the Sun is Out! ... so are the a**holes

Hungrycol

Good advice dropernicus. Good story oobydooby.

There are cases where you have to be respnsible for your own safety. If it looks dangerious then it probably is. If the gap looks narrow then it probably is. I take the same attitude that I do on my morotbike, all drivers on the road are idiots and I'm going to treat them all that way. I just try to prempt the stupidiest move a car could do. Taxi's particularly, if you see someone looking to hail a taxi expect one to suddenly appear from nowhere. One thing I can't be faulted on and that's lack of observation! I do agree that there are suituations beyond your control, such as objects thrown at you. These should be reported to the Guardi with a description. If only the car insurance companies could be notified too.

daymobrew

drcopernicus wrote: »

Don't phone a hotline, you should programme your phone with the numbers of actual garda stations of relevance to you. And let them know you'll be following the matter up. They are legally obliged to investigate any crime reported to them. But to secure a conviction they need reasonable evidence - like a reg or whatever.

I was told that phoning TrafficWatch was best because they enter the into PULSE and then fax the info to the appropriate local station. TW is not the confidential hotline.

In my experience if you ring the station they might not do anything at all. I've walked into stations to report stuff and sometimes the Garda grabs the nearest driving license form and writes in the margin!! :rolleyes: It doesn't inspire confidence.

I've been lazy about following up on the 80+ TW reports I've made. The operators of TW recognise my voice

Aside: I find that the mirror on my right handlebar is an excellent help in preparing me for potential incidents. I can also look behind me without taking my eyes off the road in front of me. You wouldn't drive a car without a rear view mirror - why do so on a bike?

studiorat

daymobrew wrote: »

Aside: I find that the mirror on my right handlebar is an excellent help in preparing me for potential incidents. I can also look behind me without taking my eyes off the road in front of me. You wouldn't drive a car without a rear view mirror - why do so on a bike?

Nice idea! Must look into that. I'd still take the ol' suicide look over my shoulder before making any lane changes or turns though. There's always a blind spot in mirrors. If I remember correctly as a motorcyclist you should always take a quick look over your shoulder before you leap!

As for dealing with arseholes on the road? Whatever you do don't let them know you are angry, that will really piss 'em off.

Raam

daymobrew wrote: »

You wouldn't drive a car without a rear view mirror - why do so on a bike?

I guess because it's a lot easier to look behind you while on a bike. I'm not suggesting that a mirror is not useful.

delta_bravo

milod wrote: »

I'm afraid to admit it but I suffer serious bike rage and, so far, have had three serious incidents with motorists:

1. I was cut up on a left turn - a guy literally turned across me spilling off the bike onto the pavement. So I got back on caught up with him and broke his mirror at the next light.

2. A bus driver pulled into a stop, again spilling me onto the pavement, so again I caught up on his drivers side and shouted at him through the little sliding window while holding onto the frame of the window - he tried to close the window on my hand so I punched him - only glanced off him though as the angle was all wrong.


Standard disclaimer: I don't condone violence!

As a cyclist i have to say your responses to those situations were moronic and idiotic

proteus

drcopernicus wrote: »

you should programme your phone with the numbers of actual garda stations of relevance to you.

Great idea.

I've found the best solution to these incidents is to carry a mobile phone with camera in my back pocket. At any such incident such as a car parked in a cycle lane or a car driving recklessly, I just start taking pictures which I print out and take to my local Garda station. Motorists tend to take the situation more seriously when they see you're taking evidence. I've had a few drivers who got out of their car to apologise once they saw that I was taking the incident seriously while not getting drawn into violence.

Nothing is worse than leaving an incident fuming and not having done something about it.

Caroline_ie

I was out again last night and I took a pen and my camera phone with me in my back pocket... in case I get bothered again.

SerialComplaint

kenmc wrote: »

Yeah I've wanted to ring the cops on several occasions but never bothered for fear of a) not being taken seriously and b) reading loads of comments that the confidential garda hotline is rubbish - answering machine, please call back, no answer, engaged etc.. I wonder if creating a website which allowed for a name-and-shame of the regs of bike-unfriendly drivers would make any difference? Of course one problem would be when a car is sold on it would still remain in the database as unfriendly.
Still thinking of getting a bike/helmet cam to have evidence of future encounters - be it for youtube or the cops.

Ring the TrafficWatch line, and the report gets passed to the local station for follow up. If you want it to have any serious effect, you have to be prepared to go to the station and give a formal statement, and follow up in court if necessary.

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I was out again last night and I took a pen and my camera phone with me in my back pocket... in case I get bothered again.

You'll probably find that your phone has a 'voice recorder' function which is easier than carrying a pen and paper for noting reg numbers.

Caroline_ie

SerialComplaint wrote: »

You'll probably find that your phone has a 'voice recorder' function which is easier than carrying a pen and paper for noting reg numbers.

Yeah ... I know. I was just saying that...:pac:

Explosive_Cornflake

About 4 or 5 years ago I had just left my friends house. Had built up the a bit of speed and then BLAM.
I got hit in the face with something. Thought it was a wet tennis ball or an apple. It turned out some cúnt threw an egg out of car going the opposite direction and it hit me in my right eye. I was doing about 25/30mph one way, and the car probably doing more the other way. That's a nice combined speed.
I had to go to casulty and got a referal to the eye and ear. Had to go back about 4 times.
Long story short, to this day I still have a small bit of egg shell in my eye that opticians can see. My cornea was cut 80% through so I was lucky not to have lost my eye. Taking the small piece of egg shell out would have done more damage to my eye.
I reported it at that time, but there was nothing that could be done really. I was so shocked when it happened that it took me a good 10 minutes to realize what it was.

Caroline_ie

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

About 4 or 5 years ago I had just left my friends house. Had built up the a bit of speed and then BLAM.
I got hit in the face with something. Thought it was a wet tennis ball or an apple. It turned out some cúnt threw an egg out of car going the opposite direction and it hit me in my right eye. I was doing about 25/30mph one way, and the car probably doing more the other way. That's a nice combined speed.
I had to go to casulty and got a referal to the eye and ear. Had to go back about 4 times.
Long story short, to this day I still have a small bit of egg shell in my eye that opticians can see. My cornea was cut 80% through so I was lucky not to have lost my eye. Taking the small piece of egg shell out would have done more damage to my eye.
I reported it at that time, but there was nothing that could be done really. I was so shocked when it happened that it took me a good 10 minutes to realize what it was.

That's pretty serious ... what a bunch of low life, low brain activity scummy bas***ds.

Do you still cycle?

Explosive_Cornflake

Caroline_ie wrote: »

That's pretty serious ... what a bunch of low life, low brain activity scummy bas***ds.

Do you still cycle?

Yup, I love it too much to give it up, but I wear sun glasses a lot now.