Motorist apology

[carpetbagger]

its times like that you wish you had a machine gun on the front.....

 

[rooel]

Just out of interest - what did you shout at him/her and did it have the desired effect ?

"...had to resort to shouting D...head through his partly opened window......."

I think eTim's remark must have been, quite rightly, to imply that the van driver has a John Thomas for a head, and that that is where his brains reside.

 

[Rad]

I am almost at the point of giving up cycling.

Near enough every day I have to slam the anchors on as some complete pillock overtakes while approaching stationary traffic.

I have been undertaken while crossing a roundabout.

The week before last I got pushed off of the road by a DHL van.
When I complained and got back in front of him he gave me a little nudge!
I turned round and there he was sitting in his cab giving me a big grin.

I got off the bike. Took down his number and 100 yards up the road caught up with him while he was making a delivery. Strangely he didn't want to discuss what had happened while he was out of his van. It took me 4 calls to DHL before I got an apology from the company. I suspect the broken rear spoke which occurred the following day was related to the incident.

This morning I got overtaken by a moron in a 4 x 4 who decided that despite their being another car approaching in the opposite direction it was okay to complete the manouvre.

Motorists either don't realise or don't care about how vulnerable a cyclist can be. Yeah there are bad cyclists out there, I've even been cut up by one recently who pulled onto the road in front of me pedalled 100 yards up the road then mounted the pavement and went off to the left. Couldn't have cared less about comprimising my ride. But there are a hell of a lot more bad drivers.

 

[flecc]

Near enough every day I have to slam the anchors on as some complete pillock overtakes while approaching stationary traffic.

Using a good bike mirror to keep an eye out when approaching parked vehicles does tend to solve this problem, since the approach can be timed to fit in with cars passing. That's especially easy with an e-bike's power to assist, either to speed up a little or recover speed after slowing a little. Using this mirror technique I have few problems with lots of parked cars and fast passing traffic in my outer London borough.

Another dodge I use when pavements are empty of any pedestrians is to use pavement dropped entrance areas to pass parked cars on the pavement to allow traffic to flow past the parked car unimpeded. For that I don't slow down at all and even police car drivers don't seem to mind, appreciating what I'm doing and why.
.

 

[WALKERMAN]

Using a good bike mirror to keep an eye out when approaching parked vehicles does tend to solve this problem, since the approach can be timed to fit in with cars passing. That's especially easy with an e-bike's power to assist, either to speed up a little or recover speed after slowing a little. Using this mirror technique I have few problems with lots of parked cars and fast passing traffic in my outer London borough.

Another dodge I use when pavements are empty of any pedestrians is to use pavement dropped entrance areas to pass parked cars on the pavement to allow traffic to flow past the parked car unimpeded. For that I don't slow down at all and even police car drivers don't seem to mind, appreciating what I'm doing and why.
.

I couldn't ride now without the Cateye mirror to see what's going on behind.

 

[Rad]

Flecc, I do have a handlebar mounted mirror so I can tense in anticipation of the impact!

When I mentioned stationery traffic I was referring to lines of cars at junctions, roundabouts etc. People overtake because they're desperate to clear the cyclist, then realise they have to stop and slam their anchors on. Trouble is, they've just nicked 8 - 10 feet of my braking zone meaning I also have to slam on the anchors. Drives me bananas.

 

[flecc]

I see what you mean, yes I suffer those idiots too. The worst ones are those who think a cyclist should be in the gutter, regardless of how narrow a lane is, and annoyed at any cyclist occupying a bike length of road in front of them.
.

 

[carpetbagger]

i held up quite a few cars in Lytham and St Annes but there was no way i was going to ride 12 inches from the parked cars along the prom waiting for the inevitable door to open and decapitate me. Luckily everone was patient including the 1950's double decker bus.

 

[Rab C Nesbitt]

I am almost at the point of giving up cycling.

Near enough every day I have to slam the anchors on as some complete pillock overtakes while approaching stationary traffic.

The week before last I got pushed off of the road by a DHL van.
When I complained and got back in front of him he gave me a little nudge!
I turned round and there he was sitting in his cab giving me a big grin.

This morning I got overtaken by a moron in a 4 x 4 who decided that despite their being another car approaching in the opposite direction it was okay to complete the manouvre.

Motorists either don't realise or don't care about how vulnerable a cyclist can be. Yeah there are bad cyclists out there, I've even been cut up by one recently who pulled onto the road in front of me pedalled 100 yards up the road then mounted the pavement and went off to the left. Couldn't have cared less about comprimising my ride. But there are a hell of a lot more bad drivers.

I feel your pain Rad - the bad days are really crappy. However, when the revolution comes around and I am made king there will be a few changes made. For the sake of speed we're going to work with the wonderful shorthand of stereo-types, so first up against the wall to be shot will be

- Skoda Octavia drivers (private taxis in Glasgow). They are a shower of witless fecks who drive by a code unknown to the rest of us. Ideally I would round them up and drown them all together to save bullets, but time is of the essence and there is other work to be done

- 4x4 drivers (both female school-runners and fat b's who can't get in & out of ordinary cars because of their big beer guts). They will be asked politely to correctly reverse the 4x4 around a corner and park it. If they fail they are quietly pulled from the car and shot. As most of them passed their test in a Corsa or a Micra the fail percentage should be pretty high. I reckon this would also make a good peak time tv programme. (Simon Cowell - ha!)

I'll get to work on my manifesto which will include all the others who are in line to get it . . . I'm sure I can count on all your votes.
I'll sign of now as I can hear the nurses coming . . . .