maximushq2

I was on my way home the other night maybe 2 blocks from my house and I hear some loud car obviously missing it's muffler coming up behind me. It was after dark approximately 10:30pm and I was plenty lit up with my Niterider hid and PB superflash going. Well no one else was in site on the dark street and I heard the car hit the gas coming from behind so I sped up and pulled to the right as much as possible. Then I heard a bottle skipping across the pavement just behind me and the car passed me on the left and some teenage kids were laughing. Luckily the bottle they threw missed. The car was a real junker. It looked like an old rusty and dented gray Chevy celebrity which was worth next to nothing. I then starting peddling to catch them, but there was no chance as they had no traffic or traffic lights to stop at and just kept speeding away. It would have been nice to get the plate number off the car, but it was not possible for me. I guess there really is nothing more I could do in this situation, but it still bugged me so I hurried home got in my jeep and rode all up and down the neighborhood streets hoping to see the car again. In the end I am annoyed, but I am glad I didn't get hit in the head or something with the bottle as that could have led to a crash. I don't remember doing anything like that when I was a teen, but I guess times have changed. Short of mounting a machine gun on my handle bars I don't see how I could have got the punks. I am glad I decided to sped up as the bottle hit behind me, but that was just more luck than anything.

meb

I recently had a similar experience late at night, there bottle flew in front of me and hit a chainlink fence to my right. I was unable to get there plate. I've heard of others having bottles thrown at them, so it must be a new trend.

maddyfish

Remember the car, and the kids, you'll likely see them again.

filtersweep

What would you have done if you caught them?

I make it a game to memorize license plate numbers--- just to pass the time-- of almost anything driving by. When I really need to use one, I can remember it long enough to enter it into my cell phone.

eubi

Definately assult with a deadly weapon. This is serious.

A bottle thrown at you from a car will definately leave a mark if it hits you.

Good advice from filtersweep to practice memorizing license numbers.

Even a partial is helpful if you know the make and model.

Now will the police do anything if you do make a complaint?

-=(8)=-

Some little kids in Philly threw a bottle at me and it came so
close I could feel the wind from it on my neck. I saw it go by
hit the curb. There is no doubt it would have done some serious
damage if it hit an unprotected part of my head.

maximushq2

Thanks for the replies. I really wish I had a chance to get the plate number, but it was dark and the car was probably going 40mph as it passed me and then kept speeding up as it went even though the speed limit is 30. It's probably better that I didn't catch them as I would have attempted to remove them from the car and who knows what. I am not the type to ever start a fight, but I won't ever run from one. And from experience I know I am able to easily pick up a 200lb man and launch them for some distance lol. But I am glad it didn't come to that. The car is not common at all around here so there is chance I could recognize them if I come across them again. I'm not interested in harming them at this point, but it would be nice to at least let them know that I know who they are so they would not be as likely to do that again.

tallard

That's an excellent idea, I used to do that all the time when I was a regular hitchhiker, but haven't practiced it as a cyclist.

Once in Fort Lauderdale, I was coming off an overpass just crossing the highway onramp lane, when a quite similar big car sped up and cut me off to get onto that ramp and I just barely managed to get around them and give them the finger. That was the wrong thing to do as they actually sped out the lane they'd wanted so badly to get back onto the regular road, catch up to me and toss a McDs glass of beer at me, actually hit me in the face. I had disgusting beer on my shades, in my eyes and nose, it was really gross and I had to stop to clean up so I did not get their plate. And although I know the finger was not the peaceful way to handle this, I will probably do it again, as I've given the finger many a time and only that once did someone retaliate.

Well, admittedly, I did have one other similar incident, a box/moving truck in Montreal cut me off and I caught up to the monster and gave it a huge kick (does that remind anyone of Don Quichote?) well the driver was pissed and chased me down several streets, weeeee, at one point he almost had me cornered, he stopped the truck and jumped out and tried to lunge at me, but I managed to jump onto the sidewalk and get into a side alley, that was that!

That said, I've done both since and will surely continue. Those A..holes deserve to not go undetected. One day maybe someone will shoot me, but my dying would prove them wrong... and I'll make sure to come back and haunt their a&& if they aren't hanged for it! That really gets me fired up

cc_rider

When I was riding up the West Side Greenway in NYC two years ago I saw a group of kids on the other side of a chainlink fence throw a bottle at a cyclist who was about 100 yards ahead of me. The throw passed a long ways behind the guy (I don't know if he even noticed) and since the kids had used up their ammo they had nothing to throw at me.

pjrocco

If the kids are throwing glass bottles at you, I would assume they are ready to throw down. I wouldn't put myself in that situation unless it hit me, or I knew I would be able to defend myself against multiple attackers at the same time, at night and alone.

It would be best to get their plate number and report them to the proper authorities.

Mr. Underbridge

I agree with your sentiment - but kids in cars with bottles often have more courage than kids out of a car with no bottles. But yeah, given numbers and the possibility of other weapons, starting a fight isn't a good idea.

There have been other threads here where the attackee was able to track the kids down (generally through multiple encounters in smallish towns) and tell the parents, who dispense justice on the kids. That's the best bet.

evblazer

I'm afraid it isn't new it may just be the time of year it is much more frequent though with kids going back to or just gone back to school.
Back in good old connecticut to get glass bottles, slushies, basketballs and other items thrown at me at night and during the day probably every other week on average. Most of the time they just laugh, roar their engine and head off.

I gotta remember to practice remembering tags. I'm thinking about and my wife is trying to push me into law enforcement so remembering them as well as the make and model of vehicle will be good practice.

chipcom 

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a bottle.

Artkansas 

Yeah, I've had a bottle zing by my head, and a mostly full Coke can bounce off my helmet. I can empathize with you.

It was the more close up attacks, a car passenger grabbing my elbow to pull me down, and the next night in the same spot, a truck passenger shooting me with a pellet gun that also get me worried.

divergence

Plate number isn't enough, if you want criminal charges to stick. You need a good enough look at their faces to positively identify the driver and passengers (or if you've got a camera, you want a picture of them.)

Fortunately, every glass bottle anyone has ever thrown at me has missed. I got tagged on the wrist with an egg one night recently, though...and damned near caught the idiots who threw it. They could have outrun me easily if they'd just kept going straight, but instead they turned onto a steep, winding downhill, which is exactly the wrong place for a top-heavy SUV, trying to outrun someone on a bicycle. They made it to a freeway onramp and got away, but I gave them a run for their money first.

And no, I wasn't looking for a fight...just for a plate number and a good look at everyone's face. I did feel bad afterwards for spurring them to speed down that winding road, since they might have hurt a bystander if they'd wrecked. Had I known it was just an egg they threw, I might not have chased them. All I knew at the time was that they'd hit me with something; I found the egg shells on my arm after the chase.

meb

Maybe retrieving the weapon for fingerprints would be more effective.

Bikepacker67

LOL

maximushq2

Thanks everyone. Every time I go anywhere now I look for that car, but haven't seen anything remotely close to it. Had a good ride last night. Part of the ride is on city streets, and part on the bike path. I came across two fawns on the trail that were only about 6 feet from me and never moved so I stopped and got some pics with my camera phone, but they didn't come out great. It was night like 11:30pm or so.

mlh122

A motorbiker at my work has one of those jackets with titanium plates all through the back/chest/arms... if they make a breatheable one I think it would sell well in the commuter stores.

edit: oooh or perhaps some coolmax padded carbon fiber plates

divergence

Naw. Not gonna go through life sweltering in body armor, against the off chance that one of these yahoos finally has decent aim.

mlh122

good point, would also help in wrecks though hehe.

Ozz

As much as we hate to admit it, we don't stand a chance against the morons in cars. Even if you do get the license number or a description, unless you live in a very small town, patrolled by VERY sympathetic LEO's the authorities are not going to do anything anyway.

Several years ago I antagonized a driver, either vocally, or with hand gestures enough that the cretan chased me through a residential neighborhood. I stuck to the side walks, and luckily he stuck to the street, as I beat it around a corner to a busy carwash -with about 20 witness's. He pulled up next to me and was quite vocal with his threats. I, stupidly, invited him to exit his vehicle and continue the discussion, but he declined my invitation and continued with his verbal assault.
At this point, still astride my 20 yr old drop bar bike, I leaned over and spit directly into his face -this was also really stupid. I thought he'd get out of the car and try to physically assault me in front of a dozen Mexican towel wipers. Even though he looked like he was going to bust he threw his car in reverse and split.

Ever since then I carry a large can of anti-bear spray with a solid steam reach of 15 feet.
Ironically in the next few weeks I inadvertently found his car parked every day in front of a local loan company, and on weekends parked in front of house I ride by daily. Unbelievable luck in the west San Fernando Valley, home to several million people. No I didn't trash his car or confront him, I didn't want to try my luck a second time, but it did give me delusions of power for the next 6 months after which he apparently moved.

If you like to have your revenge vicariously pick up the book about the bike couriers in Chicago -"The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power", by Travis Culley . There is a neat part where he is "bumped" from behind by a guy in a Jeep, he grabs his U-lock and smashes the guy's window or hood. The author was hotly debated because the people who knew this guy claim he appropriated other messengers' stories as his own. Still highly entertaining, like getting revenge without the court costs, attorney's fees, medical bills, emotional baggage, etc. ; )

rockabilly808

some drunk fools threw a bottle at a friend and I, they were so drunk they did it while they were at a red light, my friend is 6'5 and in the Marines,he was pissed, and I lol'd at a drunk teenager getting his ass kicked.