Commuting - Anybody have any "I was almost killed by a white-hair" stories?

Oh, man, I almost saw God face to face this morning on my commute to work.

Some white-haired old lady came up behind me in a big white Cadillac. Maybe my hearing is going, but I didn't hear her coming. Vroom, she didn't go around me, she just kept going straight as if to drive through me!

I just looked to my left and there she was. Her car hit my calf. Naturally I was shocked and angry. I yelled and tried to chase her to get her licence plate number, but she figured out what was up and she gunned her motor to make distance.

As good fortune would have it, there was a police officer (they are not "Cops" when they are helping you) on the next street that we both turned on to. I told him what happened and he chased her with his lights blazing. Sleepy, fuzzy eyed granny must not have seen HIM either because he had to tail her for seven blocks until she pulled over. By the time I got there, it was all over, so I can't tell you what the outcome was.

Anyway, it looks like she lives on the same street as me, so this might not be the end of the story. She might egg my house (if she can see it). Or at least she will probably grump to the other neighbors. Most of the neighbors have kids who ride bikes, so she might get the local reprimand as well.

What stories do you have for us?

Mike

December 1999, I was on a long ride somewhere on the Tweed Coast in Eastern Australia when I had a driver pass and get a bit too close to me. First I knew of this (they were obviously going way too fast) was when I head glass smash and felt their rear-view mirror crash into my arm.

Actually, this woman wanted to apologise (I think) because she actually pulled over a few hundred metres in front of me. I wasn't really in the mood for polite conversation after that and I didn't think abusing her would solve anything, so I continued on, unhurt.

Chris

I had an encounter with a Cadillac driving man who was far too mature... 70? 75?... I was bicycling to the store, and this speeding ONCOMING Cadillac passed a slower car... and was coming at me, in what to the driver must've looked like an empty oncoming lane. He swerved that big boat when he did finally see me, and almost hit the car he was passing. I smiled and waved as he passed... full hand wave, too, not just a single finger. That's my "thank you for not squashing me like a bug" wave.

A bit shaken, I pressed on. Then I heard a car coming up behind me...

He had turned around to chase me down and actually tried to nudge me off the road, windows down, hollering like some senile mental patient. Our encounter ended in a shopping center parking lot. He parked and approached me as I was locking up my bike.

Now I'm over fifty, but he was easily my father's age... so I didn't exactly maintain a defensive posture...

He was still hot, though. I got the standard "Stay off the road, it's for cars, there's not enough room, we can't see you..." lecture, and although he wasn't as hostile on foot as he was in his De Ville, he was clearly RIGHT, and I was WRONG.

I walked over to his car and looked at the license tag. Then, as he watched, I pulled a ballpoint out of my fanny pack and wrote: "Blue Cadillac S. De Ville, GA tag XXX-YYY,
elderly male driver." on my left forearm.

"Why did you do that?" He wanted to know.

"If I get run over and squashed on the way home, the authorities will come 'round and ask you a few questions about it."

He followed me inside and practically begged me to wash it off.

Funny thing... I see him in traffic from time to time. I wave to him, he waves back. Weird. And a bit unnerving.

For some reason, i read this topic as "Anybody have any "I was almost killed by a white-tail" stories?"

I cant think of any time i was almost taken out by a "white-hair"... however, this summer i was riding on a great high mountain single track, when i came uppon a white-tail deer. The dear was standing just a few feet off the trail, so i decided to slow down to about 5mph as i passed it. Once i got about two feet from the deer it decided to jump right infront of me. I had no time to stop or do anything about it, so i ended up running right into the side of this deer and flipping over. I dont think the deer was hurt as it just stood there and looked at me for about 30 seconds, then it took off running up the hill. Luckyly i didnt hurt anything on my bike, or myself, i just got up and rode on, sadly nobody was there to witness it :D

Wow! Well, in my opinion, white-tails belong wherever they please, but white-hairs don't belong behind the wheel of an automobile unless they are fully capable of handling the enormous responsibility of driving an automobile.




Originally posted by Joe Gardner
For some reason, i read this topic as "Anybody have any "I was almost killed by a white-tail" stories?"

I cant think of any time i was almost taken out by a "white-hair"... however, this summer i was riding on a great high mountain single track, when i came uppon a white-tail deer. The dear was standing just a few feet off the trail, so i decided to slow down to about 5mph as i passed it. Once i got about two feet from the deer it decided to jump right infront of me. I had no time to stop or do anything about it, so i ended up running right into the side of this deer and flipping over. I dont think the deer was hurt as it just stood there and looked at me for about 30 seconds, then it took off running up the hill. Luckyly i didnt hurt anything on my bike, or myself, i just got up and rode on, sadly nobody was there to witness it :D

I hate deer, they are so dumb. I routinely have to navigate a "white-tail" rush hour on the bike path coming home. I never know if they are going to run across the trail in front of me, or just stare at my lights and then try to jump over me. I need one of those "deer whistles" they make for cars... :)

I had a white tail pace me along the roadside for about 50 meters this past summer. It was pretty cool, but I was afraid it was going to decide to suddenly cross in front of me. It didn't though.

Did anyone see that recent news blip about the study that found that teens have the same reaction time as 70 year olds when using a cell phone while driving. This was not a surprise to anyone living in a college town.

My white hair stories almost all stem from one particular intersection where many white hairs (actually I call 'em blue hairs) seem to live near by. In CA, the law permits right turns on red and of course to a blue hair, that means they can make a right turn any time... regardless of the need to stop and evaluate the traffic situation.

Too many times I have just left my green light and am slowly gaining speed while watching the tires of the blue hair on my right, only to see the vehicle start to creep ahead. (perhaps their limited strength does not allow them to hold down that power brake pedal as easily as they need). The real give-away however is the surprise I see in their faces... and in some cases the mouthing of the words "Oh my God" just as they gain awareness of the fact that a human is in the road nearly in front of them.

Either that, or they are simply amazed that a gray beard so close to their age is out pedaling on a bike... :o

One thing for sure, I do not pull in front of them until I know they have seen me... their shock could just as easily result in a push on the gas pedal rather than brake. On the plus side, the fact that they almost always drive large older American vehicles makes them somewhat easy to spot.

Did anyone see that recent news blip about the study that found that teens have the same reaction time as 70 year olds when using a cell phone while driving. This was not a surprise to anyone living in a college town.

Yeah, I started a thread on this in the safety and advocacy forum.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=86354

I haven't had any close encounters of the "white-hair" kind, but I understand Missouri has a law that allows friends and family to report their impaired loved-one to the DOR, which may result in vision and drivers test. Maybe if your state has a similar law, and you can hunt down this lady's son, you can convince him he needs to take action on granny.

Yeah, I started a thread on this in the safety and advocacy forum.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=86354

People were surprised by this?

[QUOTE=mike] By the time I got there, it was all over, so I can't tell you what the outcome was.

So the cop let her go with a warning? Man. Sounds like she shouldn't be driving. There was some really old woman around here that ran over a pedestrian-painfully slowly by all accounts, at crosswalk. Eye witnesses said that the victim was screaming and banging on the hood before getting pulled under the car. After that, the victim got stuck under the car, and her body was dragged several blocks to the drivers house, where she parked her car in the driveway like everything was hunky Dory. Nice huh?

Now, here's my less dramatic story. I was riding downtown, hugging the curb fairly closely when I got buzzed by a black mustang 5.0 GT. The guy actually clipped the end of my bar with his passenger mirror. Surprisingly, I didn't wipe out, but it did scare the crap out of me. I thought to myself, "I know, I just KNOW, that has to be some disrespectful punk kid ripping it up in his bad boy car". I was salivating at the thought of kicking his pimply butt all over the pavement. When I finally did catch up to the car at a stop light a km or so later, I was surprised to find that the driver was in fact an elderly gentleman. He had no idea that he had clipped me, and he was clearly very scared. I actually felt bad for yelling at him, even though I suppose he deserved it.

There are way too many ederly drivers on the road who should not be driving and it's going to get worse at the populaton gets older. We need to see more trannsit options and get the ederly off the road and into buses and trains.

I keep having this dream of riding into an intersection and getting hit by a car. The dream always ends with me being able to see the front bumber just before he hits me at full speed. I wouldn't consider it a dream but a nightmare!

About three years ago, I was walking down a street when a brand new VW went right through a red light and was T-Boned by a larger car. That VW went right in MY direction and if there was wasn't a street light 10 feet in front of me, I would not be writing this post.

I don't have any spectacular stories, but I have had more close calls with white-hairs in their Crown Victorias by at least 2:1. I've never been able to figure out if it's reaction time, senility or just plain meanness.

People were surprised by this?

People deny that they drive differently. Much less as a 70 year old...

When I lived in Yonkers, NY, there was an old woman down the street from me who went to town by turning the wrong way at the end of the block onto a one-way highway frontage road, and then driving down that frontage road - against traffic - for four blocks to the grocery store. She did this every single time she needed to go shopping, apparently - I saw her do it probably a dozen times. Never saw her hit anybody, but that was a testament to other people's reaction times, not hers ;)

See the Stop Bumper thread for a pro-active way to prevent this.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=85616&highlight=stop

I hate deer, they are so dumb. I routinely have to navigate a "white-tail" rush hour on the bike path coming home. I never know if they are going to run across the trail in front of me, or just stare at my lights and then try to jump over me. I need one of those "deer whistles" they make for cars... :)
Speaking of less than intelligent creatures did you happen to notice the last date on this thread BEFORE you replied was 12-01-2000?
Let the dead rest in peace

:d

Speaking of less than intelligent creatures did you happen to notice the last date on this thread BEFORE you replied was 12-01-2000?
Let the dead rest in peace

Well geez Raiyn, let an old thread bubble to the surface, recycle it under another name, start up something entirely new... about the same subject. It doesn't happen with other threads?????

I joined after this thread was created. It piqued my curiosity. We don't have white-tail deer here, but we have a nasty spider that goes under a similar name that causes your flesh to rot after it bites.

Sooooooo

Let the 19,950 others who have joined since 2000 have their fun too, eh?

And go have a beer, pray to your god, or whatever else relaxes you...

(And people think I'm.... oh forget it)

The county I live in has a huge senior citizen population due to its numerous retirement and golf communities. Several of my routes take me right through retirement villages and yes I have almost been run down by a Buick or Caddilac. Generally going through the actual neighborhood isnt bad as they go so slow, thought they do tend to honk and yell whether you are in their way or not, they always feel you are too close. However when riding past shopping centers in the retirement area they are like heat seeking missles with their cars.