In the past two weeks I have been yelled at by motorists to "Get out of the road" or "Get on the sidewalk" like six times. Is this bad luck or are these kinds of things increasing for others

High gas prices, hot summer heat, a poor economy, added pressures and you'll have more rage all over. I don't believe it's isolated to your area; rather I believe people commuting in the tri-state areas and in the city are just used to it.

Have you seen more cyclists on the road in your area? I'm in NWNJ, which is not very conducive to bike commuting, but there's definitely been an increase here. There have also been a number of bike related deaths recently, which prompts some to make the 'bicycles don't belong on the roads' argument.

I commute to eastern passaic county from eastern morris county and I have not seen any increase in harassement which was nada before and nada now. I have a nice commute, backroads and never any problem with drivers really.

jay

In the past two weeks I have been yelled at by motorists to "Get out of the road" or "Get on the sidewalk" like six times.

That happens on every ride. I'm used to that. Short of hitting me, I let stuff like that slide off my back.

... Brad

Yesterday a bus drove by me really close. About 2 feet close that the wind draft pushed me sideways a little. I was thinking of giving him/her a one finger salute but just shook my head. What else should I expect from these people?

i lived in queens for 9 years and manhattan before. i still commute into the city all the time. as i said i am only 5 miles from the gwb. There are quite a few cyclists where I live now. I never had this many issues in the city

Yesterday a bus drove by me really close. About 2 feet close that the wind draft pushed me sideways a little. I was thinking of giving him/her a one finger salute but just shook my head. What else should I expect from these people?

professionalism!

"those people" drive for a job! that's what they do, cdl, dmv, money, etc...!

reporting seemed to work here in the slower southern area of NJ. i reported the bus driver number, time, location of incident to NJ transit. they became aware of issue, followed through with 30 day exploration (telephone call), and i have not had to complain since!

I know north jersey is a world of it's own (succession), but try to communicate with the transit 1-800 # and continue to express your concerns with nj transit as well! documentation counts...

good luck and hope to see positive outcomes!

t

ps: if you need contact numbers, i can dig them up for you :-) !

I ought to stop by the local PD for advice on yesterday's incident. The usual couple of high school meat heads in their mom's minivan deciding to lay on their horn while swerving at me on a rough potholed asphalt uphill around the corner from home. Being an unreasonable idiot and looking for a workout I sped up and caught them, politely asking them to pull over and discuss their rudeness, they started to stop (or continued swerving) while making rude gestures then stomped on the gas.

I'm gonna get shot one of these days, oh well, really have to work on memorizing license plates. I suppose 911 would have been appropriate there rather than trying to remember the traffic department number.

Oh, Boston suburbs here, but nothing new really anywhere.

i noticed a rise in cyclists around my area. i am getting harassed more often too. the new one is when i am riding faster than traffic and they will try to squeeze you off the road just so you cant pass them. i get this mostly at stop lights when i have passed the same car after a few times. i think they are jealous:roflmao2:

I'm in Northern New Jersey (Bergen County). I haven't noticed an increase in harassment but I have noticed that a lot of people in cars have NO IDEA how to share the road with a bike. Mostly drivers give me wide berth, but then there are those few who seem clueless. I've had a car pass me so close I nearly came to grief with the side view mirror, and I've had dirty looks when I'm in lane position to make a left-hand turn. Nobody's yelled anything at me (yet) nor has anyone intentionally tried to undermine me. That said, I still prefer to ride in areas with low traffic. That makes it hard to find rides around here - we are chock-a-block with traffic everywhere you turn!

I have been called a jerk, a fag a loser an ahole and those are from nicer people who include MD plates.
In anycase when I get abused I catch up, usually at a red light or traffic and smile as I look them in the eye and say "Time you start bicycling cause when you can't afford to fill your car with gas you'll need one of these".

Funny thing, they never figure I will catch up to them and see me.

Rob

I live by the shore and maybe I'm lucky, no major incidents. I mean, nothing more than a honk, which sometimes is warranted since I tend to be quite aggressive (but very cautious).