Interesting episode about 3PM today at our favourite Gilmour Place / King's Theatre junction.
I was already a bit on edge after a black VW shot past me on Dundee street cycle lane and promptly pulled fast left onto the WAR with about an inch to spare, without indicating.
Anyway, arrive towards junction with cars all over the road due to some cars waiting outside the shops and blocking the outside lane. I was filtering up as the lights changed and was parallel with a very slow moving car (forget what sort) as they went red, only car carried on and right up to front of the ASL box. As I passed I slowed and pointing to the ground said something along the lines of "excuse me, do you realise you're in an advanced stop lane and you can't enter the box on red. Where do you think I'm meant to go?". No swearies were used and I would say my tone was frustrated rather than confrontational. Driver wound down window and mumbled something, I replied that it was pretty obvious it was there, 2 big white lines with a bike painted in them.
That would have been that I suppose, I squeezed myself infront of the car and out the way of traffic turning right out of Home Street. And then taxi (black cab 672) waiting to turn left (ALSO sitting blocking the ASL) who had his window down and had been observing events decided to wade in. What was my problem he enquired, why did I feel the need to "have a go". I asked him if he had ever cycled through the junction - he claimed he had (seriously doubt it) so I replied that obviously he would then know how dangerous it was and that right turning traffic clips the corner and that the ASL box is there for cyclist safety, not for drivers to get a wee jump on the lights. I think we would have been content to fume and scowl quietly at each other, only a number 10 bus appeared and tried to make the right turn. Only it couldn't because of the car in the ASL. So bus started beeping at car. I was well clear of the bus as I had gone over to front left of the guilty car. Taxi driver then started having a go at me claiming that it was now all my fault, look what I had done, thought I was so smart, blah, blah, blah...
I pointed out that I was quite clearly blocking nothing and that it was the car behind. Car had to reverse back completely out of the ASL for the bus to complete its turn. Lights turned green for taxi but he carried on at me - car was allowed into the ASL, it had gone in on a green (it blatantly hadn't, I had only moved to filter past because lights were at red as we approached).
Ultimately I was told I should "get off my power trip". I did my usual aggressive driver-response of repeating their taxi number (or numberplate) to them to let them know I had clocked it. Some sort of response from taxi was still forthcoming (he had a passenger in the back!) until the cars behind him got impatient with his particular brand of sermon delivery and started peeping at him to go. At which point the lights changed and I was off on my way, leaving all far behind, stuck in queues of other cars and taxis, going nowhere fast.
So upshot was the apparent cyclist taxi driver decided that something that really had nothing whatsoever to do with him, or his driving, and that it was somehow unreasonable of me to as-politely-as-I-felt-possible point out the infraction of the other driver.
Anyway, now that's off my chest I am feeling better and positive about POP tomorrow. After all, the combination of crummy infrastructure, poor driving standards, bad attitude to cyclists and lack of road enforcement leading to unsafe cycling is the whole reason we've had to resort to organising POP.
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