What the hells the matter with some drivers :=(

[Banjo]

Its quite rare I get into a confrontation with a driver ,

Conclusions I have come to are 1,nothing good ever comes out of a road side argument .

2,You could be in serious danger.

3,Lifes too short to waste it trying to educate idiots.

Dont dwell on it after an incident ,trying to make sense out of an encounter with an idiot will just get you down.

 

[confusedcyclist]

You can't fix stupid.

 

[Racing roadkill]

It could be worse. I got a right idiot on a shared path last night. He stood on his right, then as I signalled that I was aiming for my left, he went off on one and stood in my way. Then called me something or other, which lit the proverbial blue touch paper. After about 5 minutes of ‘re education’ about shared paths, not “pavements” he still hadn’t quite grasped the concept. Then decided to be a hero as I rode off. The kick missed by a mile, and so I rode off laughing at the idiot.

 

[johnnyb47]

It could be worse. I got a right idiot on a shared path last night. He stood on his right, then as I signalled that I was aiming for my left, he went off on one and stood in my way. Then called me something or other, which lit the proverbial blue touch paper. After about 5 minutes of ‘re education’ about shared paths, not “pavements” he still hadn’t quite grasped the concept. Then decided to be a hero as I rode off. The kick missed by a mile, and so I rode off laughing at the idiot.

Wow. There seems to of been something in the air last night as regards to plonkers. I'm having a night off from the bike tonight ( to cold) so it will an idiot free night :=)

 

[I like Skol]

It could be worse. I got a right idiot on a shared path last night. He stood on his right, then as I signalled that I was aiming for my left, he went off on one and stood in my way. Then called me something or other, which lit the proverbial blue touch paper. After about 5 minutes of ‘re education’ about shared paths, not “pavements” he still hadn’t quite grasped the concept. Then decided to be a hero as I rode off. The kick missed by a mile, and so I rode off laughing at the idiot.

I don't like to nit-pick but if I have this right you appear to be putting the blame for this incident on the wrong person.
Your description makes it sound like you got involved in an altercation because a pedestrian on a SHARED use path failed/refused to move out of your way? I'm sure I must be misunderstanding your account of the tale somehow.....

 

[Racing roadkill]

I don't like to nit-pick but if I have this right you appear to be putting the blame for this incident on the wrong person.
Your description makes it sound like you got involved in an altercation because a pedestrian on a SHARED use path failed/refused to move out of your way? I'm sure I must be misunderstanding your account of the tale somehow.....

Yes, you seem to have missed the bit where he deliberately stood in my way.

 

[marshmella]

I get people do this to me when on 2 wheels or 4, I think the issue is many people just:

A) Don't care.
B) Are so focused on what they're doing, that what happens outside their tin box doesn't compute.

During my partial commute on Tuesday I had stopped while on the bike at a zebra crossing as people were waiting to cross, in the time I had stopped 3-4 cars drove through the crossing totally oblivious to those attempting to cross the road..

This happened to me on my commute last year. The zebra crossing is outside a school as soon as the parents and children approached i gave way, but vehicles from the opposite direction just kept going. After about 4 or 5 had failed to stop the next car stopped and the driver shouted over to me " Can't they see there's people trying to cross?" I think i replied saying "Apparently not".

.

 

[Bazzer]

It's one of the reasons I bought a camera.
I had internal mental arguments for a long time about getting a camera, but the second time I was hit, followed by what seemed to be weekly, or more frequent, close calls, swung it for me. Whilst most drivers are considerate, there seems to be a significant minority who, for whatever reason, quite frankly don't give a sh1t about other road users. Such as the tosser who a week ago, hit me doing a close overtake and then drove off.

 

[wyre forest blues]

Some police forces now have a department that view footage of bad driving recorded on motorists video cameras and take action against such driving. This includes footage taken by cyclists. There are rules about storage and sending the footage etc...check your local force to see if they are doing this. There are so many vehicles now that have cameras that its a good way to help prevent bad driving. Its only the tip of the iceberg, but the more we as motorists and cyclists make bad driving unacceptable by highlighting it (such as happened with drink driving), the safer it will be. I have a go pro which records for about 2 + hours and would have no hesitation in forwarding footage to our local force.

 

[randynewmanscat]

Long time ago I was driving along the A6 from New Mills to Stockport in the afternoon exodus. Through Hazel Grove is two lane and very busy, the lanes are not the widest and it is hairy for cyclists there. A transit tipper was in front of me and we both passed a rider, a mid twenties man on an old "racing bike". We got stopped at lights and the cyclist filtered up the inside to the stop line. Lights went to green and he set off which meant the transit driver had to overtake him again which seemed to cause him anger. When he got the chance to pass the bike he made sure to immediately cut back almost to the kerb causing the man on the bike to brake, the rider threw his arm up in anger and carried on. Next set of lights I was still behind the transit stopped for the red signal and the cyclist rode up and remonstrated through the nearside window of the transit. The driver got out immediately and walked round to the kerb, without pause he set about the cyclist but made the mistake of picking on the wrong person. I watched as they scuffled on the pavement and within a few seconds the cyclist had the better of the driver and got in a series of fierce blows to the man's face. The driver realised it was a mistake to vent fury without knowing his enemy and made his way back to his cab while the cyclist gave the passenger door a severe kicking. The lights had turned to green a minute or more earlier and the traffic was held up by the spectacle. I saw it all and was squarely on the cyclists side, I deplore violence but I felt some pleasure at seeing a bully receiving an education. The man defended himself and went too far in damaging the vehicle after the driver had obviously had enough of a beating but to put myself in his shoes I might have behaved the same, the driver attacked him by driving dangerously and then again with his fists.
One of the many reasons I left Britain was because of the anger of some people on the roads, in pubs and shops. They are a plague and must put a lot of individual effort into pissing off normal people as it seems to happen with alarming regularity. I used to take an evening ride along the lanes of North Cheshire and as cycling became more popular I encountered more cyclists and often groups of cyclists out on the lanes, with that I encountered an increased hostility from drivers. Drivers became pissed off at being slowed down along the roads and I was shocked at how many of them would "teach the biker a lesson" by driving super close past them or violently cutting back in front as they passed. I certainly hold the gutter press and the likes of Jeremy Clarkson responsible for egging on the angry of Britain, a read of the usual papers below the line comments on cycling stories tells you that there are some very unstable people at large.
My award for car most likely to feature in road altercations goes to the Audi S3 hatchback.

 

[Johnno260]

I stick mostly to the back lanes to avoid the worst traffic now, the views better there anyway.

Tunbridge Wells where I work, the tolerance for pedestrians and cyclists is virtually zero, the road where I work saw a pedestrian fatality last week, driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, following working day another pedestrian has been knocked over, and today car took out a telegraph pole and another pedestrian has been injured.

I have seen cars on almost a daily basis fail to stop at zebra crossings when people are waiting to cross, worst case I was witness to was while stopped on my bike to allow people to cross and being passed by a car with people on the crossing...

Under/Overtaking on a round-about is seen as acceptable driving behavior as well here.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I have seen cars on almost a daily basis fail to stop at zebra crossings when people are waiting to cross, worst case I was witness to was while stopped on my bike to allow people to cross and being passed by a car with people on the crossing...

I honestly can't remember cars stopping at zebra crossings in the UK. It took me ages to get used to that here: Preumed liability does make a difference.

 

[Drago]

Here's one you'll like.

The neighboring village has a main road running through it, which veers off part way and skirts around our village and the next. Alas, the main road is closed until the 4th february for works and the cage pilots are using our village as a diversion. Fine, I don't like it, but sheet happens.

However, in a couple of places the main drag through our village isn't wide enough for 2 opposing traffic flows to pass simultatneously. "Not a problem", thinks brain dead office wallah on their way home from pointlessly reloading staplers, "i'll simply drive along the footway instead." I've taken to deliberately going out at rush hour, standing on the footway at one of the two points concerned, and giving my best angry Ross Kemp expression to drivers gesturing for me to levitate out the way so they can drive along the path.

I did phone the Feds and report it. A copper I know who's still in the job, but who works a different area, tells me they've simply closed the job down as a 'vehicle nuisance' with no further action. Well, that'll be someone else I can sue when I'm eventually run over.

 

[DaveReading]

We got stopped at lights and the cyclist filtered up the inside to the stop line. Lights went to green and he set off which meant the transit driver had to overtake him again which seemed to cause him anger.

I can understand drivers getting peeved at that.

If I'm stopped at lights when cycling and it's clear that I'm going to get through on the first green, there's no point in filtering past vehicles that have already passed me once so they end up having to pass me again.

No excuse for violence or dangerous driving, though.

 

[Drago]

If there's no ASL, stop behind the first vehicle. Etiquette be damned - it's simply safer.