Road Rage

LegacyUser

Cycling the other day I was buzzed (overtaken closely) by a car and it shook me. I don't know why I done this but I caught up with the car and shouted in the window at the driver before cycling off.

It was stupid and as I was not hurt there was no need, but I honestly just lost control of myself. It is not something that I am proud of doing.

The problem is that the drvier went beserk - screaming and shouting at me. He clearly lost control of himself to a greater extent than I did.

I'm now concerned about my safety whilst cycling now on this route as I go down it at a regular time and worried about encountering this person again. There are no other convenient routes for me to take.

I know you don't know who you are confronting in these situations and I did try to stop myself but I momentarily lost control as the overtake spooked me. The has never happened to me before whilst cycling - I am usually very good (in my opinion) at observing the rules and filtering safely.

What do I do here, I didn't get much sleep last night?

Tokyo

Hi OP,

I think you need to take a breath, and not stress out over this too much. Fact of the matter is (sad, but true), there's a near miss like this between car and bike a dozen times a day, and sometimes that ends in insults being swapped. You vented, the driver vented, it's over and done with, and you should treat it as such. The guy isn't going to have some agenda against you - chances are he'll want to steer well clear of you in the future (no pun intended).

Obviously, in future, if you have a near miss like that again, the smarter thing to do would be to take the registration of the car, and pass it along to the police with a report of what happened. It's their job to ensure the safety of both drivers and cyclists on the road - let them take care of it in the future.

Happy cycling

mfergus

Now that the dust has settled, the other driver has probably calmed Down also... don't stress.

Also, invest in a go pro or a similar kind of camera! I think everybody should have one!
If you encounter an incident of dangerous driving you don't need to confront anybody. Go down to the local station and make your complaint with your video evidence.

Stavro Mueller

To be honest you're making a mountain out of a molehill here. I can understand why you lost the rag at being buzzed - it happened to me years ago when I was on my bike and the motorist in question was bloody lucky he'd sped off onto a side road I bet your nemesis knows he was in the wrong but of course you're still going to be that annoying cyclist who yelled at him. Driving can bring the worst out in people. If someone's having a bad day or they're running late, getting held up in traffic can drive a person's stress levels skywards. On the other hand, if he's as aggressive as this all the time, you're just one in a long line of people he has locked horns with.

If you asked the guy now to describe you now, he'd struggle. One cyclist looks the same as another. He's not going to have the slightest bit of interest in coming after you or getting revenge. The best think you can do is keep getting onto that bike and taking that same route.

thefeatheredcat

I think OP if the situation was that you didn't catch up to the driver and didn't say anything, you'd probably be kicking yourself or cross with yourself for not doing so. It could even lead to you continuously feeling slighted by it and actively looking for that car again or being aggressive to drivers, other cyclists and pedestrians and treating them badly because of that experience and not doing something about it.

No doubt that incident has cropped up in the mind of the driver too, that they over reacted and perhaps considered themselves in the wrong.
I've been in the position too many times as a pedestrian from being almost run over through carelessness of others, in one case a driver was letting their car roll through the red lights as I was attempting to cross with a green man and I just started roaring at them through the window (which they rolled down) to draw their attention to what they were doing and they barely said anything. Did I feel bad? Yes and no, but I felt that I had to assert myself at that time and did what I did in reaction to circumstances that potentially could have left me being hit by the car, and if not me, then it would have been someone else at another junction, maybe even a small child or a buggy.

I wonder perhaps though, are you used to dealing with someone and their reaction to you confronting them? Perhaps this is the greater reason for you being unsettled by it because the driver reacted to what you said and was a bit over the top?

You should still cycle that same route, you shouldn't feel like you no longer can, or be afraid of it because of the incident. And if anything, avoiding that route will make you more apprehensive about ever using it again. Chances are you might never see that driver again, and even if you do, they'll probably be wary of a cyclist and give more space to them after hindsight has kicked in.

LegacyUser

Hi, back online again.

Thanks for all the replies. It is encouraging for me to see that most replies are not blasting me.

I don't stick up for myself too often. In fact, I've let worse incidents on the road slide past. I'm not sure what it was about this one, it felt close to me - and it must have been for me to get spooked. Sometimes, you just gotta stand up for yourself.

My reaction was OTT, but the driver went of the scale completely. Scarely beserk.

TFC - your query as to whether I'm used to people reacting to me confronting them is a totally valid and well observed point. I've sat here pondering that for a few minutes as what you wrote has taken me aback. Your observation is correct and has got me wondering what I can do to improve my confidence in this area.

Stavro Mueller

What I don't understand is why you're beating yourself up over your reaction. Why wouldn't you have snapped at the time? After all, you were just cycling along minding your own business and this aggressive ass gave you an awful shock. You'd want to be superhuman not to have reacted strongly to the fright you'd just had and the anger at the way the motorist had behaved. The driver is the one who was in the wrong here - he drove too aggressively and didn't take care to ensure he overtook you in a courteous manner. He was most likely in a foul mood before anything ever happened and you were the wrong person at the wrong time.

thefeatheredcat

Maybe with this particular incident it was the straw that broke the camel's back?

It's understandable if you've confronted someone and get a load thrown at you, to be unsettled by it. It's never personal, though, it's just heat of the moment stuff and that while it can leave you shaken, can be shaken off.

In any case OP, maybe assertiveness classes could be of benefit then, if they do role playing of situations for example, you confront someone and then they do similar to what the driver did, you'll be in a position to feel differently about it in the future, even in handling how you feel afterwards.

Time Now Please

Thank your lucky stars that he didn't run you over, put it down to experience!!

smythking

You obviously got a fright when the car nearly collided with you but we all sometimes over react and you are very vulenerable on a bicycle.Go and cycle as you always do and don't be put off the driver of the car.

Emme

OP, I cycle in Dublin for years and I often had to shout at drivers. There is nothing wrong with what you did. Drivers don't like being told off by cyclists when they're in the wrong - poor little them.

By all means take the car registration next time you're buzzed but in my experience Gardai don't take cyclists seriously. I remember being knocked off my bike by a car and when I reported the Garda asked was I injured. Luckily I wasn't. Once I wasn't injured they didn't care.

Another time I had to swerve to avoid a taxi to my right and another taxi (parked in the cycle lane) opened his door into my path. I was knocked off my bike and shaken. Both taxi drivers started giving me abuse and nobody offered to help me up. Again I was lucky not to be injured and no damage to my bike. I called them a pair of w****rs and went off. There was no point taking their plate numbers or reporting them because cyclists aren't taken seriously in Ireland. Cycle lanes are a joke. You get bullied out of them by buses and taxis on a regular basis. Don't mention cars that park there.

My point is when you're cycling you're going to get abuse and get buzzed. You have to be tough to survive. You won't survive if you get upset because a driver roars at you and you feel guilty for (rightly) bawling a recalcitrant driver out.

Make sure you have a good set of lights, helmet and high-viz jacket. Follow the rules of the road as best you can but not to the detriment of your life. Any regular cyclist will understand what I mean. You are not protected by the rules of the road.

Finally (I mean this in the nicest possible way) - toughen up.