ThomasA

I was in the right lane when a motorist turned from the left and turned in to the outside lane that I was in. ******* saw me too, and just kept going. He came inches from hitting me, I actually braced myself by putting my hand against his rear fender. I then proceeded to pedal as fast as I could (computer read 40mph) and caught up to the guy at a stop light. I punched his drivers door, leaving a nice dent, and then told him to watch out because he could have killed me. I think the old dude wet himself.
-Thomas

Hobartlemagne 

Attach a rod that sticks out to the left of your bike. Attach a big bunch of keys to it.

Navy_Chief

Why is this soooo hard for people here to understand, don't give them the satisfaction of getting angry about it; it accomplishes nothing and just ruins the rest of your ride. Also until they actually make contact with you chances are there is nothing the police are going to do about it.

Chief

joe_5700

When my rental property was empty someone kicked in the unattached garage door hoping to steal something. I discovered the door open days later. The police here insisted that I call 911 to report the days old crime. I would hardly call being run off the road by a car while on a bicycle frivolous.

angelaharms

Just for the record, responsible gun owners--and that's most--generally don't operate this way. In fact, the folks I know are very strict about their ethics and their safety rules. They would never consider firing a gun in this circumstances. It's quite likely this poster is a troll, not a gun owner.

Just sayin'

EatMyA**

I like that.

xenologer

The gun suggestions are probably a bit ridiculous and prone to get you into more trouble than the actual incident.

But I will say, keep a slingshot and a few BBs in your saddlebag, though you will have to stop and put a foot down to properly aim one...

Rogue Leader

Uh no, I'm not a Troll, I am a gun owner, and I can't believe anyone would read my post and seriously believe that I was serious.

For the record my firearms stay trigger locked, unloaded, upstairs, and the rounds are kept in locked military ammo cans in the basement.

CB HI

We are not defenseless. I know this will upset the more sensitive here, but it works for me. My comments from a previous post:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...it#post6519273

When motorist buzz a cyclist, it is sometimes hard to tell if it was a distracted/inattentive driver or if it was a driver intentionally buzzing the cyclist (especially if the motorist has tinted windows). One tactic I use to judge intent; is when the JAM buzzes me, I will spit on the rear door or rear quarter panel. If it is a distracted/inattentive driver, they just keep going, never knowing they got spat on. On the other hand, if the act was intentional, the driver will be looking in their mirror to see the cyclist reaction. When they see their precious get spit on, they react with a swerve or hitting the brakes. Ensuing conversations have sometimes been humorious:

Motorist: You spit on my car.
Cyclist: You passed me too close.
Motorist: But, you spit on my car.
Cyclist: Yes, you passed me too close.
Motorist: You didn’t have to spit on my car.
Cyclist: You didn’t have to pass me that close.

An advantage to spitting on a car:
Notice how motorist are sheep. They follow the guy in front of them. If the first motorist buzzes you, then without even thinking, the next 2 or 3 motorist buzz you. I have found that if I spit on the first car, the next motorist swerves away from me to prevent the same. And the rest of the sheep follow the second motorist.


The last motor vehicle I spat on, occurred several months ago. The guy was in a pickup and passed about 3 inches from me. I hit my brakes and spat on his rear quarter panel. As soon as I spat, he immediately swung his right arm around to point at me, so I pointed back at him. While he was pointing and looking at me, he banged his right tires into the curb.
He then sped up and tried to figure out how to get me. At that time a car began to safely pass me but the pickup driver decided to hit his brakes in the hope I would move up along side him. The car almost rear ended him. About a block later, the pickup driver completely turned his head around again to see where I was, again he drove his right tires into the curb. So now he decides to pull into a gas station and wait for me to catch up. 100 yards before the gas station was my right turn for my normal commute route. The driver did not see me make that right turn. I wonder how long he waited for me to pass the gas station.

I laughed my ass off the entire rest of my commute.

angelaharms

Oh, I'm glad. Sorry to misunderstand you.

Angela

Zan

this is a fun thread to read.

ken cummings

Some people have a bright flag sticking out to the left of their bikes. The flexible stick holding it has a hard, sharp tip. Any one who gets that close gets their paint scratched. If they complain to the cops they have admitted to getting too close, a violation around here.

Trail Runner

I'm starting to get back in road cycling after an 8 year hiatus. I'm pleased to say that during my 2 hour ride today, most drivers gave me a fairly wide birth when passing. Maybe I'm lucky?.

cooker

I always thought it should be a golf ball.

Velo Dog

I understand your frustration and even your fear, but after 40 years of cycling as an adult, I dismiss most stories like this as crap. As a newspaper columnist who often wrote about bike issues, I got dozens of letters a year about cars that "tried to run me off the road" or "tried to hit me" or something similar. There are certainly bad and inattentive drivers out there, but they can't all have bad aim. If that many drivers were trying to kill cyclists--a ridiculous supposition--there would be a lot more dead cyclists. I've ridden nearly 100,000 miles in most parts of the country, big cities, small towns and rural areas, and I've had ONE bad experience with a motor vehicle, when a couple of drunk kids threw a beer can at me.
Of course you have to be careful, but it's a mistake to think drivers are out to get you. If it happens more than about once every 10 years, I'd look at my riding habits. Maybe you're doing something to piss them off.

Tapeworm21

A cyclists' best weapon. The more water in it, the better.

CB HI

No one here said they were trying to kill cyclist. They are bullies, they see cyclist as easy targets for their cowardly behavior trying to puff out their chest. They try and pass cyclist close to scare us - haha funny. But they know if they hit a cyclist, they are in trouble. I have gotten 2 of these guys successfully prosecuted. One of the 2 misjudged and hit me; of course he ran.

No one has said there are huge numbers of these cowards out there. In fact, most threads get around to an estimation that the number of these drivers are extremely small.

Some areas of the country have almost none of these cowards, willing to commit such acts. Other states/cities make up for that with a higher percentage. From 1982 to 1996 of daily commuting in CA, CT and HI I had no incidents of such behavior. But during 2 years (1989-1990) within the same period of riding in Washington DC, I had about 20 incidents. Four of them were from the same guy in a red van. The last incident with this guy, I caught up to him and warned him that the police, my friends and coworkers all had his description, plate #, etc. and if I ever got hit, they were looking for him first. I never saw the guy again, he changed his route.

Now since 1996, drivers in HI have gotten progressively meaner. It is still very small percentage of drivers, but it is happening. 1996 to 1998, truckers were the worst, until the insurance companies threatened to drop their insurance if the did not fix their behavior. Since 1998, HI truckers have treated cyclist here extremely well.

Since you bring up your mileage, I assume you think that is very important and proves your point; since I have over 220,000 miles of commuting, utility and recreational riding since 1982, does that mean my experience is more accurate/valid than yours.

By the way, I have ridden the same VC way the entire time. So your idea that it must be the cyclist fault due to riding style is pure BS.

Sianelle 

Now now, it's been a very nice and friendly discussion so far so let's keep it that way.

IronMac

You sure that you were not using a Burkey Nomad trailer? I've found that drivers gave me a ton of space (and on this very busy six laner) whenever I used one.

Trail Runner

No, just a standard road bike that I bought 11 years ago. I live in Canada(Ontario). Maybe things are worse in the US?.

Edit: Just noticed you're in Toronto. Oh well, I live in a smaller town, maybe that accounts for the difference.

Sianelle 

I very much think living in a smaller town does make a difference. In a small town you're more likely to know mostly everyone and folk aren't in such a rush which means they're likely to be more patient.

SpeedingTicket

Don't let them pass you. Just ignore the speed limit and go a little bit faster.

Sianelle 

You might need to be fitted with bionic knees to get away with that trick

zoltani

This device has helped me tremendously. I used to get all pissed off and yell at people and whatnot, but this thing lets me vent my frustration and actually gets cars to stop or notice you when they are about to turn into you. Of course, in a real emergency you might want to concentrate on braking and avoiding a potential accident instead of blasting the horn, but for your situation it works well.

Sianelle 

Now that is not a bad idea at all. Back when I was much younger I rode a very small motorcycle and after being severly bullied in traffic a few times my mechanic brothers fitted a truck horn to my motorcycle. Oh the way a car driver would jump when I sounded that horn, - it was wonderful, - and nobody ever cut me off ever again.