2.7.07
Barging in a residential street

As I was riding down Metcalfe Road this driver came the other way at
speed and evidently expected me to let myself be squeezed between
their car and a parked vehicle.

As you can see from the video, there is no way for us to safely pass
each other where there are cars on both sides, even where the one on
my side is parked partially on the verge.  If I were to try to use the
gap you can see behind me towards the end of the video, I would have
to be in the parked car's dooring zone - not a safe option except dead
slow.

Unfortunately, the willingness of most other riders to ride in the
dooring zone (which is of course partly due to the kind of barging you
see here) makes it all the harder for a defensive cyclist to claim
safety space.

If the driver had been considerate we could have each timed our
arrival so that neither would have had to slow down too much, and we
could have passed in one of the longish gaps.  As it was I found
myself using an assertive road position to force the driver to slow
right down.

You can usually tell just from the speed of approach whether an
approaching driver is a rat-runner (arsehole) or a resident
(considerate).