canyoneagle

I've run into this type of strange reaction as well - like "OMG!!!!! a bike!!!!! what do I do**********"
Another common incident for me is when I'm in the bike lane and there's a distinct right turn lane to the right of the bike lane, and I get cars that wait behind me (despite the fact that there's an entire lane for them to turn). I'll try to give them freindly encouragement to come around, and that typically works.

As far as buzzing, I'd say I encounter this maybe once a month. I changed part of my route by taking a street that is two blocks down from my old route, and the difference is night and day. Both roads were recommended by Google Maps for "bike route" when I mapped it, and I chose the first one due to the presence of a distinct bike lane. However, the road has street parking on both sides (door zone), a narrow bike lane on each side, then 2-way traffic (busy street) all on a pretty narrow street that is posted for 35MPH. This pretty much required cars to pass me within 2 feet on the left, with me in the perpetual door zone on the right.
The new route is an un-marked (for bicycles) quiet residential street (25mph limit) with little to no traffic. It is so much better for my commute. Instead of constantly being on high alert for possible doors, road imperfctions, and buzzing drivers, I am spinning at the same pace amidst pretty 1920's bungalows with trees and birds. I'll take route #2, thank you.
I have encountered similar results in other places I've lived - subtle adjustments to route selection can make a dramatic difference in your own safety and enjoyment.

dynodonn 

At less than a foot, I've had two in the last six months. I'm done ignoring them, and I'm now taking a more active stance in reporting them .

Mauriceloridans

I got buzzed by a city bus a few years ago. I wrote a letter to the department chief. He used it for a training seminar. Now they all give me the whole lane with a waive. I will admit that on that day I was close to the gutter and the bus driver probably took it as an invitation.

djwid

Depends on the bike, my route and the way I was riding.

On my cyclecross in OR, I used to get buzzed 1-2 times a month with lulls on occasion. I was run off the road twice (both from right turners forcing me into the left meridian, different locations) and hit once. This is over a period of 5 years.

On my recumbents in the Puget Sound (WA) it was less often but there were incidents maybe 4 times per year. I did have one idiot mad that I was in the lane and try to bump brush me into the side of the road (I was going over the speed limit), I wish I had set up a video camera for that.

I have greater situational awareness now and work hard to prevent situations that could cause incidents. I am not shy about ringing my little bell, hitting my horn or yelling to prevent a threat.

Aloe

I actually kind of prefer being side by side with a bus on a narrow street. It's basically a large rectangular shield, and they're usually fairly nice drivers and give good spacing. It's the work/astro vans and school buses that scare me.

Pinyon

It depends on where you live. It is really mellow here, compared to when I lived on the East Coast. I have not had a face-to-face or dangerous confrontation in a couple of years.

I'm sort of used to being buzzed, though, to the point where I don't really notice unless they swerve into the bike lane or off the shoulder of the road right in front of me. Most of these seem to be people not realizing how close they are until they are right beside me, and swerving over as they look at me in the rear-view-mirror to see if I noticed (usually worried or "Oh my!" looks).

About once per week someone does something passive-aggressive to "mess" with me. It is usually a small construction or delivery truck/van at a busy red light that has a bike lane. These people drive all day, and get a case of road rage now and then.

It is almost always a man that gets angry about how I get to pass them at a busy red light in the bike lane. Usually they just buzz me a little closer (door mirror whistling past your ear), and glare at me in the rear-view-mirror, but sometimes they yell things, or if they have a big diesel engine, downshifting right beside you and pushing out a big cloud of black smoke is really popular lately (usually accompanied by giving you the finger, or laughing at you in the mirror).

.baker

ok guy. video or it didnt happen
I think this is the most important factor. Its about how much the motorist respect you and people in more cycling friendly communities prob on average will get buzzed less and be given more respect.

igknighted

Agreed! MBTA drivers don't care about anything, including cyclists, pedestrians and even other cars. Just be smart and pass them on the left like an auto driver would and you'll be much safer... never go to the right of a bus.

For me it's the cabbies that are the worst. Most drivers wont try to squeeze through where there isn't space, but cabbies always will. There's a bridge near me that is under construction, with barely enough room for two way traffic. There are signs all over that say bicyclists use entire lane (and you need it, because there are so many potholes you need room to maneuver), but no matter what the cabbies ALWAYS try to find a way around you. Even at the risk of a head on with a car coming the other way.

cyberphat

Last year a transit bus passed me within a foot. I ended up on the grassy shoulder. I was quite shaken by the incident. I wrote to the transit company regarding the incident with all the details. A supervisor got in touch with me for more information and never heard back from him. I still cycle the same route and have been fine since. I would like to think that my writing to them has help. Or it could be just by chance that I have not encounter the same driver.

sggoodri

Success can be had with transit organizations by approaching them with high quality information about the subject, especially if other local cyclist advocates get involved with you. After a student at a local university complained about unsafe driving and harassment by a university-affiliated transit driver, I helped assemble information about safe passing and other interactions between cyclists and bus drivers. The following links were of interest to the university representatives; they plan to use them in their upcoming training of bus drivers:

Share the Road: Bus and Bicycles

Space required for a bus to pass a cyclist safely outside of the door zone

Door zone/bus collision example

The university appears to accept the idea that bus drivers need to change lanes to pass cyclists, and that bus drivers will need to be trained not to pass cyclists in the 16' space between parked cars and a raised center median of a recently road-dieted road alongside the campus.

tpelle

I find that the "big dually" pickup trucks are the worst! I think it's because the driver thinks he's giving you plenty of room from the perspective of the cab, but doesn't allow for those wide back fenders.

Booger1

I live in L.A.,what you speak of is a normal everyday thing,all day.

Throw in nobody stopping for lights or signs,a few bums,shopping carts,potholes that can swallow you whole,10 million cars,trash in the road,trucks,lots of trucks,60 miles to go from one end of town to the other,dodging this crap and more the whole way!

I don't even notice getting buzzed anymore.

If you live in Laguna CA,I won't even ride my bike on PCH downtown.I tour through there all the time and walk it through town.I aged about 10 years last time I road on PCH through there on the touring bike.

chipcom 

rarely. I think I buzz them more than they buzz me.

noisebeam

Never in the last few years since I've learned to control it.

JPprivate

Now here's something to which I can relate; at this point I'm only getting annoyed if it is under 5 inches. But of course,around here the speed difference isn't all that much usually.

Doohickie

The last time I can remember being legitimately buzzed was around the time I first started taking the lane, sometime in 2008. That's when I figured out that if you're not going to really take the lane, at least the right tire track, you should stay home.

tarwheel 

Same here. I live in the Triangle, and I get passed within 2' on a regular basis. (State law in NC says drivers must allow 2 feet.) Some of the worst offenders seem to be school buses and small cars (Hondas, Toyotas, etc.).

sggoodri

Please note that although we report different experiences, I'm not saying that you're doing anything wrong to result in it. Different routes and riding styles result different experiences. I consider myself lucky that my home and work locations offer a variety of possible routes, and that I've been able to tweak those routes and how I ride them over the last several years to minimize negative experiences.

My least favorite routes are busy, high speed two-lane roads with 10'-11' lanes, minimal shoulder and oncoming traffic. If I ride the right edge of the road, drivers will pass at closer distance than I feel comfortable - more distance in the case of the Civic, and very close in the case of the landscaping trailer. If I ride in the center of the lane the close passing is practically eliminated - but I don't like holding people up since they can't pass due to oncoming traffic. I try to find alternative routes to these when I can, just to improve my own enjoyment of the ride.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of trips in NC where these routes are unavoidable. I've spent a lot of my advocacy time trying to improve design standards for such roads and to get alternative routes built.

FYI I did get passed a little less than three feet today while riding southbound on Kildaire Farm Road over the US1 bridge toward Wake Med. I was riding near the center of the lane to avoid getting too close to the bridge guardrail, which is well below my center of gravity. There was no other traffic in sight, but the driver of a white pickup passed me at high speed at about 3' straddling the lane line before merging right and turning into Wake Med. He had bumper sticker that says "FIGHT CRIME - SHOOT BACK!" I saw him park at the hospital as I rode by. I wasn't interested in talking to him.

scroca

On my regular route, almost never.

On the route I have been taking since the flood waters closed my regular route, way too often. Ironically, the problem occurs on the road with the Share the Road signs.

SouthFLpix

It's possible to do everything right and still get hit due to a distracted (usually by cell phone) or drunk driver. I had 2 very close calls in the last 2 days.

Close call #1: I was at an intersection. I waited for a green light, then waited one second to see if anyone would 'blow through the red' before proceeding. Well just as I start through this lady in a BMW on her phone flies though and I had to slam my brakes so hard I dismounted from my bike. She ended up slamming her brakes also, probably not to avoid me, but the other cars now going through the intersection. The light was firmly red when she came to it, not yellow.

Close call #2. I was riding through a road near a park. City workers such as policemen and bus drivers often park on the shoulder of the road to sleep or relax during (I assume) breaks. I was riding through the road at top speed when a bus decides to back up without checking the road. This one was going to hit me for sure. I did not have time to stop and there was no way to swerve around something as large as a bus. I screamed STOP! as loud as I could and out of sheer luck the driver heard me and hit the brakes less then a foot before making contact.

These two have been my closest calls in 3 years of commuting, and almost one of going 'car free' and they both happened back to back in the last two days. In both cases I don't think there is anything I could have done differently. There is not much you can do about a driver that is not paying attention.

primeowl

yes this is my experience too

abracapocus

Vehicles most likely to pass me too close: school buses, commuters from the suburbs and police cars. Most in town folk give me plenty of space even in the hood-lite areas I travel through. The girly purple floral panniers might be of some help though. I do notice a slight uptick in close passers when I'm on the road bike.

Grim

Within 3ft is nearly daily. I'm 6ft so reach from the center of my body is 3ft and plenty of cars come close enough that I could smack their mirrors and understand that close to 2ft because the distance would be from the widest point, my shoulder. I ride in the right tire track well away from the curb and the majority of my riding is on a 4 lane where they could easily change lanes.

Been clipped once on the arm and it busted the mirror and they drove off. Had a Bus just about get me twice. One was a buzz and another the driver passed me and pinched me to the curb at a stop. Looked me in the eye as he passed. It was intentional. Same route likely the same driver. Raised hell with CCT both times nothing came of it.

Totaled108

I got buzzed last night on Vancouver Ave on a section where the car lane is very wide and the bike lane is a good 5 ft wide or more. I was riding right down the middle of the bike lane and a gang of about 12 chopper motorcycles passed, most of the folks o my side of the lane, with in 6".

I grabbed my metal water bottle and was about to reach it out to my left, but thought better of it. They were most likely buzzed themselves, and would love to stop and beat up on a cyclist. Friday night at about midnight, yes I had both my PDW Danger zone on slow flash and PBSF on flashing.

The fun part was that I timed the stop light crossing at the bottom of the hill at Broadway, and was able to get the green at full speed and lose them as the light right after turned red, which they stopped for. They also had cars blocking them from getting off the line or around.

This is why I listen to music while riding, and wear a mirror. If I hadn't, the noise would have hurt my ears I'm sure, it was near deafening with internal buds on. Also I ride to work through an industrial area with no bike lane and heavy truck traffic. They always seem to give me plenty of room.

Biker Rick

I live in Central Florida. If you follow the news it seems like it has been open season on cyclists in the past few years. I would say that I get buzzed 1-2 times per week.
most of my ride is on four-lane roads or quiet back roads. There is a one mile stretch of a two-lane road where cagers do not take the time to wait for a safe pass. It has been my experience to be passed too close by landscaping trucks with trailers/lawn mower boys or bubba trucks (generally blue collar workers). Can go a few weeks with no problems though.