Do you 'engage' with motorists?
Discussion
Interested in other people's opinions / experiences on this...
Out for a Sunday morning ride yesterday, a Hyundai i10 affected a particularly close pass on me.
Rather than waiting ~5secs, they decided to overtake parallel with a pedestrian crossing island in the middle of the road. I'd estimate the pass was within one foot of me. Red mist descended, and I managed to tap the rear window of the car with a half-extended arm. Cue gestures from one of the passengers of the car, signalling that I should be 'more to the left'.
This pissed me off a little, and I wondered is there any point in 'engaging' with motorists in situations like this? The downside is (as we see on so many videos online) that you may encounter a nutter who is happy to jump out of the car and use physical violence. Given the passenger's gesture to me afterwards, they clearly believe they are in the right and probably now have a negative opinion of cyclists. Therefore me 'engaging' with them has not had the desired effect.
On the other hand, it was a poor overtake, and I was annoyed to be put in a position which could have been avoided with a minimal amount of patience. Rapping the rear window didn't prevent the overtake happening in the first place, however did highlight to the driver how close they were!
Overall, it certainly tainted the ride. Perhaps a quick shake of the head and a promise to ride more defensively next time is the best approach?
Out for a Sunday morning ride yesterday, a Hyundai i10 affected a particularly close pass on me.
Rather than waiting ~5secs, they decided to overtake parallel with a pedestrian crossing island in the middle of the road. I'd estimate the pass was within one foot of me. Red mist descended, and I managed to tap the rear window of the car with a half-extended arm. Cue gestures from one of the passengers of the car, signalling that I should be 'more to the left'.
This pissed me off a little, and I wondered is there any point in 'engaging' with motorists in situations like this? The downside is (as we see on so many videos online) that you may encounter a nutter who is happy to jump out of the car and use physical violence. Given the passenger's gesture to me afterwards, they clearly believe they are in the right and probably now have a negative opinion of cyclists. Therefore me 'engaging' with them has not had the desired effect.
On the other hand, it was a poor overtake, and I was annoyed to be put in a position which could have been avoided with a minimal amount of patience. Rapping the rear window didn't prevent the overtake happening in the first place, however did highlight to the driver how close they were!
Overall, it certainly tainted the ride. Perhaps a quick shake of the head and a promise to ride more defensively next time is the best approach?
Interesting to hear of these experiences, keep them coming guys!
WinstonWolf said:
Use the primary position at pinch points, deny them the opportunity of putting the squeeze on you.
I'd estimate I was somewhere in between primary and secondary. I'd purposefully moved out of my 'regular' position before the pinch point - didn't stop them though! Riding in 'proper' primary would certainly have prevented the situation.TwistingMyMelon said:
The trouble is that hitting on the car isn't going to achieve anything, they aren't going to go "oh im ever so sorry"
This is my line of thought at the moment - given the gesture of the passenger, they clearly thought it was I who was in the wrong - so tapping the back of the car didn't achieve anything but to escalate the situation.daddy cool said:
Its a tough call - i dont want to get into a fight with anyone (not when im wearing cleats anyway) but on the other hand, why should bullies get away with (at best) ruining my ride, or (at worst) risking my safety, without receiving my wrath?
This is the other side of things. Why let others create a dangerous situation without making them aware of the situation?Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff