Was I right to blow my top? - Page 2

My comment on all of this.

Try to avoid the "getting squeezed off the road" scenario by
riding in the same position as a car, in what you describe.
That is the safest way to ride. All the experts on
cyclecraft recommend it and so do I, who have never been
knocked off a bike in 45 years cycling, even though I've
often fallen off myself. The police in my experience (here
in Ireland) are VERY interested in such misses.

"AndyMorris" <AndyMorris@DeadSpam.com> wrote in message
news:c2doac$jhi$4@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
> Does anyone else get that feeling of having
> extraordinarily intimidating physical presence over
> driver's when they get out of their cars or are immobile.

Hehe. We used to use the term "big hairy arsed lorry
drivers" at work but in reality most of them seem to be
small pot-bellied old blokes with glasses when they climb
down from the cab. (And I'm not having a go at folks with
glasses, I wear them, nor lorry drivers just commenting on
preconceptions).

And I had a friend who though was perfectly harmless was
near on 6' 6" tall with a build to match. At one time he had
a Ford Zodiac Mk IV, the ones modelled on the carrier Ark
Royal, and during an altercation another motorist shouted
"Little boys shouldn't have big cars, it was bloody
hilarious how fast he drove off when my mate unfolded
himself from his car :-)

But on a serious note remember Kenneth Noye and don't judge
the other person by their appearance, although people who
shout from behind a locked car door are unlikely to be a
fighting threat they may try to "even the score" by using
their vehicle. <lecture mode off>.
--
Regards, Pete

> My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage
> today. Did I do the right thing?

Definitely not.

You'll never hold the moral high ground with elevated blood
pressure and decibels.

Soft words win hard arguments.

snippity..

>
>Was I right or I have I so enraged this guy he'll make sure
>he hits the next cyclist.

It's *so* difficult to know that what you do in the
situation you discribed is right or wrong. Being in a
situation where you are almost wiped out by some idiot in a
massive chunk of metal gets the adrenaline going and it
takes over. The realisation of how things "might have been"
if you hadn't of got out of the situation okay, can cause a
person to see red - and understandably so. It's very easy to
know before and after an event that you should have taken
the registration number, but when it happens - it goes by so
quickly. And when it's the fault of some *idiot* who
shouldn't be in charge of a large vehicle judging by their
actions, it can easily have the result of *anger* borne out
of fear/fright/terror.

Don't worry yourself over your reaction too much - be glad
you are safe.

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
correct one remove dependency on fame & fortune h*$el*$$e**-
nd***$o$ts***i*$*$m**m$$o*n**s@$*$a$$o**l.c**$*$om$$

In the cool light of the following day I don't feel so bad.
Maybe I shouldn't have shouted quite so much but "soft words
win hard arguments" would have had no effect on this guy. I
also feel more positive about cycling today so I'll head off
for a short spin.

"Wavering" <None> wrote in message news:404a2689_2@mk-nntp-
2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage
> today. Did I do the right thing?
>
> Towards the end of a forty mile ride I was travelling
> downhill in a thirty mph zone about 150 yards from the
> left hand turn into the estate where I
> live. I was coasting at about 24mph and noticed a four
> wheel drive land cruiser type vehicle coming the
> other way. The next thing I am aware of is an SUV
> type vehicle coming from behind and squeezing me
> off the road. I swerved to avoid the SUV and
> managed to brake without hitting the kerb.
>
> I guy I know happened to be standing on the pavement and
> shouted over
"thats
> shocking" but I just flew after the SUV knowing he would
> have to slow down at a tight bend a couple of hundred
> yards further on. I was shouting and swearing ( and I
> almost never swear) and eventually he stopped about a
> hundred yards beyond the tight bend. I then started
> shouting and swearing (again) trying to get him to
> understand what he had just done and I got worse when he
> said he was nowhere near me and anyway I was cycling in
> the middle of the road blocking his way. A bit of a scene
> ensued which got the attention of passers by and I was
> about to leave when he got out of his vehicle and made
> noises as if he wanted to fight, but he quickly changed
> his mind.
>
> I was so mad I didn't have the presence of mind to get his
> registration number but both him and his passenger are
> locals, as I recognised their faces, but I am not
> convinced, even with an independent witness, the
police
> would be interested in a nearly accident so I probably
> won't pursue it.
His
> passenger was reluctant to back him up in the argument and
> I got the impression he understood how close it had been
> and though the driver was totally unrepentant he may have
> said something in a quieter moment to
make
> my outburst worthwhile.
>
> The thing is when I got home I was angry with myself for
> losing my rag and thinking that cycling (much as I love it
> ) isn't worth it. I have been thinking along these lines
> quite a lot recently as I have become a bit paranoid about
> the "normal" near misses.
>
> Was I right or I have I so enraged this guy he'll make
> sure he hits the
next
> cyclist.
>
>

> >Of course there's always the situation where the guy that gets out of the
> >car is a psycho who's built like a tank. In that case you're f*cked :-/
>
> It's this mistake that can land you deep in the sh*t
>

Tempting though it is to want give someone a slap, you can
end up in the sh*t both ways, because it's likely he will
not simply stand there to recieve his due.Then either you
get the bear or the bear gets you.If you win then I presume
you have beaten him into submission, which if he is a fit
bloke means at least actual bodily harm.If he is bigger than
you it might have to be the fingerineye or worse.Now explain
that to the police, who may be told by bystanders (such as
they are) that you chased him down and beat him up. I am
afraid that unless you don't mind criminal proceedings you
must walk away and consider reporting it instead. Even if he
challenged you to a fight you may still be charged.If you
are supremely confident in your ability you must have
experience and training, which again will stand against you.
I know a man who got three years for beating a burglar into
submission in his own house in the middle of the night.He
thought he was making an arrest.

TerryJ

"Gearóid Ó Laoi/Garry Lee" <glee@iol.ie> wrote in message
news:c2ejtj$j2e$1@kermit.esat.net...
> The police in my experience (here in Ireland) are VERY
> interested in such misses.

Nice to hear but over here they seem generally uninterested
based on the one time I made a complaint and supplied
registration details etc. The appropriate forms were filled
in but I felt it was lip service. The incident happened near
the police station which prompted me to report it but I
don't see much point in going out of my way to hang around a
police station with the feeling it's a pointless waste of
time, unless the incident is very serious of course.
Likewise when I reported a bus driver to the depot for
running me against the kerb, I got the feeling ranks were
closed but in fairness it was only my word against the
driver with no independant witnesses so the management were
hardly able to go further with it although they may have had
a quiet word wth the driver for all know.
--
Regards, Pete

> I know a man who got three years for beating a burglar
> into submission in his own house in the middle of the
> night.He thought he was making an arrest.

Ah the fool. The secret is to get your story right. Just
claim he attacked you first and was trying to kill you.
Stick a knife in his unconscious hands and hey presto - a
pat on the back instead of a prison sentence!

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-
virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.614 /
Virus Database: 393 - Release Date: 05/03/2004

On 07 Mar 2004 09:57:29 GMT, wafflycathcs@aol.comcomcom
(dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers) wrote in message
<20040307045729.19445.00001027@mb-m16.aol.com>:

>That's easy to say, Guy, but when the bully is in a large
>chunk of metal which is about to render you into road
>pizza, sometimes survival means the bully wins

I hold the line, even when they start hooting. It is scary
but bullies are almost always cowards as well - and the fact
is if it were safe for them to pass, they wouldn't need to
sit behind me anyway, so making it possible for them to pass
unsafely is never a good idea in my view.

Like you, almost every time I ride the bike I ride on narrow
country roads where this kind of thing is commonplace. I am
less inclined with each passing year to defer to those to
refuse to acknowledge my right to use the road. Maybe one
day one of them will turn out to be a Carl Baxter - that's
the risk I take. Most of them are spineless pussies whose
courage evaproates as soon as the cloak of anonymity
afforded by their penis extension is removed.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 00:56:38 GMT, Graeme
<graeme@gpdods.removethis.com> wrote in message
<Xns94A55B04933F6graemegpdodsremoveth@203.2.194.51>:

>Of course there's always the situation where the guy that
>gets out of the car is a psycho who's built like a tank. In
>that case you're f*cked :-/

But you can ride quicker than Mr No-Neck can run ;-)

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 09:44:37 +0000 (UTC), "Peter B"
<peter28@btinternet.com> wrote in message
<c2equ5$qdc$1@titan.btinternet.com>:

>We used to use the term "big hairy arsed lorry drivers"
>at work but in reality most of them seem to be small pot-
>bellied old blokes with glasses when they climb down
>from the cab.

An HGV driver rides with our club. He is considered a
diamond geezer, very calm and endlessly helpful. He rides an
immaculate and well-maintained bike of some vintage, and is
always the first to volunteer to wait with a straggler.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

jonestl@breathe.com (Terry) wrote in news:a01ac447.0403070256.648b4c47
@posting.google.com:

> Tempting though it is to want give someone a slap, you can
> end up in the sh*t both ways, because it's likely he will
> not simply stand there to recieve his due.

I don't think anyone so far has suggested resorting to
violence, just the possibility of being on the receiving end
of it if you start shouting at someone who may turn out to
be violent. If you've been subjected to *deliberately*
aggressive driving then I would think the chances could be
higher that you'd get your lights punched out if you started
shouting the odds.

Graeme

AndyMorris <AndyMorris@deadspam.com> wrote:

: Does anyone else get that feeling of having
: extraordinarily intimidating physical presence over
: driver's when they get out of their cars or are immobile.

One of our more amuzing group rides: Tuesday night chain
gang. 12 very fit blokes doing mucho-mph on straight flat
road. All safely on our side of the road, two abreast.

Twat in Range Rover comes hurtling past, shouting abuse then
stops in the way. Chaos ensues as we all make it round the
Range Rover somehow. Guy then gets out of the guy going
"I'll have the lot of you" or something similar. Then
realises that there's 12 very annoyed blokes in front of
him. One of whom is an ex-para, looks like it and is very,
very annoyed...

Driver got back in the car and buggered off sharpish

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Wavering <None> wrote:
: In the cool light of the following day I don't feel so
: bad. Maybe I

It is very hard to know what to do. I've lost it once at a
driver and didn't feel good about it afterwards since I'm
normally a very placid person indeed.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Just zis Guy wrote:
> I hold the line, even when they start hooting. It is scary
> but bullies are almost always cowards as well - and the
> fact is if it were safe for them to pass, they wouldn't
> need to sit behind me anyway, so making it possible for
> them to pass unsafely is never a good idea in my view.

I heartily concur. There's stretch of road I regularly
cycle on that has recently had its speed limit cut from 40
to 30 and has had traffic islands installed - not that
this acts as a deterrent on a lot of drivers - I get
enough people sniffing my bumper when I'm in my car doing
30mph on this stretch so you can imagine what it's like
when I'm on my bike.

Confident, assertive riding is the only answer - I always
ride along this stretch far enough away from the kerb to
*make sure they realise* there isn't enough room to pass -
there wouldn't be enough room to pass even if I rode in the
gutter, but that being a fact and them understanding it are
two separate matters.

Likewise, when I'm coasting at 30mph+ down the hill back
into my home town, I tend to ride quite close to the centre
line - mainly to keep as far as possible from the parked
cars, but also it's the only way to ensure they won't try to
overtake me. Since it's a 30 limit I have no qualms about
preventing them driving any faster.

d.