CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
I think I'm going to give them the slow handclap in the future. Any others to add to this?
Reminds me of what my gran used to do when drivers got impatient at old people crossing the road - she'd give them a look of recognition, smile and wave. Completely threw them!
"she'd give them a look of recognition, smile and wave. Completely threw them!"
Classic!
Yes sometimes being overly polite and smiling, and thanking them really gets on their nerves.
I used to respond in kind but now just give them a glaikit stare! When i used to respond in kind I found I used to get all agitated and sometimes angry. Glaiket does it for me. Pity we can't get a fully funded research programme to survey the 'drivers' to see what works best for them?
I depends what they've done or what they think I've done. If someone whizzes past with millimetres to spare I tend to do one-handed big-fish-little-fish expansive arm-gestures at them to imply they should have left more room. If someone accelerates needlessly rashly or something similarly testosteronic I offer the universal gesture for having a teeny winky (as used in the Australian anti-speeding campaign), though in the winter gloves can restrict the ability of the little finger to be visibly flexed. Simply bending down and peering at them in their mirror hopefully indicates to some that I can see them even if they were pretending that they couldn't see me. Thumbs-ups and sarcastic grins into the mirrors tend to keep me calmest though the odd shout also helps warn other road users about the vehicle in question.
It's hard not to start shouting and waving furiously when they obliviously almost SMIDSY you, as the problem is they've not seen you! You wan't to draw their attention to their awful attempt at driving and express your displeasure - so roaring and bellowing at them like Brian Blessed is a natural reaction.
In my experience the non-confrontational approach works, but only when it is the driver who has shouted or honked the horn at the cyclist.
I don't think I've actually had a confrontational shout from a driver (except the occasional comedian seeking approbation from his chums by shouting something undecipherable out the passenger window).
However, when I've been cut up, passed too close or that sort of thing, I tend to go for the ironic thumbs up or wave. Last time I did it, I was a little concerned that the driver might think it was a sign of approval, but I'd like to hope it has more of the effect of making them realise that that was a fellow human being they drove a little too close too.
More dangerous incidents can go one of two ways. Either a volley of Anglo-Saxon or a long stare and shake of the head. I find the latter is better for my blood pressure and dignity, but sometimes the former just happens instinctively (usually when I'm in a bad mood).
Well I tried the reverse shout this morning at a likely-looking-lad in a BMW 5 series on Gorgie Road who pulled wide around a car waiting to turn right (off Gorgie) into the cycle lane and almost took me out. No looking beyond a glance into a rearview perhaps and certainly no indicator signal on his part. He looked genuinely confused when I gave him my best Brian Blessed and sort of smirked and shrugged at me as I went past and left him sitting at the next traffic obstruction.
But it helped to vent my frsutration, as I knew that he knew that he acknowledged some fault on his part. I knew that he knew that he shouldn't have been there. I knew that he knew that everyone on Gorgie Road turned and looked and he knew that it was him and not I that looked a stupid, as he was left sitting in traffic with everyone staring and I zoomed off down the road.
So by the time I got to Broomhouse Road and found the buslane full of queing cars (and the car lane, curiously enough) completely empty, I was much more calm and amused myself by muttering gypsy curses at each driver as I sauntered past.
Here is another solution - (nothing to do with bikes though) - it is a video so not sure if it will work and might open up a separate page - if it does work, enjoy!
classic, fake, but classic.
I think it's a good idea not to wind them up too much, when I'm in a low recumbent trike, and they could just deliberately swerve the steering wheel and crush me, then say "sorry, I didn't see him", especially with obnoxious drivers, rather than just careless ones. I have sometimes banged on the car bodywork - that gets a reaction. But if someone passes you poorly, you could just give a big wave to say "I'm here! Please be a bit nicer!". What do we all think?
Any sort of "I'm here!" carries an implicit "...and I seen what you done innit?" and subsequent guilting-and-hopefully-future-repetition-prevention (except in the minds of people who either did what they did deliberately or see nothing wrong in what they did).
I stuck my head round my monitor yesterday in response to a chance overhearing of a "what really winds me up is when cyclists ride right in the middle of the road" from a colleague I hitherto considered reasonable. He was gently apprised of the dangers of sunken drains, opening doors, pinch-points and the absence of room to manoeuvre around potholes and will hopefully now get less wound up.
I have a mate who has been known to suggest to (primarily) taxi drivers that it might help their blood pressure - and girth - to swap places for a while and get on a bike.
I understand that this tactic does not have a 100% success rate at defusing the situation........
"might help their blood pressure - and girth - to swap places for a while and get on a bike"
Some people don't like to be reminded of the truth...
I've been known to blow a kiss to offensive drivers. Doesn't do much to de-escalate things, usually.
Re girth; that word has a particular meaning for most men ;-) Clue; not related to waistline
You must log in to post.
Cycling in Edinburgh Flickr group
Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin
posts