What's all the aggression about?

The streets are like the forum, there are aggressive / racist drivers / riders out there. Take PISTANATOR for example he cut past me in his Fiat Panda. I caught him up at the lights, slipped between him and a bus, carved a nice key line along the side of his shiny red motor. Yep that was me buddy:)

Red ? surely not

i thought this was going to be about people on here.

i think being in london has a huge part to play. i'm staying in kent for a few weeks while i move house and i've noticed that i'm a much, much, much nicer person on the road here than i ever am in london.

Sweet baby jesus!

Are you really surprised there are drivers out there, getting aggressive in cars.. really? i haven't met a single person who has not got a story or two about agression on the road.

BikeRadar?

Deal with it

aggression on the roads is the chilli powder in the big curry of london cycling, ie just the right amount is great fun, too much and you are hurting the next day

Has anyone ever actually d-locked a window? sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me...

No, how many cars drive past your computer?
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but only words can hurt me" Cud circa mid 90's.

Has anyone ever actually d-locked a window? sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me...

I saw a 50-ish year old nodder in bicycle clips trying to d-lock a black cab's window on the Mall sometime over the winter. I've only just been reminded of it.

Years of close calls and run ins with raged drivers have made a minor study of this subject. From the drivers point of view he/she has almost killed you and there is an adrenaline rush in reaction to that fear, whether or not it is conscious. The reaction to such triggers is anger.

If you can step back and chill them out often they will turn completely around and become normal nice people, sorry an all.

Of course this may not apply in this case because there are those who just are fking crazed flaming arses so have the D lock ready.

aggression on the roads is the chilli powder in the big curry of london cycling, ie just the right amount is great fun, too much and you are hurting the next day

thanks for the lunch idea!

you guys call them D Locks? Thats cute.

I've heard this comment from an American before, that it's weird that we call them this, and that they call them U locks. Well, I would say its accurate -- it makes a D shape, not a U shape. So nerr.

Remember there are two sides of everything: we get stressed, we shout at people, we get angry, we are happy, we are calm, we are peaceful. So just acknowledge, let go, be polite, make a joke and try to have a calming influence on someone who has lost it.

Spread the love.

I occaisionally find myself, when the adrenaline gets pumping, shouting back eventually when someone shouts at me. This is after I've tried to be calming and it not working. Usually I scream 'I LOVE YOU!!!'. Disarm them.

i thought this was going to be about people on here. ...

Heh, me too.

har har anytime!

Or my other theory on angry/agressive drivers is that they are all serial masturbators. Get some sex FFS! I may petition Boris. "Free sex for road rage offenders."

hmmm the serial rapist cab driver comes to mind...

free champers!... you can't knock it VeeVee

RE: Driver aggression.

Picture this... you're in a sweaty box stuck behind some twat driving a foxtons mini who cut you up
and now keeps stalling, to top that off you have a choice of listening to mindless adverts or this TWUNT . No wonder they hate the cyclists supping the breeze and working off their beer bellies, all whilst listening to whichever playlist suits.

RE: Driver aggression.

Picture this... you're in a sweaty box stuck behind some twat driving a foxtons mini who cut you up
and now keeps stalling, to top that off you have a choice of listening to mindless adverts or this TWUNT . No wonder they hate the cyclists supping the breeze and working off their beer bellies, all whilst listening to whichever playlist suits.

That man makes me want to punch a wall until my fists become a bloody pulp. And in this picture he looks like a cheap baddie from Angel.

A great time to have a really loud bell!

I just bought an air-horn, that you recharge with your bike pump. Will be looking for excuses to use it over the next week... ;-)

hmmm the serial rapist cab driver comes to mind...

free champers!... you can't knock it VeeVee

Consenting adults only. Or pay for it if you need to.

"No sexy time for an age, you get road rage."

And it works for us cyclists too.

*"No BJ, you RLJ" *

a new BMW costs around £500 per month to lease. plus tax, insurance and petrol. that's about £750 per month.

I'd be angry too.

RE: Driver aggression.

Picture this... you're in a sweaty box stuck behind some twat driving a foxtons mini who cut you up
and now keeps stalling, to top that off you have a choice of listening to mindless adverts or this TWUNT . No wonder they hate the cyclists supping the breeze and working off their beer bellies, all whilst listening to whichever playlist suits.
I think the foxtons minis are "stop-start" - the engine's supposed to cut out when they stop, "saving the planet" I think. I used to think they were all crap drivers on top of the shame of driving the foxtons mini....

But also does anyone else smile when a car speeds past you and you catch them up down the road and then pass them, and they don't catch you back up due to the traffic.
thats the best feeling a cyclist can get (in London, IMHO)
+1 there are few better feelings

+1 there are few better feelings

It's better when they are desperate to beat you (like they have some control over the traffic they are already trapped in, just because they now have a target to beat). The frustration of being caught in traffic AND trying to race you - when they are likely to lose anyway - is really satisfying, in a sick and twisted way.

I'm not competitive about it, there's no point in me trying to race a car, it makes no difference to me - I'd rather ride carefully, get there in once piece and enjoy the ride. But if someone wants to try racing me, then there's nothing I can do about that. Apart from take a little schadenfreude from their self-imposed anguish.

I like to think that I encourage these overly-competitive people to take up cycling, so that they too can be a winner.

Probably 50% of motorcyclists will give a nod / wave of acknowledgement but much less so cyclists.

For my part I usually did that in NYC where a peace sign flashed didn't make me wary people thought I was giving them the other V sign. Now I nod.

Consenting adults only. Or pay for it if you need to.

"No sexy time for an age, you get road rage."

And it works for us cyclists too.

*"No BJ, you RLJ" *

Nice job of being wicked androcentric there, Ved. ;)

goes off to google androcentric

goes off to google androcentric

haha! I had to think real hard to recall it, I was mad at myself.

Women can get BJ's too.