Road Rage around the world

bobke said:

I've been increasingly aware of serious road rage as I ride here inthe US.
This new from Sydney makes me worry more.
Whats going on in our world that cyclists get targetted.

Is it worse to others or is it me?

It does seem to vary quite a bit. I live in Melbourne and we've got it pretty good here. Yes you get the usual ``sorry wasn't using my eyes'' tricks but actual road rage is quite rare thankfully.

bobke said:

I've been increasingly aware of serious road rage as I ride here inthe US.
This new from Sydney makes me worry more.
Whats going on in our world that cyclists get targetted.

Is it worse to others or is it me?

cyclingnews.com

Chris Sutton (Cofidis) was involved in a road rage incident in the South of Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, February 21. The Australian pro cyclist was training with a group of 20 riders from the St George Cycling Club on General Holmes Drive in Brighton-Le-Sands at about 5.40am, when a 50 year-old man drove out of a service station, followed the cyclists and crossed three lanes to drive up on them, narrowly missing the leading rider.

"I've grown up with cycling all my life, and it's always been dangerous on the roads, but just of late it's been getting out of control," Sutton told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Every year I come back from Europe and over there people are really nice, but when you come home it's almost like you're scared to ride on the roads. You go for a nice ride to Cronulla or somewhere and people are beeping their horns and yelling stuff out the windows. We're not like other athletes, swimmers are in the pool, athletes are on the track, but we have to ride on the roads."

The driver, from Rockdale in Sydney's south, was arrested and will face Downing Centre Local Court on March 17, charged with dangerous and negligent driving.

A St George Cycling Club official, whose name was not be revealed as he had been harassed by callers who tracked down his phone number, said road rage targeting cyclists in and around Sydney occurred on a daily basis. "We're riding early in the morning and against the traffic, but if we hold some motorists up for five or 10 seconds they think it's their God-given right to have a shot at us," he commented.

I hope they give that 50 yr. old %(*&# what he deserves and then some...😠

We get our share here too. It fits in with the general rule of 10% of the general population being absolute d%&kheads. 🙁

In Italy things have gotten worse (especially in Rome and South of Rome) as there are not as many riders, and the Car is King. No one can accept taking their foot off the accelerator for more than a few seconds.

Be careful out there!

bobke said:

A St George Cycling Club official, whose name was not be revealed as he had been harassed by callers who tracked down his phone number, said road rage targeting cyclists in and around Sydney occurred on a daily basis. "We're riding early in the morning and against the traffic, but if we hold some motorists up for five or 10 seconds they think it's their God-given right to have a shot at us," he commented.

'riding against the traffic', is that the way it's done in Oz?

Here in the US it's illegal to ride against the traffic -- we're told that it's very dangerous.

The roadies around brighton area generally time their rides so they are travelling in the opposite direction to the morning peak traffic flow... hence "against the traffic". For example, they are heading south when most people are heading north- and therefore on the other side of the road. At 5.30am when the incident occured, they would have been heading north, but traffic would have been pretty light at that time... I think the most visible bunch ride that upsets the motorists is probably the weekend rides, which seem to be later in the morning.

bookster said:

For example, they are heading south when most people are heading north- and therefore on the other side of the road...

Thanks, that helps a lot. I was thinking of a different usage of 'against the traffic' -- the one that means, I'm on the same side of the road but I'm heading in the opposite direction.

Powerful Pete said:

We get our share here too. It fits in with the general rule of 10% of the general population being absolute d%&kheads. 🙁

In Italy things have gotten worse (especially in Rome and South of Rome) as there are not as many riders, and the Car is King. No one can accept taking their foot off the accelerator for more than a few seconds.

Be careful out there!

Those mopeds are dangersous in the big cities of Italy. Not just for bikers, but for pedestrians. They don't seem to have to abide by any "lane" laws whatsoever.

Wow those are some stories. People are weird. I mean road rage on anyone on a bike makes no sense. Road rage in general is kind of dumb. I sort of laugh at them whether I'm in the car or on a bike. The only thing about being on the bike is you have to be super careful with these nuts.
I think these people yelling out of the car are just immature. Maybe they would moon you too while they are at it. It's just like high school stuff or maybe even kindergarten.

Road rage is the same no matter where you go. It's just that in some places it's more frequent than in other. In my country for example, it's not exactly road rage, but most people will drive like idiots and if you do something that they don't like they might even try to hurt you. I always try to be as careful as possible to avoid these kind of incidents.

You're gonna get idiots everywhere. There are some places where they congregate obviously, but other times it's just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On some of my rides from where I used to live I had to deal with groups of "chavs" a few times who wanted to have a ride of my bike (code word for stealing) and when you don't give in to their demands they get a little...hyped up and start the waving of their arms around like a bird trying to take off.

All rather stupid really.

If you know better then just do your best to get out of the situation in a safe and mature way possible. You can find these people whichever part of the world you are in. It is not wise to go down to their level and have a rage. Your love ones and family are waiting home for you so do not take the risk just leave.

There's a video that was posted on here at one point of an English road rager trying to hit a cyclist and he ended up falling, so I guess it still happens around the UK.

I think road rage exists everywhere there are people driving motor vehicles. If you look up 'cyclist road rage' on Youtube it brings up pages and pages of videos from all over the world. I saw it all the time in Toronto, although usually from the perspective of a passenger. In cities especially, you've basically got a situation where a bunch of stressed out, frustrated, people who are all in a hurry are forced to sit in traffic together, so it's not surprising that people get worked up and aggressive.

At that point I think it's not so much about anger towards cyclists as it is about angry people just looking for something to be [censored] about, with commuters on bike being an easy target.

I just wish that people would keep in mind that as annoying as traffic can be, if you're in a car you're still the one with the huge advantage because you've got 2 tons of metal around you, you're not out there fighting the traffic on a flimsy little bike with just a helmet and your reflexes for protection.

My friend has a lot of road rage, but he says that if you have some road rage, it means your a good driver and that you are paying attention to your surroundings instead of sleeping. I sometimes doubt that though.

AtlantaSports said:

There's a video that was posted on here at one point of an English road rager trying to hit a cyclist and he ended up falling, so I guess it still happens around the UK.

Was that the one where the guy starts running after him and then falls flat on his face?

Pretty funny that one was and the guy was an idiot.

JSWin said:

Wow those are some stories. People are weird. I mean road rage on anyone on a bike makes no sense. Road rage in general is kind of dumb. I sort of laugh at them whether I'm in the car or on a bike. The only thing about being on the bike is you have to be super careful with these nuts.
I think these people yelling out of the car are just immature. Maybe they would moon you too while they are at it. It's just like high school stuff or maybe even kindergarten.

Oh f@ck off already you f@ckin tomb raider dead thread gravedigger you...

He's posting word salad now. They're un-informed, use poor grammar, and are largely just stream of consciousness nonsense.

mpre53 said:

He's posting word salad now. They're un-informed, use poor grammar, and are largely just stream of consciousness nonsense.

You know this "Alice Chatbot"?

It was pretty good last time I checked it... Takes a while to figure it out...

JHuskey!!! It's not fair!!! Lock the threads and send them to Davy Jones locker! Aaaargh!! She trolls... 😄D

I think you're right. It's a [censored] bot. Or he's sniffing pure toluene.