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Grrr. Temporary traffic lights.

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UK and Europe
Published
12 June 2008
Last activity
16 June 2008
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Martin
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  1. I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    For about the last three months there have been one or two sets of
    temporary traffic lights. As I don't consider there is enough room to
    safely be overtaken, I always take the primary pos. through these, and
    on the way home revert back to the secondary when there is room to be
    overtaken.

    Tonight as I approached, there was another cyclists kerb hugging in
    front of me, and a car or two squeezed past him with little room.
    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb. I carried on
    an the driver lent on his horn. I then stopped to see what the problem
    was and he started yelling that I should be on the left.

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

  2. Martin said:

    I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    For about the last three months there have been one or two sets of
    temporary traffic lights. As I don't consider there is enough room to
    safely be overtaken, I always take the primary pos. through these, and
    on the way home revert back to the secondary when there is room to be
    overtaken.

    Tonight as I approached, there was another cyclists kerb hugging in
    front of me, and a car or two squeezed past him with little room.
    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb. I carried on
    an the driver lent on his horn. I then stopped to see what the problem
    was and he started yelling that I should be on the left.

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Camera, with flash, tends to shut them up.

  3. Martin said:

    I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    Quoted message said:

    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb.

    I must admit if people start hooting at me I just assume that it's
    friends who have recognised me before I've had a chance to spot
    them, so turn round to give them a broad grin and a cheerful wave.

    Quoted message said:

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Hopefully getting home to coffee/tea/beer/dinner (delete as
    appropriate) raised the tone a little again.

    J

  4. _ said:

    On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:17:11 +0100, Martin wrote:

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Camera, with flash, tends to shut them up.

    I will have to try that one day.

    I have uploaded the video, unedited to youtube.

    Turn the sound off if you don't like swearing (me unfortunately).
    I think the car was further back at through the second set of lights, as
    the horn is not clear.

    The idiot would have saved at most 1s by passing me.

  5. Martin said:

    I have uploaded the video, unedited to youtube.

    Turn the sound off if you don't like swearing (me unfortunately).
    I think the car was further back at through the second set of lights, as
    the horn is not clear.

    The idiot would have saved at most 1s by passing me.

    I don't think he'd have even saved that. With the other road works and
    the general traffic speed you caught up to the car in front, he'd have
    done no better than a bike's length had he passed you.

    He did that left turn at the T-junction very badly!

    Colin

  6. Quoted message said:
    Martin said:

    I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    Quoted message said:

    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb.

    I must admit if people start hooting at me I just assume that it's
    friends who have recognised me before I've had a chance to spot
    them, so turn round to give them a broad grin and a cheerful wave.

    Try blowing them a kiss.

    regards, Ian Smith
    --
    |\ /| no .sig
    |o o|
    |/ \|

  7. On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:17:11 +0100, Martin <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:


    I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    For about the last three months there have been one or two sets of
    temporary traffic lights. As I don't consider there is enough room to
    safely be overtaken, I always take the primary pos. through these, and
    on the way home revert back to the secondary when there is room to be
    overtaken.

    Tonight as I approached, there was another cyclists kerb hugging in
    front of me, and a car or two squeezed past him with little room.
    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb. I carried on
    an the driver lent on his horn. I then stopped to see what the problem
    was and he started yelling that I should be on the left.

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Morons like that are unsuited to driving and should be prevented from
    doing so IMHO.

    I tend to completely ignore idiots like this nowadays. I am worried
    that the situation could escalate. I did swear profusely the other at
    a driver of mini who overtook me so close that his wing mirror went
    under my handlebars. Unfortunately it was close to a school so I
    guess a lot of small children learned some new words.

    --
    (\__/) M.
    (='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
    ("😉_("😉 their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
    posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
    everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
    See http://improve-usenet.org

  8. Martin said:


    _ said:

    On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:17:11 +0100, Martin wrote:

    The idiot would have saved at most 1s by passing me.

    Not even that - he'd just catch up with the car he would have been
    behind anyway - which indeed you did too, at the next set of temp Lights.

    What an eedjit.

    However - I think I probably would have just turned, smiled and waved on
    the assumption it was someone I knew, rather than sound off at the mouth
    - juuuust in case.

  9. Chris Smith said:
    Martin said:
    _ said:

    On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:17:11 +0100, Martin wrote:

    Quoted message said:

    The idiot would have saved at most 1s by passing me.

    Not even that - he'd just catch up with the car he would have been
    behind anyway - which indeed you did too, at the next set of temp Lights.

    What an eedjit.

    However - I think I probably would have just turned, smiled and waved on
    the assumption it was someone I knew, rather than sound off at the mouth
    - juuuust in case.

    I do the annoying thing of simply pretending I haven't noticed at all!
    (I do the same in my relationships too)
    If it is a four-by-four and a bloke is driving, I tend to waggle my
    little finger. They know exactly what I am saying!

  10. Martin said:


    _ said:

    On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:17:11 +0100, Martin wrote:

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Camera, with flash, tends to shut them up.

    I will have to try that one day.

    I have uploaded the video, unedited to youtube.

    Turn the sound off if you don't like swearing (me unfortunately).
    I think the car was further back at through the second set of lights, as
    the horn is not clear.

    The idiot would have saved at most 1s by passing me.

    Yep, you should never shout swear words in an argument. You were correct
    to stop and ask what the problem was. You shouldn't use any obscure
    technical terms, such as primary position. You should state clearly that
    you have a right to use the road and that you would let him pass as soon
    as it was safe for you to do so. You should apologise for upsetting him
    but insist again firmly that you have as much right to use the road as
    him. You should state that him blowing the horn is illegal and very
    distressing to you. You should then ask him to stop blowing his horn so
    that you can proceed. If he refuses spend another minute or two trying
    to reason with him before getting off you bike and out of the way.

    Now if you are feeling sick and annoyed by my drivel you can imagine how
    he would be feeling while you were holding him up. But you will have
    played to the crowd and will have a good tape for evidential purposes.

    If you do need to swear at him do it up close and smiling, make sure
    only he can hear.

  11. Martin said:


    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb. I carried on
    an the driver lent on his horn. I then stopped to see what the problem
    was and he started yelling that I should be on the left.

    It's odd how it's accepted that motorcyclists should ride close to the centre line yet
    cyclists are widely expected to hug the kerb. Last week I watched a long line of traffic
    stuck behind a very slow motorcyclist chugging along in this position, yet no-one was
    hooting.

    I annoyed some [censored] on my way back from the gym at lunchtime, blocking the cycle filter
    lane leading to traffic lights so I clobbered his wing mirror with my handlebar. He
    started ranting so I shouted "bike lane" and pointed downwards before riding off. They
    complain about us not using the facilities provided, then they block them.

    Alan

  12. On Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:22:40 +0100 someone who may be
    "A.C.P.Crawshaw" <[email hidden]> wrote this:-

    Quoted message said:

    I annoyed some [censored] on my way back from the gym at lunchtime, blocking the cycle filter
    lane leading to traffic lights so I clobbered his wing mirror with my handlebar. He
    started ranting so I shouted "bike lane" and pointed downwards before riding off. They
    complain about us not using the facilities provided, then they block them.

    Very true.

    The unacceptable face of motoring are always looking for something
    to whine about. I wonder if we could harness the whining as a source
    of energy? It might even be renewable.

    --
    David Hansen, Edinburgh
    I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
    http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

  13. A.C.P.Crawshaw said:

    I annoyed some [censored] on my way back from the gym at lunchtime, blocking
    the cycle filter lane leading to traffic lights so I clobbered his wing
    mirror with my handlebar. He started ranting so I shouted "bike lane"
    and pointed downwards before riding off. They complain about us not
    using the facilities provided, then they block them.

    I almost got doored by the passenger door of a white van queuing at
    temporary traffic lights on my commute home today; there was a bike lane
    to its left, which I was filtering up. I braked and shouted "Mind out!"
    as good-naturedly as I could manage; the fellow getting out said
    something rude. As I passed the van, the driver shouted out the window:
    "Well, you were about to skip the lights!"

    Must be the heat.
    --
    Robin Johnson

  14. "Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    | Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    | W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."
    |
    | One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    A couple of days ago, I checked behind me, assessed the traffic flow,
    decided to get in position for my forthcoming (about 2-300m) right turn,
    indicated and pulled out to take position, and maintained my speed at the
    general speed of the traffic

    I was in this position, still indicating right turn, for about 100m, when a
    car roared up behind me, hand on horn. I ignored it as I was approaching my
    turn. The driver then leaned out and yelled "Get out of my way, I'm a
    f****** car" Again, I ignored it. He then pulled alongside, as the road
    widened near the Lidl and Shell station opposite my street and tried to
    punch me through his window - but fortunately he would have needed to be
    related to an Orang-utan to have succeeded.

    I was turning by this point and finally expressed my feelings - cowardly by
    now, as there was now way he could turn, but it made me feel better, so I
    yelled 3 words, one of which was off - and again with retrospect it was a
    mistake, as all the passers by would have seen was potty mouthed cyclist,
    which doesn't do much for our image (but judging by the size of him, if I
    hadn't been making a safe sprint down a side street, I'd have been picking
    up my teeth with a broken arm, and I needed to do something other than
    fulminate futilely)

    The car in front of me was never more than 20 feet in front of me, so I
    wasn't holding him up, and as I turned off, I saw he'd have to join the tail
    end of the queue stretching back from the Ardmillan lights.

    It's sometimes disheartening how agitated drivers can get, and as you so
    rightly say, one idiot can put a depressing pall on your entire day.

    Ah well, I took some comfort from my memory of him sitting stationary in his
    18foot penis extension in a queue of traffic as I wandered into my house for
    a nice relaxing cuppa - I just wish he was still there.

    pOB

  15. Nick said:
    Martin said:


    _ said:

    On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:17:11 +0100, Martin wrote:

    Quoted message said:

    > Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    > W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."
    >
    > One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Camera, with flash, tends to shut them up.

    I will have to try that one day.

    I have uploaded the video, unedited to youtube.

    Turn the sound off if you don't like swearing (me unfortunately).
    I think the car was further back at through the second set of lights,
    as the horn is not clear.

    The idiot would have saved at most 1s by passing me.

    Yep, you should never shout swear words in an argument. You were correct
    to stop and ask what the problem was. You shouldn't use any obscure
    technical terms, such as primary position. You should state clearly that
    you have a right to use the road and that you would let him pass as soon
    as it was safe for you to do so. You should apologise for upsetting him
    but insist again firmly that you have as much right to use the road as
    him. You should state that him blowing the horn is illegal and very
    distressing to you. You should then ask him to stop blowing his horn so
    that you can proceed. If he refuses spend another minute or two trying
    to reason with him before getting off you bike and out of the way.

    Quoted message said:

    Now if you are feeling sick and annoyed by my drivel you can imagine how
    he would be feeling while you were holding him up. But you will have
    played to the crowd and will have a good tape for evidential purposes.

    I like what you say, however holding him up in this way, I am also
    holding more people who have done nothing wrong. In this instance I also
    apologised to the lady waiting at the lights coming the other way.

    Quoted message said:

    If you do need to swear at him do it up close and smiling, make sure
    only he can hear.

  16. Quoted message said:


    I was in this position, still indicating right turn, for about 100m,
    when a car roared up behind me, hand on horn. I ignored it as I was
    approaching my turn. The driver then leaned out and yelled "Get out
    of my way, I'm a f****** car"

    This goes beyond penis extension. The guy is clearly confused as to where
    he ends and the machine begins.

    Or you could have come across Herbie on a really bad day.

    --

    Nigel

  17. A.C.P.Crawshaw wrote on 13/06/2008 14:22:

    Quoted message said:

    He started ranting so I shouted "bike lane"
    and pointed downwards before riding off. They complain about us not
    using the facilities provided, then they block them.

    It seems that around here (Manchester) only about 25% of drivers respect
    the ASLs at traffic lights. Because cars are bigger than I am I just
    position myself in the safest position I can, normally nestled behind
    the car in the cycle box, but it does annoy me. Even as a car/van driver
    I get annoyed by cars that miss the stop lines and those that treat them
    as merely advisory.

    I don't suppose there's anything I can say to people in the ASL 'box' is
    there...? Asking them to move forwards or backwards isn't much good...
    and I don't want to start an argument, because I'm not a confrontational
    sort of person...

    Peter

    --
    http://www.scandrett.net/lx/
    http://www.scandrett.net/bike/
    Email: Remove the suffix to reply

  18. Peter Scandrett said:

    A.C.P.Crawshaw wrote on 13/06/2008 14:22:

    Quoted message said:

    He started ranting so I shouted "bike lane"
    and pointed downwards before riding off. They complain about us not
    using the facilities provided, then they block them.

    It seems that around here (Manchester) only about 25% of drivers
    respect the ASLs at traffic lights. .............

    Quoted message said:

    I don't suppose there's anything I can say to people in the ASL 'box'
    is there...?

    Ask when they last had their brakes checked. Obviously something wrong in
    that they cannot stop the car before the line.

    --
    Nigel Cliffe,
    Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

  19. Martin said:

    I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    For about the last three months there have been one or two sets of
    temporary traffic lights. As I don't consider there is enough room to
    safely be overtaken, I always take the primary pos. through these, and
    on the way home revert back to the secondary when there is room to be
    overtaken.

    Tonight as I approached, there was another cyclists kerb hugging in
    front of me, and a car or two squeezed past him with little room.
    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb. I carried on
    an the driver lent on his horn. I then stopped to see what the problem
    was and he started yelling that I should be on the left.

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    So, a fellow cyclist and three car drivers all thought there was
    enough room to pass cyclists safely, but you apparently didn't. Or,
    more likely, you knew there was enough room for cars to pass you
    safely, but you decided to take an obstructive position anyway, as
    part of your ongoing campaign to make life difficult for drivers in
    order to punish them for having the nerve to drive at all. Pathetic,
    as usual.

    (If you really did think there wasn't enough room for cars to pass
    you, which I doubt, didn't the fact that everyone else there disagreed
    mean anything to you? Do you think you automatically know better than
    everyone else (especially scumbag motorists), all the time? I knew
    you were an arsewipe but I didn't know you were that arrogant.)

  20. On Jun 12, 10:42 pm, _ <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:
    Martin said:

    I had a lovely ride into work this morning, a reasonable day at work,
    followed by a lovely ride home this evening (until the last mile).

    Quoted message said:

    For about the last three months there have been one or two sets of
    temporary traffic lights. As I don't consider there is enough room to
    safely be overtaken, I always take the primary pos. through these, and
    on the way home revert back to the secondary when there is room to be
    overtaken.

    Quoted message said:

    Tonight as I approached, there was another cyclists kerb hugging in
    front of me, and a car or two squeezed past him with little room.
    The car (W481BFC) driver behind me then started honking his horn. When I
    looked behind the passenger started pointing at the kerb. I carried on
    an the driver lent on his horn. I then stopped to see what the problem
    was and he started yelling that I should be on the left.

    Quoted message said:

    Anyway this was repeated through the second set of lights, and after
    W481BFC passed me he started yelling "Do you want to be run over."

    Quoted message said:

    One group of idiots spoilt the whole day.

    Camera, with flash, tends to shut them up.

    Yeah. Taking photos is the solution to all our road safety problems
    (not that there really was a safety problem there in the first
    place...a bit like the speeding "problem" really).

    I bet you'd hate it if someone followed *you* with a camera,
    especially if bicycles had to have registration plates. Wouldn't you
    just hate actually having to STOP (*gasp*) at red lights? What about
    all that "direct action" that you've taken over the years against
    motorists and their cars? You're quite happy with the idea of
    motorists being photographed for anything and everything but you
    wouldn't like it happening to you. Goodness me you trolls are
    hypocrites.

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