Taxi drivers

"Chris Wheeler" wrote in message
...
What is it with taxi drivers? I was cycling to work this morning on the
left side of a long, road-like car park, and a taxi (Skyline, Milton
Keynes) was coming the other way, on the other side of the "road". All
of a sudden he's veering all the way over to my side, grinning at me,
forcing me right up against the parked cars.
I'm not used to this sort of behaviour, so I panicked, yanked my right
foot out of my pedal and slammed on my brakes because I was coming up to
a junction (another car was going across the junction in front of me, he
had right of way).
Does anybody has any advice (not involving breaking the law) on how to
deal with such vindictive drivers?

I don't have any advice, but I was riding home from work a couple of days
ago when a car full of idiots drove past, and honked an air horn at me. I
didn't jump and wouldn't have minded too much but for the fact that they had
filed the horn with spit, so I got showered.

Unfortunately, I was on my full suspension mountainbike and no matter how
hard I tried, I couldn't catch the car. I'm still fuming about it!

But remember, a road bike in traffic is much faster than w*nkers in a Rover,
ride up the inside nice and quick and joust the wing mirror with your leg.
If only I'd been on my Sequoia....

"Peter Clinch" wrote in message
...
Chris Wheeler wrote:
What is it with taxi drivers?

The same as with pretty much every other class of road user: some are
exemplary drivers and some are exemplary *******.


Indeed. I've had some remarkably courteous driving shown to me by local taxi
driver back in Jan 04, so I wrote a thank you letter to the taxi operator,
on the hope that the taxi driver in question got a brownie point :-)

Cheers, helen s

wafflycat wrote:

I've had some remarkably courteous driving shown to me by
local taxi driver back in Jan 04, so I wrote a thank you letter to
the taxi operator,

If you've got that much free time, I've got a bedroom which needs painting
and a winter hack waiting for its springtime spruce-up!

;-)

Response to Geraint Jones:
Are we to infer,
forsooth, that there was never any Mrs Sturmey Archer?"

I do hope not, I mean that would be taking aplurality to (forsooth) unwonted
extremes, since it is rather like asking whether there was ever a Mrs Rolls
Royce.

Very true. [Makes note to write to Myles na gCopaleen]


--
Mark, UK.

"For business reasons, I must preserve the outward signs of sanity."

dkahn400 wrote:
It's not really a taxi driver problem BTW. Just as not all cyclists run
red lights or ride on the pavement, not all taxi drivers are nasty,
vindictive idiots.

Fair point. Like many things, I only notice the bad ones.

-Chris

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:03:16 +0000 someone who may be Chris Wheeler
wrote this:-

What is it with taxi drivers? I was cycling to work this morning on the
left side of a long, road-like car park, and a taxi (Skyline, Milton
Keynes) was coming the other way, on the other side of the "road". All
of a sudden he's veering all the way over to my side, grinning at me,
forcing me right up against the parked cars. [snip]

Does anybody has any advice (not involving breaking the law) on how to
deal with such vindictive drivers?

The other options mentioned in the thread and which you did are
undoubtedly the safest. The other alternative is not to be
frightened by the idiot and maintain your position, stopping if
necessary.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

David Hansen wrote:

The other options mentioned in the thread and which you did are
undoubtedly the safest. The other alternative is not to be
frightened by the idiot and maintain your position, stopping if
necessary.

I wouldn't recommned this as you are rather committing your safety to
the skill and judgement of a moron who is actively demonstrating that
he is not fit to be in charge of a motor vehicle. He may be /relying/
on the fact that you will take evasive action.

--
Dave...

"Chris Wheeler" wrote in message
...
What is it with taxi drivers? I was cycling to work this morning on the
left side of a long, road-like car park, and a taxi (Skyline, Milton
Keynes) was coming the other way, on the other side of the "road". All
of a sudden he's veering all the way over to my side, grinning at me,
forcing me right up against the parked cars.
I'm not used to this sort of behaviour, so I panicked, yanked my right
foot out of my pedal and slammed on my brakes because I was coming up to
a junction (another car was going across the junction in front of me, he
had right of way).
Does anybody has any advice (not involving breaking the law) on how to
deal with such vindictive drivers?

This seems to be an increasingly familiar 'game'. It happened to me
recently (on a side road, chav points car at me and grins, veers off in good
time) and on a country lane last summer (ditto).

Your local council's Licensing Committee would take (one would hope) a
fairly dim view of such behaviour. Each driver is individually licensed and
the car itself is licensed.

I know it is hard when faced with such incidents -- but get as much detail
as you can. Number plate or part thereof, make, colour etc of car, driver
description, taxi company, other distinguishing marks(e.g. advert), Taxi
licence number (on the back on a white or yellow plate. Get witnesses if
possible. Phone the Council's Licensing Officer and give him what you have.
Even if he can't identify the guy completely he can have a word in the ear
of the firm or the chief suspect and feel his collar a bit.

dkahn400 wrote:
David Hansen wrote:


The other options mentioned in the thread and which you did are
undoubtedly the safest. The other alternative is not to be
frightened by the idiot and maintain your position, stopping if
necessary.


I wouldn't recommned this as you are rather committing your safety to
the skill and judgement of a moron who is actively demonstrating that
he is not fit to be in charge of a motor vehicle. He may be /relying/
on the fact that you will take evasive action.

I'd second that.
Within a matter of seconds, his car was where my bike used to be. I
wouldn't like to second-guess him while I'm in fight-or-flight mode.

-Chris
ps. I didn't mean to use the word "second" that many times... :-\

Chris Wheeler wrote:

ps. I didn't mean to use the word "second" that many
times... :-\

Had second thoughts about your wording?

--
Dave...