Originally Posted by Maelochs

By this I guess you mean that many riders you know have had major incidents, recorded them on their on-board cameras, and used the video evidence to win huge court settlements? That is precisely what I-like-to-bike was comparing to winning a lottery.

I commuted daily in the greater Orlando, Florida area for about 15 years. This is the land of the elderly, snowbirds, frustrated and exhausted tourists in cars full of screaming kids, and angry locals trapped trying to get to work on road systems which hadn't been updated to account for a third of the traffic volume. Even when there were no bike lanes and almost everybody hated cyclists, most days I just rode to work, rode to classes, rode to the store, and road home. No real incidents to speak of. And since then, things have only gotten better as people are made more aware of bikes by publicity campaigns, road signs, and bike lanes.

As for there being "no uneventful rides" I find that a bit of a stretch. I guess it is a matter of terminology. After all, a ride itself is an event. Anything that occurs is an event. But as for there being a close call sufficiently worrisome that a rider would feel the need to provide the police with video evidence ... I'd say, the rider is doing something wrong.It is Not anything like a "War Zone" out there. if you find that you are having dangerously close calls during every ride, i'd have to say you might be riding dangerously.

If you really do have dangerously close calls every day, you should post some of the worst ones here so we can all be outraged. You know we all love being outraged.

Originally Posted by Lemond1985

I usually have some sort of road rage incident during most rides. But fortunately, since I started running a camera, I have come to realize that most are pretty minor, and seem much worse when I'm there on the bike, than they look on video when I get home. And most of the ones I was sure were "clearly intentional" were just "sloppy driving" with little or no malice towards me attached.

I do think it's easy to overreact to close passes, I know I sometimes do, while there are other close passes which are arguably more dangerous, that I find myself not reacting at all to. Upon reflection, I realize my own emotional state is usually the most critical factor, so I have forced myself to be more tolerant and forgiving (while still running the camera).

"No Harm, No Foul" is my motto these days, along with "Keep the camera running" and "Stay Calm". Works for me at present.