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What do I do -- almost lost my life

Old 08-26-12, 06:12 PM
  #51  
SnowJob
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I'm always surprised how fast people on here say "Get a gun!" "Get a CCL!" Does anyone believe that having a gun or a CCL will help in any real way with the problems that this cyclist is having? Is he going to be waving his gun around as he rides? Is he going to pull it out every time somebody yells at him? Why are so many people deluded into thinking that having a gun is the answer to any problem involving personal conflict?

My opinion for the poster: See if you can find other cyclists in your area. Band up, create a unit. Push for change: bike lanes, law enforcement, public education around cyclists and their rights on the road. Things won't change fast, but they will change. The city I live in is an example of that. The rising price of gasoline will also help, once we get past the tipping point and folks start need to be thinking that cars aren't always the best way of getting from point A to B.
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Old 08-26-12, 06:32 PM
  #52  
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Rear and helmet mounted video cameras, and a t shirt that reads, "Smile, you're being video taped.". If you capture an incident and the local authorities do nothing, I'm sure an attorney will take the case.
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Old 08-26-12, 06:51 PM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by SnowJob
I'm always surprised how fast people on here say "Get a gun!" "Get a CCL!" Does anyone believe that having a gun or a CCL will help in any real way with the problems that this cyclist is having? Is he going to be waving his gun around as he rides? Is he going to pull it out every time somebody yells at him? Why are so many people deluded into thinking that having a gun is the answer to any problem involving personal conflict?
I have nothing to add except that I find the contrast between your post and your avatar amusing.
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Old 08-26-12, 07:54 PM
  #54  
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Originally Posted by telkanuru
I have nothing to add except that I find the contrast between your post and your avatar amusing.
So the kind of fiction we enjoy should always exactly mirror how we live our lives?
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Old 08-27-12, 02:01 AM
  #55  
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1) Getting buzzed near at high speed?
Tie an elastic branch of wood so it sticks some 50 cm to the left of your bike. Tie a red piece of cloth to it. They will give you room. Just don't forget the patent when moving through crowded mups - not all the women like being spanked!

2) Drivers almost kiling you?
Nothing helps. Just be happy when you avoid crashes. No use shouting, arguing, getting upset. You can't teach them all. 50% of them are not aware what they did wrong and it would take vide, 10 hours of teaching, etc to help them realise. Some of them. The other 50% just didn't see you and are sorry. So just be nice and calm and alert. This way no one will try to punch you or anything.
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Old 08-27-12, 05:37 AM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by paperbackbiker
...and a t shirt that reads, "Smile, you're being video taped."...
Sounds like a good way to provoke an incident, especially with the unhinged, the last thing this OP needs as advice.

Originally Posted by paperbackbiker
If you capture an incident and the local authorities do nothing, I'm sure an attorney will take the case.
Depends how loosely you define "an incident" and even more so on what you consider "the case." I'm not so positive anyone will wish to get on board with a bicyclist making "a case" of a no-contact/close call or hurt feelings.

In the OP's incident of his following/stalking someone to their home, the attorney might be the District Attorney making a case against the OP.
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Old 08-27-12, 06:21 AM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by rrg
This week an angry driver caught me, got out of his car, and assaulted me. Police were called because he left me unconcious in the road. Nothing could be done, police said.
So that means that any car driver can go out and pummel a bike rider and it is legit!? I would have a calm but persistant discussion with the chief of police https://brgov.com/dept/brpd/ and/or the mayor https://brgov.com/dept/Mayor/. The mayor's own web page says he's looking for traffic solutions and safe neighborhoods. I would think they would want to know about this.

"You will find the friendly people of Baton Rouge will welcome you warmly, and our government doors are always open to you." - Unless you ride a bike???
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Old 08-27-12, 07:33 AM
  #58  
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Originally Posted by achoo
Bull. "The south" is no more intolerant than any other grouping of philosophically homogeneous populations - all across the political and social spectra.

OP needs a camera, as posted.

And he also needs to stop escalating his encounters. Following somebody home is a good way to get beat up or killed. And if the OP thinks the cops aren't helping him now, wait until he or his heirs has to deal with them after he's followed someone to his home. Then they'll treat him like the criminal.

This is the best post and advice in this thread.
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Old 08-27-12, 09:12 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by achoo
Bull. "The south" is no more intolerant than any other grouping of philosophically homogeneous populations - all across the political and social spectra.
I agree. I think the one thing that defines the south is "distrust." They do not trust the government because of local corruption and federal intervention. Blacks don't trust whites and vice versa due to racial history. There is a lot of fear-mongering going on that leads a lot of the residents to conclude that anything new won't work, will fundamentally ruin the system, or "someone" (the govt or otherwise) is somehow taking a cut. Using bicycles as a microcosm: people love their cars in the south, and car manufacturers provide a lot of good American jobs. Instead of seeing bicycle-commuting as a good thing in and of itself, they see it as undermining other good things that are proven to work.
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Old 08-27-12, 09:21 AM
  #60  
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I live in the deep South and have no significant issues with motorists. The vast majority are polite and friendly. Based on personal experience, I can give no credence whatsoever that the South is less tolerant of bicycles than anywhere else. And I'd have to guess conflict is greater in the north simply because you have larger numbers of people sharing smaller roads and that always escalates problems.
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Old 08-27-12, 09:52 AM
  #61  
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Originally Posted by Ridefreemc
So that means that any car driver can go out and pummel a bike rider and it is legit!? I would have a calm but persistant discussion with the chief of police https://brgov.com/dept/brpd/ and/or the mayor https://brgov.com/dept/Mayor/. The mayor's own web page says he's looking for traffic solutions and safe neighborhoods. I would think they would want to know about this.

"You will find the friendly people of Baton Rouge will welcome you warmly, and our government doors are always open to you." - Unless you ride a bike???
Strikes me as odd, also. OP, the police actually said they wouldn't do anything?
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Old 08-27-12, 10:19 AM
  #62  
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Originally Posted by BassNotBass
rrg, I spent sixteen years in the South (Georgia) and finally moved away because it just wasn't the place that I felt was home because I didn't share the same morals, values and outlooks as the majority of citizens living there.
The word you're looking for is provincialism. Guess what? Every place is pretty much like that. I don't live near BR, but I do live in the south. People are generally polite toward me, but that may be more a reflection of the route I choose, and the way I share the road. I can think of metropolitain areas not far from me where I wouldn't dare ride in traffic. But, I wouldn't extrapolate that to include anything more than what it is; a bad place to ride a bike. Lumping the entirety of the southern US into one category is pretty silly.

To the OP: While I'm a big fan of concealed carry, given the your admission that you followed a guy home after being buzzed, I don't think concealed carry is a good idea for you, at least not while on a bike. I don't think you have the temperment for it. If you really want to protect yourself, try something non-lethal, like mace. As others have suggested, get a camera so you can tell your side to the cops. If they won't listen, get a lawyer or find a reporter who will. If they won't listen, maybe you are, in fact, blowing things out of proportion, or doing something to cause the problem.

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Old 08-27-12, 10:51 AM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by acidfast7
i would move. honestly.
yeah ... agreed...
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Old 08-27-12, 11:53 AM
  #64  
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Moving is not a tenable solution.
I wouldn't get a gun, but that's just me.
Cameras are a great idea.
Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention getting mace and/or pepper spray.
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Old 08-27-12, 01:30 PM
  #65  
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Originally Posted by alan s
Strikes me as odd, also. OP, the police actually said they wouldn't do anything?
The unprovoked attack stories from the OP sound peculiar, especially since he revealed that he had followed at least one of the "attackers" home before the "attack, "only much later in the thread. Somehow I feel the OP left out more relevant information about these encounters.
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Old 08-27-12, 01:40 PM
  #66  
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Originally Posted by the_tool_man
The word you're looking for is provincialism. Guess what? Every place is pretty much like that. I don't live near BR, but I do live in the south. People are generally polite toward me, but that may be more a reflection of the route I choose, and the way I share the road. I can think of metropolitain areas not far from me where I wouldn't dare ride in traffic. But, I wouldn't extrapolate that to include anything more than what it is; a bad place to ride a bike. Lumping the entirety of the southern US into one category is pretty silly.

To the OP: While I'm a big fan of concealed carry, given the your admission that you followed a guy home after being buzzed, I don't think concealed carry is a good idea for you, at least not while on a bike. I don't think you have the temperment for it. If you really want to protect yourself, try something non-lethal, like mace. As others have suggested, get a camera so you can tell your side to the cops. If they won't listen, get a lawyer or find a reporter who will. If they won't listen, maybe you are, in fact, blowing things out of proportion, or doing something to cause the problem.
Well Said.
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Old 08-27-12, 07:24 PM
  #67  
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Move to Canada (we have cookies!)
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Old 08-27-12, 07:48 PM
  #68  
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Sounds like the OP lives in a bizarre pocket of hostility which you can no more generalize about “The South” than you can about “MinnesotaNice."
My only experiences in the south have been on long tours. The only ‘problem’ I encountered is southerners are so damm nice they’ll talk your ears off all day. I sometimes got so wrapped up in interesting conversations that it was difficult to get any miles in.
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Old 08-27-12, 08:04 PM
  #69  
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
The unprovoked attack stories from the OP sound peculiar, especially since he revealed that he had followed at least one of the "attackers" home before the "attack, "only much later in the thread. Somehow I feel the OP left out more relevant information about these encounters.
I'm new here and inexperienced at bike commuting, but my first thoughts upon reading the OP were - A: "this is a troll-job," or B: "this is nowhere close to the whole story..."

Granted I don't live in Louisiana like OP, but I've never seen any cyclist getting beaten unconscious by a motorist. I believe the old word for this kind of story is a "tall tale."
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Old 08-27-12, 08:15 PM
  #70  
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Well, moving out of the south is not a real solution, is it? This not just a problem of the south, so relax on that folks. I live in a suburb of Dallas, and fortunately, my area is very pro-cycling. I think the OP really has some rotten luck and that I would try and find a safer alternate route. Does it suck? Yes. Is it worth losing MY life over ? No way. Unfortunately, we will always be 2nd class citizens on the road. Best of luck to the OP!!
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Old 08-28-12, 07:06 AM
  #71  
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To the OP remember "sticks and stones" from your childhood. I don't care how close someone comes when passing so long as they do not hit me. If someone honks or yells at you just nod your head and keep pedaling. Road rage is a two way street so to speak.
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Old 08-28-12, 08:07 AM
  #72  
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They almost have a 3' law here... https://calbike.org/assembly-approves...ill/#more-4096
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Old 08-28-12, 12:36 PM
  #73  
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Find another route! please.
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Old 08-28-12, 03:04 PM
  #74  
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+1 about southern folks being extremely nice, personally, one-to-one. But when they get in their cars it can be harrowing. And mostly it's not personal, just misjudgment of how much room a cyclist needs to feel comfortable and a general lack of concentration.

Find a new route. Take the lane when there's less than 2' of shoulder.
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Old 08-28-12, 07:14 PM
  #75  
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Obviously this is not recreation for you. Find another hobby.
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