Near Misses Volume 2 (So close you can feel it)

2 for the price of one today - I know we were a bit far apart, I'd slipped my chain so we were trying to catch up with the group…. https://streamable.com/doa20n?src=player-page-share

Not a lot to be gained engaging. Best to ignore it. One time as motorist I was at the entry barrier to Trinity street car park. A cyclist flew up to the open window and said I nearly hit him. I didn't see him at all before this. I checked my mirror turning off Trinity street and all was clear. I've no idea where I might have been close to him. I said sorry I didn't see you. Then he got madder and redder and said I nearly hit him. I said I didn't see him. Then he got even madder and even redder and was apoplectic. I felt trapped and couldn't see a way out of this so I got apoplectic and we just screamed at each other till he moved away from my window. Pointless.

this kind of engagement is not recommended: Kilkenny driver took hurley from car boot and ran after cyclist on south Dublin street in ‘heat of the moment’

Only got out of my car once in my 35+ years driving. A few years ago a car pulled out in front of my at a roundabout. I was in correct lane, had indicator on (and dipped lights) and traffic was moving at brisk walking pace. He tried to force his way between me and car in front (a car length between us) and I didnt let him. I blocked him, he blew horn vigorously . We all stopped at this stage. So I stepped out and want back asking what his problem was … He said I should have let him in. I said I was on roundabout, had priority, was in right lane and had indicator on. He said , well, you could have let me in if you wanted. I told him to learn the rules of the road, and left him to it at that. Told this story a couple of times to friends over the years and response was always the same "you took some chance going back to him …. he could have been a nutter …. had a hammer …. etc" . So I chalked it up to a bad call on my part, and try to curb my initial righteous indigitation .

As a cyclist now, I agree with above poster. I try to reward good driving. A polite nod when I get let in / out. A little hand raise when a walker or fellow cyclist gives room to pass, etc . Dont know if it will do any good in the great scheme of things.

I'd gladly tell someone to **** off if they called me out for crossing the street on a red pedestrian light.

Very true, since I commute by bike I rarely get public transport but last week went to a gig in the city centre and on the last train home which was relatively quiet there was a middle aged (as in he should have sense) man across from me playing tiktok videos on his phone with no earphones. Was annoyingly loud so just said "do you want to turn that down", no response but he immediately turned it down to a level I could no longer hear.

People are incredibly self centered and selfish, real mé féiners whether that's must get in front at all costs on the road or inflicting their personalised media on others sharing a similar space.

Even objectively speaking there are blurred lines between what is unlawful/ dangerous and what is simply ignorant/ selfish.

Then you have to factor in the issue of subjective perception. Scientific studies have shown that even people who witness the same event will have different recollections of it even a short time after the event. How much of that is down to memory and how much of it is down to perceptive bias I don't know - driving too fast, driving too close, pulled in/ out too early/ late… we'll all have slightly different tolerances in the absence of real time data.

Then you have the issue of what is considered 'reasonable' or 'polite' confrontation. Will a female driver perceive my dialogue through a closed window to be threatening or aggressive simply because of our genders, whereas a male driver would view it differently.

Few of us (in my experience anyway) are masters of language and communication skills. So the further away from plain dangerous/ illegal and the closer to 'inconsiderate' driving we go, the muddier the waters and the more difficult it is to objectively determine fault and degrees of fault etc.

Beyond an exasperated look and throwing of hands to the sky, 9 times out of 10 I just couldn't be bothered taking inconsiderate drivers/ cyclists/ pedestrians to task.

I firmly believe that people's behaviour will only change when something becomes socially unacceptable, and generally things only become socially unacceptable when the authorities take action to confirm that to be the case, whether through legislation or advertising campaigns. Drink driving, seat belts, plastic bags, smoking, discrimination in the workplace etc etc. Attitudes have changed hugely in those areas in my lifetime. Unfortunately in other areas (fly tipping/ littering, general road safety) the government has shown no real interest in fixing issues, and so they persist. So while I'll appreciate efforts by individuals to try and educate other road users as to how to be less of a d!ck, I'd much prefer the government to take a long overdue proactive role.

Don't see what's particularly Irish about it at all to be honest.

Yeah, there's a whole thread on this forum for him.

He's been discussed loads of times on here before. TLDR; opinion amongst cyclists is divided as to how much his modus operandi benefits other cyclists. I think he's been discussed to death on here… it's certainly not a debate I want to get into again 😂

Cycling Mikey runs into a lot a very entitled folks on his daily rounds. The kinds of folk I think any public roads and neighbourhoods would be better off without.

His methods certainly divide opinion, but with a track record of getting some folk to change unacceptable behaviour I reckon you'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Some of his clips are certainly entertaining - have a look for the Chris Eubank one. Guy Ritchie another.

A lot of "do you know who I am" going on.