And today's commuting highlight is...
Discussion
CoolHands said:
Bumblebee7 said:
On the A40 today into town riding in L2 (in the middle of the lane, not filtering). Traffic is steadily moving and cars pretty close together. I notice the crappy Vauxhall people carrier in L1 start moving into my lane without indicating and there's cars in front and behind me so I don't have anywhere to go. I give a double beep of the horn and no response, driver keeps moving over. One last long toot and still nothing so I'm left with no choice but to shift over onto the lines between L2 and L3 until there's a gap big enough to move fully over into L3. I look over at the driver to see WTF they were thinking and they are literally head down into their lap texting! Traveling at about 40mph in 3 lanes of moving traffic! There really are some idiots out there.
should have booted their doorThinking about it, I'd love to see the reaction on some peoples faces if you carried around one of those emergency window breakers and used it on every imbecile that did something dangerous while driving and using their phone
Edited by Bumblebee7 on Thursday 18th October 13:22
Bumblebee7 said:
On the A40 today into town riding in L2 (in the middle of the lane, not filtering). Traffic is steadily moving and cars pretty close together. I notice the crappy Vauxhall people carrier in L1 start moving into my lane without indicating and there's cars in front and behind me so I don't have anywhere to go. I give a double beep of the horn and no response, driver keeps moving over. One last long toot and still nothing so I'm left with no choice but to shift over onto the lines between L2 and L3 until there's a gap big enough to move fully over into L3. I look over at the driver to see WTF they were thinking and they are literally head down into their lap texting! Traveling at about 40mph in 3 lanes of moving traffic! There really are some idiots out there.
Classic A40 behaviour. Now it's a 40mph SPECS limit for most of the journey into the city, I've seen people watching their ipad whilst holding it on the steering wheel. Less chance of crashing at 40mph you see..... It's happened to me a few times recently. I sometimes will give their mirror a gentle tap on the way past - they should get the idea and hopefully one more driver out their who will check their mirrors a bit better in future.
When people do it, IF/when they notice, they always seem to freeze straddling the lanes. They must just panic and stop hoping the problem will go way!
When people do it, IF/when they notice, they always seem to freeze straddling the lanes. They must just panic and stop hoping the problem will go way!
jamiehamy said:
It's happened to me a few times recently. I sometimes will give their mirror a gentle tap on the way past - they should get the idea and hopefully one more driver out their who will check their mirrors a bit better in future.
Not a bad idea actually, I quite like that. Mind you around London most of the people will react to that with anger and violence...Bumblebee7 said:
Not a bad idea actually, I quite like that. Mind you around London most of the people will react to that with anger and violence...
When I used to commute from West London to East London, I was riding into Uber hell territory , if they annoyed me, a swear word, finger or best a threat to smash their wing mirror and they'd s
t themselves, mainly because their cars are leased. I used to do it on my bicycle as well. I am now a much calmer individual, I just tut tut now, with the occasional middle finger or hard stare. Its not perfect but its done in a controlled manner, i.e not angry, more of a robot which actually seems to make them crap themselves even more.
Harji said:
When I used to commute from West London to East London, I was riding into Uber hell territory , if they annoyed me, a swear word, finger or best a threat to smash their wing mirror and they'd st themselves, mainly because their cars are leased. I used to do it on my bicycle as well.
I am now a much calmer individual, I just tut tut now, with the occasional middle finger or hard stare. Its not perfect but its done in a controlled manner, i.e not angry, more of a robot which actually seems to make them crap themselves even more.
I used to get the rage. But really, I just don’t have the time or energy anymore to remonstrate with every person who does something dumb. Add to that, I accept that i ride in a manner that can lead to an interaction that car driver might not have foreseen or was unlikely to prepare for. So I just live and let live and keep making progress. t themselves, mainly because their cars are leased. I used to do it on my bicycle as well. I am now a much calmer individual, I just tut tut now, with the occasional middle finger or hard stare. Its not perfect but its done in a controlled manner, i.e not angry, more of a robot which actually seems to make them crap themselves even more.
308mate said:
I used to get the rage. But really, I just don’t have the time or energy anymore to remonstrate with every person who does something dumb. Add to that, I accept that i ride in a manner that can lead to an interaction that car driver might not have foreseen or was unlikely to prepare for. So I just live and let live and keep making progress.
This is the only way to commute. Get angry at even a fraction of the people who do something stupid and you'll do the whole journey stressed and on edge. Chill, and accept that people do stupid things. (And we're all included in that.) Your job is to ride in a way that means you can post on this thread when someone does something stupid, not to get a ride in an ambulance. 
black-k1 said:
308mate said:
I used to get the rage. But really, I just don’t have the time or energy anymore to remonstrate with every person who does something dumb. Add to that, I accept that i ride in a manner that can lead to an interaction that car driver might not have foreseen or was unlikely to prepare for. So I just live and let live and keep making progress.
This is the only way to commute. Get angry at even a fraction of the people who do something stupid and you'll do the whole journey stressed and on edge. Chill, and accept that people do stupid things. (And we're all included in that.) Your job is to ride in a way that means you can post on this thread when someone does something stupid, not to get a ride in an ambulance. Freezing and foggy this morning, probably should have taken the car but I couldn't face the traffic. Weirdly it was really quiet on the way in and a relatively calm ride except for the Indiana Jones moment when a lorry full of hay bales I was filtering past decided to drift towards the middle of the road... Only just squeezed through 
Was having a quiet ride in thinking how nice it is during half-term and then I spotted a couple of BiB on the central strip as you come off the A3 at Tibbet's corner down towards Putney.
I slowed down sheepishly and he signalled me to pull over. He showed me the speed gun. 42 in a 30. I feel lucky to have got away with a talking to. I think because I shut up and took the lecture. There was minimal traffic around but I didn't think any response from me that modern scooters with good tyres will stop a fair bit quicker than the Highway Code suggests would have helped my case at all.
Last time I was pulled was in March and it ended up in 3 points so I really don't want to add any more...
I slowed down sheepishly and he signalled me to pull over. He showed me the speed gun. 42 in a 30. I feel lucky to have got away with a talking to. I think because I shut up and took the lecture. There was minimal traffic around but I didn't think any response from me that modern scooters with good tyres will stop a fair bit quicker than the Highway Code suggests would have helped my case at all.
Last time I was pulled was in March and it ended up in 3 points so I really don't want to add any more...
GM182 said:
Was having a quiet ride in thinking how nice it is during half-term and then I spotted a couple of BiB on the central strip as you come off the A3 at Tibbet's corner down towards Putney.
I slowed down sheepishly and he signalled me to pull over. He showed me the speed gun. 42 in a 30. I feel lucky to have got away with a talking to. I think because I shut up and took the lecture. There was minimal traffic around but I didn't think any response from me that modern scooters with good tyres will stop a fair bit quicker than the Highway Code suggests would have helped my case at all.
Last time I was pulled was in March and it ended up in 3 points so I really don't want to add any more...
Just think of all the fluffy kittens that have now died because of your recklessness I slowed down sheepishly and he signalled me to pull over. He showed me the speed gun. 42 in a 30. I feel lucky to have got away with a talking to. I think because I shut up and took the lecture. There was minimal traffic around but I didn't think any response from me that modern scooters with good tyres will stop a fair bit quicker than the Highway Code suggests would have helped my case at all.
Last time I was pulled was in March and it ended up in 3 points so I really don't want to add any more...
GM182 said:
Was having a quiet ride in thinking how nice it is during half-term and then I spotted a couple of BiB on the central strip as you come off the A3 at Tibbet's corner down towards Putney.
I slowed down sheepishly and he signalled me to pull over. He showed me the speed gun. 42 in a 30. I feel lucky to have got away with a talking to. I think because I shut up and took the lecture. There was minimal traffic around but I didn't think any response from me that modern scooters with good tyres will stop a fair bit quicker than the Highway Code suggests would have helped my case at all.
Last time I was pulled was in March and it ended up in 3 points so I really don't want to add any more...
Agreed you did well with just a talking to.I slowed down sheepishly and he signalled me to pull over. He showed me the speed gun. 42 in a 30. I feel lucky to have got away with a talking to. I think because I shut up and took the lecture. There was minimal traffic around but I didn't think any response from me that modern scooters with good tyres will stop a fair bit quicker than the Highway Code suggests would have helped my case at all.
Last time I was pulled was in March and it ended up in 3 points so I really don't want to add any more...
From personal experience paying attention (being observant unlike 90% of the other road using drones) and being polite works wonders!
My last talking to was having it pointed out the road in London I was sitting bang on 30 at as the bike cop was following right behind me was actually now a 20 lol - noted and remembered since.
I got a 3 pointer FPN for double the speed limit 60 in a 30 18 years ago through being polite and respectful to the Bike cop who'd pulled me over, I almost snatched his hand off when he offered me that!
Scooter rider, on L plates obviously decides to pull in front and sit in the cycle box...as half of the s seem to despite passing them 30 seconds before...
What’s worse is he then pulls out a spliff and lighter, misses the green light when sparking up and continues to smoke it the length of tower bridge and beyond...
Typical dirty stoner type, dreads etc - looked like he’d just departed a squat...
s seem to despite passing them 30 seconds before...What’s worse is he then pulls out a spliff and lighter, misses the green light when sparking up and continues to smoke it the length of tower bridge and beyond...
Typical dirty stoner type, dreads etc - looked like he’d just departed a squat...
I got lashed up in the middle of about half a dozen, all completely different, bikers today on the way home and it wasn't a good place to be. Two of them may have known each other (or may have just been having a series of rows at the lights) but most of them had zero awareness of other bikes or road users. I'd overtake and they then took crazy chances to pass you again. Just wasn't worth it, I gave up and hung back til they'd all ferked off.
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