Disgusting excuse of a cyclist 🤷‍♂️

[HLaB]

A car horn can be used to signal danger so playing devils advocate the car driver may have hit the horn to warn of a dangerous situation arising. I did that seeing a car turn left through a red light with a pedestrian crossing arounf the corner.

It would be nice if more horns were used that way or a friendly hoot to say 'hello I'm here' but because the vast majority are an aggressive 'Get Out ta Way' etc people often react negatively to them and situations are escalated

 

[All uphill]

Is it me or has there been a spate of new threads criticising cyclists?

Almost like there's an agenda.

 

[winjim]

It would be nice if more horns were used that way or a friendly hoot to say 'hello I'm here' but because the vast majority are an aggressive 'Get Out ta Way' etc people often react negatively to them and situations are escalated

I can't remember the model but I've definitely had a hire car with a secondary, less aggressive horn specifically for alerting cyclists to your presence.

 

[Sea of vapours]

It would be nice if more horns were used that way or a friendly hoot to say 'hello I'm here' but because the vast majority are an aggressive 'Get Out ta Way' etc people often react negatively to them and situations are escalated

Notwithstanding that this instance may have been intended as a rebuke, which is mis-use of the horn and unwise due to being seen as provocative, the UK attitude to horns is decidedly unfortunate, as well as not in keeping with the Highway Code, which specifically suggests the use as a warning of 'I am here'. Having just cycled the length of Italy, I was surprised and impressed that it's very common indeed in Italy to give a brief, non-aggressive horn sound / blip to signal presence, particularly when about to overtake. It would be excellent if people did this in the UK. Unfortunately, it seems to be seen as aggressive by just about everyone here :-\ Perhaps Italian cars have this secondary horn @winjim mentions above? Perhaps Italian drivers are actually taught to use the horn this way in driving lessons too?

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Ok we have all seen cyclist jump the lights, but this guy in his late 50’s gave a real bad name to cyclists around my area in Surrey.
Sat as a passenger four cars back from this disgusting excuse of a cyclist. He jumped the lights and as he did a young lady waiting at the lights tapped her horn once, very quickly. The guy on the bike gave her the finger as he went through. The lights changed and he Rode dead centre to prevent the young lady from overtaking and started giving her the W-anchor sign. The next car he gave them the thumbs up and the next.
The guy was dressed in all the gear.
That guy was so lucky someone who would not put up with that, wasn’t driving behind him!!!

Direct to ignore you go.

 

[blackrat]

Is this thread all about how to use or a horn - or not? Or about a cyclist acting like a prat? It's all a bit confusing.
Where I live - not there or here - if a driver is slow getting off the mark at a traffic light he gets a toot or two. I he acts like a prat endangering other road users he gets a full on blast. If he strays out of his lane he gets a reminder beep. People are far too sensitive if a horn upsets them.

 

[winjim]

Is this thread all about how to use or a horn - or not? Or about a cyclist acting like a prat? It's all a bit confusing.
Where I live - not there or here - if a driver is slow getting off the mark at a traffic light he gets a toot or two. I he acts like a prat endangering other road users he gets a full on blast. If he strays out of his lane he gets a reminder beep. People are far too sensitive if a horn upsets them.

If you've already established that someone's a dangerous prat, then why would you antagonise them? What good can possibly come of it?

 

[diplodicus]

If you've already established that someone's a dangerous prat, then why would you antagonise them? What good can possibly come of it?

Well sometimes its a heat of the moment thing. Rationally no good comes of it, but I'm sure we have all been close passed at some point and reacted

 

[blackrat]

If you've already established that someone's a dangerous prat, then why would you antagonise them? What good can possibly come of it?

We are not made to roll over and play dead.

 

[winjim]

Well sometimes its a heat of the moment thing. Rationally no good comes of it, but I'm sure we have all been close passed at some point and reacted

Yeah but part of good roadcraft is accounting for and mitigating other people's mistakes and not reacting emotionally. A close pass might provoke a fear response which is one thing, but in the case of the OP we're talking about an RLJ. The woman in question was not in physical danger.

We are not made to roll over and play dead.

I don't know what that means. I'm asking how it helps.

 

[diplodicus]

Yeah but part of good roadcraft is accounting for and mitigating other people's mistakes and not reacting emotionally. A close pass might provoke a fear response which is one thing, but in the case of the OP we're talking about an RLJ. The woman in question was not in physical danger.


I don't know what that means. I'm asking how it helps.

It doesn't help, you are right.
However we are emotional creatures that don't always react rationally...

 

[tyred]

I thought horns were for taxi drivers who are too lazy to go and ring the doorbell to let their fare know they have arrived.

 

[figbat]

I thought horns were for taxi drivers who are too lazy to go and ring the doorbell to let their fare know they have arrived.

Which surely falls under the generally acceptable usage of “I am here”.

 

[silva]

That traffic light "jumper" (I assume = cycling through red?), if it was done without being in others way, it wasn't a problem for anybody including the car driver "young lady".
I saw it too alot of times and I don't care at all, on that condition.
I do it myself, if it's clear (good sight) that there is no traffic, why waiting, it's for nothing?
Also the opposite, sometimes it happens that a turning driver has to let me first, but if I see that the driver while waiting blocks the way of alot other drivers that risk a second wait, I stay or slow down/stop and give sign can go first.
I'd never use a horn or yell or whatever for that reason.

Though happens. In city, foreigners neighborhoods, as soon after 1 uses horn, the whole row is doing it, drivers step out the car to go yelling at and knocking on windows, it's lol sometimes.
And when a wedding there, it's apparently a culture element to drive around the city in a long row while horning all the time, with eventually present police doing nothing about it.

In this case the driver shouldn't have reacted, but the cyclist also shouldn't have blocked her path later, a middlefinger response could be declared same "level", but blocking her that was beyond. But as just said, who knows, seeing it all from several cars behind, maybe the driver did more than use the horn and then things escalate further. But, there would have been no start if the driver had just ignored the cyclists act, and without start nothing to escalate.

 

[wafter]

I have no idea what you mean by that. Sounding the horn at someone is an act of aggression and one should expect reciprocation.

... except that the horn was sounded in response to the bloke jumping the lights. I won't condemn him going through on a red as sometimes it can be done with zero issue for other road users; however he's still legally in the wrong, should be ready to get some stick for it and should just have let it go.

A simple hand up to acknowledge his transgression would have been a much better way to handle it; or simply ignoring it and carrying on.

While I'm the first to abuse other road users if they behave badly, reacting by aggressively upping the ante when pulled up for doing something that's technically wrong (even if one thinks it's justifiable) isn't clever or fair; especially when it's towards someone physically smaller / weaker.

Bloke sounds like a childish idiot.