Please report dangerous drivers to the police - Roadsafe. Report to plod, not just whinge here.

Given that surgeons are essentially plumbers who get paid a lot of money, the anaesthetist gig sounds quite good.

When I went in for my foot operation I did wonder why they scattered pennies and nails over my chest, then cut the head off a Cockerill.

You are Guy Secretan and ICMFP...

Danstuff - correct, I was hoping noone would call me up on that - I just didn't have a better analogy. The point is there are things we do without proper justification.

I think we've got to the crux of why you agree with Jeez.

Common sense gave me herpes.

Common sense tells me not to.

...highly-trained anaesthetists who go through years of schooling to be allowed to practice are basically using a kind of modern day witchcraft?!

Having just come off an anaesthetics rotation...

did lol

If he's a medical student training as an anaesthetist then I hope to god I never end up in the hospital he's working in, lolz aside.

"You need to be unconscious for this operation, so I can choose either anesthetic or twatting you over the head with this d-lock. Nobody knows how anaesthesia works which is the same as there being no evidence that it works at all, so if you'd like to shield your eyes for a moment I'll just set up my swing..."

Nobody knows how anaesthesia works which is the same as there being no evidence that it works at all

That does not follow

That's the point.

Then we agree?

sweeet

That does not follow

Well, quite. Have you been drinking?

Email reply... seems it is very easy to call out bullshit.

Dear Chris,

We were unable to identify the vehicle concerned however a warning letter was issued to the transport manager of the company you identified for the attention of the driver. The incident has also been passed to our Commercial Vehicle Unit who will pay the company a visit in due course.
Kind regards,

Deborah BELL PC167TD
On Behalf of ROADSAFE LONDON
MPS Traffic OCU (SCO15)
TrafficMailbox-.Crackdown@met.police.uk

You couldn't make it up...

To: Traffic Mailbox - Crackdown
Subject: RE: RoadSafeLondon CRK01-00014300

What if the van was 2nd hand? I identified a van as best I could with exact times and dates to make checks on CCTV extremely easy.

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your e-mail.

We are certain that Crispin Removals are still the registered owner of the van involved in your incident. If there was an element of doubt, a warning letter would not have been issued to the company for the attention of the driver concerned.

We would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the purpose of Roadsafe London. We are an information and intelligence gathering portal where members of the public are able to advise us of criminal, nuisance and anti-social behaviour on the roads of London. We were not created to deal with road traffic or Highway Code violations with a view to prosecution. This must be done on official documentation which is available on the web site under the ‘Collision forms and reports’ section.

Kind regards,

Deborah BELL PC167TD
On Behalf of ROADSAFE LONDON

MPS Traffic OCU (SCO15)
TrafficMailbox-.Crackdown@met.police.uk

I think we've got to the crux of why you agree with Jeez.

Well fuck.

then I hope to god I never end up in the hospital he's working in, lolz aside.

Yet, cycling in East London, the chances are higher than average that we might meet in my professional capacity. Sorry!

Verbals with a white van driver this morning. I turn left onto a short stretch of road from a mini-roundabout which ends in a set of traffic sets, which change very slowly. I move to the middle of the road almost straight away as I'm turning right, and the lane doubles up for traffic turning right. Despite my position on the road and the fact the lights ahead were red and there were already cars waiting at them a white van zooms around me fast before cutting back in and braking. I give him a little knock as I cycle past, just to highlight the futility of his manoeuvre. While it wasn't dangerous per se, since there wasn't on coming traffic, it is a dickmove symptomatic of driver's impatience to get past bikes whatever the situation on the road: my position, junction and red light ahead, queuing traffic.

So I went past him, knocked his van and proceeded to the ASZ. Red rag to a bull of course so he opens his door and starts shouting abuse. I invite him to get out the car and say it to me face. He does so, so I get off my bike and say what I think of him to his face. It went on like that for a little while (like I said, long phase) presumably to the bemusement of the other drivers waiting, before he retired to his van, him saying I'll get you in minute, to which I said, 'what you going to do, run me over?', perhaps not the wisest invitation of course.

Anyway it was a shame really: an opportunity missed to explain to him how reckless and unnecessary overtaking, particularly when a cyclist has taken a position where he doesn't expect to be overtaken, frustrates and endangers cyclists. That his manoeuvre is akin to manoeuvres like overtaking then immediately turning left, or overtaking through a choke point, or overtaking when a cyclist is signalling he's turning right, or overtaking through tight corners or worse blind corners, or overtaking before swerving left to the curb to wait in the queue of traffic. I should have tried to make him see getting past a cyclist takes on average 8 seconds, so in future he should apply a little patience, think before making a manoeuvre like that whether it is necessary, and how it makes a cyclist feel.

That definitely much have been much better than 'just fuck off, you fucking prick' (although he did start the name calling).

He didn't 'get me' when he overtook next, he didn't even skim or honk or gesture at me. Which perhaps made my wave at him when I filtered past him on the right about a k up the road while he was snarled up in the inevitable morning traffic a trifle unnecessary. Red mist and all that.

Anyway I like to think we both learnt a lesson this morning. I know I did, to articulate my anger better rather than a string of expletives. But then I've been abused and threatened by van drivers before, difficult to change the default reaction.

It's hard to make each interaction an individual... I'm the same, assuming anyone in a white van/black beemer/taxi/bus is an unreformable muppet.

But essentially that's the same as them saying all cyclists RLJ and don't use lights, so we should really get above their level!

I didn't assume he was a muppet, he made that clear by overtaking me when I was in the middle of the road while approaching a red light, then hurling abuse at me because I rapped the side of his van.

However I coulda/shoulda/ woulda reacted more coherently rather than allowing adrenalin to take over and be dragged down to his level. Nothing annoys me more than shitty, reckless and hurried overtaking when there is no need, and I want to be able to communicate that in the vain hope people will do it less. Screaming abuse back at a driver isn't going to achieve that. All I want drivers to do is to think twice before overtaking a cyclist.

I don't believe that there is anything you can practically do that would achieve that.

ohycctc

I think Skully's had a seizure and face planted on his keyboard, can anyone check he is OK?

I nearly got killed this morning by a large van overtaking on a bend. If I didn't break hard I'd have gone under. I called 101 and the unhelpful person who answered the call seemed more interested in interrogating me and telling me there was nothing they could do. it was quite a nasty experience. I don't get how dangerous driving can be so acceptable in a civilised society. I'm on the verge of packing it in.

@JF

Were you signalling when he overtook you?

I'm 1000% with you about the lack of patience but if your road position isn't normalised (i.e. nowhere near the gutter), and there is zero communication (i.e. a look back and signal) with said driver they make their mind up early, simply dismiss you as just an object in the way and pass by all means necessary. It shouldn't be this way and my suggestion may not have made the slightest bit of difference but it's one more possible step.

Angry BMW driver accelerates up to centimetres from my wheel and beeps when I take primary at a pinch point, naturally I gave him the finger, and he responded I suppose quite reasonably my swerving at me and trying to knock me off.

After a couple of goes I hopped up the kerb and he stopped and called me a pussyhole cunt (tautology?) for giving him the finger, I told him he was the pussyhole cunt for attacking someone with his car and rode off through am estate before he could get out. So I suppose I was the pussy after all :(

Unfortunately this happened 20 seconds from my house and I reckon he lives round there...