I was cycling along on Saturday, warming up for the cycle race on quiet roads around Gloucestershire. I was pretty close to one foot from the edge of the road (the width of a gutter). Earlier in the year I posted about cycling 1 metre from edge of road (as per DoT suggestion), but to be honest I don’t dare do that on many country roads.
It was a good day for cycling, but without warning a car came from behind beeping his horn. The reason was that there was a car coming the other direction, and this car wasn’t going to slow down, let alone wait. He was committed to passing me, despite an oncoming car in the other direction, and from his perspective, it was very inconsiderate that I had decided to be cycling at that particular point.
To be honest, there wasn’t really anywhere to go closer to the edge of the road, if I had a box of reinforced steel I might have gone out to 1 metre from edge of road to make him slow down, but since I don’t have a reinforced metal protection, I just kept my line It was really very tight, this impatient car was also carrying a horse box of all things. Of course the horse box was wider than the car so it was a pretty close shave when he came speeding past.. When the horse box had sped off, I vaguely waved my right hand as if to say, give me more space. I’m sure it was lost on the driver of the horse box. At least the next three cars gave me enough space. (I wonder if car drivers feel guilty when other car drivers do bad things – some seem to think cyclists should feel guilty because some people on bikes ride on pavements / cycle through red lights)
Anyway here are my top tips for responding to Car Horns
1. Ignore it. A car driver may be irritated you are cycling on a road, but that’s their problem not yours.
2. Ignore it. You have no horn to beep back, but that’s fine because it’s best just to ignore anyway.
3. Wave. Sometimes when getting beeped for no-good reason, it might be tempting for a knee-jerk reaction that is less dignified than a friendly wave. But, actually, waving really is the best response. It makes me feel good, confuses the driver, and who knows perhaps the driver will be less likely to be impatient next time.
Rudy Project Time Trial
By, the way, it turned out to be a good race. I came 5th in a national Rudy Project TT series. I got caught by Wouter Sybrandy who started two minutes behind me – who went on to win the race in a very good time, but I was still pleased with my average speed for the race.. It was a good rolling course, and all the other drivers were fine. It’s just the one bad incident sticks in your mind.
2. Ignore it. You have no horn to beep back, but that’s fine because it’s best just to ignore anyway.
Not true.
I cycle 8 miles to work which takes me through trafford park industrial estate and into the very heart of manchester city centre. The roads are poorly configured for cyclists to share the tarmac so I’ve decided to buy an air horn for a little over a tenner.
It fits onto the handlebars and gives a 115db blast to any road users who drive dangerously. It’s as loud as those on the trams. Now we can have a voice. Although it’s such a pity there are so many ticking time bombs driving around that some people cannot wait to become aggressive when they hear it.
Hahaha! That’d get you noticed!
I suspect these are the same in drivers who are generally spoiling for a fight and would happily get involved in any road rage incident. I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem with cyclists they are just nutters!
Best not to take it personally but it is difficult not to.
> 3. Wave
Only problem to be aware of is that an aggressive driver may be half expecting the cyclist to make a different kind of hand gesture! Make sure your wave can’t be misinterpreted.