BT Openreach Psychokillers Quest-ce que Ce? « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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BT Openreach Psychokillers Quest-ce que Ce?

(25 posts)

Started 7 years ago by gembo
Latest reply from gembo

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gembo
Member

Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa oooo -Ohhhh-oh oh

Was driven at by man in BT Openreach van down the cowgate this morning in a manner which felt like he was trying to kill me.

Now, I was not in the right, yet another temp traffic light in the cowgate causing tailback which I skipped. At front of queue was a black car stationary for some seconds after the light had changed from green. I skipped in front of him from my very wrong position on the pavement just as the man in the BT openreach van tooted him to move. He was able to pull out and pass me before we reached the narrow point of the road caused by the lights. However the man in the BT Openreach van was not. He therefore tooted me (which I find acceptable I would have put my hand up in acknowledgement) I was wrong.

He then drove the van straight at me which I did not appreciate. What he did not appreciate was that we would soon be together again at the st marys st junction. When we did meet up I asked him the following question

Were you trying to kill me?

He answered, you were in the wrong

I then replied at high volume You were trying to kill me, louder Watch out Everyone BT OPENREACH PSYCHOKILLERS

Posted 7 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

@gembo

Man you are trembling there. Go for a walk, breathe and then E-MAIL HIS EMPLOYER'S TRANSPORT MANAGER WITH ALL WEAPONS.

Posted 7 years ago #
neddie
Member

What a coward he was. You should have asked him to get out and kill you with his bare hands.

Posted 7 years ago #
dougal
Member

Cowgate bareknuckle boxing. I think it's fairly common but normally takes place while both participants are under the effect of Performance Diminishing Drugs.

Posted 7 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

Loads of folk are wired on fags, Red Bull, Pro Plus and coffee at work. I've worked with people using all four at once who were out of their tree.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

Guy was just stating his position

YOu were in the wrong so I thought I would try to kill you

My learning is really around how vulnerable we are if we put a foot wrong. But then we are still the same degree of vulnerable even when totally right.

Last time a van was driven straight at me - Large UK drinks delivery truck, the one who knocked the wall down I was totally in the right and still just got a lot of flannel.

Today I think I just took the A route of shouting him out in the street.

Honour satisfied.

Posted 7 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

My learning is really around how vulnerable we are if we put a foot wrong.

True dat. Six inch late deviation for an unobserved pothole got me a close enough to touch pass yesterday.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

Another growing concern I have is that I get more deserved/undeserved aggro when wearing the pink hi viz top

obvipously only anecdotal and not like the orange tfair isle tanbk top where I was driven at or abused every time I cycled in it (such that I stopped cycling in it)

Your complaint has been submitted successfully and your complaint reference number is: C1521590

Posted 7 years ago #
Nelly
Member

@gembo kudos for retaining your cool (well, semi cool as you did have a pink top on......)

You see road rage stories in the press where some nutter attacks another driver and justifies it because he "cut me up" (and the attacker is usually a male).

That sounds like a similar excuse for a 1.5ton van being driven at you - neither is acceptable.

Driving round town must be frustrating, but that behaviour is disgraceful.

Being totally honest, I don't react well to these situations now, I usually catch them and "go radge" until they are shamed into apologising.

Not big or clever, but I have friends who have been hit by cars, and I don't want to join that club.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

@Nelly, I would not say I kept my cool, more the radge as you describe but in a controlled way.

Posted 7 years ago #
Ed1
Member

It may be phycology of pulling of pavement perception of breaking the rules and then been in front. When I pull of payment or another doddgy move, at some roundabouts ( like sheriffhall too dangerous to go around as a car tried it once) let the car that sees me go past first and then when next car pulls up think I have always been on road, so “homesteaded” the road in a legitimate way. Although possibly should not make a difference the phycology of someone thinking a rule breaker is slowing them down as oppose to someone following rules seems to make a difference, I notice the person that sees me is more likely to hoot or close punishment pass so now when take a roundabout short cut wait until unseen before pull out then next cars comes along and acts normal. What would a psychologist make if it -)

Posted 7 years ago #
fimm
Member

gembo, do you think that you "...get more deserved/undeserved aggro when wearing the pink hi viz top" because drivers think you are female or drivers object to a man in a pink top?

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

@fimm, nice points I am not sure

@Ed1 no idea what a psychologist would make of it but a number of close pass incidents I have experienced are not linked to the first car but the ones that copy and don't even see you and are just following the lead car.

Indeed I was driven at by a woman driver today going through Viewforth but despite my pink hi viz top she did not actually see me just drove out onto the main road where I had right of way.

I also had two pedestrians walk in front of me one who did see me taking evasive action and the second who remained oblivious.

What a morning commute, might go back up WoL path tonight but it was very soggy last night near the top

Posted 7 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

gembo, do you think that you "...get more deserved/undeserved aggro when wearing the pink hi viz top" because drivers think you are female or drivers object to a man in a pink top?

It's also about as strong a statement of "I'm a cyclist" as you can get. That is - I wonder if a pink woolly jumper or t-shirt would elicit the same response.

I seem to remember that the guy who did the research on how passing distances were affected by a cyclist's clothing concluded that dressing as a woman increased passing distance. This was for big summery dresses and a long flowing blonde wig though; would be very interesting to know if there was any difference in passing distances for similarly dressed men and women. That is, compare men and women wearing t-shirt and jeans, then compare men and women wearing smart suits, then compare men and women wearing lycra.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

@frenchy, cars steered well clear of Iain walker dressed in a blonde wig?

Posted 7 years ago #
Frenchy
Member

They stayed further away (slightly different from "well clear").

http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/overtaking110906.html

To test another theory, Dr Walker donned a long wig to see whether there was any difference in passing distance when drivers thought they were overtaking what appeared to be a female cyclist.

Whilst wearing the wig, drivers gave him an average of 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) more space when passing.

Thanks for remembering his name! Much easier to find with that.

Posted 7 years ago #
sallyhinch
Member

I think he did a follow up study where he concluded that nothing you could wear except a police uniform would stop some drivers from close passing you.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

@sallyhinch, he did, he is a good egg and keen advocate for segregated infra. Due to driving turning some normal,people into maniacs. E.g my BT guy who looked quite mild manners scent behind a wheel of a van and with a certain penchant for tooting his horn and trying to kill cyclists

Posted 7 years ago #
crowriver
Member

"a number of close pass incidents I have experienced are not linked to the first car but the ones that copy and don't even look and are just following the lead car.

Indeed I was driven at by a woman driver today going through Viewforth but despite my pink hi viz top she did not actually look just drove out onto the main road where I had right of way.

I also had two pedestrians walk in front of me one who did look taking evasive action and the second who remained oblivious."

FTFY.

I find the drivers/road users who are not looking where they are going* are by far the most common danger. The aggressive psycho ones are, thankfully, rarer.

* - cf various comments about smartphone/tablet/bowl of cereal use while driving, or indeed just switched off vacant, looking only at car in front mode...

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

@crowriver agreed. I think if the person in the black car at front of queue had moved when light went green instead of waiting two seconds none of this thread would exist. I would ha e waited for a space the van guy would be ranting about the bla kncar driver etc.

Even peopl who are radge inside a vehicle mostly more calm outwith the vehicle

Posted 7 years ago #
minus six
Member

not looking where they are going

but they are looking

i see them 'looking'

it just don't register that it matters

vuln-rability barely exist inna roll-cage world

Posted 7 years ago #
LaidBack
Member

Shocking - but of course many of the other drivers would agree with this 'vigilante man', such is the built in dislike of cyclists.

As a cyclist you can't win. If you add to a traffic queue you're not popular either.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

Just to fermer le marmite on this one

Dear Mr Gembo

Thank you for contacting us and I apologise for the delayed response.

I'm really sorry for the distress that has been caused. As a cyclist myself I do appreciate your concerns.

We are very conscious of our Openreach brand and have clearly not reached the high standards we set ourselves.

We promote safety above all things that we do and the health and safety of the public is paramount. I have completed a generalised search based on the time and date you have provide but have been unable to locate the vehicle mentioned (unfortunately not all vehicles within the Openreach Fleet currently have a tracking device depending upon they type of engineering role and Operational requirements )

However I will pass the details to the local manager to ensure that engineers are aware of their responsibility in this area.

I would like to thank you for bringing this issue to my attention and although I appreciate that this reply will be disappointing, details of this incident will be issued to engineers within the area. Should further information become available during this process the I will update you further. I don’t want to give you false hope but I will keep this case open for the next 5 days pending further information becoming available at local level or any further assistance I can offer yourself regarding this issue.

Should I receive no further correspondence from yourself or updates from the local teams within the next 5 days, I will arrange for the case to be closed.

Kind regards

Posted 7 years ago #
crowriver
Member

That's actually a very polite and helpful response. Fair play to that fella.

Posted 7 years ago #
gembo
Member

Yes crowriver I wrote back to him thanking him.

Posted 7 years ago #

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