Road Rage – what’s your angle?

[huw williams]

Sean’s “Of all the bloody people” thread amongst others, contains some interesting approaches as to how cyclists react to instances of bad/dangerous driving

Unashamedly playing devil’s advocate here, what’s your approach?

Is it good to swear and rant at drivers whom you have incidents with? Is it even better to physically damage their vehicles?

Personally I’ve given up on violent reactions to drivers who almost kill me these days because in the current climate they’re likely to have a gun rack under the dash or at best a steak knife in the glove box – it just ain’t worth dying for. And I can be much more provocative to a Neanderthal in a white van who’s driving badly by blowing a kiss and fluttering my eyelids at him – which suggests he’s gay and questions his manhood - far more insulting than hurling a few angry swear words at him which is the kind of language and behaviour he’s probably quite used to anyway.

If it’s a female who’s almost killed me I like riding up to the drivers window, tut-tutting, shaking my head and quite calmly saying “I guess its true what they say about women drivers then eh?” That normally makes them see red.

But are drivers you confront more or less likely to take more care with cyclists in the future after such reactions?
Does it depend solely on the severity of each individual incident as to what your reaction is?
And can you possibly train yourself to react rationally in the split second your blood hits boiling point when you come close to getting flattened by a Range Rover?

Here’s a true story from deep in my inglorious past.

I was riding to work in Barnet 1985 – years before I was a Cyclist – just commuting by bike. Going down Cat Hill a car, stationary at a junction half way down waited until I was within about 5 yards of him and decided to pull out. Cat Hill is steep so speed is a given. WHAMMY! Hit the wing at 90° bike compressed to about a yard in length and I, luckily, went over the bonnet at speed rather than hit it and come to an immediate halt. Broken wrist, loads of cuts, very bad concussion. Fortunately the guy driving the car was an off duty fireman with a degree of responsibility about him despite his appalling driving.
He bundled me up, got me to Barnet General in an instant, took the devastated bike straight to Shorters in Finchley and within weeks I had a replacement shiny new one all on his insurance. All worked out well you might say but it left me with a very nervous disposition towards car drivers for a long time to come.

Nervous enough to badly overreact every time the most minor incident occurred. If someone came within two yards of me in a car while I was riding I’d sound off with a volley of swearing and aggressive gesturing that would have had the most piously devout Christian unable to turn the other cheek. This continued for some time until the defining moment in my history of violent outbursts against bad drivers came to a head when I threw a vicar over the bonnet of his own car and threatened to punch his lights out!

Now lets pause a moment. Yes, you read that correctly.

I threw a vicar over the bonnet of his own car and threatened to punch his lights out!

There it is again in bigger bolder type, so it must be true

As anyone who knows me will tell you I’m pretty secular in my ways but I’m in no way proud of this incident. Let me explain what happened.

Same deal, riding along (on the flat this time near Wildwoods Garden Centre outside Enfield) car pulls up to junction, stops, and then pulls out when I’m just about to arrive at the scene. He screeches to a halt, I manage to hit the brakes and just run into him slow enough to lean off onto his bonnet rather than hit the deck. With memories of my previous encounter (which was far worse than this frankly insipid affair) flashing through my mind, I charge round to the side of the car as the driver emerges (to see if I’m OK) grab him by the lapels, turn him round and nail him to the bonnet of his own car whilst raining swear words and threats down on him.

It’s only at this point that I become aware of two things. A) The guy is in his 60s and B) he’s wearing a white collar. This realisation comes at the same time as the realisation that the incident itself is nothing more serious than the everyday minor incident that probably occurs dozens of times to commuting cyclists throughout the country every day and I’ve severely overreacted. As I sheepishly release the trembling padre and recover my bike his wife gets out of the passenger seat and inquires of the man of the cloth “Are you all right Father?” In the back seat I see two young grandchildren who have just witnessed all the evils that this man has warned them about, incarnate in this one raving cyclist.

My position in Hell for eternity duly booked I rode home and in old-school terminology ‘sat in the corner and thought long and hard about what I’d achieved here today.’

Since that moment I’ve become a proper cyclist. Had thousands of (genuine) close shaves, near death incidents and the odd nasty crash and managed for the most part not to punch anyone’s lights out.

So. Violent reactions to bad driving.

That’s my story, over to you…?

[Grahame]

I like to give a cheery wave and a smile in response to aggressive use of the horn by a driver.

Other responses I've used include "Excuse me, did I do something that caused you to want to try to kill me back there, or did you just not see me?" once I've caught up to the car in traffic. This is sometimes followed by either "Which part of the large cyclist dressed in bright yellow did you not see?" if on a club run or "I don't know why I bother wearing clothes as I'm obviously invisible" if I'm feeling particularly aggressive.

In the summer, a squirt of water from your bottle through an open window seems to get attention without causing any permanent damage. I have also heard of people removing car keys and requesting an apology.

In my wilder days commuting into London I used to carry a few small stones in my pocket which made a nice noise as they ricocheted off the back window of cars which came a bit too close for comfort. To my eternal shame, I did once use my Zefal HPx (metal) frame pump to reduce the side window of a BMW 3 series to shards of glass. I can't even remember what it was that triggered that fit of anger. I do remember that the surge of adreneline gave me better wings than Red Bull would have done for my escape through the back roads of Bermondsey. I also changed my route to work for the next few weeks.

Now, if physical intervention is required, I find that opening the passenger door of the car in question at the next set of traffic lights causes the driver to become aware of their shortcomings with less risk of assault.

[Andrew G]

I'll be honest Mr.W I can't imagine you throwing anyone over the bonnet of a car, were you bigger then? A bit like myself (although for other reasons) you're not really built for fighting.

I'm a natural coward and in a combat situation would try to join the RAP (Run Away Platoon). I just can't be bothered with fighting, or anything that might lead to me being involved in one.

When cut up, squeezed in to a kerb/railing/vehicle, or similar I genuinely believe that in the vast majority of cases this is down to a lack of attention being paid, or being distracted. I normally shout out Oi or woah loudly (sometimes with a waved arm) at them which alerts them to me being there and what they've down. Again in the majority of cases they tend to behave rather sheepishly at having "been caught out". Sometimes they respond more along the lines that it was my fault but that's just a protection reflex ("can't be my fault") but move swiftly on to avoid any further embarrassment.

The only real problem drivers Ifind fall in to two categories.
i) Mr Angry (could be Mrs but normally male) / The King of the Road - Normally drives a BMW or a 4X4, or the combo or the two. Drives everywhere as if everyone should move aside and let them through. Must always be running late as they fly up to the next junction/traffic halt that was clearly only 100 yards ahead. Can also include the favourite White Van Man.

ii) The - Often young or thinks they still are. Normally drives either a BMW, Subaru Imprezza (fitted with a wastegate so it sounds like the car is sneezing everytime they change gear), modified car. The modification could range from the idiot who buys a £5K car and then spends £25K on modifications rather than buy a good £30K car in the first place, to the recently qualified and so young they can only afford the insurance on a 1 litre town car that they have a small Nova/Corsa/Fiesta but still tint the windows drug dealer black and attach chrome wheel arch extensions.

With both categories I don't think any level or awareness advertising or any other measure will work. They are small minded idiots who'll probably end up in an early grave through either ulcers or driving in to a tree.

I do think that there should be an advertising campaign aided at the majority of drivers (the SMIDSY crowd). What advertising is done is based on "be careful it's a cyclist and they are a slow moving vehicle likely to do something unusual". What is needed is a campaign to raise awareness of proper cyclists too. Make them aware that that cyclist may be moving at 20mph so think before moving out as you would do if it were a car. A lot of the sudden braking moments happen when a car pulls across, not because the driver hasn't seen you but because they expected you to be going at about 10mph and they had bags of time.

In general I'm sure things have got worse over the last few years but whether this is a result of more traffic on the road, the increased level of aggression people use too readily these days, or both I don't know.

When all is said and done, I am a man and therefore consider myself the greatest driver in the World, bar none.

[huw williams]

[quote="Andrew G"]I'll be honest Mr.W I can't imagine you throwing anyone over the bonnet of a car, were you bigger then? A bit like myself (although for other reasons) you're not really built for fighting.

[Nick]

When I commuted to work via the A20 and through Lewisham, New croos and then Deptford, the level of my Road Rage would get worse the closer I got to town just due to the more iggnorant/stressed driver behind the wheel. Mainly a polite "Arseh**e" being shouted to actual physical contact, I threw a mountain bike on a car bonnet after I caught him up at the traffic lights after he knocked me off at a 7 ft gap about a mile earlier.Managing to stractch his bonnet crack his screen (with the pedal) and then I went round to the door mirror and broke that for good measure. I did expect a police officer to track me down but they never did and I went to work a different way to work for about a month,
Being quite a broad/larger person a loud rant would work but sometimes someone would get out and expext me to back down which I wouldn't do then, BUT NOW I just say a polite "Well Done HAMILTON" or "Do your mirror/eyes work" if they come back with a quipe I then agree with everything they say. This seems to make them so angry they even forget how to drive sometimes.......... I then plod on wishing them a Nice Day.

[Stu Merckx Man]

i give out 3 levels of road rage depending on a combination of offence and age.

1)- calmly and politely letting people know they have nearly made me crash, this is reserved mainly for the elderly.
2)- shouting not so politely letting people know they have nearly made crash.
3)- full shabam, punching a car and swearing to let them know they nearly made me crash.

1) usually if something has happened to provoke a reaction they have been elderly, and clearly didnt see me, or didnt react in time, usually the offence is pulling out in front of me, or pulling half way out and stopping after seeing me, so my reactions in those situations is very subdude, and usually is just shouting 'woah', or turning around and just sticking out my hand so to let them know they nearly caused me to crash. after all the last thing i want to do is get them shaken up and panicy so their driving becomes even worse!

2) in this category people have driven carelessly or without care and attention, and the consequences could have been more seriose. a prime example of this happened a few weeks ago on my way to the club run. a woman in a big 4x4 decided to do a 3 point turn just as i was coming. she pulled right across the road into my path, i slammed on the breaks, and i started skidding, she then thankfully saw me and stopped, but leaving me a tiny gap between her bonnet and a parked car which i just managed to skid through. i came to a stop, and shouted to her she needs to pay more attention, and asking her, "are you f*****g blind?".

3) in this category people have been driving aggresivley, or have intentionally endangered my life. this has only happned when im riding around croydon or london, its never happened in the country side as yet. a good example of this happened on my way to a race at crystal palace, going pretty fast along the cycle lane on the road that heads into croydon. up ahead a bus had pulled in blocking the cycle path, not a problem all i needed to do was move out to the right a bit. i looked behind and had pleanty of room from the driver behind, but as soon as i started to move across they suddenly sped up next to me beeping the horn and forced me back into the cycling lane. i had to slam on the breaks to not go into the back of the bus. i got back up to them at the traffic lights, i was absolutely fuming so i thumped the bonnet and let my toung loose.

with levels 1 and 2 i dont generally feel angry inside, so im more constructive in my 'road rage'. but in level 3 the anger makes my insides burn and im less constructive.

[adrian]

Like anyone else, I have any number of pithy, well-crafted quips at the ready when I'm riding. But the reality is that when I have had scrapes or worse, I'm too shocked, scared or in too much pain to deliver them. So when it comes to it, my repertoire of bons mots doesn't extend much beyond 'f8ckin 'ell!' '

[George]

DON't DO IT

Its not worth it, you'll just make them even more intent on running you down!

[Richard (Apples)]

Being a cyclist I'm always tooled up....just in case

[huw williams]

[quote="Richard (Apples)"]Being a cyclist I'm always tooled up....just in case

[Dombo]

Being built more for watching fights than being in them I try not to over react. That a motorist could retaliate to any outburst of mine by killing me or putting me in a wheelchair, then claim it was an accident, is an added factor in containing my road rage.

[huw williams]

Once again a rich seem of usefull and hillarious information has been unearthed by the ACC membership

Vicars in peril
Throwing a mountain bike onto the bonnet of a car?
Pumps used to stove in windows?
all this and Stuart's pricelss 'levels of rage'

Awesome

[Richard (Apples)]

I think we all judge each incidence of dangerous /careless / stupid driving as we see it at the time.

I have been known to react quite badly to what i see as a deliberate attempt on my life but after being cut up in a ridiculous way last week by a transit van full of blokes from a demolition company I decided against offering em all out

A couple of years back I actually got on the bus that tried to crush me up against a post office van (haha two of the worst types of cyclist predators) and tried to tear the driver out of his little hiding place

But I'm a lot more mellow now .

[size=150]I have said it before on here that a lot of our problems are created by the large majority of commuting riders and just about every cycle courier who never stop at red lights...pedestrian crossings etc. etc. etc. etc... and therefore put us all at risk [/size]
I was on my way home last week and I pulled up at the lights next to a black cab driver .......and he shouted across to me "blimey at least one of you lot stop at lights then.

I'm afraid that sums up how we are seen

[quote="huw williams"][quote="Andrew G"]I'll be honest Mr.W I can't imagine you throwing anyone over the bonnet of a car, were you bigger then? A bit like myself (although for other reasons) you're not really built for fighting.

[huw williams]

It wasn't intended to be but there's enough material here for a good feature donchathink?

It would certainly get a reaction on the letters page - don't worry though, identities will be withheld to protect the guilty

I'll run it past the editor