Boy Racers and Cyclist!

**Timbuk2**

Today I was driving on a small side road north of Drogheda and there was a group of boys racers driving in an awful looking 'souped-up' Toyota Starlet and they were driving like idiots.

They passed a cyclist, and instead of giving the cyclist a wide berth like all cars, they pulled in closer and the passenger opened his door fully and screamed at the cyclist :eek: (and then drove off again.. there was no traffic ahead). The door literally missed the cyclist by centimetres.

I was horrified at this. I pulled over and asked was he OK (what else could I do?). He said he was, but he did look pretty shocked.

This sort of behaviour is apalling! I've seen the 'usual' yelling out the window etc. but opening the door fully is just downright dangerous!! Unfortunately, I didn't get the registration number.. if the cyclist did want to make a case that was.

Have you ever seen anything like this?

Alanstrainor

Haven't seen it, or experienced it, thank god. But i've heard of worse, where a car will pull along side a cyclist and the passenger will lean out the window and shove the cyclist off. I think i'd lose it if someone tried it on me tbh, my handy little U-Lock would probably be my weapon of choice!

uberwolf

unfortunately, a search of this forum and the experiences would reveal cyclists pushed off their bikes, material thrown at them, liquid thrown over them, and more shouting and slowing down as they go past incidents then you would believe.

These chicken shít scum that do this, only do so in numbers and to isolated and vunerable cyclists. Much like everything else scummy they do with their inbred, trousers in socks life's.

Húrin

From what I know of boy racer culture I'm not surprised. If that happened to me I'd want to smash the fúckers' fancy little gadgets up with my lock. While travelling by car, I've seen these types cross from one side of a dual carriageway to another, move into the oncoming lane on a narrow country road to overtake on a blind corner, and of course the usual speeding.

**Timbuk2**

Wouldn't we all!

But unfortunately for the cyclist, the road was a quiet one without lights so the cowardly inbred scumbags individuals could drive away quickly - they wouldn't do it if they were in a traffic jam!

Lumen

When I read about this sort of thing I feel really conflicted.

Some days I think that a top-tube mounted RPG is the solution*. Other days, I feel that mandatory sterilisation may be the more loving approach.

What would Chuck do?

* another reason to reject compact geometry.

fonda

Húrin wrote: »

From what I know of boy racer culture I'm not surprised. If that happened to me I'd want to smash the fúckers' fancy little gadgets up with my lock. While travelling by car, I've seen these types cross from one side of a dual carriageway to another, move into the oncoming lane on a narrow country road to overtake on a blind corner, and of course the usual speeding.

As if bmws and mercs and audis dont do this!

Poor Uncle Tom

Even having a bicycle lane dosen't seem to provide protection.......

lescol

Did a 100k cycle yesterday taking in Killarney/Molls Gap, it's the Rally of the Lakes weekend, saw hundreds of boy racers, was overtaken by loads, all without a problem, safe and no abuse.

gman2k

fonda wrote: »

As if bmws and mercs and audis dont do this!

Do these German cars drive themselves?

pburns

lescol wrote: »

Did a 100k cycle yesterday taking in Killarney/Molls Gap, it's the Rally of the Lakes weekend, saw hundreds of boy racers, was overtaken by loads, all without a problem, safe and no abuse.

In fairness there's a difference between genuine motorsport enthusiasts and the burbury-cap, shell-suit wearing sub-humans in Glanzas and old/fake Mitsubishi Evos whose sole source of car knowledge comes from watching 'The Fast and the Furious'...

Junior

Húrin wrote: »

From what I know of boy racer culture I'm not surprised. If that happened to me I'd want to smash the fúckers' fancy little gadgets up with my lock. While travelling by car, I've seen these types cross from one side of a dual carriageway to another, move into the oncoming lane on a narrow country road to overtake on a blind corner, and of course the usual speeding.

Cheers dude, way to paint a stereotype - but don't let any appearances be anything other than a method for you to jump to conclusions..

Just for the record, I've had numerous modified cars, I've had high performance cars, I've had stupid power cars (in excess of 400Bhp) and yet I'm not blind to the idiots that drive all makes and models.

I've been cycling since I was 10, I'm now in my early 30's the only bother I've ever had with a motorist was an average joe in his Mazda 3 who decided to break a continuous white line, on a blind bend and then decided to swerve in on three of us to teach us a lesson.

Idiot drivers are idiot drivers regardless of what they drive.

DirkVoodoo

You have a fair point and it's wrong for us to label every young man driving a car as a "boy racer", however there is something of a culture among young lads driving lancers dressed up as evos (not as bad as the A3s dressed up as S3s) who seem to like to drive fast and dangerously.

Of course I could be wrong and those could be middle aged women racing their german SUVs up and down the M50 at 2am.

marko91

pathetic what scumbags do to look "mad" infront of their mates

Junior

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

You have a fair point and it's wrong for us to label every young man driving a car as a "boy racer", however there is something of a culture among young lads driving lancers dressed up as evos (not as bad as the A3s dressed up as S3s) who seem to like to drive fast and dangerously.

Of course I could be wrong and those could be middle aged women racing their german SUVs up and down the M50 at 2am.

I've been labeled 'Boy Racer', 'Ricer' 'Scumbag' and yes I'm writing this post while wearing a Von Dutch Baseball Cap..

And I know I'm dragging this off topic, but like I say idiots are idiots no matter what they drive, it's easy to label young fella's as boyracers, then lump in everyone that owns a modified car into that once handy niche.

DirkVoodoo

Junior wrote: »

I've been labeled 'Boy Racer', 'Ricer' 'Scumbag' and yes I'm writing this post while wearing a Von Dutch Baseball Cap..

And I know I'm dragging this off topic, but like I say idiots are idiots no matter what they drive, it's easy to label young fella's as boyracers, then lump in everyone that owns a modified car into that once handy niche.

Yes idiots are idiots, I never said that you don't get bad drivers irrespective of what they drive. What I was referring to is the "culture" of modified cars seems to encourage this racing on public roads. That is not to say that the majority are necessarily bad drivers, but modifying/tuning does seem to attract an element who are looking to show off by racing up and down the road.

So yes a bad driver is a bad driver, but a bad "boy racer" driver looking to show off or push his little car farther than he can handle is much more dangerous in my opinion.

Junior

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Yes idiots are idiots, I never said that you don't get bad drivers irrespective of what they drive. What I was referring to is the "culture" of modified cars seems to encourage this racing on public roads. That is not to say that the majority are necessarily bad drivers, but modifying/tuning does seem to attract an element who are looking to show off by racing up and down the road.

So yes a bad driver is a bad driver, but a bad "boy racer" driver looking to show off or push his little car farther than he can handle is much more dangerous in my opinion.

Some parts of the culture do yes, and I've done my level best over 7 or 8 years to try reverse that. The change can be seen now in the likes of Max Power mag how they've moved on.

Anybody trying to push on a car that they aren't able to handle is a danger, the amount of times I got someone tryin to overtake me just because I had a yellow evo was tremendous, from mondeo and avensis driving reps to lads in 1.0 starlets. I remember one guy in a TDi Golf Van was overtaken by me, no rush no problems etc nearly burst a nut trying to get back past me cos he'd be overtaken by a 'Boyracer', I eventually had to pull in and let him off in case he took me out..

We Digress...

Soooo.. what about that Tour of Ulster Result eh ?

niceonetom

Junior wrote: »

I've been labeled 'Boy Racer', 'Ricer' 'Scumbag' and yes I'm writing this post while wearing a Von Dutch Baseball Cap..

Sorry, but going through life in a souped up car with a howling exhaust and a baseball cap, and then getting upset when people assume you're a dangerous moron, is a bit like going around in a white sheet and pointy hat and getting arsey when something assumes you might, eh, not be a hip-hop fan. If you know what I mean.

Young men the most dangerous drivers on the road, both to themselves and to other road users. You might think you're the exception to this rule (everyone does) but that does not mean that the rules is not very useful and, indeed, true. This isn't some sort of urban myth either, it's borne out in every actuarial table going. Younger men are statistically the least risk-averse people in society and the most likely to over-estimate their ability to handle their vehicle (everyone thinks they're a great driver, you included, right?).

At least the spoilers and exhausts have the unintended benefit of warning the us that we're about to be in the company of one of these fools.

Other drivers can be a liability to others through incompetence, inattention, inebriation, agitation or stupidity etc. Boy racers are the only group I feel might actually kill me accidentally while trying to impress the other occupants of their car. I've had runs in the past.

dave.obrien

For what it's worth, I know that there are gobsh***s out there who give the minority of drivers (of all levels, from commuters to enthusiasts) a bad rep amongst cyclists, and behavior like that the OP witnessed are disgusting, however, I do feel the need to remind people that there are loads of cyclists who would fall into a similar bracket, cause serious problems and present real danger to other road users and themselves also. But, just like the lads in the car with a more expensive spoiler than engine, they are a minority. I am an enthusiastic cyclist, I also occassionally drive (less and less these days) and i know i have seen and felt the negative presence of both types of road users in my time. This is mostly as a reaction to some of the things Junior's been pointing out, and some of the posts back they've gotten.

To the OP, well done for checking if the guy was ok, that type of thing can be seriously scary, the guy was probably grateful to have someone to be there as he got himself together.

Húrin

Junior wrote: »

Cheers dude, way to paint a stereotype - but don't let any appearances be anything other than a method for you to jump to conclusions..

I'm obviously complaining about behaviour, not appearance. I'm saying that I'm not surprised because boy racers (yes, they exist) show even less respect for cyclists than they do for other motorists, and that bar is already pretty low. I wouldn't say they're "sub-humans" and I'm sure many of them know plenty about cars, but danger is danger!