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AIBU?

To want to smash illegally parked cars after I just almost got knocked off bike?

144 replies

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 16:36

I am so MAD it's not even describable. I live in an area of loads of victorian terraces...it's very naice and everything but these people park their bastard cars all up the roads and half on the paths making it treacherous for cyclists and pedestrians.

I just turned left into the next street on my bike (on the road) having checked there was no oncoming traffic. As I began cycling off, a car was coming in the opposite direction at quite a speed....probably not above the legal limit though...he did however get so close to me that he knocked the brake almost off the bike and caused me to clatter and clunk along the side of his car...this was due to A his speed and B the fact that the whole side of the road is taken up by fucking CARS where it should be FREE for ME to ride!

Angry

I was very apologetic and the driver was white....he kept saying "are you alright?" and I realise now that it was probably more his fault than mine...I was worried about his car!

I never got hurt...but that's because I had the strength to lever me and the bike away from the car and keep my feet clear...causing me to be sort of sandwiched between the moving car and the parked one.

What can i DO??? I have complained about the cars parking there before and they told me they'd ticket them all...then nothing happens!

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babyhmummy01 · 18/07/2013 16:38

Call police and report it as an accident

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NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 16:38

I literally feel like taking a hammer to the lazy bastard's cars. DH says "but where will they park?"

I DON'T CARE WHERE THEY PARK!!!! I care that a kid wouldn't have had the speed or the strength or the calmness to have been ok in the situation I was just in and I care that people pushing buggies and wheelchairs have to go on the ROAD because these people are using the PATH for their vehicles!!!

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NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 16:38

baby I don't have the number plate!

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 18/07/2013 16:41

I'd log it with the police too. Maybe, if they get enough reports, they will do something about the state of the parking.

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babyhmummy01 · 18/07/2013 16:44

I would still report it and explain that it wasn't the drivers fault but due to the cars that are parked, although if there are no yellow lines then the cars can park on the side of the road. It's down to other road users to judge if they can traverse the road without damaging the cars parked or injuring other road users.

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NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 16:46

Shall I complain to the council?

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AntlersInAllOfMyDecorating · 18/07/2013 16:46

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Thurlow · 18/07/2013 16:48

I'd call the police as well. But I hate this, I live in a similar area that's just not designed for cars parked on both sides of the road. The amount of places I struggle to get around with a pushchair because people have parked over the crossing (well, the dipped bit) or on corners, and that's with a single buggy, god knows what people with a double buggy or a wheelchair do.

Somedays I want to walk around my town with a notepad and leave little smiley notes on people's cars - "thank you so much for blocking the crossing" or "I really appreciated having to push the buggy through a pile of mud in someone's front garden because you've parked across the entire pavement." Passive aggressive and twattish no doubt, but I'd love to do it. Though obviously none of that is anywhere near as bad as nearly having an accident.

I guess the difficulty is though that there are just too many cars and nowhere to park them. A victorian road doesn't have enough room for people to park outside their house.

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NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 16:48

i don't know Antlers....there are some lines but Ive never looked properly...

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SoupDragon · 18/07/2013 16:49

The fault lies with the other driver, not the parked cars.

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diddl · 18/07/2013 16:54

Were there cars both sides?

If so, it was your right of way wasn't it-because you were already passing the parked cars-& because you are a bike?

I'm in Germany & rarely cycle on the roads.

But when I do & there's nothing my side, it really pisses me off the amount of drivers who in passing parked cars leave me very little room.

It's hard to hold your part of the road when there's a car coming at you!

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hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 18/07/2013 16:59

The parked cars are an issue if, as the OP says, they are forcing pedestrians into the road. It is only a matter of time until someone is seriously hurt.

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HeySoulSister · 18/07/2013 17:01

the car was already coming up the street when you turned left?

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AntlersInAllOfMyDecorating · 18/07/2013 17:01

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AntlersInAllOfMyDecorating · 18/07/2013 17:02

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LRDYaDumayuIThink · 18/07/2013 17:40

I think if you didn't see what road markings there were, you need to check before you decide the cars shouldn't be parked there. And I agree, it sounds as if it was the driver's fault (and very scary for you).

I wonder if maybe as well as reporting it, if there aren't double yellows and there is parking allowed, you could also get in touch with the council and tell them what a hazard it is? And if there are double yellows and the cars are parked illegally, when you report it, tell them that. If enough people make a fuss they are more likely to get a parking warden to toughen up/visit more regularly.

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theodorakisses · 18/07/2013 17:44

If so much as threatened to take a hammer to my car I would report you and persue it, what a ridiculous thing to say. Then you wonder why people call cyclists car hating aggressive bullies?

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HeySoulSister · 18/07/2013 17:46

out of interest op,where do you expect everyone to park?

the uk is full of these types of streets

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Sparklingbrook · 18/07/2013 17:48

That sounds really frightening Neo. Glad you are ok. Definitely report to the Police.

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NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 17:52

Soul yes...the street is VERY long...so there should have been plenty of time...I was well on the road and on my way...the oncoming car should have stopped really. He risked it.

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NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 18/07/2013 17:53

Soul I really don't care where they park...up their own petrol guzzling arses if they like! Smile

There are plenty of car parks and garages for hire close by. I suppose they're too lazy to walk though.

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NUFC69 · 18/07/2013 19:00

We have a problem with cars parked on the pavement here, too. I was talking about it to my DSis and she said that the police in their village have adopted a pragmatic approach - cars can park on the pavement, but there must be room for a double buggy to get through the space which means, of course, that there is also room for a wheelchair. This is actually rigidly enforced and seemed like a really good compromise to me. Not that it helps you, OP, in the situation you were in. Tbh it does sound as if the driver was at fault. Hope you're feeling ok?

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VivaLeBeaver · 18/07/2013 19:12

Unless there's yellow lines then they can park on the road. They shouldn't be half on the pavement but if they get ticketed for that they'll just park fully on the road making it even narrower for cars and cycles. So maybe be careful what you wish for!

Sounds like it was the other cars fault, that he didn't appreciate how much room he needed. His fault, not the parked cars.

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WMittens · 18/07/2013 20:20

I'm sorry to hear you had such a close shave, the driver sounds reckless.

where it should be FREE for ME to ride!

This bit is unreasonable - you have no more right to use that road than
anyone else.

Also, re parked cars: yes they're an annoyance but they are a static hazard - everyone: pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, needs to adjust their behaviour when they approach a hazard.

Assume everyone else on the road is an idiotic moron and you won't be disappointed.

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EvieanneVolvic · 18/07/2013 20:43

Look I can see you are shaken, and I get that, and I am glad you were not actually hurt, but what you are in effect saying is that cars should not be on the pavement (true) and that they should not be on the road either.

can't help thinking you are the sort of cyclist who gives them all a bad name.

It may not be desirable but it is a fact that we are very much a four wheel society and as such it seems to me that cyclists contribute greatly to traffic hazards. I also don't like the fact that they always seem to claim the moral highground no matter how extreme and outrageous they are being and no matter how optional they consider red lights to be, but that's another thread

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