Craziest Driving Ever !!

[Treadlox]

I have to share this idiotic experience with you. I have mentioned before that I am a driver trainer on the Texaco contract over here in Northern Ireland.

I was driving my petrol tanker along the A26 which is a dual carriageway that is used quite often by cyclist`s taking part in time trials. Heading towards Ballymena on a windy day I had to overtake one of these cyclists so all the prep done I gave the cyclist extra room and took up a good position in lane 2, mid overtake a complete F***ING T**SER undertook me forcing his way between me and the cyclist at, at least 80mph. The cyclist was wobbling all over the centre of the hard shoulder which is dicey at the best of times because we all know about the amount of cr4p that ends up laying there. I was so furious and the cyclist being my primary concern I did not get a number plate.

Its easy to exagerate speed so I would say that 80 is a conservative estimate as the BA****D was accelertating.

A complete and utter shocker.

[madcampbell]

I cycle to work as much as I can and it never ceases to amaze me how bad car drivers treat bikes on the road as an outdoor instructor it is the most dangerous thing I do because in all my sports I can minimise my risk and exposure but riding to work is a lottery. Often cars pass far too close, pull out on you from junctions where they have no right of way, go past you then slam the brakes on and turn left cutting you up, try to squeeze through width restrictions as you go through, over take you on a downhill while you are going 30mph then to jump in front and slam on the brakes to stop for the junction in front leaving me to try not go through their back window, overtake you on a blind bend to then meet on coming traffic and swerve in front of you, indicate right come to a stop then without warning turn left as you pass on their inside....that little trick had me over their bonnet removing their wing mirror.

These are just a few of the stunts that I have to cope with in just a 4 mile ride....to be fair the majority of drivers give you space just a percentage like your example don't give a £$$$

Mark

[budweiser]

I cycle to work as much as I can and it never ceases to amaze me how bad car drivers treat bikes on the road as an outdoor instructor it is the most dangerous thing I do because in all my sports I can minimise my risk and exposure but riding to work is a lottery. Often cars pass far too close, pull out on you from junctions where they have no right of way, go past you then slam the brakes on and turn left cutting you up, try to squeeze through width restrictions as you go through, over take you on a downhill while you are going 30mph then to jump in front and slam on the brakes to stop for the junction in front leaving me to try not go through their back window, overtake you on a blind bend to then meet on coming traffic and swerve in front of you, indicate right come to a stop then without warning turn left as you pass on their inside....that little trick had me over their bonnet removing their wing mirror.

These are just a few of the stunts that I have to cope with in just a 4 mile ride....to be fair the majority of drivers give you space just a percentage like your example don't give a £$$$

Mark

get one of those
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2707724739...#ht_2606wt_952
so you got evidence and send it to gardai, so like this it might be those kind of nutters cop on.
a friend of mine 29years old 3 kids on wheel chair thanks of one of this idiots, and he was enjoying a nice ride.
i will be getting one, because had enough.

[Apache]

Selfish, impatient tw@ts are one of the reasons I cycle offroad as much as I can. I can do about 75% - 90% of my route to work offroad depending which way I go.

But yes, passing then turning left. Ignoring roundabout rules. Ignoring rights of way on narrow roads with parked cars. Just three of the things they regularly try to kill me with.

These days, if there's someone going to try to pass me where it would be a squeeze, I just move into the middle of the road - feck em. And roundabouts, well, circumspection is your friend. It's hard to argue that it was your right of way from a hospital bed. Had a 4x4 cut me up last week, squeezing me into parked cars on my side of the road as he forced his way past against oncoming traffic. I had the last laugh when I rolled past him a hundred yards further up as the bus coming the other way played him at his own game and blocked the road

Admittedly, the roads I ride regularly are lower speed, urban roads round Malvern, not dual carriageways etc.

[madcampbell]

. Had a 4x4 cut me up last week, squeezing me into parked cars on my side of the road as he forced his way past against oncoming traffic. I had the last laugh when I rolled past him a hundred yards further up as the bus coming the other way played him at his own game and blocked the road

Now that's exactly the type of thing that pees me off in around 90% of the time if they read the road ahead they would know that I would be going past anyway due to the traffic ahead my average speed if between 18/20mph all on 30mph roads so not that slow in rush hour traffic....its even worse at night no matter how well lit I am...Very bright head torch aimed at the road but used to dazzle when the oncoming cars don't dip. Two very bright front lights one on flashing and the other on brightest setting. loads of reflective tape all over the bike. Red bright flasher on the back of the bike helmet one on the road side handle bar double light on rear one set to flash and the other solid red again loads of reflective tape on my clothing.....so a bit like Blackpool illuminations and the feckers still try to run me off the road. Like you I now block the road if there is any risk of being squeezed past. I am going to re route my ride home to stay off the roads in the dark will take 3 times as long but worth it. I wish I had one of these on the front!!

[Surf01]

Driving through Malvern today on the B4424 a cyclist was hogging the middle of the lane with several cars stacked up behind him. To try and overtake on that road is suicidal for you and any one else.
If the cyclist moved over to the left a bit, cars could have over taken quite easily and without any danger. It is this type of cyclists that gives others a bad name and gets motorists annoyed.
Also cyclists that like riding two or three abreast on country roads are selfish and ignorant!

[Treadlox]

Seems like I started this thread and aboned it, just got back from our caravan "sorry mobile home as my financial advisor calls it" no wifi or 3g. I suppose I am like 90% of the people on here, I love trucks, cars, motorbikes etc etc. When I cycle to work I have a 1000 lumen magicshine Bike light on the front and 2X Smart Superflash rear lights and high vis clothing I took some severe amount of grief cycling along the comber greenway off a dog walker for dazzling his dog You are never going to win somone is always going to complain somewhere.

SOME cyclists are guilty of antagonizing car drivers and admittedly Vice Versa, but the fact is a car/jeep/truck can weigh up to 2 tonnes and a moment of blind aggression against a cyclist who has no protection at all apart from a helmet, and thats not a given fact as its not law could end up in a death. It comes down to the law of averages, keep skimming past cyclists handlebars and one day it will end in disaster. And its completely avoidable.

I think it also comes down to the society we have created for ourselves, everyone is in a rush and there is a huge amount of traffic on the road. There is a message for us cyclists as well, out of sheer self preservation try not to aggrevate other road user`s, we do it without trying too. Making good progress through traffic jams,nip the wrong way up a one way street jump the odd red light etc etc. I am not condoning it but it does happen.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Driving through Malvern today on the B4424 a cyclist was hogging the middle of the lane with several cars stacked up behind him. To try and overtake on that road is suicidal for you and any one else.
If the cyclist moved over to the left a bit, cars could have over taken quite easily and without any danger. It is this type of cyclists that gives others a bad name and gets motorists annoyed.
Also cyclists that like riding two or three abreast on country roads are selfish and ignorant!

That was probably Apache on his way to/from the pub again?

[Apache]

Driving through Malvern today on the B4424 a cyclist was hogging the middle of the lane with several cars stacked up behind him. To try and overtake on that road is suicidal for you and any one else.
If the cyclist moved over to the left a bit, cars could have over taken quite easily and without any danger. It is this type of cyclists that gives others a bad name and gets motorists annoyed.
Also cyclists that like riding two or three abreast on country roads are selfish and ignorant!

To be fair Ian, the edges of that road with chunks of tarmac missing, particularly at the Callow End end are challenging on a MTB, so I imagine pretty lethal on a road bike. What do people do when behind a tractor? A horse? Wait for an opportunity to overtake? No-one's in such a rush on a Sunday surely? Lots of places to overtake as far as I remember, apart from the windy bits by the 'old hills'.

I agree about the sorts who ride 3 abreast at 15 mph though. Absolutely no need from a safety point of view, and considerably quicker for them in single file due to reduction in wind resistance. Never really understood the 'roadie' mentality that makes them do that. But then, it doesn't make me wanna kill them either

[Surf01]

This was much further down the road towards Malvern where it is more open but due to twists in road dangerous to overtake.

[J i m s t e r]

I have a few very busy roundabouts to negotiate on the way to work. I used to ride through them as normal, but after too many near misses, it appears that cars expect right of way, even if it means killing you. There's no way they can't see me, I make a point of it, but they don't give a monkeys.

I now get on the pavement and cross like a pedestrian. Probably costs me 5 minutes extra on the journey but as it's a commute and I'm not trying to put Alberto Contador out of a living to pay my rent, it's better than death. The rest of the route is designated pedestrian/cycle path.

Although, last year I had one nutcase try and force me off this onto the road. An oldish bloke too, on his way to work. Went out his way to push his arms out as I passed (I was giving him a good 6 foot gap) - I swerved round him, stopped, I was ready for a brawl...

He was screaming in my face, on about "Sick of you lot trying to kill me on the pavement, you should be on the F'ing road" - Hang on mate, you've deliberately tried to push me into the path of traffc, and by the effing way - see them blue circles with a picture of a bike on them? The ones on every lampost? That means you're walking on a cycle path, tw@t!!!" Strangely, he stopped using that route after that. ########.

BTW, glad to see it's not just me - some mornings I think I must have a sign on the helmet that says "PLEASE ATTEMPT TO KILL ME".

I get a bit of earache off the wife for cycling, she requests I let her know every morning that I've made it to work in one piece but with 2 young ones to look after, it's the only chance I get for exercise and it's saving me over a fiver a day on fuel. And it means she can take the Surf

[Apache]

Funny isn't it? As the Honda ad used to say, 'aren't we all just trying to get somewhere?'

I do think people are becoming rather self centred and selfish though. On the rare occasion I do use the car, I always give cyclists room (being one helps understand their point of view), I always slow or stop for horses, give way to pedestrians, move over for motorbikes in traffic etc - and I reckon it might cost me one or two minutes tops on a 5 mile trip.

Surely NO-ONE out there is so important they can't give that much of their day to others? If they are going to risk knocking someone off a bike, running someone over on a zebra crossing or getting a horse through their windscreen just to save themselves 30 seconds, maybe they should have their license taken off them at the earliest opportunity?

[J i m s t e r]

Worst bit for me is going home. Not because of traffic, but because I am passed after about 5 minutes by two blokes who make me look like I am going backwards.

I am not in bad shape I suppose, for 44, and I overtake a fair few youths on mountain bikes and the like, but these blokes are chunky and grey-haired. 50+ years old. I can't even say they are on ten grands worth of bike, just old racing bikes on doube chainrings. They are just flying. I don't ride every day, but I expect these two are old hands.

I could probably approach that level on a posh road bike, clipped in and all that palaver, but the route I take is no good on delicate tyres and my back is too delicate for that roadie bum up, arms down in the drops style of riding.

They must have a laugh though, because they pass even the most ardent of wannabee-TdF clones before them!

[Surf01]

Funny isn't it? As the Honda ad used to say, 'aren't we all just trying to get somewhere?'

I do think people are becoming rather self centred and selfish though. On the rare occasion I do use the car, I always give cyclists room (being one helps understand their point of view), I always slow or stop for horses, give way to pedestrians, move over for motorbikes in traffic etc - and I reckon it might cost me one or two minutes tops on a 5 mile trip.

Surely NO-ONE out there is so important they can't give that much of their day to others? If they are going to risk knocking someone off a bike, running someone over on a zebra crossing or getting a horse through their windscreen just to save themselves 30 seconds, maybe they should have their license taken off them at the earliest opportunity?

Generally I do not have any issues with cyclists and even if annoyed will not take action that may compromise their safety, but this cyclist was definitely the type the winds up motorists. Unfortunately as a result of one cyclist's actions, motorists then generalise and think that all cyclists are the same.

[Apache]

I don't disagree with you at all Ian, and by far the majority of motorists on the roads when I'm on my bike are sensible and courteous. Again, it's just the odd few who think they have right of way all of the time in every situation, and don't give a shit if they cut you up - and I have to say, the 'school run mums' are by far the worst and most numerous selfish / dangerous ones in my experience.