CreakingCrank

On my recent tour, a semi drove dangerously close to me at high speed. I was on a wide shoulder with several feet of space between myself and the white line. The truck swerved out of his lane and came within a foot of me (the wind nearly caused a crash), then immediately swerved back into his lane. I'm certain it was intentional. Has this ever happened to you?

JoeyBike

Oh yeah. All part of the deal. Truckers, high school kids, Cadillacs, you name it. Plus, once I had a tractor trailer lay on the air horn at the most strategic time to try to startle me off the bike. I had hearing loss for 3 days in my left ear.

I live in the South. Very common here, but I have experienced this from Wyoming to Virginia and beyond.

My personal favorite is when I am riding in a marked and striped bike lane and a pickup/SUV will pass me close, run over the next bike symbol painted on the road surface ahead of me, then merge back into the travel lane. If THAT isn't sending a message, I don't know what would.

Love it or leave it!

indyfabz

What am I thinking right now?

JoeyBike

You are looking in your rear-view mirror to see if you frightened me off the road.

indyfabz

I didn't ask "What am I doing right now?". Even if I had, my nearly 2.5 Y.O. vehicle just went over 6,000 miles the other day, so the chances of me being behind the wheel at any given moment are not good.

In any event...I have seen countless trucks do what was described when there is no cyclist within its range. Sleep deprivation, distracted diving and general inattentiveness are all equally (if not more) plausible explanations.

JoeyBike

Trust me, if it is on purpose, it is OFTEN (not always) obvious. When a car with four high school kids tried to run me into a ditch in Virginia, they were all looking back to view the carnage and laughing. But the joke was on them because I have a mirror and know how to use it. I just stopped pedaling and the rear bumper missed me by three feet. Then their right rear wheel slipped off the pavement into the ditch which made the car jump around onto two wheels sideways. By some miracle it didn't crash but the BIG EYES on those kids were priceless.

Sometimes, it is obvious they did it on purpose. Leave it alone. What does it cost you to believe the guy? Were you there? Do you have psychic powers into the past? I could relate other similar stories where I could clearly see people move their heads to look in the mirror, or turn completely around, to see if they succeeded in their attempt. There are jerks on the road, and jerks in web forums. Nothing we can do about it but keep on keeping on, or quit the activity.

"You are looking in your rear-view mirror to see if you frightened me off the road." <-- This is one dead giveaway. If they didn't see me when they passed, why are they looking for me behind them?

Andrew R Stewart 

Years ago my late wife and I were touring from Springfield MO to Little Rock AK. A few days into the tour we were doing the usual after lunch stop "tourist's procrastination" (you know, you sort of get ready to push off but take a swig of water, then almost push off again but decide to look at the map one more time, then you look at your touring partner and see they are drinking so you do so also...) at the exit of a parking lot. Just as we got to the point of really pushing off we hear this "you who!, you two!" and we see this older woman heading to us rapidly. We give each other that look of "what did we do? did we do some local no no?" Being the kind and procrastinating riders we are we waited for the woman to get to us. She explained how she just called the Highway Patrol on us... Emily and I gave each other another more concerned look. The woman continued that she saw the simi truck/trailer almost side swipe us and got it's licence plate number. Em and I again looked at each other rather perplexed. We thanked the woman and insured that we were OK before we finally did ride on. But we had quite the discussion about this truck. We hadn't noticed any truck coming even somewhat close, the woman's perception was far different then our "use to commuting and traffic" one was. We further wondered if there was now some really mad trucker sitting at the side of the road fuming at us for being the reason they were having to deal with the Hwy Patrol.

The only time I truly felt that I had been buzzed by a vehicle was on another tour (Reno, NV to Modesto CA) and when riding across the central valley had a pick up truck coming the other way cross the yellow line and try to run us off the road. No prior interaction, no warning. Obviously our mirrors weren't a help. Only my attentiveness and shouts of warning to Emily (who was behind a few yards) kept us unharmed. I've ridden over 10K of touring miles over the years and this was the only real out to get me incident. Of course in nearly daily commuting, club riding and touring I have had a lot of passing vehicles that were closer then I liked but never felt that real aggression was at play excepting that pick up truck. Andy

JoeyBike

I had this exact same encounter. Pick-up truck with a cowboy driving and a woman in the passenger seat, both laughing. Highway 22 between Ponchatoula and Madisonville, Louisiana in the early '90s. They did not scare us off the road BTW. My touring bud was right behind me.

No doubt someone here will contest the intent of our cowboys.

indyfabz

No such details provided by the OP, just an unsupported assertion. No other entirely plausible explanations discounted. Ergo, my questioning is sound. Now you leave it alone. Buh-bye, pot stirrer. Because comments like these and your short-lived dog thread (and your despised comment in another dog thread), I have added you to my iggy list, so I won't receive notifications of any quotes and will not see your posts.

fietsbob

Ireland, had a German in a Mercedes, left side driver car in a drive in left lane country ,
commented on the width of my touring load, I of course said , 'you should talk about width' ? Hah!

tspoon

I had a guy in a pickup break his right hand mirror on my left arm in Alabama. I don't really know if it was intentional or if he was some other type of incompetent. He pulled off a side road and stopped in a car park but I was too annoyed to try to engage in any way. It is a little disheartening when it happens, especially when you consider the vast majority of courteous drivers who appreciate your effort to share to road and share it back accordingly.

JoeyBike

He believed it was on purpose. He was there. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't on purpose. Does not matter in the least. His post was to ask the rest of us: "Has this ever happened to you?" To me, this meant: "Have you ever FELT that someone tried to run you off the road on purpose?" For me, YES, I have felt that way AND I noticed evidence that I was likely correct in my assertion. It was a simple question, yet people here have to dissect every little detail yet miss the point of his post entirely.

SO...have you ever FELT like a motorist tried to pass you closer than normal ON PURPOSE? It's a Yes or No question. If the answer is Yes, we would love to hear your story. If NO, just say NO. No need to interrogate the OP or track down the "assailant" and ask him/her about their intentions.

Well, that is just no fun at all.

bikenh

What is fun is when you are riding along and someone coming from the opposite direction decides to pass the car in front of them ans turns a two lane road into a three lane road. It is especially fun when their is hardly any shoulder at all. I've had this happen so many times I don't even think about it anymore. On a trip in western IN several years back I had a semi being the vehicle doing the passing. I've had it happen in both legal and no passing zones. Happens quite frequently.

Doug64

It wasn't on a tour, but my left shoulder was hit by a van that was passing too close. I don't think it was intentional, and I'm happy he had "swing away" mirrors. No harm done to me or the mirrors. He didn't stop, but I almost caught him at the next stop light. I'm not sure what I would have done if I caught him. I guess that is the same thing that car chasing dogs have to deal with.

We've had a few close passes that felt intentional on tours, but nothing really dangerous. Mostly the opposite; most people are courteous, and really try to pass safely.

Trevtassie

The test for this is to flip them the bird, if they respond in less than a millisecond you know it was deliberate.... it usually is.

JoeyBike

Yeah, but I am usually just grateful they don't make a second pass. I do agree that your technique would be quite effective at determining intent.

What about handfulls of M&Ms, lit firecrackers, empty or part full beverage bottles / cups, a quart of oil, air-soft pellets, paintballs, any available kids toy on the floorboard, one or both shoes, paperback novels, to name a few object thrown from moving cars at me over the years. Was that intentional? Or just litterbugs who happen to just be passing me. I look at getting buzzed the same way - they just couldn't get their hands on anything to throw. As you said: "It usually is [deliberate]"

CreakingCrank

I watch in my mirror frequently and saw the truck in its own lane travelling straight. It was not drifting. It was not weaving. It was not skirting the line. A few seconds later its 3-4 feet to the right of that previously straight path and next to me. Once on the shoulder, the driver didn't jerk back onto the road like one would if panicked. Instead it gently merged back into its own lane. That truck only moved that far right in that short of time by turning the wheel.

Granted, maybe the driver got stung by a bee or they spilled hot coffee in their lap. The driver's response wasn't consistent with those events though. It was very consistent with malice. I'll stick with my "certain" word selection.

JoeyBike

I just took your word for it. I figured you had your reasons for being suspicious. I have to admit, just this morning someone in a white car crowded me out of the bike lane. Saw it in my mirror same as you. 20 years ago i would have called it on purpose. Today, I saw them on the phone at the next red light. This is why I cut back on recreational riding and stick with commuting. However, people still do mean things on purpose. Just harder to judge that intent. In your case, sounds like he was sending you a message.

52telecaster

+100

52telecaster

I had a guy lay on the horn and come too close while I was using a sharrow lane in town. I caught up with him about 10 blocks later when he was out of his pickup truck. He claimed to have no idea why anyone would honk at a cyclist or drive close to them. Sometimes they are less brave when out of the truck.

CreakingCrank

Yeah, I've had plenty of people drive uncomfortably close to me on tour for various reasons ... distracted, not careful, didn't care, etc. Never felt any purposeful intent. This guy (assuming male) no doubt went out of his way to get close. Wish I had cameras mounted front and rear.

b_young

I have had more close calls commuting than touring but it makes sense because I commute more than touring. I have only had one close call that was really just due to texting. He stopped and apologized saying the sun was in his eyes. When I pointed to the direction of the sun, he came clean and admitted he was on his phone. The shoulder had just widened otherwise I would have probably had to ditch the bike. It ended up being a high school friend from 25 years ago. I think that helped me simmer down a bit and helped him realize the dangers of the phone and driving. All the rest were very evident that they were intentional.

Papa Tom

While touring on a very narrow, very quiet rural back road in Rhode Island, I heard the growl of an engine, accompanied by a loud clanging noise, somewhere in the distance. I wasn't sure what it was or whether it was any kind of problem for me, but I instinctively began looking for an "out" along the road; a patch of grass or sand large enough to pull over and assess the situation. As I kept on pedaling around two or three blind curves with no such "safe zone" in sight, I heard the noise getting louder and sloppier, soon realizing that it was coming up the winding road behind me. The engine of whatever was back there sounded like an old pick-up truck. No problem. But that clanging...that didn't sound good at all.

As the approaching racket swelled , I finally sighted a small grass apron with a wooden-post mailbox and began pedaling at double speed to get there before the mysterious vehicle caught up to me. Unfortunately, I was still about 20 feet away from my target when it did. This thing was moving FAST, man!

The next few seconds were a blur. I heard a loud honk, then felt a massive wave of hot hair blowing through my t-shirt. I somehow came to a stop inside the six-inch line that separated the street from the bushes to my right, leaped off the bike into those bushes, and watched in terror as a mammoth-sized monster truck pulling a full-sized empty flatbed trailer whizzed by within inches of my rear tire, never slowing down and never swerving - even slightly - to avoid me. And that wasn't the worst of it, because seconds later, as the truck passed the grass apron I had hoped to use as a safe zone, the empty flat bed trailer that had been zigzagging all over the road jumped the curb and completely took out the mailbox! Then, without even a slight pause, the vehicle took off at full speed, primed to terrorize some other unsuspecting cyclist, pedestrian, or driver around some other blind corner.

I finished the ride pretty shaken, making a deal with myself never to choose a route that involves such a small road shoulder ever again. The "what if" image of me and my bike, innocently stopped at that apron against that mailbox and being chopped to pieces by that out-of-control multi-ton flatbed trailer has never left me. And neither has my curiosity about what the crazy New England redneck behind the wheel was thinking, or what drugs he was on.

Anyway, now I am grateful I can see my routes in advance on Google Maps. 'Not gonna put myself in THAT situation ever again!

Carbonfiberboy 

Right. I was on a group bike ride when someone did just that. The car went up the road, came back and tried to kill us all. Luckily there was a ditch to escape into. We had a few minor injuries and minor equipment damage to wheels, etc. The proper response is always to smile and wave. We were not touring however, JRA.

mev

One of the my more memorable harassment cases happened on an organized Ride the Rockies ride about a decade ago.

On this particular day, our route brought us through a winding canyon west of Gunnison. The road narrowed. There were several Colorado State Patrol (CSP) motorcycle officers patrolling this particular route as we came to the narrow sections. A pickup truck with one or two mattresses upright in the back came past - honking and swerving at some of the ~2000 cyclists the driver found that day on "her" road. A dangerous and stupid act, particularly with so many cyclists who could call the CSP on cell phones.

It wasn't much further until I rounded a bend to find the pickup pulled over by two motorcycle officers. One cop was with the driver and working somewhat in vain to keep her calm and keep from her from continuing to yell at cyclists...while also indirectly reassuring cyclists that they didn't need to engage and yell back - escalating things. The other officer was handling a growing queue of cyclists who stopped to provide witness statements.

About an hour or two later, a flatbed truck came past with that pickup loaded on top. Not 100% certain of what happened, but appeared that cops either found further infraction and/or came to conclusion that it wasn't safe to release a motorist as agitated back on the route of the bicycle ride.

The vast majority of motorists on tour are fine, but unfortunately it is the bad ones who I often remember most.