For the first time ever I called the police about a driver last month. Well when someone tries to swerve into you deliberately it focuses the mind a bit. I'm still trying to get my head around someone who thinks moving a tonne and a half object a couple of feet to the left while driving 6 inches from a cyclist (and shouting through the still-closed window) is a good idea. At the very least, if he's not really caring about my safety (which clearly he wasn't) you would think he'd be worried about his paintjob.

Everyone involved with the police I spoke to was remarkably helpful, but I'm still waiting on that courtesy call I was promised after they'd had a 'quiet word' with the driver. And in the meantime that particular route has been avoided ever since. It's never just the actual incident that affects you, there is always a background feeling of unease which stays long after.

Maybe the quiet word will be enough to make him realise that what he was doing was dangerous, or maybe it will be enough to make him hate cyclists even more. Whatever the result I've just got to keep doing what I do, and remembering that the vast majority of drivers out there are actually good and patient. Much like we hate to be tarred with the brush of the pavement-cycling, red-light-jumping minority, we can't say every driver is a clone of an MG ZR'd boy racer with an attitude problem.

So this editorial becomes a thank you, to the majority of drivers, and the majority of cyclists, for making the roads a better place to be than most of the media would have us believe.

.anth