Honked at by 3 cars in a row!

[Vodalus]

Taking the lane just like always. Riding down the center/right of the right tire tread on a narrow road (35 mph speed limit, most people zoom through going at least 50). First guy honked and passed extremely close. I compensated by yelling at him to slow down and moving more to the left. Next guy honks, yells for me to get off the road, but actually moves completely into the other lane to pass. Third guy gives me the trifecta. Lays on the horn while he rides my backside, pulls out to pass within a foot of me while yelling all sorts of junk, then cutting over in front of me and tapping the breaks so i almost run into him. The first two i could ignore, but the third one had me pretty livid. 5 more seconds on the red light about a mile down the road and he would have gotten an earfull.

People suck. :(

[Blue Order]

What were the road conditions (lane width; number of lanes in each direction; presence or absence of shoulder; type of centerline; visibility related to curves, hills, weather, and other conditions), and what was your speed?

[fordfasterr]

carry a penny or a little rock to toss at those monkeys. that'll teach em' !!!

[Blue Order]

carry a penny or a little rock to toss at those monkeys. that'll teach em' !!!That'll teach 'em...Teach those monkeys to run him down, in all likelihood.

[Dahon.Steve]

Get yourself a Take A Look mirror. You cannot take the lane and holding back traffic can get you killed. There are times when you just have to use common sense and pull over. Get the mirror and use it to see if traffic is accumulating behind.

[Vodalus]

Get yourself a Take A Look mirror. You cannot take the lane and holding back traffic can get you killed. There are times when you just have to use common sense and pull over. Get the mirror and use it to see if traffic is accumulating behind.

this wasn't 3 cars in a row in that sense. the title is a bit more reactionary than it should be since i made it ~20 min after the incident. to be more accurate i should have called this three consecutive cars over a mile stretch. What were the road conditions (lane width; number of lanes in each direction; presence or absence of shoulder; type of centerline; visibility related to curves, hills, weather, and other conditions), and what was your speed?

single lane each direction, no shoulder of any kind, double yellow line, road straight as a board, weather clear as day and i was probably going about 15-18. i don't have a computer though.

[ATAC49er]

What were the road conditions (lane width; number of lanes in each direction; presence or absence of shoulder; type of centerline; visibility related to curves, hills, weather, and other conditions), and what was your speed?

Honestly, WTF difference does it make? He was illegally passed and threatened for doing the right thing!

[crhilton]

Honestly, WTF difference does it make? He was illegally passed and threatened for doing the right thing!

+1

Road conditions that won't allow for cyclists because of the volume of traffic are rare. Maybe the other poster agrees with me and suspects this was one of those situations. But I'm guessing it wasn't a very busy road. On busy roads I usually get nothing more than a honk. It's the easy weekends with minor traffic where they slow down to tell you what they think.

[dobber]

Buck up, it's not the end of the world

[Sianelle]

Very soon petrol is going to run out and then they can sit in their car and honk all they want. :p

[17inchmonkey]

Yep. If voting Dem mean high gas prices im voting dem!

So to those I offend but I hope gas goes to 20 bucks a gallon!

[Blue Order]

Honestly, WTF difference does it make? He was illegally passed and threatened for doing the right thing!The difference is whether he had a legal right to take the lane, or whether he was illegally impeding traffic. If it was the latter, of course the drivers were angry. If it was the former, the drivers were asshats. And as it turns out, the drivers were asshats.

There was nothing in the original post to indicate whether or not he was operating legally, so I asked.

[mmerner]

when they honk, that means they want you farther over to the left. That's what I do.

[Blue Order]

when they honk, that means they want you farther over to the left. That's what I do.That's what I did too. :D

Then I discovered that the driver was asking me to move left so she could "thread the needle" between me and the car in the lane to my left. :mad:

[Large Filipino]

Cagers don't make no sense. They need to treat us like were on a horse carriage.
They honk,were not gonna go any faster. The horse is gonna get aggravated though.
In Colorado,Pedestrians and bicyclists have the right of way over cars. Where cars have more rights bicyclists aren't allowed. Example would be the highways.
Most side streets speed limits are 25 as it is. Even if it says 35 that's the max speed you're allowed by law. But it doesn't mean you should always go the max speed.
If you're in a street with no shoulder then the car drivers need to deal. Next time that happens,I would jot down the plate and call *CSP on my cell phone. That's our ROAD RAGE HotLine! This is Colorado only but I bet in your state they have something similar.
More info here:
http://www.nfrbico.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=2

[Feathers]

sometimes one just needs to "wave 'em past" so the motorists can clearly see that you are aware of their presence.
that tends to help those impatient people following in cars.

[OH306]

Yep. If voting Dem mean high gas prices im voting dem!

So to those I offend but I hope gas goes to 20 bucks a gallon!

If you get your wish the entire economy of this country and the world will tank. There will be massive unemployment everywhere. You will be able to ride your bike without the interference of motor traffic ... but to where? There is only one set of roads which are to be shared between motorists and cyclists. Both must learn to coexist. Idiots can be found in both groups. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.

[genec]

Cagers don't make no sense. They need to treat us like were on a horse carriage.
They honk,were not gonna go any faster. The horse is gonna get aggravated though.
In Colorado,Pedestrians and bicyclists have the right of way over cars. Where cars have more rights bicyclists aren't allowed. Example would be the highways.
Most side streets speed limits are 25 as it is. Even if it says 35 that's the max speed you're allowed by law. But it doesn't mean you should always go the max speed.
If you're in a street with no shoulder then the car drivers need to deal. Next time that happens,I would jot down the plate and call *CSP on my cell phone. That's our ROAD RAGE HotLine! This is Colorado only but I bet in your state they have something similar.
More info here:
http://www.nfrbico.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=2

Nice link to the hotline, but I want you to show me where in CO law that bikes have ROW over other vehicles.

[Large Filipino]

Basically bicyclists and cagers need to display ROW over each other so that's a gray issue. Still. No shoulder,you got on that stretch of road first. Driver needs to allow you to cross that area until the biker can let you pass. The biker needs to acknowledge your presence by waving at them. Driver needs to not honk at you. Then the cops can determine the laws how ever way they see it.
There has been stories about bicyclists getting hit by cars and NOTHING has happened to them. I haven't heard any Colorado incidents but were a pretty much of a green state here that advocate bike riding so we seem to have more rights at least when it comes to here.
Our bike trails for example here are AMAZING.

[DonQuixote1954]

Taking the lane just like always. Riding down the center/right of the right tire tread on a narrow road (35 mph speed limit, most people zoom through going at least 50). First guy honked and passed extremely close. I compensated by yelling at him to slow down and moving more to the left. Next guy honks, yells for me to get off the road, but actually moves completely into the other lane to pass. Third guy gives me the trifecta. Lays on the horn while he rides my backside, pulls out to pass within a foot of me while yelling all sorts of junk, then cutting over in front of me and tapping the breaks so i almost run into him. The first two i could ignore, but the third one had me pretty livid. 5 more seconds on the red light about a mile down the road and he would have gotten an earfull.

People suck. :(

Hey, Welcome to the Jungle! That used to happen to me before I decided to quit. It was giving me bad energy, plus putting me at risk.

I'd suggest you put on one of my T-shirts that say, "You Can Eat My Banana!" so the beasts get used to eating fruits. :thumb:

If not, give them the finger, but that has a higher risk. :rolleyes:

But don't worry, the revolution is coming soon! :)

PS: You may also use the T-shirt that says, "Honk if you are an idiot!"

[Blue Order]

If you get your wish the entire economy of this country and the world will tank. There will be massive unemployment everywhere. You will be able to ride your bike without the interference of motor traffic ... but to where? There is only one set of roads which are to be shared between motorists and cyclists. Both must learn to coexist. Idiots can be found in both groups. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.I think that's true if the price of gas were to rise suddenly and unexpectedly-- for example, if the price of gas were to jump from $4/gallon today to $20/gallon by the end of summer. The reason the economy would crash is because we're unprepared for those kinds of gas prices.

I don't think it's true if the price of gas were to rise slowly but steadily over a longer period of time, and IF we make the necessary adjustments. Europeans have had high gas prices for a very long time, and their economies have adjusted. People drive less, they use public transit and ride bikes or walk more, and when they do drive, they drive fuel-efficient vehicles. We can make the same transition, once we understand that fuel prices will continue to rise.

[filtersweep]

Holding back traffic is actually much safer, since EVERYONE knows you are there. Other vehicles can wait. These same motorists would be getting their undies in a bundle if there was a grandma driving the speed limit--- so who cares?

Get yourself a Take A Look mirror. You cannot take the lane and holding back traffic can get you killed. There are times when you just have to use common sense and pull over. Get the mirror and use it to see if traffic is accumulating behind.

[tomg]

i have noticed chain reactions like this (so to speak). the op event may have been one of them with each driver feeding off behaviors they saw directed towards bicyclist from previous drivers. i have not been subject to the behavior listed yet (thx!), but have been witness to lane cut-offs. once one driver crosses boundary (close passes etc) others follow. i have the opportunity to hold my lane on tight area of commute that seems to be safest.
price of gas and driver's perception of their inability to do anything about it (caged) may play into these social interactions as well.
hold your lane and spin safe!