Agression towards bikes

delop

Over the past month maybe two Ive noticed a marked difference in the attitude on the roads, has anyone else?

Mainly agression from Car drivers towards bikers, and quite the opposite from Truckers...

Maybe its just me I might be a terrible driver... :-) I hope not though..

Let me offer an example..

I was filtering up on the white line intending to Stop at the front of the Queue at the red lights, It was a T junction and I was going to be turning right...
Just as I reached the front car The lights went green ( I was level with his front right wheel) I put the power on and made the turn, The guy followed me agressivly Honking his horn first and then Flashing his lights.

For a minute I thought there was something wrong with my Bike, When the traffic backed up I stopped and had a quick look around the bike, Nothing obvious but when I looked at the guy behind me he was still raging over something....

So Stupid I know, but I rolled back to his door and asked him to wind down the window, At first he wouldnt, then he did, I was very polite, and Asked him 'Sorry but, you were trying to attract my attention, everything ok? or do i know you or something?'
He exploded Shouting at me, saying if I every cut him off like that again he wouldnt break! I was suprised by his agression
I just asked him to relax and assured him I would not do anything that would put myself at risk, I didnt, in fact I started on the rightside of the road and turned right onto the right side of the road too...
He finished by calling me Cvnt and telling me that he had my REG

Whew, Im sure what I did is probably not good driving practice but im just interested have any bikers here notice or experenced or seen anything similar...

I know it must be frustrating for drivers with all the traffic but carrying on like that will give you cancer...

6th

Very weird because I've noticed it too. People are moving out to stop me over taking and the only people being nice are the taxis.

I had a guy the other evening who was nuts, I pulled up beside him at the lights on his right and when the lights went green I took off with him a bit behind me, he beeped. I moved across to the left and into a bus lane, allowing him to pass as he was driving very aggressively. As soon as he got ahead of me he swerved into the bus lane (very close to me) blew the horn and swerved back into his lane. The roads were very quiet.

Hotblack Desiato

The best thing to do with idiots like that (first post) is just laugh at them.
Second post - just get the hell away from these nutters, they'd leave you dying in the ditch given half a chance.

delop

Thank god Im not going mad! I forgot to menton a new trick seems to be, they see the biker in their wing mirror and as the bike is filtering they swerve out to make it almost impossible to filter, I usually just swing around the back and undertake, walking speed of course... This usually happens on the way to the eastlink

Ill tell you it makes me very nervous, Im going to get caught out some day...

Idleater

There are a lot of idiot begrudgers out there.

I have noticed it too.

Commuting on the M50, especially in the evenings when the traffic is solid from Ballymun to the Toll bridge, some people really begrudge bikes making good progress by them.

Some of them move out of the way, and others just stay put.

What you want to do when some idiot pulls up beside you to give out is to have one of these exhausts.

* link may not be suitable for work depending on how good you are at explaining that the picture is of the exhaust and not the driver *

WHAT, I CAN'T HEAR YOU. SPEAK UP. and then just speed off.

L.

Wishbone Ash

Most bikers are fine but the young lads in scooters(?) and the couriers appear to give the rest a bad name.

I always move over to allow bikes to pass and usually get an acknowledgement.

A few things that annoy me are those bikers who clip their handlebars off my sidemirrors, the lads in the hairdryers who pull across in front at the lights and the maniacs who weave in and out at high speed on the M50 without ever checking their blind spots. But then, I'm sure there are many more things that car drivers do that annoy motorcyclists.

6th wrote:

the only people being nice are the taxis.

:eek:

KTRIC

Definitly seen a marked increase in agression myself. Have you seen my answer to it ?, its detailed in a thread somewhere here

6th

I'm a scooter user put i think its obvious by how i drive that i'm not some kids speeding around.

But its not just that people are getting worse, drivers are either being very polite or assholes.

MrPudding

I got off the ferry last Wednesday and on by way into town moved to the front of the queue on the quays at the lights to turn left. There was a taxi at the front and he was not best pleased. He tail gated me over the bridge flashing and beeping me the whole way. Tosser.

MrP

faceman

MrPudding wrote:

He tail gated me over the bridge flashing and beeping me the whole way. Tosser.

lol why do they do that, what its gonna do scare us?

i was stopped on a t-junction before and the filter went green for straight but not for a right turn. Some punter behind gets really annoyed and honks (nothing was coming) but i stayed put.

So we put his full beams on behind me for a half mile. I pulled in, let him overtake and followed him home. When he got home i shouted across to him that now i had his reg and knew where he lived!

im not mr tough guy but us bikers in our full gear and helmut do look scary!

murphaph

I've noticed it too. I see it on the R136 (outer ring road) heading northbound approaching the N4. Traffic always cack and assholes constantly moving out into my path to prevent me filtering, so I also walking speed up the inside and watch them fume in the rear view mirror! Hey, get a bike if you are so frustrated man! Loser. A fella in a ford Ka nearly anhialated me this morning on same road headed southbound.

Paparazzo

Maybe it's because traffic gets heavy around this time of the year and it's just increased road rage. I commute across the city every day, what annoys me is car drivers not acknowledging me for letting them out, or giving room to change lanes. I travel a good bit in cars too, but on the bike you get about half the thank you waves or warning light flashes that you get in the car. I almost never let anyone out now.

KTRIC

Speaking of agression towards bikers.......



How does getting attacked with a hammer because you aren't pulling out fast enough from your parking space catch you ? :eek:

More details to follow pending criminal procecution .......

Idleater

KTRIC wrote:

Speaking of agression towards bikers.......



How does getting attacked with a hammer because you aren't pulling out fast enough from your parking space catch you ? :eek:

More details to follow pending criminal procecution .......

You attacked a fellow biker for not pulling out fast enough for you?

:eek:

KTRIC

nereid wrote:

You attacked a fellow biker for not pulling out fast enough for you?

:eek:

Eh, no


Don't want to go into too much detail in case anyone reads this or if it gets boards.ie into trouble.

I was on the receiving end of the attack from a cager in an underground car park. The hammer didn't make contact thank God, but I'm a bit shaken.

ambro25

Noticed it too, markedly so. I commute D16 > D6 and back daily along main arteries, and I'm warier than ever these days (I'll gladly let the push-bikers 'open the road' and get the music! )

Funny how, recently, they become all nice and polite as you near every junction with a Gardai standing by (most junctions between Rathfarnham and Rathmines at AM & PM rush hour), and as soon as junction & Gardai gone by, off their head they go again.

Dunno if my 125 scoot counts as a hairdryer, tho'

Wishbone Ash

There was a muppet on a scooter doing 50kph in the centre of the overtaking lane of the M1 today and appeared to be totally unaware of the tailback behind him. :rolleyes:

Idleater

KTRIC wrote:

but I'm a bit shaken.

Jeez, sorry to hear.

Hope it all works out, and let us know what the story is when you can.

On the general topic though, there is a marked increase in this type of incident. I think it really is a case of the whole fricken society is wrong. The long commutes, the bad public transport, the short days, the crap weather etc etc it all adds up.

The aul lad told me a while back to be careful when I mentioned some cager having a go at me and I "got him back" just because at some point some idiot is going to do something stupid.

I suppose we all just have to be aware of these things but we certainly cannot legislate for all eventualities.

Take it easy, count to ten where possible, then just out accelerate the Fackers.

L.

Idleater

Wishbone Ash wrote:

There was a muppet on a scooter doing 50kph in the centre of the overtaking lane of the M1 today and appeared to be totally unaware of the tailback behind him. :rolleyes:

Yeah, no offence, but on my commute this morning, I was stuck behind one truck overtaking another truck.

79kmph vs 80kmph....

Gee, that was worth it now wasn't it.:rolleyes:

L.

subway

someone i know took the wing mirror off a car there a few weeks back.
guy swerved out and was about to hit him.
it was his mirror or the front of a bus.
he was going past him at about 20mph, car was going all of about 5mph, when car just went "to have a look up the line of traffic".
scary stuff if you cant accelerate like a demon.
as he was going to be pushed under the oncoming bus if he didnt open the throttle

i already posted my story about the bmw who chased me a few weeks back
intending to kill us both in the process.

basically he tried to undertake me at riducous speed past a row of houses,
aiming straight at a set of bollards and then tried to handbrake in front of me.
again the best option in this situation is to let them talk, dont argue and they run out steam quick enough,
then hit them with all 11,000rpm through a race exhaust

Paparazzo

That hammer attack sounds bad. Seems like someone was impatient and couldn't wait for you to put your gloves on.
I wouldn't do any name calling or car kicking (i did it once:D ) unless i had an escape route. Someone people wouldn't think twice of flattening you

The Doktor

Here`s agression for you...
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Paparazzo

Jasus. Typical SUV drivers!

The Doktor

Paparazzo wrote:

Jasus. Typical SUV drivers!

Less of that!

Tomohawk

I had an similar experience riding into Dublin a few weeks ago on a midweek evening. It was dark and the roads was slippy as it had rained earlier. Well I was ended up playing "car chess" with a cager in a small green 1.3 litre hatch (MH Plates) from the Merrion shopping center all the way into the RDS. Anyway he undertook me one last time by using the buslane at the RDS just opposite the AIB bank center and then drove his car agressively into the main single lane at the lights at the Toyota Car Showroom just ahead of me.

With many cagers I will tolerate aand accept a certain amount of bad driving habits but as he was clearly taking the piss and being actively agressive, I decided I was going to go up and nod my head in the window at him in disaproval and then move off to the front. But when I pulled up along side his window and stopped, I observed he was wearing a hoodie up (inside the car?!) VERY Clearly a "man on a mission", and not to be messed with so I just put the bike into gear and moved off. And when lights turned green I curiously watched as he sped off down Pembrooke road ... perhaps it was a stolen car, perhaps he was delivering durgs, perhaps he had a gun even, or maybe he was just a working man in a hurry home or even god forbid experiencing the early stages of a nervous breakdown. Either way I wasn't hanging around to find out!

The lesson I took it from this little episode: There's a time and place to argue and a time and place to cut your losses and run...;)

Lemming

TBH, there's been an increase in aggression on the roads period. I'm don't ride a motorbike (yet at least) - learner driver. And I've noticed a general increase in intolerance on the part of other road users over the last couple of months.

Maybe it's just the whole fubar winter traffic volumes or something, but I wish it'd f*cking well stop sometime soon because some of these f*ckwits are seriously taking the p*ss.

With some of the typical "f00kin' learner" crap I've experienced of late, I don't envy two-wheels on the roads right now, motored or otherwise. Be careful out there lads. No shortage of f*ckin' pricks behind the wheel of cars right now

the_syco

Lemming wrote:

With some of the typical "f00kin' learner" crap I've experienced of late, I don't envy two-wheels on the roads right now, motored or otherwise. Be careful out there lads. No shortage of f*ckin' pricks behind the wheel of cars right now

There's a thread about it somewhere, but just take off the "L" sign. It'll do you a world of good. Have one in the glove box, so if you see a Garda checkpoint, you can pop it up.

subway

interesting ride to work this morning.
jaguar pulled out from a driveway right in front of me on a busy road.
car indicating left while stopped pulled out right in front of me without changing indicators
car coming up to a two lane junction [one riight, one straigt + left] decides its important to drive in both at the same time and decide at the last second which one she wants to use [mine].
bmw moving into a non existent right turn lane half a mile before the right turn - without indicating, the stopped dead when she realised i was skidding towards her rear bumper...
the icing on the cake - 2 mopeds that got in front of me for the last 5 minutes of my journey that took it in turns to weave in and out of traffic at 5 miles an hour causing me to be late for work.

Idleater

the_syco wrote:

There's a thread about it somewhere, but just take off the "L" sign. It'll do you a world of good. Have one in the glove box, so if you see a Garda checkpoint, you can pop it up.

Wrong,

Leave the sticker up.

Because, if you have the sticker up and you make a mistake - which every driver does, then you have an "excuse".

For example, if you stall the car taking off from the lights and you have L Plates, then people behind go Facking Hell stupid Learner.

If you don't have the plates they go Fackin Hell stupid moron can't drive, probably got his licence in the amnesty, probably doesn't have tax or insurance either, and then they drive through/around you.

Without the sticker, you are just another Facking muppet out on the roads.
With the sticker, you are just another learner that is in the way.

Take a look in the motors forum and tell me if you look through all the "rant" threads, which ones are caused by "full" licence holders and which ones by "learners".

L.

Archeron

Lemming wrote:

TBH, there's been an increase in aggression on the roads period. I'm don't ride a motorbike (yet at least) - learner driver. And I've noticed a general increase in intolerance on the part of other road users over the last couple of months.
(

I agree with this. I drive a car/van thing and I always try to be courteous to every driver, particularly bikes, but it seems like everyone is an asshat these days. I find that trucks are really acting like idiots now with speeding on backroads, and being in the middle of the road on really narrow country roads. Maybe its the a chain reaction. Trucks p*ss off van drivers, so van drivers p*ss of car drivers and car drivers take it out on bikers.
Even during this week, a bloody double decker bus sat in the overtaking lane on an empty M4 for about 10 miles, and was actually laughing at frustrated drivers undertaking him. He even swerved a bit at a bike when the bike was undertaking him. (wasnt changing lane, just being a dick)
Be wary, there's a lot of muppetology out there. Maybe bikers see it more because you have to be so much more aware of your surroundings? I've seen plenty of soccer moms that you could be breakdancing naked on the bonnet of their SUV's while they drive, and their attention would still be focused on their eye liner.