Maelochs

When people threaten me on the road, I grind my brake pads down to bare metal .... then they know I am hard-core.

rsbob 

Come ride in the Seattle Solstice Parade where you would fit right in: https://www.schwartzphoto.com/index/. Look under Galaries and Seattle

Troul 

the ole pic with the lady holding the seat in her hand & positioned over the seat most comes to mind.

Rick

About a dozen years ago I was riding back home from the doctors and a red F350 was used to intimidate me. The rear wheels approached me thrice. Then the vermin dashed ahead cut across the other three lanes of traffic and entered the left turn lane. I was able to also make the left and saw the Ford enter a parking lot. I managed to lean my Tandem on a light pole and approach the drivers side window where he had parked before he exited the vehicle. I got the drivers attention and immediately made it clear I wanted words not a fight. He told me that he had ended up behind some riders and couldn't go faster than around 8 mph for some distance. They had refused to let him by when they had room to pull over. So 15-20 some odd miles later he sees the slow moving fat man on a Tandem and takes his wrath out on me. OK he was a little more humble than that. his wife was sitting next to him the whole time and neither one of us used profanity while we conversed.

Kontact 

We need to confront all 100 million distracted drivers.

Bluejohn

I recently got buzzed by a van who overtook at high speed on a blind bend and swerved across me to avoid a head on collision with an oncoming car, nearly wiping me out in the process. I yelled as he did it and he stopped to confront ME because I yelled (he then tried shouting at me) - I was in no mood for his BS and unloaded in no uncertain terms telling him about what I thought and that his actions were on video. He went from aggressive yelling to nearly in tears in a split second and tried to blame the oncoming driver for driving too fast - I made sure he knew what I thought of that excuse. He didn't quite know what to do and when he eventually pulled away he drove the next mile or so at about 20mph! Hopefully he will think twice before doing something that reckless to a cyclist again.

I don't go looking for trouble, but if someone does something genuinely dangerous I have no problem in telling them.

Mtracer

The closest I get to confronting drivers is the damn fools (I.E. half of them), that insist on stopping on crosswalks when they have a red light. Some of the MUPS I use use crosswalks. They can completely block the ability to get up on the the other side. I usually glare and they get the message. Of course, many give me a 1-finger salute just for giving them the stick eye. Because they know they're in the wrong. A few times I've muttered rather loudly something like "Hey, f-wad nice job" or similar, to then notice they had their window down and certainly heard me. Doesn't bother me a bit.

Just last week, I had a guy pass me on a frontage road where he could have simply moved into the other lane, instead, they chose to pass about 5-6 feet away. My Varia radar camera clocked him at 97 MPH. I gave a finger (which I've done maybe 1-2 other times on the bike), though I doubt they even looked back let alone saw in the fraction of a second before they were out of sight.

I've shouted at maybe two other drivers who at first shouted at me the very original "Get the F off the road".

But in general, I try to avoid responding. Most drivers are making small innocent mistakes that I've made myself while driving (see the above pulling onto a crosswalk for example). If a driver cares, they usually will know they screwed up and there's nothing to be gained confronting them, at least aggressively. The types that just don't give a s&*t, aren't going to consider anything you have to say.

And, I've made my share of bonehead mistakes riding. So, I try to keep in mind that none of us are perfect.

ztmlgr

After a recent experience of mine, I would caution against even that minor amount of interaction with any motorist. Here's my story:

On certain popular bike routes in my area, there are some car "enthusiasts" who frequently drive agressively and recklessly up and down narrow, twisty roads at high speeds, sometimes in groups. I would frequently encounter these drivers and, like you, thought that looking over at them a little extra would let them know that I see them and don't approve of their behavior.

One driver in particular, who I would frequently encounter, found that even this minor interaction from a bicyclist violated some unwritten rule. After I "gave him the look", he hit the brakes, made a U-turn, pulled up alongside me, rolled down the window, and yelled "Why you giving me the hard look, a**hole?". I did not interact at all with him during that incident, but encountered him numerous times after that where he made it clear that he had not forgotten me. He would pass me and then pull over up ahead at the top of the hill waiting for me to come by, and then tailgate me down the hill. Or he would buzz me while leaning on the horn. The guy abviously had some serious anger management issues as well as who knows what other personal problems going on.

After a few of these incidents, I completely avoided the roads where this guy routinely frequented. After not encountering him for 2 months, he sees me on a completely different road, pulls another U-turn and comes at me at high speed. Fearing for my safety, I duck down a side street and hid behind a garbage truck. He wasn't able to get close enough to accost me and ended up making another U-turn and heading back in his original direction. I wasn't sure what he was going to do if he caught up to me. It was either spew some more obscenities at me or maybe shoot me. But I wasn't taking any chances and went to the police. His actions were clearly "criminal stalking" according to California Penal code section 646.9(A). I didn't know what to expect from the police, but the officer did listen to my story and, although not taking the step to go out and arrest the guy, did offer to mail a note to the registered owner of the vehicle with his business card enclosed and ask him to contact the officer. I don't know if that action was enough to get the driver to change his behavior, but I haven't seen him since, although I have not ridden on the roads that are his stomping ground since then and I am extremely vigilant when out riding to check every car coming and going to make sure it's not that guy.

So bottom line is that I suggest you think carefully about even looking at other drivers as you may end up in a situation like mine where your are forced to give up riding on your favorite roads and fear for your safety on almost every ride because of some psycho driver who took exception to your just looking at him.