Cyclists pelted with eggs in Essex?

[Philip Benstead]

Around 1976 whilst riding home alone after breakfast ride along Bromley common.
I was young and fit then
A car passed me a passenger threw a orange at me

It landed on my back.

I was not pleased, I was very tired.

I made chase and caught them at the junction of Westmoreland road.

The car was occupied I think by three males

I gave them piece of my mind and moved their windscreen wiper at right angles

Then I went home

[Audax67]

While slogging up the hill out of Hendaye towards St.-Jean in 1999 a bunch of youths at a bus-stop bellowed at me article de brocante! (Flea-market article.) It was so original I was chuckling all the way to the top.

[TonyR]

Nothing new. Back in the late '60's cycling through Moss Side in Manchester was accompanied most times by a half brick or stone or two lobbed in your direction.

[Ayesha]

I was riding along a country lane when something hit my helmet and bounced ahead of me on the road. It was a twig approximately four inches long and about quarter inch diameter.
Curiously, I stopped to take a gaze back to see where it had come from, expecting to see young boys sniggering behind the hedgerow.
Not young boys. A squirrel sitting on a low branch of an overhanging tree.

Tufty’s revenge.


PS. At the aquaduct at Wooton Wawen in Warwickshire, the bargies wait for passing cyclists with loaded buckets.

[TonyR]

cyclists with loaded buckets.

Can't be too many of those around

[thirdcrank]

When I was a tiny lad, it was drummed into us

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.

As a cyclist, I've been the target of a lot of comment from bystanders but I seem to have been fortunate that they've not thrown much at me. I remember one snowballing incident, when I was able to catch the thrower and put the wind up him, but I don't remember any other incidents. OTOH, I've had all manner of stuff thrown from passing vehicles.

Anyway, I've only posted to mention that we seem to have managed quite a long thread about eggs without anybody pointing out that un ouef's enough.

[kwackers]

I remember one snowballing incident, when I was able to catch the thrower and put the wind up him, but I don't remember any other incidents. OTOH, I've had all manner of stuff thrown from passing vehicles.

A few years ago I was riding my motorcycle along a road when a couple of youths threw a handful of gravel at me - it's quite alarming being hit in the face by gravel at 30mph or so!

At this I completely lost my rag, slammed on and spun the bike around leaving a fairly impressive 'darkie' ring on the road followed by much wheelspinning as I tore off after them. They ran into an entry and I followed rattling down it with the sort of pace and noise that a 1200cc sports motorcycle does quite well before finally pinning the tail end youth to a wall with the front wheel of the bike.

After some fairly loud (and threatening) language I let him go - but not before I spotted that he'd pee'd himself...

[tatanab]

A tale from about 30 years ago.

I was walking my bike up a short sharp hill which had a viewpoint near the top. I had an egg dropped on me. I reckoned that the culprit would have to be near the viewpoint, so I reached the top of the hill and sat there for a few minutes. I then cycled quietly down the path to the viewpoint where I found 3 lads aged about 15 who scarpered pretty quickly on their bikes as I approached. I chose one and chased after him, even passing another on the way. He wiggled through barriers into a modern housing estate, but I kept him in sight and saw which house he went into. I rang the doorbell and was greeted by his father. I explained what had happened and the father was suitably embarrassed, not least because the family had visitors at the time. I declined the offer of a payment for cleaning and left it to the father to determine a suitable punishment. A good outcome I think.

[burnsie]

[quote="thirdcrank"]
Anyway, I've only posted to mention that we seem to have managed quite a long thread about eggs without anybody pointing out that un ouef's enough.

That is absolutely outrageous!!

[fausto copy]

A few years ago my mate was riding my tandem (with Mrs.Copy on the back - don't ask ) and they were pelted with eggs from a passing white Transit van. One egg hit my mate in the face, just missing his eye and he did well to control the bike as they were negotiating a junction at the time.
He was livid and phone the police when he got home.
Someone else had also complained having been likewise attacked.
The police managed to trace the van from CCTV from the toll bridge and followed it up by a visit to the owners.
They were given a severe warning and happily we've had no more reports of any similar incidents.
So it does pay to notify the police.

[BeeKeeper]

Anyway, I've only posted to mention that we seem to have managed quite a long thread about eggs without anybody pointing out that un ouef's enough.

That is absolutely outrageous!!

Shouldn't that be egg-rageous? (If you get the yoke)

[MartinC]

Anyway, I've only posted to mention that we seem to have managed quite a long thread about eggs without anybody pointing out that un ouef's enough.

That is absolutely outrageous!!

Shouldn't that be egg-rageous? (If you get the yoke)

Eggsactly!

[BUTTS]

I to have had something like this happen to me. A while back someone threw something rather hard at me. It wasn't a rock, I'm sure of that, but still quite solid and fortunately it hit my helmet. Had it hit me in the face I am sure it would have caused me some damage. Sad to say and I am not stereotyping...... it was a car full of youths. Just hope and presume they will grow up.

[helsinkifox]

One may complain - in May I drove to England from Scandinavia to collect 2 bicycles (see http://www.crazyguyonabike.com journal 'From Wychbold to Darlington') and was the 'victim' of bizarre behaviour - I suspect it was one of those cheap-labour Eastern Europeans. I wrote to the Venlo Police in writing (envelope + stamp)
(Netherlands) and actually did get a written reply from them saying that they asked the firm for the driver's details and will be keeping an eye on him. Whether this is true or not who can say but they did make an effort to write to me. I hope the driver got a bollocking from his boss and has lost his job. My letter to the cops:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I write to you in English, my own language as a British Citizen, as I don’t speak Dutch, so I apologise for that. However…

…I should like to report to you an incident in which I was involved last Saturday 18th May 3013. I understand that more than 24 hours have one by since the happening but my circumstances for the delay should be taken into consideration.
I have been driving from western England to northern Finland across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, roughly 3200 kilometres. On Monday 20th I was able to use a library computer in Torsby, Sweden – I wanted to contact the Netherlands Police to report this incident but found no e-mail address (and indeed, reading on the Internet I see the Netherlands Police make it difficult for contact by e-mail to be made!!! Otherwise I would have contacted you sooner).

On Tuesday 21st late afternoon I was in Östersund, Sweden and again used a library computer; I decided to write to the Netherlands Tourist Board and they have supplied me with the Venlo Police department’s address. I would appreciate it if you, the Venlo Police, would forward my letter to whomsoever it may concern with the Netherlands Police, and perhaps to some Netherlands Traffic/Driving Licences Department, as this is a matter I believe should be chased up!

On Saturday 18th May 2013 I left Dunkirk, France at about 0330 and drove in my own personal car (Mazda 626 STW) past Antwerpen and Venlo on my way towards northern Germany. At approximately 0745 after I had crossed the Netherlands/Germany border a large truck/lorry approached me from behind about 15km before Duisburg. It came within 2-3 metres of my car’s back bumper and started sounding his (very loud) horn and flashing his lights constantly. My speed was 80-90km/hour which was fast enough for an empty motorway - I am carrying delicate equipment so need to drive carefully. I can only assume the idiot driving the truck thought I was driving too slowly and was forcefully and threateningly trying to make me go faster (??). There was NO REASON why he/she could not have overtaken me, the motorway was empty! There was no-one else coming up behind us.

Instead, the truck driver continued to behave like a complete maniac and continued tooting and flashing his lights at me for about 5 minutes. I have a Finnish registration and FIN sticker at the back of my car – perhaps this truck driver hates Finns??!! (I am, actually, not Finnish, but a British
Citizen).

I decided to maintain my speed of around 80-90km/hour with which I had been quite happy all the way from Dunkirk. I made no signs to aggravate this truck driver, but continued to drive as I had been. There really was no reason for him/her to be so aggressive. It would have been silly for me to have slowed down, it is not at all wise to play around on a motorway. Finally the truck driver decided to overtake me, at which point I wrote down his/her vehicle details:

Registration plate: OL 90 KD (Netherlands plates). H. Essers was written on the truck, the name of the company.

Tachometer details should show confirm my claim - it will show the truck's speed and at what time; from this it will be seen that he/she was driving 80km/hour at around 0745 Saturday morning (18th May). Assuming this driver was using a tachometer correctly (it is a legal offence not to do so).

I have read that H. Essers’s, (a Belgian based transport firm) fleet of vehicles are equipped with TX-Magellan GEO trackers, and this tracker information would also substantiate my story of where the truck was and at what time.

I am a professional driver myself, I have a British Bus driver's licence and a Finnish Bus driver's licence - I have been driving passenger buses for 25 years in both countries. This was the only unpleasant incident that occurred to me in the whole of my 7000 kilometre journey from northern Finland to England and back.

I was, quite frankly, rather shocked and in fear of my life at this truck driver's extreme behaviour. Morons like this should have their driving licences removed for a considerable period of time, and be heavily fined!!!

I would appreciate it if you would contact this driver and ask for an explanation as to his/her behaviour towards me, and perhaps I could have, at least, a written apology from this driver?

There is absolutely NO excuse for this style of driving and I seriously believe this driver should be prosecuted. At the very least I would like the Netherlands Police to regard this matter in a serious light and keep my letter as a record in the case of this driver making more offences in the future.
I am of the opinion that it would be criminally negligent NOT to pursue this matter. This driver could very well be on the roads of Europe at this very moment terrorising other traffic! This is a matter of road safety.
I am quite sure there is something mentally wrong with the driver of that truck.

Having said that I must admit that I was travelling alone and have no evidence other than that I know where this truck was at that particular time and that tachometer/satnav(GEO)
readings should confirm this. Why would I make this up?

I have contacted H. Essers, the company in question, and received these replies from Dirk Franssens Fleet Manager’ and Sara Geris ‘Communication Manager’:

“I’m writing this mail to you regarding your complaint on May 20th about a driver of our company.In name of H.Essers I would like to apologize for the behavior of our driver and the fear that he caused you.As a company that invests heavily in the training of her drivers, we cannot support this kind of driving at all. We do take complaints about driving behavior very seriously. We have detected the truck driver and this occurrence will be included in his personal file, next to some other follow-on steps.” (from Sara Geris).

“On behalf of our company, I would like to apologize for this driver’s behavior. Unfortunately, in a company with 1.500 drivers it’s quite difficult to guaranty good behavior on the road. We have our training programs and on board telematica monitoring the driving style, still we also depends on what other participants in the daily traffic are writing to us. We take complaints as this very serious and we will not hesitate and confront the driver with your statement. Further disciplinary action will be taken.” (Dirk Franssens).
“Again I have to apologize. Due to privacy reasons, I'm by law not allowed to
communicate the drivers name. I hope you can understand this.
Still I can guarantee that without further steps form your side, the driver will
be punished. This is something what we as a company can do in line with the law.” (Dirk Franssens).

I replied to both persons thanking them for their replies but also informing them that I still had the intention of contacting the Netherlands Police regarding this truck driver. Netherlands Police because the vehicle had Netherlands registration plates, although the incident occurred on German territory and the company Essers is Belgium-based.
I am not a ‘complainer’, I often ‘look through my fingers’ at daily traffic violations but this case displayed shockingly insane and potentially murderous behaviour, a very dangerous situation for me!
I would appreciate a reply from the Netherlands Police or Netherlands Driving Licence Department concerning this issue

Respectfully (signed)

[Vorpal]

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I don't recall ever having had anything thrown at me. I've been yelled at, honked at, cut up, etc., but never had anything thrown at me. A couple of my clubmates in Essex had people throw stuff at them, but IIRC, it's been fast food rubbish thrown out of cars.