Cycling shorts 2

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. 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. 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.

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.

Can we find the road to peace?

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.

Richard on roads less travelled

If this had been a less experienced cyclist the end result could have been very different and extremely serious. The car then proceeded to play cat and mouse with the lone cyclist. Eventually they became bored, revved up and drove off at high speed. Tom was relieved of course, but shaken. He did not complete LEL. Tom believes driving standards have deteriorated since he’s been doing Audaxes, and cases of aggression have become more common. He thinks that large groups of cyclists, and those who flout the rules, often seem to wind-up motorists. If a motorist in a hurry, driving at high speed along a country lane, meets a peloton of 20 riders, tempers tend to flare on both sides. He told me that during his considerable Audax career he’s seen many horrible things, including contacts that have required ambulances. I asked Tom what could be done to reduce aggression towards cyclists. Again, his solution was that a massive re-education scheme was needed for both motorists and cyclists. Following a combination of unpleasant cycling incidents Tom is no longer cycling but hopes to get back in the saddle for a few short rides when the better weather comes. He feels strongly that if he’d stayed with the cycling group he wouldn’t have suffered the aggression.

CASE STUDY 3

Harry’s wife describes him as an obsessive cyclist – an accurate assessment. He sets himself challenging mileages every year. He may include tours overseas, Audaxes and weekend social group cycling but also many solo miles. He’s had a long cycling career in which he’s embraced just about every genre of cycling. So, lots of cycling knowledge and many experiences of aggression towards cyclists. For this case study he told me about the worst incident of aggression towards cyclists that he has ever experienced. Be prepared it is quite shocking. Harry was riding with two club mates. Two at the front, including Harry on the outside, and one tucked in behind. A motorist drove up beside Harry and told him, using four-letter expletives, that they shouldn’t be riding two abreast and blocking his way – although there was plenty of space for him to drive alongside and shout at them! The cyclists ignored him although Harry did wave at him as he drove off. The car stopped. As Harry rode past him the motorist yelled something unintelligible, which was ignored and the cyclists turned left. The car followed and side-swiped Harry, almost knocking him over. A less skilled rider would have been knocked off for sure. In an attempt to recover his balance Harry ended up in the middle of the road but the car had swerved to block the road – so Harry had to fend off a collision with his arm. The motorist then drove up behind Harry and knocked him off with a shunt to his rear wheel. As he struggled to his feet and picked up his bike as a shield, the motorist drove at him again, putting him up over the bonnet and injuring his ankle in the process. Harry thought that he was going to run over his legs as he lay there but the motorist turned to avoid him and drove off. Harry was able to cycle to a café and arrange for his wife to collect him. He went to the local hospital to get his ankle treated. Fortunately, nothing was broken and he was discharged, albeit with strong bandaging and crutches for the next few weeks. He then went to the local police station to report the incident. Eventually it went to Crown Court. The court process proved a protracted affair. The jury bizarrely found the driver not guilty of the assault charge, which could have resulted in a prison sentence. But he admitted guilt for a lesser charge, resulting in a fine and points on his licence. Harry then applied for compensation for the damage to his bike and clothing, and his personal injury. The driver tried to talk his way out of this, but the judge saw through him. Harry’s case was proved and the judge, in his summing up, put on the record that he had been driven at and injured by the guilty man using his car as a weapon. So, Harry got his compensation and had costs awarded against the guilty man. Harry’s main aim in the compensation aspect was to make it known to the man’s insurance company what sort of driver they had on their books. It would cost the guilty man more to be insured in the future. During the trial it transpired that the driver had driven at someone before, using his car as a weapon. The court experience might change the guilty driver’s behaviour but for this particularly individual, there was no guarantee of this. This illustrates that there are some violent people driving cars in the UK that have no respect for the law, or other road users. Harry told me: “I was on crutches for some time, and eventually got some physio, so no pedalling for some weeks. When I eventually got back on the bike, I didn’t have any real worries but I stopped responding to provocation.” Harry is a brave man and a credit to the brotherhood of cyclists. I hope that he remains unscathed in his quest for more mileage.

CONCLUSION

I’m sure many readers will have suffered similar incidents. Indeed, I could have recorded ten different case studies after talking to fellow riders. In an ideal world there’d cycle routes taking us to all the destinations we’d like to go, without having to interact with motorists. Sounds impractical? How much would an effective national cycle network cost? Two billion pounds, I’m reliably informed by its supporters. That compares favourably to the estimated £130 billion for the completion of HS2, which now seems to be a national transport network that no-one really wants to use. A recent Travel Attitudes Survey carried out by the Department for Transport (DfT) asked respondents whether it was “too dangerous to cycle on the roads” – 65 per cent agreed. Asked to agree or disagree with the statement: “It is important drivers leave enough space for cyclists”, 95 per cent agreed. So, government research is fairly conclusive that the general population feels that UK roads are dangerous for cyclists. Our road infrastructure has developed at speed with the main goal being the effective management of the expanding volume of motor vehicles. Sometimes the cyclists are forgotten. I had hoped for significant change now we have a prime minister who advocates cycling, and it’s true that cycling has thrived during the pandemic. However, it seems that in a post-Covid UK the rights and protection of the cyclist will again take a back seat to some of the more pressing problems facing the government. Richard Betts

CS

If you’ve experienced an act of aggression on the roads, or have an opinion on the subject of driver-cyclist road rage, we’d like to hear from you. Send your comments to:

gedlennox@me.com