Was I right to blow my top? - Page 3

On 7 Mar 2004 15:56:00 GMT, "Arthur Clune" <ajc22@york.ac.uk> wrote in
message <c2fgmg$ib0$2@pump1.york.ac.uk>:

>Twat in Range Rover comes hurtling past

Fat bloke? No, hang on, that one's banged up for a
while yet...

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

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

On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 17:05:59 +0000 (UTC), "david kenning"
<david.kenning@which.net> wrote in message
<c2fkpn$qtg$1@titan.btinternet.com>:

>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.

Absolutely. The last time I was Hoeyed was in just such a
situation.

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

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

> 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.

That's all true , but whatever happened after he attacked
you you will still need witnesses on your side, and they
might easily feel sympathy for the poor driver who stood up
for himself in the face of a manic cyclist who may even have
been wearing lycra to boot.

I should have said that I recognise the surge of adrenaline
and anger only too well.Usually I just shout something
incoherent and rude.

I heard last week round here a local doctor was hunted on
his bike the day after a very minor altercation with a woman
in a car and beaten up quite significantly by her husband,
having been forced to stop by a swerve. I would hope a
prison sentence would be appropriate for a premeditated act
like that.It was not even road rage.

TerryJ

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

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

Especially with the head start afforded by the time it takes
him to get out of his cage.

My take on this is that it's always worth telling a driver
what he/she has done that's dangerous - but it's generally
more effective if you can choke down the adrenalin and do
so politely.

Colin McKenzie

MSeries wrote:
> Wavering wrote:
>
>>My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage
>>today. Did I do the right thing?
>>
>
>
> Not in my opinion, blowing ones top shows a lack of
> control.
>

I saw a cyclist almost doored once, the chap gets out of his
car and hurls abuse at the cyclist. The cyclist calmly turns
around and walks off. The chap shuts his door and goes to
the shop he was popping into, double yellow lines of course
but the park anywhere lights were on so its ok. Moments
later the cyclist is back riding past the car giving it a
severe keying.

Is that called not blowing your top?

I do not condone such activity but I did have a wry
smile about it.

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <outlook.bugs@microsoft.com> wrote in message news:<f28m4017jpgvgfsbn1op94ue4ipqcf38sc@4ax.com>...

> 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.

When it gets to the point that they're alongside you, still
hooting, and are either going to mow you down or take out
the traffic island, the odds are they're not going to take
out the traffic island.

--
Dave...

Hello,

I doubt if your outburst has had any effect either positive or negative. I suspect you may have felt better by venting you initial rage but that is a minor gain.
The idea of confronting and yelling etc at the car driver is in my opinion not really worth while.
As a motorcyclist I have been cut up knocked off etc and have taken this out on my assailant. I found geting up close and either kicking off or thumping their mirror very satisfying or otherwise just booting the car to let them know they were too close useful.
I was going to suggest either of these as an option but really, life is too short and on a cycle you don't really have the flight option and will have to stand your ground.
I reckon a tutting session and a quiet word if the opportunity presents is the best option and then no one gets hurt.

Maybe I'm getting old.

"Vincent Wilcox" <vw@f2s.com> wrote in message
news:c2hjgj$cnp$1@jura.cc.ic.ac.uk...
> I saw a cyclist almost doored once, the chap gets out of
> his car and hurls abuse at the cyclist. The cyclist calmly
> turns around and walks off. The chap shuts his door and
> goes to the shop he was popping into, double yellow lines
> of course but the park anywhere lights were on so its ok.
> Moments later the cyclist is back riding past the car
> giving it a severe keying.

A car U-turned across me one Sunday as I was nearly home and
the driver gave me the finger when I shouted. I carried on
to home, dropped off the bike, got my car and manged to see
him in the distance. I then followed him into the local
Hombase car-park, where he parked and got out.

Now what to do? Have a row that will lead to an
unsatisfactory conclusion or seek (cowards?<1>) revenge that
doesn't involve property damage? The latter
definately......now if I could find some dog **** and a
stick I could leave a parting gift under his door handle,
unfortunately there was none around (why is there never any
dog-**** when you need it?) so some grease from my tool kit
had to suffice.

As much as I'd like to have hung around to see the reaction
lunch was sending messages to my stomach and one has to
prioritise ;-)

<1> Remember folks, a coward gets to ride another day.
--
Regards, Pete

On 8 Mar 2004 07:58:49 -0800, dkahn400@yahoo.co.uk (Dave Kahn) wrote
in message <57db8bde.0403080758.2ea01a34@posting.google.com>:

>When it gets to the point that they're alongside you, still
>hooting, and are either going to mow you down or take out
>the traffic island, the odds are they're not going to take
>out the traffic island.

And if you are already in the gutter you have nowhere to go.
So you take the lane, of course.

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

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

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 19:32:08 -0000, Wavering <None> wrote:

> My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage
> today. Did I do the right thing?
[...]
> Was I right or I have I so enraged this guy he'll make
> sure he hits the next cyclist.

It's difficult in the heat of the moment to assess the
potential imapct of such a confrontation. If you have a very
good temperament you can always either avoid a confrontation
or even offer a cheery wave. I try this on most occasions
but every now and then it seems like people are taking the
piss enough for at least something to be said. Last night
was a case in point for me.

I was appraoching a left turn from a main road onto a bumpy
side road in Newcastle. A lot of pedestrians cross there. I
was behind a car which was turning left and because of the
shape of the road (it's not a simple T) it was clear, I
thought, that I was turning left and so I didn't signal
because of the road surface. A pedestrian looked back as
soon as the car had passed and despite my line he decided to
cross in front of me. I wasn't going fast and I anticipated
his action so I braked a little, altered my line and crossed
his path without incident. Then he decideds to eff and blind
at me about my lack of signal. I decided to stop, get off
the bike and catch him up on the pavement to explain why I
chose not to signal. Despite seeing me and several calls of,
"Excuse me, please", he walked on ignoring me. When I was
actuallly alongside him I apologised for not signalling and
tried to explain about the road surface. He effed and
blinded a bit more. I tried again. He swore at me a bit more
and I gave up. I guess he didn't want to know.

Colin
--

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 10:08:08 -0000, "Colin Blackburn"
<colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote (more or less):

>I was turning left and so I didn't signal because of the
>road surface.

Errr... how does this work? Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft:
http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr Symbian/Epoc wiki:
http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk links (harvested
from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 13:36:24 +0000, Gawnsoft
<xlucid@users.sourceforge.remove.this.antispam.net> wrote:

> On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 10:08:08 -0000, "Colin Blackburn"
> <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote (more or less):
>
>> I was turning left and so I didn't signal because of the
>> road surface.
>
> Errr... how does this work?

Er, easily. I decided that keeping both hands on the bars
was more in my interests than signalling and that not
signalling di not put anyone else in danger. There are many
circumstances under which I choose not to signal for my own
safety, this is one of them. Do you *always* signal?

Colin
--

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <outlook.bugs@microsoft.com> wrote in message news:<57gp40tmsuq0gsdoor9veuirri0tbdc9b7@4ax.com>...
> On 8 Mar 2004 07:58:49 -0800, dkahn400@yahoo.co.uk (Dave
> Kahn) wrote in message
> <57db8bde.0403080758.2ea01a34@posting.google.com>:
>
> >When it gets to the point that they're alongside you,
> >still hooting, and are either going to mow you down or
> >take out the traffic island, the odds are they're not
> >going to take out the traffic island.
>
> And if you are already in the gutter you have nowhere to
> go. So you take the lane, of course.

I agree, but in you previous post you said:

>> I hold the line, even when they start hooting. It is
>> scary but bullies are almost always cowards as well

My point was that if they get alongside you in spite of your
taking the line, ie. they are partly or wholly on the wrong
side of the road, and they look likely to crash unless you
move over, either into you or something else, that is the
point at which you should probably move over and brake hard.

--
Dave...

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 13:52:15 -0000, "Colin Blackburn"
<colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote (more or less):

>On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 13:36:24 +0000, Gawnsoft
><xlucid@users.sourceforge.remove.this.antispam.net> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 10:08:08 -0000, "Colin Blackburn"
>> <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote (more or less):
>>
>>> I was turning left and so I didn't signal because of the
>>> road surface.
>>
>> Errr... how does this work?
>
>Er, easily. I decided that keeping both hands on the bars
>was more in my interests than signalling and that not
>signalling di not put anyone else in danger. There are many
>circumstances under which I choose not to signal for my own
>safety, this is one of them. Do you *always* signal?

Woops sorry - I read the earlier post as you also being in a
car, for a some weird reason.

Mind you, AFAICT I always signal when there are other road
users about.

Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122 Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Gawnsoft wrote:

> Mind you, AFAICT I always signal when there are other road
> users about.

Usually I do too. But there are exceptions, often to do with
steep hills where use of the brakes is rather more necessary
than waving to other people that I'm about to turn left when
it won't really affect what they do one way or the other.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/