https://road.cc/content/news/road-rage-lan...ist-288665

"Freelander driver has been jailed for 18 months after ramming a cyclist in a road rage incident, leaving the victim with six fractured ribs, his pelvis broken in six places, and a punctured liver. "

Two lives stupidly ruined over a door mirror - motoring madness Jules

What a thoroughly nasty old git.

Got to agree with Jules - total madness.

Have been at the wrong end of Lycra louts banging on the roof because they thought that I should create a 3rd lane between the two marked lanes so that they could get to the front of the queue and presumably jump the lights. or being spat at because I braked hard to avoid an accident and following to close, one had to mount the pavement to avoid one themselves.
Both times in Reading
So I understand the frustration, but driving at someone with a two tonne blunt instrument !! You have a responsibility to others when you get behind the wheel. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Sadly the intolerant and angry are present in all areas of society.

However I've come nearer to death as a regular solo cyclist than I ever have as a driver and that includes track days in the UK and on the Nordschleife.

The majority of drivers are fine with cyclists but some don't think, some don't care and some actually want to cause distress/harm.

Most of my cycling is in rural areas - I have also cycled in major cities.
Paradoxically, narrow rural roads are often the scariest as some drivers feel 60mph is the speed to drive at irrespective of the situation , overtake when they often shouldn't (blind bends, on-coming traffic etc ) and I often have nowhere to go to get out of their way. Jules

SYFL2 wrote:

What a thoroughly nasty old git.

I gave up cycling on public roads about 25 years ago, after several friends got hurt in different accidents. Maybe Sunday up the coast highway.

I witnessed the aftermath of an cycle/car incident several months ago in a local small town.

I had just parked in a layby next to the shops and let my wife out, when I heard a shout behind me.
I looked in my mirror and could see a cyclist shouting through the driver's window of a car which had stopped at the zebra crossing.
The commotion carried on for a bit more, so I decided to get out of my car and become a witness to whatever was going on.

As I stepped out I saw the cyclist was leaning into the car, so I started to walk towards the car, but then the cyclist suddenly disengaged, and he and his female companion rode past me, and off into the distance.

The lady passenger of the car came up the path towards me, upset and on the phone. When I asked her if they required any help she said that the cyclist made stolen the car key, leaving the car stranded in the road at the crossing.

Another motorist chased after the cyclist, who then threw the keys into a garden some way up the road, and quickly made his exit. Unfortunately the key, once found, had been bent and broken.

From what I gathered, it seemed that the motorist had peeped his horn as he passed the cyclist in a narrow stretch of road several hundred yards prior to the crossing. When the car stopped at the crossing the cyclist had rode up the outside and had a go at the driver.

Not sure what eventually happened as although I provided contact detail and a still from my dashcam to the police nothing more was heard. All these cyclists tend to look alike, in their outfits and helmets, they are hard to identify.

We have lots of hobby-cyclists on our local coastal and country roads, and although I am careful and try to give them a wide berth, I can still sometimes get aggression from them in slower and/or town traffic.

We have quite a lot of official and unofficial cycle time trials, which I cannot understand because other vehicles are not allowed to race on the public roads. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)

Last edited by IanMetro on 15th Dec 2021 10:43 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I despair at the attitude of some people; two wrongs don't make a right. Jules

So its daylight, I'm wearing high viz, have a flashing light front and back riding a white bicycle. I'm riding along, uphill at about 12mph, along row of parked cars such that only one car can pass at a time. I'm near the middle of the road mindful of car doors suddenly opening. I see a car coming towards me - no problem as there is plenty of room for me and the car to pass each other.
I then see a gold Discovery TD5 come slowly from the left along a drive from the local brewery. I can see the old driver's face clearly. He stops in the gap in the long row of parked cars and looks up and down the road. He sees the car coming towards me and lets it pass by in front of him. As I am just about pass in front of him he pulls out. If I hadn't had that feeling you get when you think someone isn't paying attention and had my fingers on the brakes I would have been over his bonnet. I stopped inches from his side as passed in front of me and was able to easily knock on his side windows. He stopped abruptly and wound down his window.
"Where the 'ell did you come from?"
"The fact you ask that question means you weren't looking properly. I've been watching you for a while"
He insists he was looking and it was somehow my fault he didnt see me.
The discussion is going nowhere.
"You lot are a bloody menace"
"Not such a menace as drivers who are unaware of their failing driving skills."
At that, he accelerated away, hard, mounting the opposite curb in the process.

No apology , nothing. I'm a cyclist, he's in a big 4x4 - must be my fault.
I hope Santa brings me a helmet cam. Jules

I too both cycle and drive (though not at the same time ...). Usually it is during the morning rush hour and usually on a mix of rural and semi-rural roads. In the summer months I'm on my road bike, in the winter its onto the mountain bike, with some trails thrown into the mix. On alternate mornings I run. Its a habit I got into in my 20s when I was in the army and has stayed with me ever since.

On the whole, I find the majority of drivers are fine, the majority of the time. I find that riding in Track 1 (where the nearside wheels run), as defined by cycling and motorcycling groups, helps make me more visible and more of a moving obstruction, than riding more timidly in the gutter, which can lead to dangerously close overtaking.

As I am sure that everyone reading this is aware, a new Highway Code with new regulations comes int effect in late January 22. Here is an article on it: https://www.driving.co.uk/news/cyclists-an...d-to-know/

As a cyclist, the guidance that interests me the most is the following:

"The wording of rules regarding passing distances has been amended and now includes guidelines for overtaking pedestrians, cyclists and horses. It now advises motorists to:
Leave a minimum distance of 1.5m at speeds under 30mph;
Leave a minimum distance of two metres at speeds over 30mph;
Always leave a distance of at least two metres if driving a large vehicle;"

Sir Stirling Moss used to 'leave enough room for the cyclist to fall off' when passing them, so almost completely on the other side of the road in places like London.

Now, hands up those who have a re-read the Highway Code in the last three years?!

Tim

The company that I do most of my work for are considering refusing to pay sick pay for cycling related accidents.
Bearing in mind there are less than 30 employees.
1) Fell off cycle - couldn't get his feet off the clip-ons quickly enough and fell against the kerb breaking his ankle.
2)Trying to beat his best time home and went across a major junction in the rain - 9 months off work.
3) Hit by a train on a level crossing - never came back to work.
4) Fell off riding on the ice - broken hip. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I over did some walking in our local streets in October avoiding Covid interactions. I had beyond painful Bursitis in the heel of the achilles tendon. First week, even breathing triggered pain. Walking very gingerly now.


Now for a really embarrassing situation. Other half asked me to take a photograph of flowers. 10 inches from the ground on my elbows & toes, I slipped. Fractured 4 ribs in the remote outback. A week later the hospital couldn't see the fractures in the x-rays. Two weeks later still in pretty bad pain on our next holiday, I got a message. The hospital had reviewed the x-rays & found 4 fractured ribs...Thanks. I can't tell you just how much corrugated roads hurt without being rude.


Don't walk to work or crawl on the ground to your boss. It's painful, & I didn't even need a Freelander! Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Where I live is part of the 2012 Olympic Cycling road trials. So the roads were made super smooth and are a haven for cyclists, so I've have seen my share of car/cycle accidents.

I also used to ride a motorbike and invariably, if a wing mirror was knocked, the offending motorcyclist would at least offer an apology. Sometimes, cyclists in the same situation tend to just offer the finger.

Probably because a lightly-clad cyclist is going to feel an impact with a car body part more than an armoured motorcyclist

One thing I have noticed, when i used to drive the P38 or the L322, I would sometimes attract cyclists' ire for what they considered was passing too close. Although I think it was the bulk of the car that was the problem.

Not so in my LR2.

However it's also interesting to note that article refers to a 'Land Rover' driver – as opposed to just a 'car' driver.

Live and let live. Zermatt Silver LR2 i6

Previous

1997 Range Rover p38 4.6 V8
2003 Range Rover L322 4.4V8
1989 Range Rover Classic 3.9 V8
2003 Land Rover 90 Td5
2000 Range Rover p38 2.5dHSE
1975 Land Rover 90 SIII 2.25 petrol
1996 Range Rover p38 4.0 V8
1990 Discovery 3.5i V8 (3 door)
1973 Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8 (2 door, ex-Police)

Andy131 wrote:

The company that I do most of my work for are considering refusing to pay sick pay for cycling related accidents.
Bearing in mind there are less than 30 employees.
1) Fell off cycle - couldn't get his feet off the clip-ons quickly enough and fell against the kerb breaking his ankle.
2)Trying to beat his best time home and went across a major junction in the rain - 9 months off work.
3) Hit by a train on a level crossing - never came back to work.
4) Fell off riding on the ice - broken hip.

Blimey, that bloke is one unlucky cyclist  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

as we get older, we all become cantankerous at different levels.

cantankerous - bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative.