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AIBU?

...to have booted a bloke's Audi?

143 replies

hogsback · 07/04/2011 21:16

Disclaimer: I loathe inattentive drivers. I particularly loathe inattentive drivers wearing sunglasses and Armani while ON THE PHONE at the wheel of their effete stylish Audi convertible.

So was I unreasonable to put a size 7 Alpinestar into side of said car at the lights and indicate my displeasure as best as one can while wearing a bike helmet?

To be fair, he did go as white as his suit and put the phone away immediately :)

OP posts:

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DastardlyandSmuttily · 08/04/2011 09:23

Crikey, can tell very few people here have ever been on a bike (motorbike to be clear, everyone seems to think this is some kind of raging pushbike rider) in busy traffic. You are invisible to a terrifying percentage of the drivers.

OP, YANBU. International rule of riding as far as I'm concerned - if a driver gets close enough for you to make contact with them, then you can do so (and no, we're not talking criminal damage here, just a warning thump), because next time they'll make contact with another biker.

To those of you who don't believe that the OP could have registered so many details about the car and driver, I suggest they hire themselves a taxi bike next time they're in central london and go for a ride pillion. You'll find all sorts of senses and observational skills are heightened, and you become very aware of what's in front/behind/to each side of you in a way you never do in a car.

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ladymystikal · 08/04/2011 09:23

or even off their motorbike

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cumbria81 · 08/04/2011 09:27

I'm a cyclist and I would NEVER antagonise a driver. At the end of the day, if they get pissed off, it's you versus them and you are never going to come off best.

There are lots of knobhead drivers and on occasion I have had recourse to talk to them. But I'd always do it politely.

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givemushypeasachance · 08/04/2011 09:45

whitevanwoman - do please get over yourself.

"Waa, waa, all cyclists jump red lights" is up there with "everytime I step on the pavement a ninja cyclist wearing all black with no lights on barrels down at me at 30mph and runs over my puppy" and "those lentil-weaving hippies should be forced to pay road tax!" in the anti-cyclist hit parade.

Have you ever ridden a bike on the road? Or actually watched a set of traffic lights in a busy city/town where there will be hundreds of cyclists going past during the rush hour? Why don't you go off and do that, then come back with a nice pie chart of stats to back up your claim. I doubt you'll be able to though because NOT ALL CYCLISTS JUMP RED LIGHTS.

Some do, and they are prats. Maybe in a few areas you will get four or five out of ten doing it. But that doesn't mean you should tar everyone with the same giant brush of inaccurate statements. It would be the same as me going "waa, all drivers speed and cut corners, don't indicate at roundabouts and park in bus lanes and on double yellow lines. I saw some do it this morning so it must be true."

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OTheHugeManatee · 08/04/2011 09:52

If it was an Audi TT, YANB at all U.

If it was an Audi R8, YABVU.

HTH

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Collaborate · 08/04/2011 09:55

You should have snatched his phone and dropped it gently in the nearest bin.

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JaxTellersOldLady · 08/04/2011 09:56

If you did that to me I would have got out and kicked you off your motorbike!

But then I have hands free in my car, use my aircon and have my music on to drown out the noise of fuckwit motorcyclists.

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LDNmummy · 08/04/2011 10:00

YANBU, he was putting everyone at risk.

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Snorbs · 08/04/2011 10:00

"International rule of riding as far as I'm concerned - if a driver gets close enough for you to make contact with them, then you can do so (and no, we're not talking criminal damage here, just a warning thump), because next time they'll make contact with another biker."

Thumping a car is often perceived as a very aggressive act. It will only take one or two bikers thumping a given driver's car before that driver sees all bikers as aggressive. When that happens, the driver is likely to drive aggressively at bikers. And they're going to win because they're inside a ton or two of metal.

I've got every sympathy with bikers. I commuted into London on a bike for years. But I'd much rather the car drivers were friendly towards bikes and so making sure they leave gaps for bikes to filter through and they look properly when they pull out. A car driver who sees bikers as scum is going to be a dangerous twat whenever there are bikes around.

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Gubbins · 08/04/2011 10:17

YANBU.

Using a mobile phone (hands free or not) while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving. A boot on his door is the least of his worries.

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sparkle12mar08 · 08/04/2011 10:32

OP you're a prat and a vandal.

HTH!

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TrinityIsABunnyMunchingRhino · 08/04/2011 10:34

op yabu

but 'I suppose I could have knocked on his face' is hilarious

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JaneS · 08/04/2011 10:52

So, he didn't pay enough attention and you hit his car? Well that's fucking stupid. A pedestrian did that to me a while back in my (decidedly non-swish) car - thought I should have left her cross before I turned right, walked behind my car and gave it a hefty thump. Sadly as soon as I jolted in shock I stopped pressing the footbrake and the car went back into her. I am not naturally a mean person but it was poetic justice.

Next time you are pissy remember cars and big and heavy and if you startle the driver you might end up with a large amount of metal you have to scramble to get out of the way of - or worse.

Though if you'd honked madly, I'd have been with you.

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ivykaty44 · 08/04/2011 10:53

whitevanwoman - the op wasn't a cyclist

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ivykaty44 · 08/04/2011 10:57

LRD - if she had started crossing the road it was her right of way, if she was waiting on the pavement then it wasn't, but turning into a street you must give way to a pedestrian already with her feet off the pavement if you are driving a car, lorry motorbike or cycling

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JaneS · 08/04/2011 11:04

ivy - she hadn't started crossing. She just expected me to let the car slide back and let her cross in front because it's near a supermarket and that's what people often do. I didn't, so she clonked the back of my car with her shopping. I know, because she was properly shocked afterwards - no harm done, but I think she realizes now that it's really, really stupid to give a driver a shock like that.

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JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 08/04/2011 11:13

YANBU, if a little unwise.

I have been known to gesture angrily at motorists jumping the red light at pedestrian crossings. And honk at people if I'm driving - although usually I get all flustered and by the time I remember where the horn is the moment has passed

And at BeerTricks - you should indeed have followed him to the salon.

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HipHopopotomus · 08/04/2011 11:14

I like Audi's - it's the Mercedes drivers that wind me up. They seem to think they have special privileges (I include members of my family on this particular shit list). I've only ever known one Merc driver that doesn't think he's king of the road.

OP I too have had the urge to kick cars as a cyclist - probably would fall of my bike though so I've never acted. As a Mum getting a toddler around I tend to shout LOUDLY at fucking cyclists as they zip zap around us as we cross on green men or pedestrian crossings (often get the urge to throw sticks in their spokes). As as a driver I swear (usually under my breath) at both cyclists and other drivers (for an endless list of reasons) and the lemming peds who constantly just walk out in front of cars without looking.

At the end of the day road rage is not cool. We all have to share, even with the "entitled" and the idiots. Find a better way to vent!

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YouaretooniceNOT · 08/04/2011 11:30

I can understand your frustration as driving whilst using a mobile phone is dangerous and illegal. Whence i see people using their mobiles whilst driving it does make my blood boil but i wouldn't say anything as that is the job of the police.

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Ormirian · 08/04/2011 11:40

Motorbike, push-bike? Who cares. Both are vulnerable to twattish drivers feeling invulnerable in their big metal fortresses. So anything to help make them aware that some people sharing the road with them need a bit more consideration is a good thing!

I used to watch DH go off to work on his bike and it freaked me completely watching some car pass him with cms to spare. He took his life in his hands because he had the decency to use the road as he should do instead of the pavement!

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electra · 08/04/2011 11:42

Kicking someone's car is outrageous. He was wrong but so were you!

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Ormirian · 08/04/2011 11:43

" car driver who sees bikers as scum is going to be a dangerous twat whenever there are bikes around."

Most drivers do though regardless of their previous experience because sometimes bikers have the temerity to hold them up a little on their vital onwards rush to something VERY IMPORTANT. Never underestimate how unreasonable car drivers are when anyone slows their progress. BTW I include myself in that but I do try very hard to allow extra space adn time for cyclists because the alternative frightens me.

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Goober · 08/04/2011 11:46

Not that I would be on the phone whilst driving, but if you did that to my car I would have crowned you.
So YABU and a nob!

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Longtime · 08/04/2011 11:57

Maybe I'm also a prat and a vandal but I can't understand the outrage of a tap to a car. These cars are built to withstand far more than contact with a hand or even a foot for heaven's sake! I can't imagine there was any damage to the car. Motorists in Belgium are notoriously bad at stopping at pedestrian crossings. They drive with no thought for anyone else, be that a pedestrian, cyclist or another driver. I have been known to make contact with the boot of the car with the flat of my hand after having been nearly run over. No more than when someone taps the boot to get them to stop when directing them into a parking space. Absolutely no damage whatsoever to the car but it does wake them up from their reverie and make them pay a bit more attention to what's going on around them (usually meaning that it gets them off the phone).

OP, YANBU with regards your OP but YABU in the way in which you are backpeddling (terrible, unforgivable, irresponsible behavior/deeply ashamed) to placate the YABU posters here.

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ivykaty44 · 08/04/2011 12:04

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