This week I am going back over old ground again, which I do try not to do, but in this case I think it's worth it. I am pondering the old question - What happens to people when they get behind the wheel of a car?

There is a car insurance commercial on television at the moment which shows people walking down a crowded street and acting just as they might when driving.

They are pushing to get past people, cutting in front, yelling just because someone is walking more slowly than them etc. Whilst this is done in a humorous way it does highlight the difference in people’s personalities when sat in the driving seat of a motor vehicle.

Obviously not everybody is like this, but it's a big enough proportion that it's noticeable and is used by advertisers to get their point across!

We have the phrase "road Rage" but is there "pedestrian rage" or "bicycle rage"?

Not that I am aware of, so maybe this is an indication that driving isn't good for you, if it causes it's own type of rage then maybe we need to have a rethink of either how we drive or whether we drive at all? I won't even mention the rising costs of motoring!

I am not the only person in my office that cycles to work on a regular basis and we have collectively noticed a strange phenomenon. There seems to be a certain set of circumstances that cause bad, inconsiderate or dangerous driving. When one person has had a bad journey, the rest seem to have also had some close shaves!

Last week I had a couple of excellent examples of the dangers faced by cyclists.

The first was a van who pulled out of a side road in front of me only to turn left immediately in a classic example of what is called a "left hook".

Fortunately I was taking the left turn as well, not that the van driver would have known this as I hadn't yet indicated, and so I avoided being knocked off. The van driver then sped off only to slam the brakes on as he approached a speed camera.

The second incident last week was much more frightening as I believe it was deliberate.

I was riding along at around 20mph and was overtaking parked cars, there was a gap in the parked cars where there is a large pothole followed by more parked cars, so I maintained my road position to avoid the pothole.

It was at this point that I heard the racing diesel engine behind me, as there was no other traffic around I assumed that this van would overtake me giving plenty of room.

The van made no attempt to overtake, but when I started to move back towards the kerb after clearing the last parked car he came past and was no more than a couple of centimetres from my shoulder.

As he had opportunities to overtake prior to this and give plenty of space due to the fact that there was no other traffic around I can only assume that this was a deliberate attempt to frighten me.

I would like to congratulate the driver of this van as it was frightening, but then nearly being mown down by an inconsiderate and dangerous driver when all you are doing is riding safely and responsibly is quite a frightening experience.

I would like to ask both drivers one question - why? I'm sure that if we were walking down the street you wouldn't behave in this way so why do it when you're behind a driving wheel?