger wish that I had been born a Dutchman and wouldn't have to put up with the kind of crap we do here.

Much as I love Amsterdam, the cyclists scare the living daylights out of me. Give me London traffic any day.
If you have a strong constitution, watch the fun during the Amsterdam rush-hour.

[media]http://www.terena.org/webcam/[media]

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Much as I love Amsterdam, the cyclists scare the living daylights out of me. Give me London traffic any day.
If you have a strong constitution, watch the fun during the Amsterdam rush-hour.

[media]http://www.terena.org/webcam/[media]

I love that, just watched a bloke just put his bike on its stand in an open space and use his nurses lock. Then I noticed all the bikes appeared to be lock similarly....brilliantly safe environment, I wish the uk was like that...

 

[Glow worm]

I love that, just watched a bloke just put his bike on its stand in an open space and use his nurses lock. Then I noticed all the bikes appeared to be lock similarly....brilliantly safe environment, I wish the uk was like that...

Same here, although it's not perfect- Amsterdam has quite a high rate of bike theft as I understand it. But just watch the interactions of the 4 main groups, the peds, cyclists, drivers and trams on that webcam. They all seem to get by with no bother, no beeping of horns, no shouting, no raised fists (or fingers). It works brilliantly with plenty of giving way (a concept largely alien to your average british driver). If that junction were to be plonked into the middle of london tomorrow, you'd get complete chaos, and a punch up every 10 minutes. Notice how the cyclists mostly wear no helmets, no high viz and are of all age groups- not a MAMIL in sight (thank christ!).

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Same here, although it's not perfect- Amsterdam has quite a high rate of bike theft as I understand it. But just watch the interactions of the 4 main groups, the peds, cyclists, drivers and trams on the cam. They all seem to get by with no bother, no shouting, no raised fists (or worse). It works brilliantly with plenty of giving way (a concpt largely alien to your average british driver).. If that junction were to be plonked into the middle of london tomorrow, you'd get complete chaos, and a punch up every 10 minutes. Notice how the cyclists mostly wear no helmets, no high viz and are of all age groups- not a MAMIL in sight (thank christ!).

I think they still respect their fellow man and woman....something the uk has sadly lost.