traffic lights and us slow people

high heels

Right the other day I went through a set of light it went amber when I had gone past the white line.. Now about 30 meters up the road was a junction controlled by the same lights..

When I just got to the juction it was as if the guy waited until I came to it and then revved up and then slammed on beeping his horn.. I shouted I had a green light but had him follow me for a while shouting out his window..


I don't know how to deal with it to be honest I just ignored him while he was shouting out his window.. But the lights thing worrys me.. Should I have waited or just carried on through like I did?

Beasty

You went through on green, and so did nothing wrong. The motorist should have waited until you were clear before advancing.

As always with these situations, there's a "discretion is the better part of valour" position you may prefer to adopt, particularly if you are not particularly confident, and if you anticipate an aggressive motorist like this one. If you feel intimidated, you are probably better off holding back, as any confrontation is unlikely to do your confidence much good. I would re-iterate, however, that you did absolutely nothing wrong in this situation, and ignoring the driver was probably the best thing you could do.

Bluefoam

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buffalo

Out of curiosity, where was the junction?

SubLuminal

Bluefoam wrote: »

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high heels

buffalo wrote: »

Out of curiosity, where was the junction?

I'mafraid I live in London these days.. but it was in Twickenham just before the rail bridge..

HivemindXX

high heels wrote: »

When I just got to the juction it was as if the guy waited until I came to it and then revved up and then slammed on beeping his horn.. I shouted I had a green light but had him follow me for a while shouting out his window..

Based on what you have said it sounds like you did nothing wrong. You might phone the local authority and complain, in very long junctions like you describe there should be a longer delay between one set going amber and the other set going green. This has never actually happened to me despite clearing the junction quite a while after the light has gone red as I'm accompanied by all the cars that entered the junction 5 or more seconds after I did.

The motorist is wrong and he also has anger management issues. A normal person will not behave as you describe. If you take an already borderline sufferer of a victim complex and feed them a steady diet of the sort of "motorists are hard done by, cyclists are vermin" rhetoric that the likes of Top Gear and the Motoring Section puts out they can easily go off the deep end. This is why I despise the anti-cyclist propoganda issued in the media and from Fine Gael. (yes, I'm tarring the entire party with the actions of two councillors, if Fine Gael doesn't like it they can publicly condemn what they said).

If you feel threatened by something like this then I suggest you stop the bike and phone the police. This will almost certainly cool the heels of the motorist. Tell the police you're being threatened and give them the licence number of the car.

Lumen

Sounds like that junction needs a countdown display like they have at Dublin airport. Maybe suggest it to the relevant authority.

Beasty

HivemindXX wrote: »

If you take an already borderline sufferer of a victim complex and feed them a steady diet of the sort of "motorists are hard done by, cyclists are vermin" rhetoric that the likes of Top Gear and the Motoring Section puts out they can easily go off the deep end.

Do not turn this thread into a "motorist v cyclist" debate. The OP asked for specific advice on a specific incident - stay on-topic

Thanks

Beasty

Morgan

Bluefoam wrote: »

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SubLuminal wrote: »

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Aw, I'd love to have seen the violence.

OP - just give a friendly wave and go on your way. Just cos the driver has issues doesn't mean you have to worry yourself about it - just forget it.