It's not illegal to be rude, but it's annoying

John_Rambo

I had an infuriating incident today, I was cycling home doing about 23kph in the dark on a busy cycle lane in Dublin (helmet, lights on, well lit up) when a car pulled out in front of me from a minor road, he had a stop sign that he ignored. Properly in front of me, I jammed on but it wasn't enough, had to steer right to avoid him, he drove off. Car behind me thought he'd hit me and asked was I ok.

When I caught up with him in heavy traffic I knocked on his window and said in a friendly but surprised fashion "that was a bit close, you nearly got me there!" He rolled down his window and said "You were cycling too fast and you need more lights, now f**k off C**t. Every time I tried to say something he repeated his mantra "f**k off C**t, f**k off C**t.. nothing I could do, just kept repeating his mantra with his middle finger held up to my face every time I spoke!!

Nothing I could do! Got his reg, but by the time I got home I'd got it wrong, checked on cartell.ie and it didn't match the car.

Just thought I'd share. My hands were shaking.

ford2600

John_Rambo wrote: »

I had an infuriating incident today, I was cycling home doing about 23kph in the dark on a busy cycle lane in Dublin (helmet, lights on, well lit up) when a car pulled out in front of me from a minor road, he had a stop sign that he ignored. Properly in front of me, I jammed on but it wasn't enough, had to steer right to avoid him, he drove off. Car behind me thought he'd hit me and asked was I ok.

When I caught up with him in heavy traffic I knocked on his window and said in a friendly but surprised fashion "that was a bit close, you nearly got me there!" He rolled down his window and said "You were cycling too fast and you need more lights, now f**k off C**t. Every time I tried to say something he repeated his mantra "f**k off C**t, f**k off C**t.. nothing I could do, just kept repeating his mantra with his middle finger held up to my face every time I spoke!!

Nothing I could do! Got his reg, but by the time I got home I'd got it wrong, checked on cartell.ie and it didn't match the car.

Just thought I'd share. My hands were shaking.

https://youtu.be/13CSWRyaAgA

John_Rambo

ford2600 wrote: »

https://youtu.be/13CSWRyaAgA

Ha!

Wait a sec, is that sellsword talking about me?

magicbastarder

John_Rambo wrote: »

Got his reg, but by the time I got home I'd got it wrong, checked on cartell.ie and it didn't match the car.

wonder if there's any point in reporting this to the gardai?
even just to give them a description of the car currently with those plates?

ED E

John_Rambo

magicbastarder wrote: »

wonder if there's any point in reporting this to the gardai?
even just to give them a description of the car currently with those plates?

No, I checked, I got the wrong plates, I muddled up the numbers. Not a hope. Towards the end I gathered he was goading me in to doing something stupid so he could retaliate. He was the most annoying man in the world.

pillphil

Make, model and a partial reg might be enough.

John_Rambo

pillphil wrote: »

Make, model and a partial reg might be enough.

Unbelievably (for me, as I'm a keen motorist) I didn't get the make, let alone the model. I was blinded by rage!! And anyway, what would they say? Your word against his, and he was just rude!

ford2600

John_Rambo wrote: »

Ha!

Wait a sec, is that sellsword talking about me?

😀

You should have told him your boards username; see how tough he was then...

John_Rambo

ford2600 wrote: »

😀

You should have told him your boards username; see how tough he was then...

I'm the latter day John Rambo. Just want a quiet life.

He was a middle aged, chubby bloke in a people carrier on his I phone 7!

Borderfox

Was it Ronnie Pickering? :-)

Ginger83

John_Rambo wrote: »

I'm the latter day John Rambo. Just want a quiet life.

He was a middle aged, chubby bloke in a people carrier on his I phone 7!

Maybe time to consider investing in a good helmet cam.

pillphil

Borderfox wrote: »

Was it Ronnie Pickering? :-)

Like he wouldn't recognise Ronnie Pickering

John_Rambo

Borderfox wrote: »

Was it Ronnie Pickering? :-)

I had to google that! My Ronnie was English too!! They tend to be good motorists though. Not in this case.

KingBrian2

No crime against rudeness. If he said it to a Gardaí it would be a different story but a member of public insulting another person. No crime.

John_Rambo

KingBrian2 wrote: »

No crime against rudeness. If he said it to a Gardaí it would be a different story but a member of public insulting another person. No crime.

Yeah, notch it down to experience. Very annoying though, the only reason he didn't hit me was because I took serious evasive action. My back wheel was in the air when he pulled out in front of me, I had to stop braking and go around him then to avoid going over. His attitude was horrible.

KingBrian2

John_Rambo wrote: »

Yeah, notch it down to experience. Very annoying though, the only reason he didn't hit me was because I took serious evasive action. My back wheel was in the air when he pulled out in front of me, I had to stop braking and go around him then to avoid going over. His attitude was horrible.

You wouldn't catch me doing that. I avoid confrontation when I get on my bike. Keep to the safe route and away from the congested roads. Be safe out there on the roadways.

nomdeboardie

Substitute the near-miss cut-off for a couple-of-inches-close-pass-at-speed and the “f**k off” for “ugly” and you’ve got an encounter of mine from a few years ago. One of those few occasions when I’ve thought “I wonder what that person is capable of”, a sense of really deep nastiness

dermabrasion

I think Friday is going to be no different than any other day of the week. The c***s will continue to be c***s, and decent folk will continue to be decent folk. The only difference Friday will bring is that there will be official impunity, as opposed to unofficial impunity, which exists pretty much every day of the week anyway.

Lumen

These people need to be murdered. Unfortunately there are just too many of them, so it's best to just let it go entirely.

If you hadn't started the conversation you would have probably ended up less annoyed. Those conversations rarely end well.

odyssey06

Eh didn't you say he went clean through a stop sign?
If you see him again, report that.

Chuchote

"You were cycling too fast and you need more lights, now f**k off C**t. Every time I tried to say something he repeated his mantra "f**k off C**t, f**k off C**t.. nothing I could do, just kept repeating his mantra with his middle finger held up to my face every time I spoke!!

That's his argument. On his terms, he won!

On terms of any normal human civility, well, I won't insult apes with a comparison!

Someone's going to film him doing this and he's going to end up in court for driving without due care and consideration. Karma is poised like the Sword of Damocles over his sewer-mouthed head.

Kaisr Sose

John_Rambo wrote: »

No, I checked, I got the wrong plates, I muddled up the numbers. Not a hope. Towards the end I gathered he was goading me in to doing something stupid so he could retaliate. He was the most annoying man in the world.

You will never get decency from somebody that acts like they own the road. They will always be right and always have no class. They just can't get to that basic level of politeness and kindness most human beings operate at.

I would report them every time if it were possible.

Pinch Flat

Cars send some people mad. Only explanation I can come up with.

odyssey06

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Cars send some people mad. Only explanation I can come up with.

I somehow doubt this person is all sweetness and light - except when behind the wheel... there's a long trail of anti-social behaviour following someone like this around in every aspect of their life.

crosstownk

Lumen wrote: »

These people need to be murdered. Unfortunately there are just too many of them, so it's best to just let it go entirely.

If you hadn't started the conversation you would have probably ended up less annoyed. Those conversations rarely end well.

This my thinking too. I used to politely approach drivers just to explain but now I don't bother. It usually ends up like the OPs experience and all it does is stress me out and raise my HR.

So I find it best to just let it go (not easy sometimes). If it's a serious enough near miss I'll take the number if I can and report it later.

Seaswimmer

crosstownk wrote: »

This my thinking too. I used to politely approach drivers just to explain but now I don't bother. It usually ends up like the OPs experience and all it does is stress me out and raise my HR.

So I find it best to just let it go (not easy sometimes). If it's a serious enough near miss I'll take the number if I can and report it later.

Sound advice.

10 years ago when I started my present commute I was going to correct all driver misdemeanours and advise them nicely how they could improve.

Now I just enjoy my cycling, watch out for potential hazards, and arrive home or into work feeling happy and not stressed.

Even when somebody beeps at me I raise my hand in a vague gesture of apology (whether right or wrong) and continue on my merry way..

Fian

KingBrian2 wrote: »

No crime against rudeness. If he said it to a Gardaí it would be a different story but a member of public insulting another person. No crime.

Actually:

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1994/act/2/section/6/enacted/en/html#sec6


6.—(1) It shall be an offence for any person in a public place to use or engage in any threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or being reckless as to whether a breach of the peace may be occasioned.

(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.


Probably the single most commonly prosecuted offence (other than RTA offences) on the statute book, along with section 4 of the same act which is :

4.—(1) It shall be an offence for any person to be present in any public place while intoxicated to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that he might endanger himself or any other person in his vicinity.


Edit: From the original description I would not have guessed it was a middle aged, relatively affluent (iphone 7) family man in a people carrier.

tomasrojo

Fian wrote: »

Actually:

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1994/act/2/section/6/enacted/en/html#sec6

Yeah, I was thinking that using threatening or insulting language is technically an offence. I had a neighbour who didn't get on with another neighbour, and one day neighbour A called on neighbour B to stop doing DIY at 8pm (or something like that), and B told A to "**** off". A went to police and the police gave B a warning about using such language being an offence in that context.

I was quite young when it happened, so I might be misremembering details.

Hungrycol

John_Rambo wrote: »

When I caught up with him in heavy traffic I knocked on his window and said in a friendly but surprised fashion "that was a bit close, you nearly got me there!" He rolled down his window and said "You were cycling too fast and you need more lights, now f**k off C**t. Every time I tried to say something he repeated his mantra "f**k off C**t, f**k off C**t.. nothing I could do, just kept repeating his mantra with his middle finger held up to my face every time I spoke!!

That's a first I suppose. I reckon he realised the absurdity of this comment and got stuck on a loop with the three worst words he could think of. He's a Trump man.

Danjamin1

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Even when somebody beeps at me I raise my hand in a vague gesture of apology (whether right or wrong) and continue on my merry way..

I didn't help the cause this morning as I threw a one finger salute at a fella in a Rover who felt the need to honk as he overtook me. The only cause for complaint he could've had was that I was on the road instead of the off road cycle lane as there was plenty of room to overtake safely.

tomasrojo

Danjamin1 wrote: »

I didn't help the cause this morning as I threw a one finger salute at a fella in a Rover who felt the need to honk as he overtook me. The only cause for complaint he could've had was that I was on the road instead of the off road cycle lane as there was plenty of room to overtake safely.

It's hard not to respond, but that particular reflex went quite badly for me once. I'd really try not to do that. You don't know how much someone is willing to escalate things, and there are some very brittle people around.

MB Lacey

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Sound advice.

10 years ago when I started my present commute I was going to correct all driver misdemeanours and advise them nicely how they could improve.

Now I just enjoy my cycling, watch out for potential hazards, and arrive home or into work feeling happy and not stressed.

Even when somebody beeps at me I raise my hand in a vague gesture of apology (whether right or wrong) and continue on my merry way..

I think I'm half way to being this zen on the commute.
It really is better for my mental health to just keep relaxed and avoid the confrontation which as suggested has never ended with a 'Oh you're so right, I'm extremely sorry and will mend my ways and be more attentive to cyclists from this day on'.
Any confrontation always leaves me shaking too if they're nasty and couldn't give a fk.
It's just when there's an incident where a driver has driven dangerously, putting your safety at risk and you roll up next to them stopped at red lights... just leaving the incident unacknowledged seems wrong, defeatest somehow.

I suppose a shake of the head instead of a tapping at the window.

magicbastarder

maybe you could just get a load of cards for a driving school and drop one under the wiper when you catch them at the lights?

Danjamin1

MB Lacey wrote: »

I think I'm half way to being this zen on the commute.
It really is better for my mental health to just keep relaxed and avoid the confrontation which as suggested has never ended with a 'Oh you're so right, I'm extremely sorry and will mend my ways and be more attentive to cyclists from this day on'.
Any confrontation always leaves me shaking too if they're nasty and couldn't give a fk.
It's just when there's an incident where a driver has driven dangerously, putting your safety at risk and you roll up next to them stopped at red lights... just leaving the incident unacknowledged seems wrong, defeatest somehow.

I suppose a shake of the head instead of a tapping at the window.

It's hard not to say something when you've been put in danger, had an incident like that a few years ago with a Bus Eireann driver who came booting up behind me honking his horn & went in for a close pass. It had me very shook & he was totally unapologetic when I said something politely as possible to him. His complaint was I should've been in the bike lane as he believed it was mandatory. Wouldn't accept that it wasn't. I would've been in it had it been in good nick, but for anyone who knows the southbound stretch between RTE & UCD they'll know the condition it's in. Reported him to Bus Eireann but wish I had gotten the reg & reported to the Gardaí.

davo2001

pillphil wrote: »

Make, model and a partial reg might be enough.

For what? Going to the Garda and saying the bad man called you a nasty name? Anyways, without proof of any wrong doing (which you don't have i suspect) what do you expect the Garda to do?

tomasrojo

magicbastarder wrote: »

maybe you could just get a load of cards for a driving school and drop one under the wiper when you catch them at the lights?

I also would counsel against touching cars! That also went quite badly wrong for me once!

(Admittedly, I've clocked up what must be tens of thousands of hours of on-road cycling by now, and I've had maybe four incidents that went quite badly wrong, but still.)

tomasrojo

davo2001 wrote: »

For what? Going to the Garda and saying the bad man called you a nasty name?

One of my four "quite bads" resulted in someone being put on the caution register for just that.

(I had a witness for that bit of our interaction, and he didn't contest my account of that bit.)

davo2001

tomasrojo wrote: »

One of my four "quite bads" resulted in someone being put on the caution register for just that.

(I had a witness for that bit of our interaction, and he didn't contest my account of that bit.)

Without proof?

NamelessPhil

I propose a mandatory driving licence test every ten years to make sure that you're still safe to drive and know all the current rules of road, (the actual laws not the RSA's interpretation).

You can get your driving licence when you're 17 and never have to sit another driving test until you're 70 when a doctor's certificate permits you to drive. 53 years of driving with no re-testing seems crazy.

If your car has to pass an NCT so should you as the driver.

tomasrojo

Danjamin1 wrote: »

His complaint was I should've been in the bike lane as he believed it was mandatory. Wouldn't accept that it wasn't.

Not uncommon, similar been mentioned here before, but completely mental logic. Like swinging a hammer at someone in Woodies to give them a scare than then saying you shouldn't have jumped the queue.

Effects

davo2001 wrote: »

Anyways, without proof of any wrong doing (which you don't have i suspect) what do you expect the Garda to do?

Give them a verbal warning. Might make them think about it next time.

davo2001

NamelessPhil wrote: »

I propose a mandatory driving licence test every ten years to make sure that you're still safe to drive and know all the current rules of road, (the actual laws not the RSA's interpretation).

You can get your driving licence when you're 17 and never have to sit another driving test until you're 70 when a doctor's certificate permits you to drive. 53 years of driving with no re-testing seems crazy.

If your car has to pass an NCT so should you as the driver.

I propose the same for cyclists. There is nothing stopping anyone getting up on a bike, dressing like your preparing for the Tour d bloody France and ignoring the rules of the road.

tomasrojo

davo2001 wrote: »

Without proof?

I had a witness. I didn't have footage, no. It was over a decade ago, and even now I don't use cameras.

I should say that the Gardaí probably took action on my statement because it contained plenty of other stuff, but the name-calling was the only bit that I had a witness for.

shootermacg

I was cycling along on a two-lane road in an estate this morning, no cycle lanes, when I just moved out slightly from the kerb to go around a gutter and I hear a beep from behind.

Some stupid cow got a fright, while trying to close pass me with nothing on the other side of the road, no reason not to give me clearance.

So I get a fright, just because some dope doesn;t know how to drive. I was doing over 30km/h at the time too, so she was breaking the speed limit in her attempt.

Crazy stuff, the amount of cars that buzz past me over the speed limit, only to come to a crawl at the first speed bump.

Same area, the day before, some hero tried to over take me on a blind bend. I really need someone to recommend a nice small cheap camera for my helmet.

Seaswimmer

shootermacg wrote: »

I was cycling along on a two-lane road in an estate this morning, no cycle lanes, when I just moved out slightly from the kerb to go around a gutter and I hear a beep from behind.

Some stupid cow got a fright, while trying to close pass me with nothing on the other side of the road, no reason not to give me clearance.

So I get a fright, just because some dope doesn;t know how to drive. I was doing over 30km/h at the time too, so she was breaking the speed limit in her attempt.

Crazy stuff, the amount of cars that buzz past me over the speed limit, only to come to a crawl at the first speed bump.

Same area, the day before, some hero tried to over take me on a blind bend. I really need someone to recommend a nice small cheap camera for my helmet.

Just curious but did you stick your right arm out when you moved out.

I find if I signal in good time that the vast majority of motorists give me plenty of space and time

davo2001

Weepsie wrote: »

Hmm this old chestnut.

Well if people propose the same ridiculous BS for drivers then why not for cyclists? We all have to share the same road!

magicbastarder

how many people do you think have been killed in RTAs since the last time a cyclist was responsible for the death of another road user?

tomasrojo

shootermacg wrote: »

Same area, the day before, some hero tried to over take me on a blind bend. I really need someone to recommend a nice small cheap camera for my helmet.

Nothing you've mentioned is in practice all that actionable though, so having proof of it wouldn't do much for you. Close low-speed passes and drivers overtaking cyclists on blind corners is just everyday stuff, unfortunately. The latter is a particularly obtuse thing to do, but there's a blind corner on my way home and every single time I go that way with a car approaching from behind, the car will overtake me and go round the blind corner on the wrong side of the road. I usually pull over and let them get on with it. I can't stop them doing it. Well, I could take primary position, but they'd either be baffled or get shirty.

davo2001

magicbastarder wrote: »

how many people do you think have been killed in RTAs since the last time a cyclist was responsible for the death of another road user?

Well a car weighing 20 times that of a bike might have something to do with it. DAILY I see cyclists breaking the rules and daily i see motorists breaking the rules.

A motorist is never going to die in an incident with a cyclist, but it doesn't always means the motorist is at fault.

shootermacg

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Just curious but did you stick your right arm out when you moved out.

I find if I signal in good time that the vast majority of motorists give me plenty of space and time

Always, put my hand out at waist level if I need to leave a cycle lane. In this case I literally moved out slowly 10 inches well ahead of time. My neck isn;t what it used used to be, so I have no idea what else she was actually doing that gave her the fright.