Today
I had a run-in with an aggressive cyclist.
I'd
arrived at traffic lights behind a long queue to turn right, of which
the cars in front of me got past the lights before they turned
amber, leaving 3 of them waiting in the centre of the road for
oncoming traffic to stop in order to turn. I know that's risky
and stopped at amber, thus becoming head of the queue when the lights
changed again.
While we were waiting, a cyclist pulled in front of me off my passenger side front bumper. As the lights turned red/amber before green, I watched the cyclist and waited for a sign he was moving off. A car behind me beeped. The cyclist held his right am up and pointed right, and then turned his head to look at me angrily.
He pulled his bike over in front of me and shouted "the light was amber and I have to wait for it to turn green". I thought that was it and was going to ignore him. After all, I hadn't beeped. Thinking he was now going to pull away, I started letting in the clutch and went forward an inch, but he hadn't finished his rant. So my bumper touched his back wheel.
He then pulled his bike further in front of me, yelling: "I was waiting for green and you beeped me!"
I opened my door, thinking I'd damaged his bike, at the same time saying "I didn't beep you at all!"
He made a big show of taking his time to examine his bike wheel before eventually riding off.
Now, one of the reasons I'm writing this, besides feeling quite aggrieved that I'd been deemed to be the aggressor, is that those traffic lights aren't quite like others. You see, if your car is up to the line you can only see the traffic lights above you. There are no visible lights on the other side of the cross-roads, so you take a big chance if you are still waiting in the middle of the road for the oncoming traffic to stop before you turn right. That is why I made sure to stop on amber.
While we were waiting, a cyclist pulled in front of me off my passenger side front bumper. As the lights turned red/amber before green, I watched the cyclist and waited for a sign he was moving off. A car behind me beeped. The cyclist held his right am up and pointed right, and then turned his head to look at me angrily.
He pulled his bike over in front of me and shouted "the light was amber and I have to wait for it to turn green". I thought that was it and was going to ignore him. After all, I hadn't beeped. Thinking he was now going to pull away, I started letting in the clutch and went forward an inch, but he hadn't finished his rant. So my bumper touched his back wheel.
He then pulled his bike further in front of me, yelling: "I was waiting for green and you beeped me!"
I opened my door, thinking I'd damaged his bike, at the same time saying "I didn't beep you at all!"
He made a big show of taking his time to examine his bike wheel before eventually riding off.
Now, one of the reasons I'm writing this, besides feeling quite aggrieved that I'd been deemed to be the aggressor, is that those traffic lights aren't quite like others. You see, if your car is up to the line you can only see the traffic lights above you. There are no visible lights on the other side of the cross-roads, so you take a big chance if you are still waiting in the middle of the road for the oncoming traffic to stop before you turn right. That is why I made sure to stop on amber.
Where he was positioned, I don't believe he could even see the traffic light.
Strange how so many cyclists like to ignore traffic lights when it suits them, but use them as a weapon when they feel like it.
Right. I feel better for having got that off my chest.
I shall hold off surmising that, because he looked like the type who knits yoghurt, he was probably a LimpDumb and had seen my UKIP window sticker. :-)
AND he wasn't wearing a helmet!
And he would probably fail any driving test he took.
So there.
Strange how so many cyclists like to ignore traffic lights when it suits them, but use them as a weapon when they feel like it.
Right. I feel better for having got that off my chest.
I shall hold off surmising that, because he looked like the type who knits yoghurt, he was probably a LimpDumb and had seen my UKIP window sticker. :-)
AND he wasn't wearing a helmet!
And he would probably fail any driving test he took.
So there.
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