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.