Mr Sinister

I was riding along, and nearing the end of my ride today. I was less than a mile from home, and going by a side road (on my left). A truck was stopped at the stop sign and as I got up to the intersection, he decided to go. I had to hit both brakes to avoid hitting his truck. I then start yelling, and swearing at the JACK A__. He then says, well I'm going that way (pointing the same way I'm going). I yell (still swearing at him) "If I was a car, or motorcycle would you have gone?" His reply was "No". I then say "WTF (insert profanity) you should take a person on a bike the same way."

I so wanted him to get out of the truck and get into my face. I was so heated, I really wanted him to take a swing at me. He didn't and maybe it was for the best. He then took off like a bat out of hell...

** END RANT ***

Mr. Beanz

What were the conditions? No shoulder, you taking the lane? No bike lane?

I myself stay on the shoulder or bike lane if there is one. If a driver makes a left when I hit the intesection, no problem. I guess you need to paint a better picture of the situation.

callmeclemens

Yeah, When a Vehicle Doesn't respect you on the bike it's the worst. With that being said a Cyclist who don't respect the law of the road also is just as bad.

I have a local bike club who rides by my place on Thursdays, always spilling out into the middle of the road and showing no concern for the cars behind them.

We all have to share the Road.

Seve

The good news is that you weren't involved in a collision.

I've had similar experiences more than a few times over the years. I really think it comes down to the driver, for whatever the reasons, underestimating the speed of the approaching cyclist?

Mr Sinister

No shoulder a country road, and no bike lane. I was nearly half way into my lane, to avoid some pot holes. He came all the way across.

Mr Sinister

I agree 1000%. I try to stay as tight to the right as I can at all times.

Bikealou

Couple of days ago I was making a left turn at a traffic light at a tee intersection - two lane road to a two lane road. Light turned green as I approached intersection, I took the left lane (no traffic on my road) and entered the intersection, a dumb blonde (he says politely) roared up from behind and passed me on the right to make the same left turn. I guess there was some traffic, the road I was turning from was a residential 30MPH road, the red car was well behind me when I took the lane. I was several car lengths behind a car turning left in front of me. I admit I did yell some choice epitaphs and made a hand gesture (not the full on one-finger salute to the driver's IQ). Got my payback, less than a mile up the road, traffic came to a standstill due to some utility line repair blocking a major righthand turn ahead. I was able to slip up the shoulder and had a second chance to say a few choice words to the perp - I said them to myself but it still felt good. I know I got through the major traffic light at the source of the jam up several light cycles before her. Sometimes there is some justice in this world.

TrojanHorse

I had a fun little brush with a motorcyclist this week - I was riding near Red Rock in Las Vegas (holy climbing batman) and we were out on the main street approaching the park (it's 2 lane, 50 mph, nice bike lane on the shoulder, beautiful pavement for the most part, and bike lane signs. I felt very comfortable on that road and there were plenty of cyclists).

4 motorcyclists went SCREAMING by, if they weren't doing at least 100 I'd be shocked. 1 of them, however, was in the bike lane. 2 more inches over and I'd have had a mirror enema and as it was the blast was extremely disconcerting. I don't know if he did it on purpose to freak us out or if he's just an idiot, or maybe both.

vesteroid

I have already posted I do a lot of long distance hiking. In the hiking community, they all hate the mountain bikers, and of course the mb guys and the hikers hate the horse people.

Now bikes and cars.

Some things never change

Mr. Beanz

IME, I don't see how a truck can cross two lanes, place himself in front of a rider causing me to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him. The truck had to be in motion before the rider arrived at the intersection or it would have had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the rider. The rider should have seen the truck in motion before arriving at the intersection.

Trucks don't move that fast, from a dead stop, crossing two lanes placing himself in front of a rider who as already arrived at an intersection. The OP stiuation is just not possible.

I honestly think the rider could have avoided the situation and there is more to the story. Like the rider saw the truck in motion, got upset then figured he'd give the driver a hard time for misjudging his speed. I've seen it a million times.

Flame away!

Mr Sinister

Truck as in a pick-up. I own a Chevy 2500 with a 350. I can get a real good start with that thing. If you don't believe me, fine I really don't care, its the internet after all ( I need to buy a cam). And no the truck was at a stop sign. Saw me coming, and WELL INTO THE INTERSECTION ( Y type with an island, so he was on the left of said Island, fork if I was coming from the other direction), and turned left in front of me... BUT WHATEVER....

Telly

Sometimes Karma's a biatch...

A few years ago while driving to work (please don't yell at me! ), I was waiting at an intersection to turn left and this smug little #$@!# in a convertible passes everyone in the middle lane and turns in front of me, cutting me off...

One thing he didn't/couldn't see in the middle lane is that the road we were turning on had a tall cement divider between the lanes, and he hit the divider head on doing at least 30 miles/hour . The car (a Mercedes CLK I think) was ruined since he pretty much ripped into the engine block and tore his front suspension off their mounts (I have a cellphone pic, will try to find it later).

The moral of the story is that sometimes, it's best to let Karma deal with situations like this since trying to talk sense to idiots is a total waste of time.

bigfred 

Two things come to mind:

1.-It has been my experience and that of Mrs. Fred as well, that most drivers harbor no malice when they turn and pull out in front of a cyclist. They usually see us. Their brains, plain and simply, don't equate "bike rider" with "40-50kph". We see the saucer eyes all the time.

2. -I have also found that when sworn at, most drivers react as though the cyclist is an unreasonable lunatic. Even more so when no blood has been spilt. However, when I've had the opportunity to ride up alongside them at the next light or stop sign, stop, unclip and politely look in their window, before asking, "Didn't you see me?" (I'm frequently atired in hi viz or red). They usually take on a sheapish demeanor. Even the big burly dudes, usually don't rant back and instead come back with a, "sorry dude, didn't think bikes went that fast".

Better for them than getting yelled at. Better for cyclist and cycling as a whole.

tergal

very true, while yelling may make you feel better in the short run i tend to be embarrassed when i yell at people. some times better to roll your eyes and just keep riding. Please note i am not responsible if you stack it while rolling you eyes

oh and sinster i do understand your pain, although i get very confused reading these post where you all ride on the wrong side of the road

Street Pedaler

+1.

It's a frustrating thing and I deal with it regularly, too. I've learned to just always assume that I'm about to be hit and to adjust accordingly. Cycle defensively. Just like you drive.

callmeclemens

Southern New Jersey for the most part is a very cyclist friendly state. However if you should find yourself to far South in the state, you'd think their were rewards for running us off the road.

chefisaac

I would agree with Call. Some good, some bad. I would suspect that its that way all over. Some roads are great, some ok, some good, some bad and some really bad.

SuncoastChad

Glad it was "only" a near collision. I had a jackwagon do that to me in the parking lot a week or so ago -- I was on my large blue Honday VTX 1300 R with all the baggage, lights going, etc. and the driver of the cage, probably talking on the phone or texting, made a left turn as I was getting to the drive - by the time I could get my horn going the bumper was about 1' from my left knee -- I'm so glad they finally came out of their coma before running me down - it would have been ugly -- as yours would have been. So, let's be thankful we didn't get run down and stay ever vigilant. As they said on "Hill Street Blues", "Let's be careful out there."

Biggziff

it happens and shouldn't surprise anyone. Getting so upset about it didn't help and probably ruined your ride and the rest of your day. Next time take a breath, give them some grace and hope the same is extended to you the next time you make a mistake. You'll feel much better and live longer.

BigUgly

I have come to expect that there is an idiot behind the wheel of every car that I encounter. That way I prepare myself for the unexpected. I have come across some idiot cyclists as well that where two riders ride side by side on a busy road with complete disregard to any auto traffic. I myself make it easy for the driver of a car to negotiate their way around me. If there is a shoulder I move over as far as I can to allow the driver sufficient room to pass. That being said I just at a FedEx delivery truck buzz me on Saturday and I let him have it even though he probably didn't hear me. It was theraputic for me. His mirror came within a foot of smacking me. There was no one coming the other way so he had plenty of room to give me some space. I had an experience the other day where a cyclist moved over right in front of me while driving my car and I had to put on the brakes hard enough for stuff to fly off the seat. He wasn't a stereotypical cyclist but a guy riding home from work or school(no helmet, sneakers, shorts, hooded sweatshirt). Still an idiotic move on his part.

This brings up a discussion we had today at the water cooler. There was something on one of the morning TV shows about how people follow their GPS without using common sense. There were photos of people who have driven into ponds, walls, and swamps because their GPS told them to. There are many people who drive cars with no common sense whatever which is why I prepare for the worst when I encounter cars while I am out cycling.

Doohickie

Biggziff

It's not a new problem...

"Common sense is not so common"

Voltaire
November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778

tony_merlino

You're lucky. Northern New Jersey sure isn't.

Since I've gotten back on the bike, I've been mostly riding very locally, using the bike for most errands within a 5 mile radius. Sometimes I think I'm out of my mind riding around here. (I'm in the Belleville/Nutley area, Exit 150 on the GSP).

The other day, I was riding back from the store on a pretty empty side street. It was a beautiful day, and there were other bikes on the road - mostly young kids. This one idiot comes up behind me (with tons of room to pass), and starts honking his horn like a lunatic. He then zoomed past, and kept honking all the way up the block, trying to scare the kids on their bikes, making hand gestures, swerving...

I wish I could say this was an isolated incident. But it wasn't - there are people around here who absolutely HATE the fact that there are bikes on the street.

I had an incident similar to the OP's a number of years ago, only mine didn't end so well...

sstorkel

This is an important point to remember! A car is a very large, very deadly weapon. Confronting someone armed with such a weapon doesn't show the best judgement...

njkayaker

Northern (northeastern), northern NJ might be better.