Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Definitely more patience is needed
But I tell you it's just getting worse
So last week after doing an emergency stop, nearly going over my handlebars to avoid a pedestrian walking out in front of me. I yelled "mind" as I tried to avoid him. So only for him to start hurling abuse at him
Then this evening coming out of Sainsbury's car park, some kids threw their macdonalds containers out their car winder, which hit me. I suggested to the mum, they go in the bin and popped the containers back from through the window. At which point she threw her car door open, knocked me off my bike, kicked my bike down the road screaming at me.
Now I am a very tiny middle age woman, and so hardly a threat, and clearly these incidents are not the behaviour of our HOL citizens. But I have been a daily cyclist in London for the last 35years and these incidents become so frequent it's almost the norm. So next time you are annoyed with us cyclists, have a bit of compassion. You don't know what they have just had to deal with
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jess on
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Sorry you've been through this. Sounds like you've had a horrible few days. Did you report the incident outside Mc Donalds?
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Permalink Reply by Chris brock on
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This will inevitably turn into a raging debate, wherein some people will call out cyclists for being "rude", "arrogant", "unsafe" and so on.
People, cars and bikes should not be sharing the same space. But in the meantime, until the road/cycling/pavement networks are all suitably altered, we just need to respect each other.
The behaviour you suffered from the family at MacDonalds sounds utterly dreadful. I would not have responded as well as you - and I am a pedestrian, cyclist and a driver (but not all at the same time!)
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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No it won't Chris, or at least it needn't. It's not a case of pedestrians v cyclists v motorists.
These incidents happen because people have changed - all people - and too many have, as you say, no respect for others.
I saw an incident in Chestnuts Park today where a woman told a man in charge (nominally) of a couple of boisterous dogs that they should be on a lead. He went off on a 15-minute rant laden with obscenities, and this in front of a group of children, saying that they were his dogs and it was a public park and he could do as he liked. The worst part was that the woman and the children seemed to accept that this was normal behaviour.
The apologists may seek to excuse such refusal to consider others and generally to behave unpleasantly by attributing it to the stress of modern-day living. But I was brought up in a mining village where the men each day faced the threat of death; from collapse of a pit prop or from explosion or from long-term choking on coal dust. Now I would say THAT was stressful but those men would never have dreamt of using the language I heard today in front of women or children. They knew how to behave.
And that's the difference between then and now. Respect and consideration for others is inconvenient: self-centeredness predominates. " Me first and sod the rest of you " is the cry. Drivers speed and smoke in commercial vehicles while texting on the move, motorists go through red lights and cyclists ride on pavements. Perhaps the worst thing about the recent case where a woman was killed was that the perpetrator apparently showed no remorse, exactly as in the incident reported in HOL some time ago where a cyclist riding a " fixie " refused to apologise to the pedestrian whose leg he broke, giggling " Well that's just me, That's what I'm like ".
Dumping of rubbish is another symptom of our anti-social attitudes. I spend quite a lot of time in Kent and very few there would drop a fag packet on the pavement. Hedges are trimmed so they don't take your eye out and only Ocado vans park half on the pavement. Why do the residents there behave so much better than those in the ciry ?
How did this happen ? How did we get from reasonably- civilised behaviour to today's attitude where everybody says " I know my rights " but nobody boasts " I accept my responsibilities ". They are proud to announce " I obey the law only if I feel like it - and that's not often " I have my own opinions but I suspect they would not be popular and in any case, who cares what I think ? What to my mind is important is " how do we turn things around ? "
I have my own ideas but is it too late ?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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A bit of an observation John.
I do some voluntary work where I'm required to wear a uniform. It's not much; a zip up jacket with an English Heritage logo on it. When I'm out and about at work I keep an eye out for people who's dogs aren't on a lead and, if I see one, tell them they need to do this. It's something I've said to people maybe a hundred times and on every occasion they have complied and often apologised for having to be told (there are signs around saying so)
I also sometime visit out of uniform and, out of force of habit, sometimes say the same thing. The reaction is completely different and has ranged from ignoring me to the full on "Who are you to tell me what to do, you f****** c***".
I have no more authority when I wear a uniform than when I don't, but people seem to accept that I can tell them what to do. An interesting social experiment for a student thesis I think. -
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Permalink Reply by ThaiDi on
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I'm sorry this happened to you. Sounds like Mcdonalds woman should be reported to police, there might be cctv too. I hope you're not too shaken up.
Having been hit by a car earlier this year and suffering multiple fractures, I feel more vulnerable than ever as a cyclist even though I am delighted to be back on my bike. Sadly, with the Charlie Alliston case this past month, I feel that cyclists have been vilified in the mainstream media, never mind that car drivers kill far more pedestrians, you won't see their court cases (if they come to that) make headline news. This doesn't help the increasing 'them and us' attitude between different types of road users, as though cyclists never walk or drive too.
We all have a responsibility for our safety and for that of those around us, whatever form of transport we use, but I fear this thread may descend as usual into accusations of 'cyclists always jump red light/ride on pavements' etc...
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Permalink Reply by Marian Leatherby on
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Yesterday, walking down the empty pavement in Hornsey Road, a man suddenly bumped into me from behind. Startled and annoyed, I looked round, he gave a sort of 'what of it?' look and just carried on walking without saying a thing. He was tall and well built.
I think it was brave of you, tigha, to confront that woman. I sometimes think of the man who was murdered in Manor House tube station some years ago when he confronted someone. Mind you, sometimes one does voice one's annoyance.
Personally, I think some of the anger drivers show to cyclists comes from fear. It's awful when a cyclist does something reckless that endangers themselves and you avoid injuring them only by chance or because you looked one extra time. It feels awful when that happens. I wish lots of them would slow down. It's dangerous to rush alongside when the cars are at a standstill.
However please dont say I'm having a go at cyclists I'm not! I'm talking about the reckless ones which I'm sure tigha isn't.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Your post can be summed up as "I'm not a racist but...".
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Yesterday I was cutting (on foot - I'm not a cyclist) through the back streets of Crouch End when something happened in front of me between a female cyclist and a woman about to cross the road with her dog. I'm not sure there was any physical contact between them - I wasn't paying attention. I was just aware of some sudden movement, then the pedestrian with the dog yelling 'bitch' at the cyclist. My feeling was that she was about to cross the road and was startled by the appearance of the cyclist but I couldn't be sure. Regardless, the language and the volume at which it was used was unacceptable. Woman and dog disappeared quickly down the snicket off Palace Road before I could have words with her. It was right by the corner by the barrier on Palace Road, so about as traffic free as you can get. I just get the feeling people think it's OK to be obnoxious.
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On a macro societal level, when you see daily how ill-mannered people can be, rather than families being charged with the upbringing of their children, you can thank the socialist notion that government takes care of everything including raising children. The children fear nothing because they have never been disciplined ever. The bordering sociopathic act of blithely throwing waste out the window of a car is a symptom of this. What happened to you is the "reprisal" I always hear about that makes people afraid to act as you have done.
I will say that I would have done as you did by chucking the rubbish back into the window. Where things would have been different is that fat mum's car would have been minus a headlamp or possibly a windscreen depending on how aggressive she was and how worked up she made me. I try to keep peace but eventually something random like that will happen to me and we'll see how I react.
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