"But you were in the middle of the road"

[Biggsy]

I've had this said to me by a couple of different drivers after I have remonstrated with them after hideously close overtakes.

1.  They don't understand that cyclists need to stay clear of the door zone when passing parked cars.

2.  They think it's ok to risk killing you because they think you shouldn't be there.

Sorry there isn't any point to this post - unless it inspires ideas to get some more care and intelligence into motorists' heads.

(I didn't have anything in my hands at the time, by the way, in case you've seen my other recent post on this board).

[mattc]

... - unless it inspires ideas to get some more care and intelligence into motorists' heads.

(I didn't have anything in my hands at the time, by the way, in case you've seen my other recent post on this board).

Well if you'd been carrying said object on your rack, perpendicular to direction of travel, you would probably reduce these occurences.

HTH

[LindaG]

I've had this said to me by a couple of different drivers after I have remonstrated with them after hideously close overtakes.

1.  They don't understand that cyclists need to stay clear of the door zone when passing parked cars.

2.  They think it's ok to risk killing you because they think you shouldn't be there.

Sorry there isn't any point to this post - unless it inspires ideas to get some more care and intelligence into motorists' heads.

(I didn't have anything in my hands at the time, by the way, in case you've seen my other recent post on this board).

I think you should have them killed.

I know people.

PM me for details.

[Jurek]

I've had this said to me by a couple of different drivers after I have remonstrated with them after hideously close overtakes.

1.  They don't understand that cyclists need to stay clear of the door zone when passing parked cars.

2.  They think it's ok to risk killing you because they think you shouldn't be there.

Sorry there isn't any point to this post - unless it inspires ideas to get some more care and intelligence into motorists' heads.

(I didn't have anything in my hands at the time, by the way, in case you've seen my other recent post on this board).

I think you should have them killed.

I know people.

PM me for details.

You sound slightly OCD to me. 

[Biggsy]

Well if you'd been carrying said object on your rack, perpendicular to direction of travel, you would probably reduce these occurences.

Said object hadn't been purchased yet!

[Biggsy]

This reminds me of those lolipops that I used to laugh at.  (Pole sticking out sideways with a flag on the end).  Maybe they're not so silly after all, but still I'm not going to resort to one.

[corshamjim]

Sounds like you weren't far enough over to the right. 

[Adam]

I've only had 1 person in umpteen years make a similar comment (although out here in the countryside there aren't so many cars to overtake). 

I just pointed out the Met police in London tell cyclists to stay out of the killing zone around car doors, and if the police tell me to stay away from car doors when cycling past, that's what I'll do. 

And I cycled off, so I've no idea if there was any objection.



Sorry - that probably doesn't help you much.

[teethgrinder]

I think panniers are better than those lollipops, which didn't really stick out anyway. I use Bikebins and have horizontal reflective strips on the back of them. I think that motorists look at your back wheel when they should be looking at your main body. The panniers are about 8cm wider than I am, so 4cm or two inches either side but I think they buy me an extra few feet of clearance. I think that instead of fixing on my narrow back wheel, they fix on my panniers instead.

Anyway, the OP sounds like just another bullshit excuse for bad driving and impatience. It's never their fault.

[Adam]

That's a good point.  Going to work, I normally only carry 1 pannier, but it always goes on the right hand side.  And it has another red flashing light on the back, as well as the main one on the back of the rack.  Definitely helps to get a bit more room.

[Kim]

Although I find that on a recumbent, panniers get you *less* room.  Presumably because they identify you as a bicycle, and destroy the WTF-factor.

[bikey-mikey]

You would be amazed how much room they give me when I am towing the Extrawheel, with two yellow Ortlieb panniers...

I think it might be the flag waving all over the place that does the trick - maybe they come out of autopilot and actually think for a moment, which can't be a bad thing...

[Biggsy]

Panniers - yeah, but I don't want panniers all time, and I hope I don't have to have things I don't want on the bike just to stay alive.

With this latest case for me: it was a white van with a "how's my driving?" sticker, with phone number.  Of course if I hadn't lost my temper I would have photographed this number, along with the reg and the driver's face.  Then I would have got a burry mess of jpegs thanks to the camera on my lovely BlackBerry being rubbish in low light.  (Doesn't increase sensitivity enough).

(Thanks for letting me get this off my chest!)

[Biggsy]

I'd have them all shot.  I'd take them out and execute them in front of their families.

That's just a view.  Not necessarily my view. 

[Wendy]

I get that sometimes. It's better on the recumbent, much better than the upright, but it still happens. You can see this sort of mentality quite often in YouTube comments.  I rarely get an answer back when I ask if they are IAM drivers, since the IAM advises cyclists to take the lane in many situations.

[Rapples]

I'd have them all shot.  I'd take them out and execute them in front of their families.

That's just a view.  Not necessarily my view. 

You need to post another view now for balance, or you'll fall off your bike

[Wowbagger]

I'd have them all shot.  I'd take them out and execute them in front of their families.

That's just a view.  Not necessarily my view. 

Isn't that a bit OCD*?





*Obnoxious Clarkson Disorder

[hatler]

2.  They think it's ok to risk killing you because they think you shouldn't be there.

This is the one thing that pisses me off most of all (I think, there might be others    )

My safety vs Their convenience. It really shouldn't be hard.

If they thought about it for one second they would realise quite how obnoxious, churlish, petty and inconsiderate (and downright dangerous) they are being.

But they don't think. And those that do are vindictive thuggish bullying bastards obsessed by their own self-importance.

[Rhys W]

I had one last week who stopped and wound down his window to tell me that I was taking up the whole road, interspersed with several swearwords. I ignored him and rode past to the inevitable red light 20 metres ahead. He then sat behind me and revved his engine in an attempt to scare me out of the way.

The only redeeming feature in such a scenario is the sweet irony of a man in a big 4x4 monstrosity screaming at a person on a skinny-tubed road bike with 23mm wide tyres that he's taking up all of the road. Similar to the idiots who overtake a 2-abreast clubrun shouting "single file!" In fact, now I have an answer ready for the next time - I'll ask the driver if he has a tape measure so we can determine which one of us is taking up more road space.

[Charlotte]

Sorry there isn't any point to this post - unless it inspires ideas to get some more care and intelligence into motorists' heads.

I'd suggest using the traditional method involving a stout clue-by-four, applied to the back of the cranium.

PM me for details.

[iakobski]

I've had this said to me by a couple of different drivers after I have remonstrated with them after hideously close overtakes.

1.  They don't understand that cyclists need to stay clear of the door zone when passing parked cars.

2.  They think it's ok to risk killing you because they think you shouldn't be there.

3. They know your right arm sticking out means you're turning right, but they are convinced you should make the manoeuvre from the left gutter.

[David Martin]

3. They know your right arm sticking out means you're turning right, but they are convinced you should make the manoeuvre from the left gutter.

No. They see your arm sticking out to the right and think that is you pointing out which side to pass you on.

[Wendy]

Well, had a driver tell me to get out of the road on my ride today. Narrow lane, I'm towing a Burley D'Lite, and it's busy so he had to wait for a little bit.