Advocacy & Safety - If you hate close passes, watch this!

This is a video I found on youtube encounters that this man has had with close passes.

If you hate getting passed by cars by 3ft or less, and gutless drivers, watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CycleGaz

Business as usual.

Someday that camera is going to record his serious injury or death.

I wouldn't ride in those conditions. Oh and having been in both places, Paris drivers are worse than London.

Confronting cabbies is an invitation to getting ones lights punched out.

Confronting cabbies is an invitation to getting ones lights punched out.

Depends on who punches who's lights out

Ya they're pretty mad^ lmao.

Moved to A&S from Road.

London is the Anti-Copenhagen.

With apologies to ScottStr (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/769239-Bike-Friendly-Cab-in-Fort-Worth), you'll find arsehole taxi drivers everywhere.

After viewing the whole thing.... the cyclist is kind of a jerk too.

London is the Anti-Copenhagen.

With apologies to ScottStr (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/769239-Bike-Friendly-Cab-in-Fort-Worth), you'll find arsehole taxi drivers everywhere.

After viewing the whole thing.... the cyclist is kind of a jerk too.

If anything, that's one way of getting oneself into becoming a marked man.

Also in the video, I kept seeing other cyclists riding by on their merry way while the video cyclist is hung up discussing the weather with the local cabbies.

I found the video dizzying at times. Because he kept turning his head. As for the anger of the cab drivers in London, they don't care about cyclists(or pedestrians). I am not saying that blindly. I lived in London 35yrs. ago. Even though I only lived in London for 18mos., I saw enough to understand why competitive cycling athletes like Mark Cavendish don't live in London(he lives on the Isle of Man).

Man, that confronting drivers is NOT a good idea. But I understand why the rider would feel that anger. I can't watch this. I never want to get into a confrontation with a driver. I hope I can stay sane enough not to.

Someday that camera is going to record his serious injury or death.

I wouldn't ride in those conditions. Oh and having been in both places, Paris drivers are worse than London.

While I have only visited Paris on a number of occasions, I found them to be rather tame, compared to drivers in London.

That video is different from my everyday ride how?

London is the Anti-Copenhagen.

With apologies to ScottStr (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/769239-Bike-Friendly-Cab-in-Fort-Worth), you'll find arsehole taxi drivers everywhere.

After viewing the whole thing.... the cyclist is kind of a jerk too.

Ya I found that after watching several of his videos, even though alot of things were not his fault, he wouldn't let anything slip, any little mistake by accident that wasnt bad, he'd still take the liscence plate which got annoying after a while.

I've read that dedicating so much of the brain to memorizing the streets of London causes deficits in others areas of cognition...seriously.

I live in rural Ohio where my daily ride usually includes at least 1 Semi
passing me close enough to reach out and touch going about 60.
Now that's a rush.

Yeah, that rider was just a bit OCD, I saw several bits in that vid that were trifling. BUT....

A few of them, well...I have to wonder what prison is like in England; after all, with their manners, and all:

"Pah-don me Yank, but me mates & I are about to bugger you...."

If I would have had some of the cut-offs HE did, I'd likely find out -- especially with Mr. 'Don't Touch My Cab!'

Confronting cabbies is an invitation to getting ones lights punched out.

What about practicing martial arts and boxing for 15 years and then confronting cabbies? Is that an invitation to drive a cabbies teeth down his throat and out of his hole?

Limpet mines will make them more polite.

That is pretty darn close, i would knock on the cabbies window and tell him to give some more room before passing, and to use his blinkers.

London is the Anti-Copenhagen.

With apologies to ScottStr (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/769239-Bike-Friendly-Cab-in-Fort-Worth), you'll find arsehole taxi drivers everywhere.

After viewing the whole thing.... the cyclist is kind of a jerk too.

They(the cyclist in specific, and London cab drivers in general) are both jerks. While I never biked in London when I lived their, I saw plenty of nasty cab drivers.

Yeah, that rider was just a bit OCD, I saw several bits in that vid that were trifling. BUT....

A few of them, well...I have to wonder what prison is like in England; after all, with their manners, and all:

"Pah-don me Yank, but me mates & I are about to bugger you...."

If I would have had some of the cut-offs HE did, I'd likely find out -- especially with Mr. 'Don't Touch My Cab!'

Not OCD. But the cyclist was definitely egging for a fight with a cabbie. He got one, from the cab driver that got out of his cab and in the face of the cyclist. At the same time, the cab drivers in London are all jerks. They are more concerned about making $, than being considerate to the traffic around them.

Not OCD. But the cyclist was definitely egging for a fight with a cabbie. He got one, from the cab driver that got out of his cab and in the face of the cyclist. At the same time, the cab drivers in London are all jerks. They are more concerned about making $, than being considerate to the traffic around them.

Making the $$ is always somebody's excuse; frankly, though, and I'm not barking at you, Chris, just saying: I couldn't care LESS if cabbie was down to his last penny, he'd have NO BUSINESS trying to force me off the road.

And yes, OCD; one big symptom is the need to have things 'just so'; cab tires on the lane stripe isn't a threat, why were they included? Because they weren't 'just right' by his definition.

(I have a couple OCD kids, dude; trust me on this one.)

They(the cyclist in specific, and London cab drivers in general) are both jerks. While I never biked in London when I lived their, I saw plenty of nasty cab drivers.
Having been subscribed to Gaz for quite a while, it's clear he doesn't do anything to provoke incidents - there's other people who are much worse in that respect:

Magnatom - http://www.youtube.com/user/magnatom/
DelVeien - http://www.youtube.com/user/DelVeien

Having been subscribed to Gaz for quite a while, it's clear he doesn't do anything to provoke incidents - there's other people who are much worse in that respect:

Magnatom - http://www.youtube.com/user/magnatom/
DelVeien - http://www.youtube.com/user/DelVeien

It is a 50/50. How he takes the instant time to get angry at every pass to the point of verbally expressing his anger. At the same time, Drivers in London, aren't considerate about those around them.

With the amount of anger he has, I started to wonder if he was provoking some of the incidents.

Sure living in the DC-Metro region I get a lot of close passes, but a close pass in and of itself as to its' severity, also has to do with my road position. If I encounter a close pass by stupidly 'hugging the curb' of course I am going to be angry. But if I get a close pass while 'taking the lane', I am not going to be anywhere near as upset. Because, If I am riding in the left tire track when I encounter a close pass, I will have room to adjust. But I will not have room to adjust if I am 'hugging the curb'. That is why I consistently 'take the lane'.

Sure living in the DC-Metro region I get a lot of close passes, but a close pass in and of itself as to its' severity, also has to do with my road position. If I encounter a close pass by stupidly 'hugging the curb' of course I am going to be angry. But if I get a close pass while 'taking the lane', I am not going to be anywhere near as upset. Because, If I am riding in the left tire track when I encounter a close pass, I will have room to adjust. But I will not have room to adjust if I am 'hugging the curb'. That is why I consistently 'take the lane'.
How many of your 2,578 posts contain the phrase, "That is why I 'take the lane'."?

You'll note that many of the close passes in Gaz's videos occur when he's taking the lane on a multi-lane road, and the car is driving well inside the same lane. IMO a close pass while taking the lane is worse, because it defeats the entire purpose of making the car change lanes.

How many of your 2,578 posts contain the phrase, "That is why I 'take the lane'."?

You'll note that many of the close passes in Gaz's videos occur when he's taking the lane on a multi-lane road, and the car is driving well inside the same lane. IMO a close pass while taking the lane is worse, because it defeats the entire purpose of making the car change lanes.

A close pass while 'taking the lane', would seemingly be no better, than if one was not 'taking the lane'. But there is something you are not considering. Instead of hoping a motorist will obey the 'close passing law', a cyclist is making use of the feet mentioned in the state's respective law, by staying that far away from the curb. So when they do get passed closely, they will be using that room to correct.

Ya I found that after watching several of his videos, even though alot of things were not his fault, he wouldn't let anything slip, any little mistake by accident that wasnt bad, he'd still take the liscence plate which got annoying after a while.
But just imagine if all road users had a zero-tolerance attitude towards incompetent and illegal behavior. Wouldn't it be nice to ride on roadways where one could expect that everyone would follow the letter of the law? I daresay we would have many more people choosing to walk and cycle if that was the case.

But just imagine if all road users had a zero-tolerance attitude towards incompetent and illegal behavior. Wouldn't it be nice to ride on roadways where one could expect that everyone would follow the letter of the law? I daresay we would have many more people choosing to walk and cycle if that was the case.

That would be in a word......supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!

But just imagine if all road users had a zero-tolerance attitude towards incompetent and illegal behavior. Wouldn't it be nice to ride on roadways where one could expect that everyone would follow the letter of the law? I daresay we would have many more people choosing to walk and cycle if that was the case.

Yes and i agree^... supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! I would love to see the day.

I had another thought, pursuant to the main video mentioned by the OP. In all the license plates the cyclist verbally noted, did anyone who watched the video hear the cyclist mention the license plate of the black cab that came extremely close to the cyclist's back tire?

hey nice, been watching all this guys vids for a long time, he's pretty cool

A close pass while 'taking the lane', would seemingly be no better, than if one was not 'taking the lane'. But there is something you are not considering. Instead of hoping a motorist will obey the 'close passing law', a cyclist is making use of the feet mentioned in the state's respective law, by staying that far away from the curb. So when they do get passed closely, they will be using that room to correct.

It's probably difficult to say for sure without some kind of statistical material, but given the attitude of a large number of drivers in USA and GB towards cyclists, they will feel a lot more annoyed at cyclists taking the lane than at cyclists "hugging the curb". And thus, more prone to harrass the cyclist, make a close pass etc.