How do you deal with an angry car driver?

[mjr]

Drive in France and you're left in no doubt about the limit which are very well signed.

This claim has been made before, but many limits in France are implicit and without their own signs, indicated by the red borders on place names or dictated by weather conditions. Which is more obvious what the limit is: http://www.instantstreetview.com/@44.76 ... .98p,0.77z or http://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.11 ... -10.25p,1z ?

[Cyril Haearn]

How can I join this conversation and *win the argument*? Of course I could say *150 points and only €3 to pay? !*

In Norway, they have some public service adverts with quotable information, like 'most accidents involve drivers who were over the speed limit' or 'when things go wrong, speeding greatly increases the chance of a fatality'.

The data to back these up are available on the Statens Vegvesen (Highways Agency) website.

I imagine that you could arm yourself with that sort of thing and be prepared to provide substantiating data.

My company begin meetings with HSE or Quality moments. One of the slides prepared by the corporate HSE folks to be used as an HSE moment is 5 points on speeding awareness. They have similar ones about mobile phone use, distracted driving, winter driving conditions, etc.

I don't know about winning the conversation. There are similar bits of I-have-a-right-to-speed information bullets, like, 'speeding is seldom the cause of accidents'. At least it raises awareness if people can speak intelligently about these things.

One wonders whether to play dumb or ignorant. What my colleagues think of me does not matter much to me, but I do not want them to suspect that I am obsessive about traffic law enforcement

We have a problem with the language too, in Germany the main cause of *accidents* is *unangepasste Geschwindigkeit*, "wrong" speed

Grrr

[millimole]

Regarding speeding.
I find UK speed limit signage poor and often don't know what the limit is so default to 30mph,very often to find I'm in a 40
Drive in France and you're left in no doubt about the limit which are very well signed.

This was a point made at the Speed Awareness Course my wife attended. It's the other way round : the speed limit is 30 unless otherwise signed. The other giveaway for 30 limits is 'a system of street lighting' with no other signposting.
My wife attending the course has had more effect on my driving, than on hers!


You can easlily remove the Tapatalk spam using settings on YOUR phone

[eileithyia]

Yes sorry DC dual carriageway,SC single carriageway.

[Vorpal]

We have a problem with the language too, in Germany the main cause of *accidents* is *unangepasste Geschwindigkeit*, "wrong" speed

Grrr

Norwegian has a language problem with crashes, too. The word for accident is 'ulyyke' which also means 'unlucky'.

[drossall]

A couple of the biggest clues for anybody concerned about speed cameras is that there are prominent warning signs and the cameras themselves are bright yellow.

I couldn't care less about cameras. It's the limit signs I'm looking for. If I've seen those, the cameras are irrelevant. And if I see the camera but not the sign, I'm no better off anyway.

There certainly are places where signing is poor. I think the sense of the original comment was to recognise your point that 30 should be assumed in residential areas, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. So it's more usually a case of going "too slow" than too fast.

[thirdcrank]

A couple of the biggest clues for anybody concerned about speed cameras is that there are prominent warning signs and the cameras themselves are bright yellow.

I couldn't care less about cameras. It's the limit signs I'm looking for. If I've seen those, the cameras are irrelevant. And if I see the camera but not the sign, I'm no better off anyway.

There certainly are places where signing is poor. I think the sense of the original comment was to recognise your point that 30 should be assumed in residential areas, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. So it's more usually a case of going "too slow" than too fast.

But that's exactly what I was trying to say in the bit you haven't quoted:

Poor signage can be a problem but IME around here, that's most obvious with intermittent repeaters in a 40. That only occurs on a "derestricted road" ie lamp posts meaning 30mph but speed limit relaxed to 40. The failsafe is to assume lampposts and no repeaters is a 30, rather than a 40 with the repeaters missing.

Reference has been made to speed awareness courses and to save anybody going on one to learn the speed limits applicable where there are no repeater signs I'll offer this (which is subject to speed limits for specific vehicle types.)

Lamp posts = 30 mph
No lamp posts on a single carriageway road = 60mph
No lamp posts on a dual carriageway = 70mph.

PS Forgot to say that the repeaters can be other speeds than 40, including 20, but when I wrote IME, I meant that it's only in 40 zones where I ever see such extended distances between repeaters that doubt arises.

[drossall]

But that's exactly what I was trying to say in the bit you haven't quoted

Yes, fair enough. I'd expect that, given your background

Take my comment as just supporting you. Or ignore it, as you wish

[reohn2]

Drive in France and you're left in no doubt about the limit which are very well signed.

This claim has been made before, but many limits in France are implicit and without their own signs, indicated by the red borders on place names or dictated by weather conditions. Which is more obvious what the limit is: http://www.instantstreetview.com/@44.76 ... .98p,0.77z or http://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.11 ... -10.25p,1z ?

The point being made,as has been made before , is that as a stranger driving on the opposite side of the road in a foreign country I'm left in no doubt about the speed limit .
Whereas in my own country I find I'm asking myself on various occasions throughout a trip "what's the limit here " and that if the signage was more obvious people wouldn't have any excuses for speeding if they were left in no doubt.
I see your reply as unnecessarily pedantic

[CyberKnight]

That sounded quite tame compared to some of the encounters I've had! I've found that you are never going to win an argument with a driver, views become entrenched in both sides and sometimes you just have to agree to differ. I try not to get involved nowadays unless I fell I've been put in real danger.

Very mild indeed , i seriously would not even worry about it .
last time someone did a3 point turn right in front of me nearly hiting me and when i shouted look out he chased me down the road , tried to run me over twice then proceeded to scream and shout waving his fists calling me a gay lycra [rude word removed] .

[fretsaw]

surely backing down is the best perogotive to putting oneself in line for a punch

[robing]

I'm generally assertive on the road but non confrontational. I'm in Spain at the moment and it's such a difference from the UK. There's a lot less traffic away from the coast and urban areas. Many roads have a wide shoulder to cycle on yet the drivers still give you a nice wide berth.

[mjr]

Many roads have a wide shoulder to cycle on yet the drivers still give you a nice wide berth.

Other than toll-free motorways, are you meant to ride on the shoulder in Spain? I know that sometimes it seems like the least bad option on busy roads, like in other countries, but what's the rule?

Not that I'm intending to cycle in Spain again until they change their H&H rules.

[robing]

Many roads have a wide shoulder to cycle on yet the drivers still give you a nice wide berth.

Other than toll-free motorways, are you meant to ride on the shoulder in Spain? I know that sometimes it seems like the least bad option on busy roads, like in other countries, but what's the rule?

Not that I'm intending to cycle in Spain again until they change their H&H rules.

I honest don't know the rules. But it's usually a wide shoulder in fairly good condition and free from debris - unlike in France.

[Johnocyprus]

Back to topic if the angry driver is a nutter then smiling and treating them with kindness will often confuse and destabilise them. They can get very confused which is a joy to be behold. Much less stress for the cyclist in a no win situation.