My experience of cyclists has been at times negative. Take one cyclist who was riding down a national speed limit back road. Quite a twisty road at points and with two way traffic can be interesting.

So.....I stay about 20 feet behind said cyclist gently coasting as we were going through a series of blind bends. No hassle I'm just chilling listening to my music.

The road then opens to a long slight downhill slope where you can see for miles. No oncoming traffic so I gently accelerate past the cyclist right over on the opposite side of the road. Look in my side mirror and rear view mirror as I pull back in with plenty of space.........only to see the cyclist mouthing off and giving me the ****** sign!!

I very nearly lost it but continued on. Unfortunately I see this alot in my home city of Oxford.

Whilst not condoning the driver; I can see why he was angry. No need for the abuse. Both at fault for the situation.

 

 

 As a relatively new cyclist I have been impressed by how respectful the car drivers have been around me. I'm fully aware that the recommendation is to give me a car's width but I know that I don't really need that space. It saddens me just how militant some cyclists can be through some divine belief that they own the road. The bloke in this footage would have a tricky time reporting anything from this incident given that he incited it. 

I love the fake fall on the first video as the guy cuts the corner, he could be a footballer with acting like that!

'There's a bloody CYCLE SYMBOL!!!!!'        

The one where the girl skips around the parked car really gets me.

He could get by but chose to make a big scene instead. 

She'll most likely be picked up on CCTV parking on a double yellow anyway.

She'll pay a parking ticket and the council will spend it again all replying to Mr Wolfs many

and frequent letters of complaint about everything from the brightness of the street lights,

noisy bin men the width of the lines painted on the roads, the poorly thought out street furniture

layout and of course why isn't there a cycle lane from X to Y yet.. Probably...

Because you know he's one of 'those' don't you!?! He reeks of it. 

To be fair, the fact that the guy has mirrors and a horn on his bike probably alludes to the fact that he actually has no idea how to ride a bike at all, let alone safely. I believe there are two types of people. There are cyclists, who have an appreciation of bikes, know how to keep their bike maintained correctly, can ride it properly without being all over the road, and understand the rules of the road. You then have 'people on bikes', who, though they happen to be on a bike, aren't necessarily cyclists. They're the type who are all over the road because their bike is poorly maintained and they have no idea how to ride it, don't know the rules of the road, and are likely not wearing a helmet. The chap in this video seems to fancy himself as a cyclist, however is failing on most counts.

I would like to point out however, that a lot of cyclists, particularly those more experienced road cyclists, will take up more road than is necessary sometimes. This is usually to prevent from cars overtaking in unsafe places, ie blind corners, and thus keeping themselves safe, and the drivers behind, though a lot don't seem to understand that, as if they're the type that needs this type of manoeuvre to prevent them from doing so in the first place probably doesn't have much appreciation for the safety of his fellow road user, and will get angry and/or go ahead and overtake anyway. I don't think that's what the guy in this video was trying to do, though if he was, it was a bit of a strange place to do it.

That said, it can also be a good idea to keep out of the gutter if there's loose gravel, mud, thorns from freshly trimmed hedges, manhole covers, storm drains. as when on skinny tyres, and in the wet, it can be relatively easy to lose control of the bike - storm drains and manhole covers are particularly lethal in the wet, as are painted lines.

Just giving some insight as to what may have happened here, from a cyclists perspective. You have to be defensive in ways you wouldn't think of unless you've tried road cycling. Either way, both of them acted like idiots, particularly the guy in the car.

I would say the cyclist was riding sensibly. There's a bend. He wanted to see ahead and not ride in the kerb where he'd have his eyes on rocks and potholes, not the road ahead. Car driver cocked up, was travelling too fast for the obstructions and/or chose to overtake the parked cars despite having traffic coming towards him.

 

The mental reversing back up the road!!! If seen by a copper, that would be at least a careless driving charge. As he was pursuing another vehicle recklessly, maybe one of those too.

 

Giving the driver the finger is not the best option IMO. If you've got the bloody cameras, use them to provide evidence of wrongdoing. The point would be to be obvious about not acting confrontationally, whilst giving the other party enough rope - should they reach for it.

 

Marks out of ten, cyclist 6 - marked down for the finger. Car driver - 2. Reacted badly to a minor insult and did the mad reversing thing. I've given him an extra mark for the skill involved.

 

J.

Having watched the video first on my phone I thought the car driver looked to be going way to fast and left no room. Watching it again on the laptop, the car IS going a bit quick but there is a reasonable amount of room for the bike without him needing to go into the gutter.

 

 

Isn't there a slight bit of double standards going on here?

You've fitted cameras to your fleet to protect the vehicles and have evidence should someone else be at fault in an accident - the sign of a sensible prudent owner.
If a cyclist has a camera then judging by some of the comments it seems to be the sign of an aggressive militant psycholist.

 

Fitting CCTV to a company vehicle to monitor driving standards, reduce insurance costs and improve security VS certain cyclists thinking 'I'll fit a camera and go look for a argument'. I've seen a few videos on youtube from nutty cyclists now where they are clearly going out their way to cause trouble for a bit of camera action, seen a few motorcyclists too actually. Pathetic tbh, one second they're bleeting on about how venerable they are and the next setting themselves on fire while wheelie-ing through a red light.  :clap: Small minority of them of course. 

I think you are overplaying my statement for dramatic effect.

It doesn't make my drivers (who are carrying children) swear at other road users, make overblown gestures and stick fingers up etc...

Yet this is what you see many cyclists do when they feel a car has got a bit close.

Why?

Maybe they are playing up to the camera.

The result is it often actually creates personal confrontation, as people react to the abuse/gestures.

 

I think some of the difference in how people react is down to the fact that your drivers risk a wing mirror getting smashed, a dented wing or similar whereas a cyclist could be looking at broken bones or being killed

Car and cyclist - what do you think?

 

No excuse for losing your temper at the wheel - ever!

 

You can dress it up as "Road Rage", "Red Mist" or whatever you like to try to justify it and give it a soft name, it is plain and simple tantrum throwing and shows that the driver has a lack of maturity and moral fibre.   We share the rfoads - deal with it!

Anyone who loses their temper in charge of a vehicle should face an automatic 12 month ban with a requirement to retake the driving test at the end of it - simples!

That is the reason I really posted it as I'd never seen anybody pulling a stunt on a public highway like that pug's driver did - reversing for quite a distance with potential intent of running his car into the cyclist - prime example of road rage and dangerous driving. If behaviour of this type is not reacted to by authorities we will have anarchy on the roads as people will sooner or later take matters into their own hands.

On the other hand cyclist was looking for trouble, flying a birdie and was fully prepped for a confrontation. If you go out ready for trouble do not be surprised when trouble finds you.

Stupid thing was there was enough space for both of them there really...

As someone who has been hit by motorists 3 times, last one had his license revoked, you see from a different perspective, calmly sat at your pc viewing this and seeing this for real are two matters, the cyclist did not overreact , if you had had a near miss you would have reacted the same, many cyclists have cars as well as bikes .I behave responsibly have insurance. 

Leaving aside the ridiculous reversing which is clearly not right.

I think Richard made a good point once you start calling people names/gesturing you have made it personal. Personal conflict is unpredictable and regardless of driving standard or lack of you have verbally assaulted someone which is an offence in its own right.

Two wrongs don't make a right, or in this case two dickheads don't make a saint.

Also side note I'm guessing that the forward facing camera is attached to his helmet so they are both guilty of without due care and attention.

As someone who has been hit by motorists 3 times, last one had his license revoked, you see from a different perspective, calmly sat at your pc viewing this and seeing this for real are two matters, the cyclist did not overreact , if you had had a near miss you would have reacted the same, many cyclists have cars as well as bikes .I behave responsibly have insurance.

Was it a near miss though? After watching it several times the cyclist didn't move an inch to miss the car.

Motorist was a tw4t.

Cyclist was a tw4t.

 

Motorist probably the bigger tw4t.  Too many tw4ts on the road. 

Was it a near miss though? After watching it several times the cyclist didn't move an inch to miss the car.

Yes still think it was a near miss, recessed drain which was wet  to go down or Peugeot loses mirror

Motorist was a tw4t.

Cyclist was a tw4t.

 

Motorist probably the bigger tw4t.  Too many tw4ts on the road. 

Yup, it's a tw4tfest.

Pesonally as both a cyclist and a driver I think there was enough room and it was a bit of an overreaction by both parties...

Pesonally as both a cyclist and a driver I think there was enough room and it was a bit of an overreaction by both parties...

I agree with that 100% I don't feel the motorist did anything wrong to behind with however by the end they both looked like plonkers.

Edited 16 July, 201411 yr by mdon

As someone said earlier, if the cars were on the other side of the road there is no way on earth that cyclist would have stopped, in fact if it was such a near miss he'd have moved over or stopped same as you would in/on any vehicle when something comes towards you. 

Car driver crossed the axis of the road to drive past a parked car. While doing so he encroached on the opposite direction traffic lane occupied by another road user, cyclist. 

This type of situation is an everyday occurrence all over the country, nothing unusual about it in itself. There's one proviso to this, the road has to be wide enough for two road users to pass next to each other safely. This was not the case here and car's driver wholesomely ignored the cyclist.

Cyclist did not help either as made no effort to make the situation safer by moving closer to the kerb, slippery drain cover noted so perhaps wasn't so clear cut.

Car driver was completely in the wrong from technical point of view.

Both roads users reaction aside

What happened next is simply, as members put it nicely here before, a tw4t fest.

Stupid thing was there was enough space for both of them there really...

 

 

Car driver crossed the axis of the road to drive past a parked car. While doing so he encroached on the opposite direction traffic lane occupied by another road user, cyclist. 

This type of situation is an everyday occurrence all over the country, nothing unusual about it in itself. There's one proviso to this, the road has to be wide enough for two road users to pass next to each other safely. This was not the case here and car's driver wholesomely ignored the cyclist.

 

Hiya Jabo...   I think you may have just contradicted yourself there???

 

Not disputing just sayin...  

Strange all this hysteria.

 

I've ridden bikes on and off for many decades, covering probably thousands of miles in my time, and I can quite seriously say that I CANNOT remember a single case of a motorist getting what I'd class as DANGEROUSLY close...EVER.

 

P'raps I've just been lucky? 

 

Really not liking this 'camera culture' and playing to it now either.

Has its uses, no doubt, but it IS encouraging confrontation I feel.

 

Far too may 'wannabe law enforcers and pretend rozzers' around nowadays.

Edited 16 July, 201411 yr by Mr Ree

Had a very similar incident a couple of weeks ago, and the cyclist hurled abuse and fingers  at me as he came barreling around a corner downhill at approx 30 +mph.

 

Bit strange as I'd just seconds before nearly been forced to drive into a hedge by an Audi driver absolutely hammering it.

I wondered after, if the looney bicyclist was chasing the Audi driver following another confrontation? 

Edited 16 July, 201411 yr by Mr Ree

Hiya Jabo... I think you may have just contradicted yourself there???

Not disputing just sayin...

LOL , might seem like that .

Not really I think. There was still enough space for both of them to get through without an issue and still car driver was in the wrong

There was nothing wrong with the cyclist's positioning; he was clearly being mindful of the poor surface nearer the gutter and the large puddles which could be hiding equally large potholes.

 

The driver did what a lot of drivers do, through bullying and not giving a toss about others, and pushed through.  Why?  It can't have been because he was in a hurry because he then wastes much more time chasing back after the cyclist.

 

On seeing the cyclist he ought to have slowed  until the rider was clear of the restricted part of the road, and carried on. 

I don't agree with the behaviour of the cyclist giving him the finger, as it can never bring about an improvement in someone else's attitude.  That said, it does note excuse the driver dangerously chasing down the cyclist to confront him. 

 

The driver was entirely responsible for his own (poor) standard of driving and behaviour.

 

 

HV

 

 

On a side note, why would someone fit a horn to their push bike?

On a side note, why would someone fit a horn to their push bike?

 

Because drivers can't hear the ting of a bell?

 

 

HV