I've been cycling for years and seen some pretty dodgy & inconsiderate driving but bar a few shared hand gestures I've never actually had an angry exchange of words, until today.
I was climbing up a narrow road with lots of cars parked on the right hand side and met some bloke driving down my side of the road with clearly no intention of stopping or making any effort to allow me past, despite passing a gap in the parked cars he could have steered across into. I on the other hand had nowhere to go (although I could perhaps have stopped earlier & let him past the parked cars - I tend to be a considerate cyclist but tend to be less so when someone else is making no effort to help out).
Anyway, he kept coming but had to slow and I just managed to squeak through. No harm done and that should have been that. Perhaps it was the sad shake of the head (I do this a lot) but he felt the need to shout "I don't need to move for you you f**ing prick" and I felt inclined to stop and shout after him that he was on my side of the road.
All fairly minor and inconsequential with no getting out of the car or shouty threats of violence (although I was a little concerned that he might come back around for another go). I'm not sure really why it's upset me up and I'm feeling the need to share. I should probably just tick it of the list of things that have happened to me as a cyclist (like getting knocked of a couple of years back).
Anyway, that's all.
Distracted driving is one thing. Seeing a driver weighing up whether to intentionally mow you down (which is what this guy was doing) tends to cause a much stronger reaction from me. It's someone deciding that if you don't get out of their way they are going to kill you.
This might sound like an exaggeration but it's not. People like these deserve to ****ing die and I genuinely hope this guy meets a very painful end.
Congratulations on making it this far without having to chat to drivers who are always right! 😉
I know what you mean there are some weapons grade throbbers about, you'd think the Kids being off and the roads being a bit clearer would improve their moods, but it's almost the inverse.
My own aggressive interaction back in October prompted This similar thread, I was just stunned by the Barely contained rage at the time...
I tend to just assume there's something deeper and more fundamental affecting them, a broken relationship, personal financial crisis, bereavement, etc... Doesn't excuse them viewing people on bicycles as legitimate targets for them to target/endanger as a venting mechanism though.
IME/IMO neither party ever comes out of these things feeling better, but take solice from the fact that it didn't escalate to fisticuffs or wingmirror smashing...
It was all very slow speed and I managed to squeak through. I should I think have stopped and let him through as he was nearly at the end of the row of parked cars, but I didn't; there was no need to get shouty though & he was on my side of the road with a gap he could have used to allow me through.
From your second paragraph, I read that he had already started overtaking the line of parked vehicles before you reached them? If so then he had right of way.
(although I could perhaps have stopped earlier & let him past the parked cars
This bit.
I guess there's a question of whether it was one continuous line of parked vehicles or whether the space made it two 😉
Look on the bright side you’ve had to feel like that once he has to spend every day being an angry see you next Tuesday.
obviously not a nice experience but I’ve found thinking about it like that makes me happier so that’s what I do.
I had a hilarious one on hols a few weeks back - massive Range Rover squeezes past my partner , ends up behind me (close), I say "You're not gonna fit through there are you, you prick" (he was a prick cos he'd just caused my partner to brake and alter her position on the road!) Woman in the passenger seat went absolutely berzerk! She was opening the door like she was gonna get out and fight me, shouting F OFF! This was on a beautiful sunny day in Dorset, on the road down to the beauty spots. So my response was to laugh and wish them a lovely day! This caused even more apoplexy and as we turned off to the nice quiet bridleway to the coast, she was still shouting and ranting as they drove off a long way from us! I bet they had a terrible day and parking was impossible. Still amuses me.
It's all part of being a cyclist! There is always some nobber who is more than willing to scream abuse at you from safety of their car
I remember last year some clown in his range rover gave us a close pass whilst hurling abuse for daring to be on the road. Unfortunately for him he didn't realise just round the corner was a set of temporary traffic lights.
Oddly enough he wasn't so brave when we asked if he wanted to get out the car and chat about his issue...it was utterly pathetic. I'd have had more respect for him if he'd got out and attacked us with a crowbar. Instead he just looked straight ahead looking rather sheepish trying to pretend we weren't there.
There's a little old lady near the top of a hill where i sometimes ride who does the same - just doesn't see cyclists as having any of the same rights or even an object of any relevance in road world. She drives a hulking great big range rover that will take up the whole road as she passses parked cars. I cannot really have a confrontation with her as i could with white van man.
Oddly enough i've driven the same hill and as i have committed to getting past an angry cyclist suddenly appears out of nowhere.
I take solace in the fact that most of them will pop off with a rage induced heart attack well before I breathe my last. One particularly purple gammony lady in a Range Rover who didn’t like me cycling in a shared cycle lane (she thought it was a pavement) was especially incensed at me pointing this out.
From your second paragraph, I read that he had already started overtaking the line of parked vehicles before you reached them? If so then he had right of way.
(although I could perhaps have stopped earlier & let him past the parked cars
This bit.
Yes you're right, so I suspect I aggravated him by not stopping although there was a gap of a couple of car lengths he could have pulled across into to let me through.
There's a hill I regularly ride down where I'm forced onto the wrong side of the road by parked cars & I always pull into gaps, however tight) to let folk through when I can.
I think what wound me up here was his shouty insistence that he didn't have to move for me (I took that to mean as a cyclist, he may have pulled in for a car).
Anyway, no harm done.
I think there’s something in the Highway Code about giving way to uphill traffic? I thing this is regardless as to which side of the road that obstruction's are situated.
I think there’s something in the Highway Code about giving way to uphill traffic?
Perhaps you're thinking of the bit that is relevant to single track roads and passing places? When two vehicles meet between passing places the vehicle heading downhill should be the one to reverse back.
Its not just cyclist, but it does seem to a lot of drivers...
Theres been road works on the main road near me on and off for months now, when they're digging the road up its down to a single lane and traffic lights. This is on a section of road that is basically part of Leeds ring road. Inevitably people try to find ways of jumping the queue's and start going off down the back streets.
The nice quiet back lane with no footpaths and a 20mph speed limit being one of them. This lane leads to woods and fields where people go to walk their dogs and kids play. So I remind the rat runners to slow down as they are trying to save a few minutes.
Last night, as a Golf GTI passed me and my dog at what I though was significantly more than 20mph, I gave the slow down signal and chuntered to myself. He then stopped and started reversing, here we go I thought....
"what did you say", "I said slow down, it's a 20 limit here", "I was only doing 20". At this point I just laughed, said something like "yer right" and walked off up to the field entrance. He then started getting proper angry, "yeah, you better walk off. I'd walk off if I were you, go on **** off you big dick"....
I was tempted to thanks him for noticing but I just carried on laughing to my self and shaking my head.
They are always in a hurry, but not so much of a hurry they can't stop and shout abuse.
The world is full of utter bellends like the one you encountered. I think you have done very well not to have a verbal altercation until now. Just forget about it. He's an utter dick, but unless you want to stand and argue, and maybe get in a fight, then shrug it off and move on. I used to give all the verbals back, hit wing mirrors... all that, but it was clear that this would end in a fight eventually. I didn't want that, so now just let the bellends be bellends and one day, some comeuppance will occur.
On a side note, I did see that happen once. A huge fella on a bike came steaming past whilst I was riding to work. Like rugby forward huge. A taxi then pulled alongside him, shouted something abusive at him, then turned hard L and the huge fella went into the side of taxi, denting it and putting the huge fella on the floor. I was going to see if he was alright but by the time I caught up he was on his feet, livid, had got the driver's door open and was in the drivers face......er, reminding the driver about the highway code or something. I didn't really want to be a witness to the highway code lesson.... but it looked well, er, explained as I got going again.
I had an old guy a few weeks ago, not wanting to move over a little bit due to parked cars. He thought he was Mr Big in his big Merc 4x4, except I was in a bigger van. I just slowed and edged closer as he started shouting, he then moved into the three foot gap he had to the curb. All I did was point at all the space he had, my sensors told me I was as close to the edge as I could go.
OP did well not having had minor shouty incident so far. I've had a fair few commuting. One guy threatened to run me over - my crime was being in the middle of the lane in front of him, in stop start traffic. He got stuck in the traffic and tried to catch me. Mr hard man until the point I shouted 'I've got your reg'. I didn't, but him panicking gave me his rear plate, so I just diverted into the local police station. Police investigated, and paid him a visit, but no cameras, but the incident was 'added' to the list of 'complaints' logged against the car - so these would add up when he did something properly 'wrong'.
I've shouted at some people that have cut me up, so loud, they physically jumped out of their seats as they had been paying no attention to the road. I've thumped a few cars when they pushed into my lane.
He got stuck in the traffic and tried to catch me. Mr hard man until the point I shouted 'I've got your reg'.
An Amazon driver who started mouthing at me once became very polite and apologetic when I asked who he worked for. I could see the thought filtering slowly into his head, 'I'm causing a road rage incident in a sign-written and obvious van. Do I want to keep this job?'
