Yobs in cars shouting abuse at cyclists for no reason?

[Cunobelin]

Helmet Cams are useful

I had an incident, and pointed out that I would be using the evidence to seek a Section 59 notice for antisocial behaviour, the driver being responsible for the actions of his passengers

Then when you point out that they will never know, but a second offence can get the car seized they seem to become sheepish

[Lance Dopestrong]

I know a cyclist who tried drawing an aggressors attention to his camera. He got walloped and had it torn from his helmet, and the offender was never identified. Probably not a good idea to draw attention to a camera.

[Audax67]

Never had any real abuse thrown at me. Best I had was in Hendaye: "Oi! Flea-market item!" (article de brocante) which I thought was really rather inventive. Mostly it's "allez-allez-allez" or "Allez <insert name of TdF cyclist here>".

[PDQ Mobile]

Never had any real abuse thrown at me. Best I had was in Hendaye: "Oi! Flea-market item!" (article de brocante) which I thought was really rather inventive. Mostly it's "allez-allez-allez" or "Allez <insert name of TdF cyclist here>".

Yes that is my experience on the Continent. France particularly.
Shouts of encouragement, good natured banter.

But it's often different in the UK I think?

[ebor62]

Plenty of experience. Most of the time it is young males with a sad and boring life, looking to make there mates laugh. If you ignore them, it all falls a bit flat. If you respond they get a bigger laugh out of it. Its only when they start throwing bottles and cans it becomes a problem. It is not confined to cyclists, when walking from work along a south coast seafront I was regularly targeted as were my colleagues. They will pick on you for been tall, short, fat, thin, bald, wearing glasses, red hair etc. As Cyclists we are probably seen as different but usually what they shout is lost in the wind. In the past, when chasing after them to catch them at lights it has caused them great amusement, so unless they cause danger, I would ignore them. As they say "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me".

[awavey]

frequently, sadly so much so that when the other week a guy leaned out of his car and started swearing in my general direction, I just assumed it was aimed at me, and not as it turned out his mate in the car alongside him he was having "banter" with.

some of its sexist abuse, some of its just random verbal abuse, sometimes they are yobs in a car, sometimes just the local tweenagers who like to hang out on the cycle path, why shouting abuse at a middle aged woman on a bike is seen as a thing I do not know.

but I just try and zone it out and ignore it

[eileithyia]

Not unusual, it used to be comments such as; ' Nice legs shame about the face' 'Can you ride tandem' 'The back wheel's following the front'
some of it has become a bit more offensive on occasions.
When the Royal Agricultural Show used to be on and I was using lanes nearby on my commute, have had a drunken (well assumed so) badly aimed beer can thrown at me.
Worst was a clod of earth thrown at me (that one hit between shoulder blades) from a gardener's van, (had seen them working earlier in my ride) but had no proof, no witness and no means of reporting (unmarked van).

[landsurfer]

However is it possible that it is the physical manifestation of a wider national malaise? (it does not, in my experience, occur on the Continent).

On the continent they throw cupfuls of urine at cyclists instead .....

[hondated]

[img]Jin[/img]

Has anyone experienced this?
So your cycling along the road, next thing a car load of yobs hurls verbal abuse for no reason at all. You have done nothing at all to annoy the car but yet their small minds see a bike and think its so amusing that they need to hurl a torrent of verbal abuse.

What goes on in these idiots minds? Is it just the area I live as it seems endemic here or does if happen in other parts of the country?
How do you react to these yobs surely they are breaking the public order act by use of insulting words or behaviour in a public place and probably the fact that they've been motivated by drugs or alcohol suggesting the driver might also be under the influence.

Any experiences of this problem and what to do.

Thanks

Even down here in Eastbourne what some call God's waiting room it's happened to me several times.
The worse of these incidents being a party popper being set off by an idiot in a car as they drove past.
Knowing the estate they pulled into I now wish I had followed them and called the armed police unit out as for all I knew they could have fired a gun at me. That might of stopped them doing it to someone else in the future.
When it does happen it always ruins what might of been a good ride as I just want to be left alone with my own thoughts.

[hondated]

Plenty of experience. Most of the time it is young males with a sad and boring life, looking to make there mates laugh. If you ignore them, it all falls a bit flat. If you respond they get a bigger laugh out of it. Its only when they start throwing bottles and cans it becomes a problem. It is not confined to cyclists, when walking from work along a south coast seafront I was regularly targeted as were my colleagues. They will pick on you for been tall, short, fat, thin, bald, wearing glasses, red hair etc. As Cyclists we are probably seen as different but usually what they shout is lost in the wind. In the past, when chasing after them to catch them at lights it has caused them great amusement, so unless they cause danger, I would ignore them. As they say "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me".

Yes know the adage well but that said at times I just wish I was younger, fitter and one of life's " hard nuts ".

[rjb]

Yep happens occasionally. I just ignore it. But it's nothing in comparison to when I rode a 400k Audax in Wales in the 1990's , we arrived in a large Welsh town just as all the clubs were kicking the punters out at closing time. Fortunately they could only muster a lot of what they regarded as friendly banter. I'm just glad they didn't have any bottles or tinnies to hand. We all survived but it did get a bit hairy trying to avoid the drunks.

[thirdcrank]

s 59 seems to be a powerful bit of legislation: in other circumstances we'd have people getting hot under the collar about civil liberties when property can apparently be forfeit on such slim grounds. It gets over problems with identifying the driver, which can be hard enough, and identifying passengers which may be almost impossible. People on the receiving end of this bullying / harassment / anti-social behaviour can either compare notes about their experiences or report them to the police and encourage them to do the comparing. It should soon become apparent if the same vehicle is being used repeatedly. It may come as a total surprise to the vehicle keeper when they hear from the police, eg if some proud parent is unaware of what their offspring gets up to wen out with their mates or if a fleet driver is in the habit of venting their frustration on cyclists.

This is all after my time so I've no experience about how it works in practice and now I'm not commuting at all hours, I don't attract attention but until somebody mentions a snag, I'm convinced this is the right course of action.

[david7591]

Hi,
When I was running marathons (1980), had lots of abuse being thrown at me........including bear cans

Did the cans contain beer? If so you could view them as a gift

[PDQ Mobile]

However is it possible that it is the physical manifestation of a wider national malaise? (it does not, in my experience, occur on the Continent).

On the continent they throw cupfuls of urine at cyclists instead .....

Actually the only time I have been sprayed with an unidentified liquid was in Folkstone.

And the French drivers (nearly always) give more space and consideration.

[jgurney]

I saw a similar display of aggression towards bus users yesterday. A small car containing four young people coming the other way pulled out to force the bus I was on to stop and the car occupants made rude gestures and showed snarling faces before the car then sped past and away.

The reason is probably that like many status-driven consumers they are full of anger and resentment at being denied the respect they feel they have paid for and are due.

They have believed for years that getting their car will bring not just mobility and expense, but also a lot of status. Now that they have finally got it this has not happened. Apart from a short burst of admiration from among their friends when they first got a car, no-one has treated them any differently, and it has begun to dawn on them that millions of people have cars and so practically no-one has even noticed theirs, after all they did to get it. They feel cheated and they want their own back.

Among the most obvious targets for these acts of resentment are those who most obviously deny that cars are special and admirable - those who choose not to use them, and thus show (as the vengeful esteem-deprived driver sees it) disdain for the car and therefore for the car-owner. From their point of view the very act of preferring to make a journey by bike or public transport implies regarding the car as second-rate, or at best as of equal value rather than superior to other modes, and thus devalues their achievement and their possession.