Rant Needed!

Off-topic
1

Was comning home tonight and going round a long, sweeping right hand bend near Westerham in a 50mph zone, doing 50 (ish:D)A cager overtakes me so close that his wing mirror clipped mine, pushing my bars to the left and directing me towards a hedge…

I managed to keep control, whilst letting out a long blast on the horn and a string of expetives deleted

The ****** then decides to really put his foot down and get away from me…

Mr Angry & Mr Safe start having a debate in my head and for once I controlled the red mist - I knew that 95% of people turn left at the end of this road (it doesn’t make much sense to use the road if you’re gonna turn right) and I also know that shortly after that, you come into a 30mph zone with a set of traffic lights that nearly always hold people up at that time of day.

I should point out that this is part of my normal route, so I didn’t run after him in a different direction, although truth be told, I probably would have.

So this mofo gets caught at the lights and I pull up alongside him and rap on his window, which he opens slightly - I shout in (shout because it was noisy, rather than angry):

“You’re the reason bikers get killed!”

He looks at me gormlessly and goes “What?”

I repeat: “You’re the reason bikers get killed - do you realise you clipped my mirror at at 50 back on Beggars Lane???”

He says: “oh… that’s what it was…”

I lost it at that point and started calling him every **** under the sun but aware that he was starting to pull away as the lights had changed :angry:

I had to follow him down the A25 until I left at the A21, at which point I passed him and flipped him the bird.

The dude needed to know what he had done wrong, so I had achieved what I set out to do - his attitude might have been genuine ignorance of the event, or he might have been feigning ignorance through embarassment at having been such a nob…

Still, I’m glad I kept the red mist away from my riding hand this time and also glad I kept my riding hand away from his throat.

On top of all that, because I’ve been reading Roadcraft, I’ve also gone back to wearing a Hi Vis waistcoat on my daily commute to aid my defensive riding (I don’t like it, but I wouldn’t much like being dead either)…

Anyway, rant over - I needed to let it out and this is the best way I can think of to do it :smiley:

2

Wouldn’t have blamed you if you had put your fist through his window and into his face. . .

3

Well controlled chap - both the temper and the bike.

Chances are he’s not ignorant, or embarressed but part of the modern mindset of avoiding confrontation. To me, it sounds like he knew what he’d done - hence why he put his foot down afterwards. He must of seen you to have overtaken you, however his lack of ability to read the road lead to him clipping you.

Glad you kept it together to tell the tale.

4

nicely controlled, i’ll bet the temptation to rip his mirror off was hard to resist;)

5

The temptation to not drag him out of the car and have a go at beating seven shades out of him was difficult to resist…

Whilst I might have kept it together at that time, I’m still finding myself grinding my teeth, which I normally only do because of unresolved anger, so it still ain’t completely left my system…

6

Well done for controlling the rage, and hopefully he will remember to look next time.

7

should have done this:D

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8

You should have taken his wing mirror … he obviously doesnt use it :smiley:

Glad you’re ok though mate

9

Surprised you are here tonight - thought you’d be at the architecht’s meeting with HRH PoW !!

10

That’s all I really wanted to achieve - anything else would have been indulging the rage and that wouldn’t ave done me or him any good - just a temporary release that would have left me feeling worse once the adrenaline had left my system.

Its blerdy hard not to release it sometimes, so I am pleased with my reaction, but at the same time, given the circumstance… :angry:

Still, I live to ride another day and hopefully, he’ll have sat at home all night with our brief encounter ticking over in his head - after all, one of the guiding principles of buddhism is that all living things seek happiness and the avoidance of pain - I think he got off lightly today and hopefully he thinks so too…

11

Well done for keeping your cool, man.

If he does realise what he did, let’s hope it sunk in a bit later, when he got home. There he spent the evening, ashen-faced, rocking back and forth in his chair and hugging his knees while he thought about what could have happened.

12

Glad you’re still here to tell the tale Stevie!:wink: Dont rely on the High Vis Jacket. Having seen people pull out in front of a bright red double decker Bus when it about 50-60ft away, I know that Roadcraft will be a friend!

13

lucky escape for you mate…and well done keeping ya temper, I lose the plot if cut up in truck let alone some ar$ewipe clipping me on bike :slight_smile:

14

Technically wasnt that a hit and run?

If you have his reg you could cause him some agro I guess?

15

I agree - a few more inches to the left Stevie and you could be:a. Dead.b. Paralysed.If you have his reg. then report it. This c*nt needs to appreciate the full error of his ways.

16

I was hit too not so long ago, hit in the leg and pushed towards the kerb, but instead of losing the plot it was a zen moment of calm, dont ask me how I get the red mist usually.
Glad your’s was not serious, at speeds it gets a whole lot worse. Glad you kept it together.

17

Unbelievable – a hi-vis waistcoat?? so gauche. Seriously though it’s good nothing serious happened and you’re still with us.

18

well done for keeping it cool and controlled - not sure i could :ermm:

glad nothing worse happened…

now if you had a bigger bike he would have seen you :stuck_out_tongue:

19

Man that is both so lucky and so unlucky.

Lucky that you managed to control the bike, and kept the adrenalin rush under control.

Unlucky that the prat wasn’t paying enough attention and fail to realise the potential seriousness of the situation.

20

Paying attention? I guarantee you this pr!ck knew exactly what he was doing (but probably didn’t have the skill or intention to do it safely).

Is it a 50 zone? If he overtook you on a bend doing 50 I imagine he started that manouevre because he was frustrated following you. Either his control of the vehicle was so poor attempting the overtake that he clipped you or he purposefully tried to run close and “scare” (i.e. kill) you.