How would you react?

[Wyatt Earp]

So Sunday morning I was enjoying my ride until the following incident happened. Still questioning my Actions/Reaction and wanted to see how other hubbers would react.

Cycled through Waterfront , turned left at the circle at BMW pavilion and then right into the road infront of Somerset Hospital.

A taxi which had just disgorged its load of passengers decided to pull out and do a U-Turn! I shouted at the top of my voice and managed to just avoid him halfway over the road. But I hit his mirror with my hand out of anger! I carried on but heard him grinding gears and obviously coming after me. I managed to cut in between the pavement and a parked car to stop him from hitting me with his vehicle. I got off my bike as he and his "Gaatchie" (The dude who shouts out the window) approached me. He stuck his finger into my face in the universal gun sign and said, "I will f...ing shoot you! Anyway a couple more words were bandied about until 2 other cyclists arrived and the odds were evened out where he backed down and we left.

My questions are: Did I over react by hitting is mirror? Should I have just smiled and waved?

Should I have maced the F..ker?

 

Needless to say after this event I had so much adrenalin running through my body I did my best ever time to Hout Bay and back.

 

Finger in the face is a great ,prefect opportunity to dislocate it for him.

 

[Ispeed_V]

Know its not always the easiest thing to do, but smile and wave and curse the f---er under your breath

[rudi-h]

some wise words I once heard... anything you do in anger is something that you will regret later on

 

don't.do.it.

[Tromp]

I commute on a motorcycle everyday and would much rather share the road with these taxis than these rum-n' coke okes with their 4x4s and texting aunties. One of these aunties stopped on my foot at the traffic lights while texting. I had to hit her front fender with my fist to bring her back to reality and to release my foot. The fat ass rum-n'-coke blocks your path when you do lane splitting , whereas the taxis ( mostly ) will create more space.

[Bar1ow]

I also ride this route quite regularly on my way back from my office on the Foreshore to Hout Bay. I had a few scares with taxis same place as you so now I stay in the Waterfront until the next exit and come out at the traffic circle leading through to the stadium. Much safer and more relaxing.

[Undun]

I have been in multiple incidents with Taxi drivers.. Plain and simply THEY SUCK!!! 99.999999% of them SUCK. if If you tap one of their chins, another will stop and try back the other one up.. even if they do not know each other the will stop and back each other. Once in Honeydew it became a huge punch up. Thankfully we had support from the nearby tow truck drivers that had seen we were innocent .. You can beat one Taxi driver, then the next , then the next.. But they just keep on pilling in from all directions, even the passengers will try and hit you...Even the women and kid/children passengers!! This will all happen most of the time...especially if you are innocent and the Taxi drivers are at fault... moving forward and going to court...You will loose the battle.

[DieVlieg]

I slapped a taxi on the back window once. As with your case he drove me in and I was lucky on the curb. He started harassing me and wanted me to stop. I showed him my pepper spray (Now I think that that was even a worse idea) and he shouted a few more insults and continued on.

 

I HATE TAXIS BUT WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.

 

Taxis makes me feel most unsafe on the road and one has to expect to expect the unexpected with them. If they are around slow down and or get on the kerb if you can.

 

Let me quote myself.... And then this morning I went on and gave a guy the finger or was it two.... A guy overtakes another car on a white line. Instead of slowing down he speeds up to try and pass before he would approach me. This in a real suburb street next the local shops. He thought it was still early morning and no traffic so he could take chances. I had to all but stop as he was coming for me at speed.

[J∆kk∆ls]

Learn a little Lingo and say howzit or E'itha. 

Smile and ride on, he wont hate you and you get to ride another day.

 

Every body has it tough.

 

 

[SAGecko]

My questions are: Did I over react by hitting is mirror? Should I have just smiled and waved?

Should I have maced the F..ker?

 

 

 

There is no winning or losing in a situation like that DPG.

 

If he had attacked you then, for sure, mace the bugger but, more often than not, the threatening talk is just that; talk.

 

Best thing is, without any bluster, try to keep your cool and look into his eyes with as dispassionate and expressionless a face as you can muster. This usually defuses the situation (the oke wonders why you're so calm).

 

Shouting back or making threatening gestures will only inflame the situation. He thinks he's in the right. You think you're in the right.

 

And remember, you're one of the very few, the very top percentile of people on this planet who have the means and the time to spend on leisure activities like biking (it is an expensive and time consuming pursuit). He isn't, and probably never will be. Don't stoop to his level.

 

Situations like these are irritating and aggravating, and can niggle at the back of your mind. But it's best to just let it go. Don't stew about the why's and wherefore's of the thing. 

[fabs]

My questions are: Did I over react by hitting is mirror? Should I have just smiled and waved?

Should I have maced the F..ker?

 

 

Should have smiled and thrown one of those locking cap pepper spray canisters into his vehicle.

 

Doing nothing on our side is what makes them "boss" of the road these days.

 

sad but true

[Guest DieBees]

Dumb thing to do.

[Dirkitech]

So Sunday morning I was enjoying my ride until the following incident happened. Still questioning my Actions/Reaction and wanted to see how other hubbers would react.

Cycled through Waterfront , turned left at the circle at BMW pavilion and then right into the road infront of Somerset Hospital.

A taxi which had just disgorged its load of passengers decided to pull out and do a U-Turn! I shouted at the top of my voice and managed to just avoid him halfway over the road. But I hit his mirror with my hand out of anger! I carried on but heard him grinding gears and obviously coming after me. I managed to cut in between the pavement and a parked car to stop him from hitting me with his vehicle. I got off my bike as he and his "Gaatchie" (The dude who shouts out the window) approached me. He stuck his finger into my face in the universal gun sign and said, "I will f...ing shoot you! Anyway a couple more words were bandied about until 2 other cyclists arrived and the odds were evened out where he backed down and we left.

My questions are: Did I over react by hitting is mirror? Should I have just smiled and waved?

Should I have maced the F..ker?

 

Needless to say after this event I had so much adrenalin running through my body I did my best ever time to Hout Bay and back.

You slapping his mirror is commendable imho.

If you had mace, i would have bought you 2 new canisters to replace the 1 canister you finished in their faces.

 

Don't mess with taxis. Ever. You will get yourself killed.

 

All taxi drivers carry guns, its good thing to remember.

 

2 years, 0 guns.

if I drove say, 100 days this year to work and back, at least 80 of those days involved me pushing a taxi off the road and refusing to be taken advantage of because I prefer obeying traffic rules.

 

I say mess with taxi's as often as possible, i notice that specific taxi's that i have pushed into oncoming traffic at a certain corner have stopped trying to overtake me illegally, and I will continue doing this as long as they disobey road rules.

[Dirkitech]

Should have smiled and thrown one of those locking cap pepper spray canisters into his vehicle.

 

Doing nothing on our side is what makes them "boss" of the road these days.

 

sad but true

where can i get such canisters??

 

Dumb thing to do.

where is the coward button for posts?

 

 

I slapped a taxi on the back window once. As with your case he drove me in and I was lucky on the curb. He started harassing me and wanted me to stop. I showed him my pepper spray (Now I think that that was even a worse idea) and he shouted a few more insults and continued on.

 

I HATE TAXIS BUT WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.

 

Taxis makes me feel most unsafe on the road and one has to expect to expect the unexpected with them. If they are around slow down and or get on the kerb if you can.

 

 

was that you first time taking on a bully?

I've learnt after several times refusing to be used for their illegal gain, that its just bark and zero bite, heck, my last time i succeeded in causing a taxi to slam brakes and stop trying to speed around me (lol please, unroadworthiny vehicles cant accelerate faster than my skedonk) was just yesterday morning - will do it again this evening if opportunity presents itself.

 

 

Dont react, he didnt hit you which is a pretty good result.

 

My big issue is that you are not doing the relationship between the cycling public and taxi's any favours, you also have to think about the taxi's attitude to the next rider that he comes along.

 

 

taxi's in port elizabeth university way have aimed at me while i was cycling. since then, i've succeeded in costing them more time (and time while working is money) than if the scum never tried intimidating me (and failing) in the first place.

It is not only aggresive responses that worsen cyclest-taxi relations, its the cowards that accept abuse and give the taxi's an easy victory that are worsening as well.

 

 

Lycra's don't hide 45's

 

Problem when he pulls his first - might not be a 45 - you're stuffed.

 

My family is better off with a father.

 

 

what if the taxi that you meekly submitted to goes and runs over a child inexperienced with cycling? heck, what if the taxi runs over an innocent child crossing the street? 

Be the father of the country, not just your own children. As long as criminals are allowed victories, they will continue taking bigger and bigger chances.

[DirtyDan]

I commute on a motorcycle everyday and would much rather share the road with these taxis than these rum-n' coke okes with their 4x4s and texting aunties. One of these aunties stopped on my foot at the traffic lights while texting. I had to hit her front fender with my fist to bring her back to reality and to release my foot. The fat ass rum-n'-coke blocks your path when you do lane splitting , whereas the taxis ( mostly ) will create more space.

I've always wondered, is lane splitting legal in South Africa?

[HeyYou]

When cycling, I give taxis the right of way.

 

When I'm in Winnie, my black 1976 Land Cruiser, with massive bull bar and winch, taxis give me the right of way.

 

Learn to choose your battles.

[Slowbee]

Some time ago, an incident similar to this one occurred to a hubber but in JHB.

 

Needles to say they beat him up, and somewhat badly to I believe.

 

As everyone says, get angry with a taxi, shout, scream, smile and wave, but dont ever, ever damage the taxi or throw waterbottles.