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Richard Betts tries to understand the animosity between cyclists and motorists, and highlights three shocking cases of road rage against Audaxing friends – which have had long-lasting and negative effects: Why do motorists sometimes commit unprovoked acts of aggression against cyclists? What can cyclists do to protect themselves? And is there a solution? In this article I focus on three incidents involving Audax members in the hope that their experiences can point to some conclusions, or even recommend solutions. This is a subject close to my heart. Like most of you, I’ve suffered the usual aggression from motorists; shouting, swearing, spitting, close passes and deliberate cutting-in, as well as plenty of “finger” salutes. The revving of engines or blowing of horns are signs of an impatient driver – but aggression comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s as simple as just denying our presence – how often have you experienced a vehicle pull out of a side road into your path, forcing you to brake violently? As numbers of cars and bikes increase, incidents of aggression have also become worse. As this year begins, the roads seem far busier than they were during Lockdown 1.0. The short-lived luxury of empty roads and quiet lanes seems a distant memory. One of the joys of riding in the first lockdown was the lack of aggression towards cyclists. This wasn’t anything to do with attitudinal changes on the part of motorists – it was just there were hardly any on the road. Now we are back to near normal traffic levels, many cycling friends are again reporting unpleasant acts of aggression by motorists.
Arrivée152Summer2021
I’m no criminal psychologist but I do understand that domestic violence usually involves male to female aggression. Does a bullying male feel empowered to be violent to his female partner because she may be physically smaller, possibly weaker and more vulnerable? This theory could equally apply to a motorist in a powerful motor car, looking down on the vulnerable cyclist. There have been times when I’ve been in fear of severe injury from an irresponsible motorist, if not death.
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I’ve picked three anecdotes from fellow Audaxers who’ve been brave and sincere enough to share their experiences with me. I’ve changed their names to protect their anonymity, labelling them Tom, Dick and Harry. I’m sure Arrivée readers will recognise similar incidents from their own experience. Thankfully, none of these incidents resulted in life-changing injuries. However in some cases, they led to a complete change in their participation in Audax and cycling in general.
Can we find the road to peace? CASE STUDY 1 Dick was planning to do an Audax with his friend Ned, who’d only recently become serious about cycling. Dick was an experienced cyclist with several 100 and 200 km Audax events under his belt. Dick felt that a few rides with increasing distances and altitudes would prepare Ned for the challenge of his first Audax. He encouraged Ned to do his first 100km event and was quite protective of him out on the road, preferring Ned to ride nearest the kerb when the road conditions allowed them to ride two abreast. On a quiet winter day they were cycling through a small town where the low volume of traffic allowed them to ride two abreast. Suddenly a car overtook them and passed within a foot of Dick, cycling on the outside. The close proximity shocked him and he shouted out: “You need to give cyclists more room.” Dick is not a person to use bad language. The motorist stopped abruptly and got out of the car. Dick had assumed the driver would be a male because of the aggressive driving style but that stereotype was challenged when a woman in lurid sports gear stepped out and hurled abuse at him – because he was riding two abreast. Dick shook his head and cycled on because he was hardened to abusive motorists and didn’t want to give her an excuse to keep shouting. However, when he looked round he saw Ned standing on the pavement, trying to make a very angry woman understand about safe passing distances. Dick cycled back to support Ned and again suffered a torrent of abuse. Then an older man ran out from a nearby house and hurled himself at Dick, shoving him in the chest. Dick was sitting astride his bike with one foot on the ground and the other clipped into the pedal. Dick went flying to the ground with his bike on top of him. Dick says that he thought the man was going to follow up with punches so he quickly jumped to his feet. The fellow was at least six inches smaller than Dick, and now he had a look of fear in his eyes – perhaps realising the stupidity of his actions. Dick says that by now his fists were clenched. His automatic reaction was to punch his assailant, though he was able to control himself. At this point the woman bustled the man back into the house, their house, with one final barrage of abuse towards the cyclists. Dick’s bike had a damaged rear derailleur and front forks, His mobile phone case was smashed, and his right ankle had suffered a cut from the fall. Dick and Ned decided that they couldn’t let these two lunatics get away with this sort of behaviour. Dick contacted the police and an officer was sent to take his statement the following weekend. Eventually another officer took a statement from Ned. Three months after the incident the police finally contacted the assailants and arranged to meet them at the local police station.
The matter was resolved, to the satisfaction of Dick, who had all his costs met. He was pleased that he didn’t have to go to court. The man who assaulted Dick received a caution, and his wife received instruction on how to improve her road behaviour. Hopefully, they learned their lesson and would not be aggressive to cyclists again. I asked Dick what could be done to reduce aggression to cyclists. He said that motorists should be educated on how easily they can do severe harm to vulnerable cyclists and that they should be made aware that offences against cyclists by motorists would be punished severely. He hoped this would act as a deterrent to their rash behaviour. Dick and Ned never did do the Audax together. Ned cycles only occasionally now and Dick doesn’t do Audaxes anymore. He just gets out on his bike on country lanes for a bit of therapy. They both do a lot more hill-walking to maintain their fitness and it seems that they just don’t enjoy their cycling so much since the incident. CASE STUDY 2 Tom is a highly experienced Audax rider having completed PBP twice and multiple RRTYs. He’s also organised many Audax events. In 2017 he entered the LEL for the first time. He started off well and attached himself to a group of riders but was beginning to regret his lack of preparation at the first checkpoint. He told me that he was cycling well within the group but started to drop off the pace and all of a sudden found himself on his own after the control at St Ives. He was then cycling through the Fens with its characteristic flat lands and big skies. He thought that if he upped his pace he could catch up with the group. He was going well on the long flat roads and remarked to himself how little road traffic was present. This for once would turn out not to be a blessing. Anybody who’s cycled in the Fens will know that this is a unique eco-system. Many roads are elevated and run next to drainage dykes, always full of water. As a cyclist you have to be constantly aware of cross winds that could push you towards the roadside and ultimately wet ditches. Tom suddenly found himself shadowed by a car containing five young men. The driver proceeded to make life very difficult for him by performing a series of risky manoeuvres, consisting of close passes, deliberately cutting him up and stopping abruptly. This was accompanied by shouting, jeering, the sounding of the horn and revving of the engine. All actions determined to unsettle him, which it did. Tom says he felt sure the driver, egged on by his mates, was determined to force him off the road and into a ditch. He’s a tough individual and would face up to anyone, but against five young men the odds were stacked against him. In this isolated environment he felt very vulnerable.
