Bicycle 0 - Me 1

Freefaller

Freefaller

Freefaller

Man of Honour
Joined
5 Jun 2003
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91,552
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Falling...
Well it's an unfortunate tale really, and I'm sure it's happened to others here, however it was the reaction of the cyclist that alarmed me the most.

Quick overview of the situation:

I'm merrily crossing the road as it's green for pedestrians, a couple of motorbikes pull up to a nice gentle stop, I notice the cyclist, but carry on walking only to find that he's not slowing down and being a stubborn git I decided not to speed up or slow down - needless to say he ran into me.

I know I know, you're worried whether or not I was ok, yes, I'm fine, a little bruise on my arm and probably one on my leg but I can't tell if that's DOMS or just a bruise!

He, however, had a few scrapes and a it of a bloodied t-shirt - poor soul :(

At this point after brushing myself down, I walk over to him quizzically looking at him (and offering a hand, I am a gentleman after all) to which I got nothing but neanderthalic snarls. He starts barking and screaming at me asking me what the **** I thought I was doing?!

Being a man of acute wit I replied rather generally, "crossing the road"... this seemed to rile him further, oh dear. He said that he saw me "clock" him and that i could have moved out of the way?! Is that so? I ask him, well I reminded him that I was crossing the road and that the lights were red for him - to which he protested about me being a smart sarcy ****. Charming!

Anyway after a torrent of abuse he got himself up and carried on... a crowd did form and to his irritation were enquiring as to my health and wondering what the hell that cyclist was doing etc... Which was nice, I felt for the moment genuinely loved - it's a rare but nice feeling.

What I couldn't fathom was why he decided to be so vitriolic towards me? He made a mistake and bounced off me - why should I be the one to blame? Surely everything was in my favour no? Okay, I admit I should have maybe increased my pace a little to let him pass, but i felt defiant and wanted to go at a pace I felt comfortable with.

He wanted to call the police and get me done for assault amongst other charges...

Don't get me wrong I have a lot of respect for people on 2 wheels, I ride a motorbike myself, however if I made a mistake I'd put my hands up and scream mea culpa as loud as I could in an post-coital and dramatic manner.

It's the seething anger that he had towards me that surprised me, were it not for the fact that I'm a gent I fear I may have had a slight bout of fisticuffs with him.

Moral of the story? None really, just wanted to share my experience of today, but also serve as a reminder to cyclists, if you're going to run a red light, don't expect pedestrians to dodge you and accept the repercussions of your actions.
 
Dark_Angel said:
Having read all of that, I would agree (I neither drive or cycle really... its usually public transport/taxi/walk for me).

On the other hand, I am always astounded at people walking across roads. Half the time its "oh look car coming. Oh well".
Or
"Well, the lights are just turning green for them to go, but my crossing now will stop them from moving forward" :/
Click to expand...

Agreed, people who dawdle drive me mildly insane, however I never see the point in rushing when I have the time to cross (I was in my suit and carrying a fair bit of paperwork). Obviously you make sure the way is clear, why put your life in danger - but in this instance it was a big busy junction near vauxhall cross!

Ok my near tenth of a tonne frame was probably an unfair advantage, but I honestly didn't REALLY want him to hit me but I in all honesty was expecting him to stop or swerve around me, but he assumed that I would move which narked me off a bit I must admit.
 
Well I have a bit of a bruise on my left thigh and a bit of a bruise on my shoulder where parts of his body hit me, but other than that I'm fine.

Yes I did stand my ground, though I didn't purposely slow down or speed up I kept at my pace because frankly although the cyclist had seen me I honestly did expect him to stop or swerve around me as most cyclists do. He didn't he made a point of it I'm sure to prove that I was in the wrong some how.

Thanks for some of your concerns, however it'll take a bit more than a cyclists to render me RIP. I'm not exactly waif like!

However I do admit my stubborn streak is probably a little silly, but frankly as I was carrying some papers I really didn't feel like running, why should I run from the cyclist when I'm entitled to cross - even if it had been an emergency services car/van it would have stopped, though in such a case I'd have probably darted out of their way anyway - however why did the cyclist EXPECT me to move for him?

I didn't really want to bring this as an anti cycling thread, but obviously it's going to happen - however I refuse to be bullied, and it'll probably be my undoing one day, but until then I stand forthright in my convictions.

An interesting array of comments I must say.

Khan yes I do live in London.

Let me reiterate, though that I'm not trying to show off or be super proud of being a bit of a stubborn git, but I wanted to share my story to either help educate cyclists, or at least realise the implications. Had I been a frail or disabled person it might have been a sadder story.
 
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