Got rammed by a van driver!

[Jayfish]

Out on a club ride tonight heading out of Ashdown Forest there's a cattle grid which also has a traffic calming portion sticking out into the side of the road we were on. I was 3rd of 3 riders and being the last man I checked behind and signalled right at about 20 meters to the calming measure, there were two vehicles behind but not particularly close, by this point I was already in Prime position in the middle of the lane. Just as I called we have the lane, the driver of a small van behind decided that overtaking a cyclist clearly indicating he was moving position was the right thing to do, I heard him drop a cog and the revs rise so called out to the two in front to 'Stay in, he's coming round'
As we crossed the grid the van driver was stuck behind a car that was waiting for an opportunity to pass a group of about 5 30 meters up the road, I caught and passed the van pointing to my eyes with two fingers suggesting to the van driver he might like to use his and passed him and the car ahead.
He then floored it around the other car and came past me and swerved into me, fortunately I was far enough out from the edge that i had room to swerve too, he hit my arm, hand and bars but I managed to keep it upright.

Looking back maybe I should have just let it go, but this guy's decided that his van was a weapon and knocking me off was a legitimate response.

I've done an online report to the police and other club members got his reg.

Just needed to get that off my chest as I'm a little wound up.

Edited by Jayfish on Wednesday 7th August 00:52

[Brother D]

Bottom line he's probably in the wrong, but as the saying goes, "its pointless being right but dead".

You know as well as I do, if you antagonise a driver and he ends up seriously injuring or crippling you, then at most he'll get a small fine, while you have to spend the rest of your life dealing with the consequences.

Seriously, not worth getting into road-rage especially with a van...

[DocJock]

The idiot had already demonstrated intolerance of, and disregard for the safety of, cyclists but you thought it was a good idea to make what could be seen as a confrontational gesture to him?

I'm in no way defending the blokes actions but if you'd just ignored him and his rubbish driving the incident would never have occured.

[Matt_N]

There really does seem to have been an increase in the level of hate for us lately, barely a ride goes by that me and my mate don't get beeped at, coffee beaned at, fingers stuck up at and it's not like we are inconsiderate riders either. We always ride single file on busy roads, constantly check for cars, give a wave of thanks if they've been sat behind for a short while, pull in where we can on narrow lanes etc.

But last night was a prime example, on our way to a local TT last night, sat at a junction and a van driver on the road drives past flicking us the V, the other week we were riding down a very wide main road, no traffic, single file, a Discovery overtakes us with no traffic coming the over way, yet beeps and both driver and passenger coffee bean us out the windows

[WinstonWolf]

If you have witnesses pursue it. A bloke punched me on the bike once, ended up paying me £50 (he punched like a girl) got sixty hours of community service and some sort of 'order'.

Apparently the cops had been trying to nail him for ages and this was the first time they made anything stick

[TwistingMyMelon]

Bad luck mate must have really shaken you up, it would me!

Van and flatbed transits are the worst offenders, ultimately most car drivers don't want to damage their cars, van drivers don't seem to have this mentality and are used to bullying other road users

I know some will argue that you antagonised it which was very unwise, on the other hand when the adrenalin is pumping we all make mistakes and your gesture was valid. I have dont the same in past.

If I get cut up / left hooked / passed closely now I stay well out of their way and don't react at all, its just not worth the risk . If I can catch them at the next lights, I might have a word (making sure they don't pull away behind me!), but it has ended in a punch up before, and it an be hard work wearing cleats!

[IroningMan]

One of the benefits of living in a relatively rural spot is that on the odd occasion when something like this happens we are often able to work out who it is.

[gazza285]

I am a van driving cyclist, does nobody love me?

[BalhamBadger]

I managed to get into a minor confrontation with a van driver on my daily commute. It didn't escalate physically but I did write a strongly worded email (so PH..) to his company hq, and copied in the parent company just to be sure. I got an apologetic email and a phone call back, and hopefully the bloke in question got a bking. Probaby made no difference but it made me feel better.

[John87]

Why is it always vans? I was out on Monday night doing around 25mph around some quiet lanes near me. A van decided that it would be a good idea to pass VERY close then pull back in too early. The only place I had to go was towards the kerb, where the loose gravel from the road meant that I completely lost it. I ended up sliding along my side before flipping over and landing on my head and sliding further along my shoulder. Now I'm left with skin missing up most of my right hand side and arm, massive bruising and whiplash. On top of this I'm left with a month old bike damaged to the point that it will cost me almost as much as the purchase price to fix. This isn't the first time it's been a van either and makes me think that some drivers aren't aware of the size of their vehicles. Or he was just a ste driver...

Should probably add that I've been passed perfectly safely by numerous vans as well as unsafely by cars.

[Yell_M3]

Problem is there's issues on both sides. As a car owner and a cyclist I've seen both sides. Only last week while on the country roads, I came up against 3 bikes side by side. Being a cyclist I was very patient. But they continued side by side chatting away. So beeped them, then got massive amount of abuse. Even then they didn’t move, so had to overtake. These Tw*ts, don’t help our case …

[Kell]

Brother D said:

Bottom line he's probably in the wrong, but as the saying goes, "its pointless being right but dead".

This.

I used to be far more aggressive when people cut me up or did something stupid - but after a mate of mine went under a lorry last year I came to realisation that it's mostly pointless.

Unfortunately, cyclists have got much more to lose in these situations than drivers.

[Jayfish]

DocJock said:

The idiot had already demonstrated intolerance of, and disregard for the safety of, cyclists but you thought it was a good idea to make what could be seen as a confrontational gesture to him?

I'm in no way defending the blokes actions but if you'd just ignored him and his rubbish driving the incident would never have occured.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, it wasn't big or clever to remonstrate with him but hopefully good will come of it, I'm unhurt and he's due a visit from the police which will hopefully make him more respectful of other road users.

[WarrenG]

This is why there should be a legislative change to introduce a CWP (Concealed Weapons Permit) system for cyclists - then we can pop a cap in their ass rather than tolerate being hated off the roads...

http://www.sled.sc.gov/cwp.aspx?MenuID=CWP

and then apply this principle;

Castle Doctrine

South Carolina has a self-defense law based on the castle doctrine. The law permits the use of physical force, including deadly force, when persons are attacked in a place they have a right to be, including their place of business. The law does not require a duty to retreat from attackers. It provides civil and criminal immunity to persons who use force to stop an attacker. In order to apply, the law requires that the victim not be engaged in illegal activity and that the force be necessary to prevent death, serious injury or a violent crime.

[Aerate]

gazza285 said:

I am a van driving cyclist, does nobody love me?

This (me too)

[Matt_N]

Yell_M3 said:

Problem is there's issues on both sides. As a car owner and a cyclist I've seen both sides. Only last week while on the country roads, I came up against 3 bikes side by side. Being a cyclist I was very patient. But they continued side by side chatting away. So beeped them, then got massive amount of abuse. Even then they didn’t move, so had to overtake. These Tw*ts, don’t help our case …

Yep, that's bad form.

It's like I always say, you get good / bad cyclists and good/ bad drivers. I try to be courteous to both whichever mode of transport I'm using.

[Simond S]

Luckily in this instance there were witnesses behind. Hopefully the Police do something and he is at least charged with failing to stop.

The minimum we need is a section 55 on both him and his vehicle. Make him aware if he does it again he will lose his van.

We had a similar issue with a Discovery driver in Buxted with a roadside resolution by police. We were unable to cycle on till he left, you suddenly feel quite vulnerable when a driver decides he is happy to be openly aggressive in a vehicle.

(The truth of your incident is that I paid him to gee you up for the "Between the grids" Strava section.)