Moron Motorists #3

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trailgumby
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby trailgumby » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:33 am

Mulger bill wrote:
trailgumby wrote:A slap to the rear mudguard panel with the heel of your hand will leave a satisfying dent in most cars.
So you've given up on leaving mirrors dangling?
That came later. All I can say is don't let motorbike cops see you do it.

I was able to make the case that the breakage was accidental and that I merely meant to flip the mirror to tell the guy to get out of my my space and quit abusing me (all of which was true fortunately) so it it didn't go any further. Hed been tailgating me closely and when I obeerved to him when stopped at the T intrersection "You were a bit close mate." he lurched his vehicle right next to me blocking the intersection and gave me a mouthful for being "in the middle of the road" to justiffy what he did.

But criminal damage charges would have been ugly, with with career consequences.

We all joke about getting even for being bullied by loser drivers but it's better by far to use cameras and play the legal system to your advantage.
Last edited by trailgumby on Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

jasonc
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby jasonc » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:40 am

trailgumby wrote:We all joke about getting even for being bullied by loser drivers but it's better by far to use cameras and play the legal system to your advantage.
+1

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Wakatuki
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby Wakatuki » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:57 am

jasonc wrote:
trailgumby wrote:We all joke about getting even for being bullied by loser drivers but it's better by far to use cameras and play the legal system to your advantage.
+1
+1 Saving for a pro! Have an MD80 which surprising records nothing from the drawer at home, it will be my rear mounted one.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby human909 » Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:08 pm

It seems I can't fail to ride on beach road without moron motorists. This time I was hit by a wing mirror from a 4WD who deliberately shaved me for riding out of the door zone. My elbow hurts, I hope some damage was done to his vehicle. Naturally he didn't stop.

Like usual this contrasts with my normal commute which is problem free.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby jules21 » Sat Oct 05, 2013 3:48 pm

trailgumby wrote:We all joke about getting even for being bullied by loser drivers but it's better by far to use cameras and play the legal system to your advantage.
i use a camera but unless it's got a business name on the vehicle, there's not much advantage to be taken. i've never vandalised anyone's car, but that's partly due to lack of opportunity.

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trailgumby
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby trailgumby » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:57 pm

human909 wrote:It seems I can't fail to ride on beach road without moron motorists. This time I was hit by a wing mirror from a 4WD who deliberately shaved me for riding out of the door zone. My elbow hurts, I hope some damage was done to his vehicle. Naturally he didn't stop.

Like usual this contrasts with my normal commute which is problem free.
I'm glad you were able to keep it upright. That could have been another Craig Cowled incident we were reading about.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby human909 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:16 am

trailgumby wrote:I'm glad you were able to keep it upright. That could have been another Craig Cowled incident we were reading about.
Thanks. My elbow is hurting quite a bit now. Heavy bruising in the joint I think. :(

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby outnabike » Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:55 am

jules21 wrote:
trailgumby wrote: i've never vandalised anyone's car, but that's partly due to lack of opportunity.
Hi jules21, I am sure we all get what you say.
I don’t like to lay hands on another person’s car, as if I do some damage it can be classed as( maybe) assault or damage.
There are too many possibilities for a different outcome to what I may think will happen. For a start if you do this, be prepared for the consequences of that action, which could be a fight in the middle of the road.
If it was the other way around and a motorist reached out and gave your handle bar a push whilst you were stationary at the lights, how would you react?

My feeling is, these things can lead to trouble. Say you slap a car just as something is going on and an accident occurs with that car due to your distracting the driver? No amount of retaliation will undo what has then occurred.
What if you chase them down and get them at the lights, smack the car and see a different person at the wheel?

I wanted to talk to chap once and there was to many of the same car; I couldn’t remember the driver. All bets are off if they have injured you though.

My problem is I can’t fight well, and I am a bit slow in escaping as well so I cop it at both ends. :D
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby jules21 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:37 pm

outnabike wrote: If it was the other way around and a motorist reached out and gave your handle bar a push whilst you were stationary at the lights, how would you react?
my view is that the crime is endangering my life through bad driving. pulling my handlebars while at the lights is rude, but not dangerous. drivers need to realise that risking someone's life or causing serious injury is far more serious than someone disrespecting their personal property. that is not the predominant view. i make it a point to explain it to them.
outnabike wrote:My feeling is, these things can lead to trouble. Say you slap a car just as something is going on and an accident occurs with that car due to your distracting the driver? No amount of retaliation will undo what has then occurred.
i slap cars a lot, when they come too close. no damage done to the car, no risk to the driver. if i can slap your car, you're too close!

you are correct that there is a risk of retaliation. i've had one guy who wanted to punch on, but i talked him down. i'm not looking for a fight, just letting them know they're too close. the alternative is to just cop it quietly - no thanks. i always point out why i felt the need to hit their car - the risk to my safety. this is a bigger deal than someone taking a swing at me. society has got it wrong on road rage - the message is that dangerous driving is OK, just don't get upset about it. sorry, but no - that's unacceptable to me.

if they want to be idiots and say stuff like 'you toucha my car, i breaka you face' then fine, that's up to them. i will let them understand the injustice of that. i can't make them care, but a lot of people do take the point - they just didn't think of it from the cyclists' perspective.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby ldrcycles » Sun Oct 06, 2013 2:38 pm

jules21 wrote: the message is that dangerous driving is OK, just don't get upset about it. sorry, but no - that's unacceptable to me.
+1
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby human909 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 2:47 pm

jules21 wrote:i slap cars a lot, when they come too close. no damage done to the car, no risk to the driver. if i can slap your car, you're too close!
I must admit that I've done this on occasion. Almost every time the driver goes apes !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! as though I had spat in his face and that I am the wrong doer and that I've escalated the situation. There is a clear disconnect in understanding. Slapping a vehicle is not a big deal, almost killing somebody is.

Slapping the car rarely achieves anything. That said I'm not sure an individual action towards such motorists could achieve something. But slapping the car might make you feel better. :twisted:

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby jules21 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 2:56 pm

human909 wrote:Slapping the car rarely achieves anything.
i disagree. it's brings them out of their 'cocoon' - that invisible forcefield that they believe they exist within and reminds them that they are responsible for their driving. people get angry at that - that's good. you can't effect positive change by being nice and polite with everyone - it doesn't work. i'd stress that you shouldn't elevate the situation - i'm talking about gentle reminders by slapping the side of a piece of metal.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby il padrone » Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:32 pm

There was that time when a motorist shaved us close. Stopped alongside him at the traffic lights I simply waved to him to leave more room. He got all agitated and wound down his window - asked "Do you have licence for that bike?' "No" "Well there you are then!" as if to say anything goes. I got a little riled by the inference and reached over to grab his wipers, then left them sticking skywards. Hehe! He got even more riled, got out, pushed the wipers back down, got back in and put his steering on hard left lock towards us. Told my mate "We need to crash the red....." Soon as the lights went we took off, then dodged onto the footpath as this total fruitloop skimmed alomg the gutter past us.

Some drivers just react badly, and it could very easily turn out bad.


*Later, by a fluke, I found out where the particular fruitloop lived (very close to me) and he had his just deserts :D
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby human909 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:59 pm

jules21 wrote:i disagree. it's brings them out of their 'cocoon' - that invisible forcefield that they believe they exist within and reminds them that they are responsible for their driving. people get angry at that - that's good. you can't effect positive change by being nice and polite with everyone - it doesn't work. i'd stress that you shouldn't elevate the situation - i'm talking about gentle reminders by slapping the side of a piece of metal.
Fair enough. :D

Certainly in MY PERSONAL experience slapping the car has never achieved anything. Every time their reaction hasn't been one of "being reminded" of their responsibilities. Every time it seems to be a red flag to a bull. A gentle slap might be an innocuous reminded to some but to the problem drivers it drives them crazy.

That said being meek doesn't help either. :(
Last edited by human909 on Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby jules21 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:10 pm

you can't convince the 'i pay rego' idiots - this is a clear sign they are happy to latch onto any random justification for why they can do what they like. it may as well be 'do you have 4 wheels?'

human - i've never had anyone suddenly apologise to me for slapping their car, unless they were scared i was going to go further. it won't happen. that doesn't mean they won't learn from it. there's no guarantees - YMMV.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby skull » Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:43 pm

jules21 wrote:you can't convince the 'i pay rego' idiots - this is a clear sign they are happy to latch onto any random justification for why they can do what they like. it may as well be 'do you have 4 wheels?'
.
I know, it is also as if they think that we do it by choice and are flaunting some imaginary rules.

Oh course I don't pay rego or have a specific licence for my bike, because there isn't any such thing.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby TraceyG » Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:32 pm

Riding with my husband this morning and we indicated and moved into the right hand turning lane but had to stop and give way to oncoming traffic. Moron motorist behind us decided he didn't have to wait for anyone and pulled out around us on the left and then cut across us to make his right hand turn. I really wish I had had the GoPro on! The really amusing part was that he saved maybe 0.5 of a second!

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby Cowcorner » Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:46 pm

human909 wrote:It seems I can't fail to ride on beach road without moron motorists. This time I was hit by a wing mirror from a 4WD who deliberately shaved me for riding out of the door zone. My elbow hurts, I hope some damage was done to his vehicle. Naturally he didn't stop.

Like usual this contrasts with my normal commute which is problem free.
Hope the elbow's getting better H909. I deliberately avoided Beach Rd today to get some "stress-free" riding in - went west instead and this is the cr4p I get. Not elbow bashing stuff, but close nonetheless. and here's me thinking all the bogans drove Commodes. Warning - language alert.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby DavidS » Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:33 pm

trailgumby wrote: The passenger's eyes were the size of moons... I think he thought I was going to come in through the window. I pulled up with centimetres to spare. The reality was I could have have stopped a a couple of metres earlier but I thought the point was worth emphasizing that the driver's arrogance almost caused a collision.
I used to do that in trams with cars that turned right in front of me (the ones who would dive in front of you just to sit across the tram tracks to wait until there was a break in the traffic so they could turn), you should have seen their faces. I would come flying at them with my arms waving and half a quarry of sand coming out of the tram and stop a couple of inches away . . . priceless. Main problem was that you really could only judge your stop that close in the old W class trams, the brakes on the newer ones don't give you that much accuracy.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby outnabike » Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:45 pm

This is old but funny in the end,
Two blokes vying for a position on the road, and then the forby driver notices the sedan has an open window.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyfgYhVXG18" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby HiChris » Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:38 am

I've often thought it would be nice to have a thin piece of wire sticking out 1/2 metre past my handlebars, any car passes in that zone gets a pinstripe...
Image

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby redned » Mon Oct 07, 2013 1:27 pm

dungee wrote:I've often thought it would be nice to have a thin piece of wire sticking out 1/2 metre past my handlebars, any car passes in that zone gets a pinstripe...
Not quite the same purpose, but I wonder if these work? They are only about 40cm long and wouldn't deter those who are determined to shave close, but might provide a visual prompt to stay wider to many:

http://www.flashback.ca/flashflags.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby Bah77 » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:20 pm


Pretty minor, but what was the point of that, light was green up ahead.

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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby nezumi » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:59 pm

Bah77 wrote:Pretty minor, but what was the point of that, light was green up ahead.
Even better - you had a green light, they failed to obey a stop sign.
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Re: Moron Motorists #3

Postby Aushiker » Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:30 pm

Reading about Cootes Transport (International Energy Services) on the ABC reminded me about my experiences with International Energy Services and another cyclists experience with same. The related videos are below and the two blog posts which provide the background can be found on my blog at http://aushiker.com/international-energy-services/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://aushiker.com/international-energy-services-3/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. International Energy Services transport Shell Australia fuel at least in WA.

My video:



sarebelle's video



Has anyone else had experiences involving International Energy Services/Cootes trucks?

Regards
Andrew

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