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Old man in the road

Grumpy Old Lemons Like You
wheypat
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Old man in the road

#175959

Postby wheypat » October 24th, 2018, 12:05 pm

Driving at the weekend down a one way street and there was an old fella in the road taking photos. I stopped, waited for a while and came to the conclusion he hadn't heard the car, so I gently peeped the horn. He turned round a let out a torrent of abuse at me, to the upshot that I had to wait and what was I going to do about it? I got out and asked him to move, another torrent of abuse came my way. I was resigned to waiting until, as luck would have it plod came round the corner, at which point the old fella feigned an injury and claimed I'd hit him in with the car as he attempted to cross the road! I let him say his piece then plod asked my for my version of events. I desribed what had happened (old man kept interupting and plod asked him to shut up) and eventually I ended up on "And I can prove it"]

"Prove it?" asked plod.

Yes, I have a dash cam and it's recorded everything.

Hmmm said plod, let's have a look. Hmm said old man, maybe he didn't hit me with the car. We watched the video. I was waved on my way (they took my details). Not so much for the old fella I suspect . . . . plod was still chatting to him as I left the scene.

I've had a dash cam for a while, that's the first time it's actually been useful to me.

bungeejumper
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Re: Old man in the road

#176528

Postby bungeejumper » October 27th, 2018, 9:02 am

Nice one. I hope they throw the book at the old git. At the very least, he won't be believed the next time he comes out with this sort of story.

A few years ago, I was stopped from using a permissive footpath through the grounds of a girls' private school that's just up the lane from us. The security guard (yes, they had one, and with a dog) told me that women and children were still welcome to use the path, but men were now barred. Because, he said, any one of the girls might come up with a story that I'd molested her in the bushes, and then it would be my word against hers, and it probably wouldn't go well for me, regardless of whether I'd done it or not.

Although I didn't like the tone of his argument one little bit, I didn't argue with his logic and I haven't used the path since. I suppose I might have hoped that any such false accuser would quickly turn out to be a known liar (like your old man is now), but it would have been just my luck for me to be the first victim of her over-active imagination. :|
wheypat wrote:I've had a dash cam for a while, that's the first time it's actually been useful to me.

Yep, I really hate having had to buy one myself, because I'm really not a natural vigilante, and I believe in personal freedoms and privacy. So as far as I'm concerned the dash cam is a case of fit and forget. But the next time a gang of racing club cyclists come flying round a blind corner at me, four abreast in one of our single-width country lanes, I'll have something to show the magistrates. ;)

BJ

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Re: Old man in the road

#176530

Postby EssDeeAitch » October 27th, 2018, 9:18 am

bungeejumper wrote:But the next time a gang of racing club cyclists come flying round a blind corner at me, four abreast in one of our single-width country lanes, I'll have something to show the magistrates. ;)

BJ


Well, as a lycra clad cyclist let me firstly apologise for the whole universe of fellow lycra clad cyclists (why is the term "lycra clad" used in a derogatory way? :shock: ) who do come around a corner four abreast. Stupid way to behave I agree.

However, I can promise you that in my experience, we cyclists are very cognisant of the danger posed by a vehicle weighing between one and two tons travelling at 20mph around said bend and always try to keep left as tight as is possible. And by possible, I mean not hitting potholes which will dismount us and leave us under your wheels or hitting road debris (stones, rocks, broken bottles and such like) which always seem to gather in the road gutter - the far left of the road (far left, always disruptive).

Also, cyclists are mainly car drivers as well (so yes, we do pay road tax) and as such, understand that the road is there for the convenience of all users regardless of modality.

At last, got an opportunity to get that off my chest :D . But let me assure you, I think that cyclists can and should do more to not annoy car users.

bungeejumper
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Re: Old man in the road

#176532

Postby bungeejumper » October 27th, 2018, 9:42 am

EssDeeAitch wrote:Well, as a lycra clad cyclist let me firstly apologise for the whole universe of fellow lycra clad cyclists (why is the term "lycra clad" used in a derogatory way? :shock: ) who do come around a corner four abreast. Stupid way to behave I agree.
…..
Also, cyclists are mainly car drivers as well (so yes, we do pay road tax) and as such, understand that the road is there for the convenience of all users regardless of modality.

At last, got an opportunity to get that off my chest :D . But let me assure you, I think that cyclists can and should do more to not annoy car users.

LOL, thanks for the nicely balanced response. Yes, I'm aware that saying anything negative about the behaviour of even one cyclist can be quite a good way to start a flame war on some boards that I won't mention here. And you are absolutely right to state the obvious, namely that in a collision between a cyclist and a car the cyclist always comes off worst, regardless of which party was to blame. Maybe I'll even go so far as to accept that, in the absence of video evidence, the car driver is always the presumed offender? ;)

But Christ, some of our local hard nuts do go out of their way to push trouble at the rest of humanity. (We are on a national cycle route, which means that club riders pretty much take over the lanes on Sundays and early mornings.) Four abreast is only the half of it, but I'd only be courting more trouble if I said so. So I won't. OK? Instead, I'll leave it to the dash cam, which will probably do me more good than a St Christopher medal if it ever comes to the crunch. I hope I never have cause to use it.

BJ

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Re: Old man in the road

#176573

Postby redsturgeon » October 27th, 2018, 2:36 pm

As a cyclist, erstwhile motorcyclist and motorist can I just say that there is a different approach to bends required depending on whether it is a left or right hand bend.

On a right hand bend, by keeping well to the left you will get the best view around the corner and also you will be seen earlier by an oncoming vehicle, therefore this is the recommended procedure. On a left handed bend though, precisely the opposite is the case, by hanging out as far to the right as possible you give yourself the best chance of seeing and being seen in order to take any necessary evasive action.

Note I am referring to a blind bend on a narrow country lane.

John

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Re: Old man in the road

#176579

Postby bungeejumper » October 27th, 2018, 3:09 pm

redsturgeon wrote:On a left handed bend though, precisely the opposite is the case, by hanging out as far to the right as possible you give yourself the best chance of seeing and being seen in order to take any necessary evasive action.

Think I'll have to ask you how (or where) you can take fast evasive action if you're the outermost of four cyclists riding side by side? ;)

BJ

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Re: Old man in the road

#176597

Postby redsturgeon » October 27th, 2018, 4:59 pm

bungeejumper wrote:
redsturgeon wrote:On a left handed bend though, precisely the opposite is the case, by hanging out as far to the right as possible you give yourself the best chance of seeing and being seen in order to take any necessary evasive action.

Think I'll have to ask you how (or where) you can take fast evasive action if you're the outermost of four cyclists riding side by side? ;)

BJ


Hi BJ,

I was referring to the reply to your post where the poster said that they took bend as far to the left as possible. Of course any group of cyclists coming round a bend four abreast are pretty stupid.

John

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Re: Old man in the road

#176679

Postby bungeejumper » October 28th, 2018, 8:56 am

redsturgeon wrote:Of course any group of cyclists coming round a bend four abreast are pretty stupid.

My most benevolent theory is that adrenalin is sometimes responsible for that. I used to live near the top of a sharply winding two-mile hill that was much favoured by club cyclists for building their uphill stamina. It was a good B road, with ample width for cars or lorries to pass, but I lost count of the number of times I would round a corner to find a group of them well over onto my side of the solid white line, sweating profusely, shoulders hunched over the handlebars and apparently oblivious to the danger they'd put themselves in. Those fight-or-flight hormones had taken charge, it seemed. That sort of danger doesn't happen in the Tour de France. :)

But enough. Henceforth, I am content to let the strictly-impartial dash cam do the talking. It has the far-from-peripheral effect of making drivers a bit more careful too, which can only be a good thing.

BJ


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