zatopek

Usual commute, two-lane road with a couple of feet of pavement shoulder to the right of the solid white line marking the edge of the travel lane. I'm to the right of the solid white, big SUV (Suburban I think) pulls next to me and slows. Its right tires were on the solid white line and the side of the vehicle actually grazed my left elbow as someone inside the vehicle yelled something about "bike", the only word I could make out. Driver then accelerated away rapidly. I tried to get the tag number but was more focused on not going into the ditch. No physical harm done me but I am peeved and will keep my eyes posted for the S.O.B. on future rides. I'm used to getting yelled at. But, nobody has ever purposely buzzed close to me before. Is this a phenomenon others have experienced?

Nachoman

Yes. This past Saturday. Nothing yelled at me however. So I really couldn't be sure that it was intentional. But I was buzzed nonetheless.

Sprocket Man

How do you know it wasn't accidental? From your description of the incident, it sounds like the driver may have drifted over too much and the passenger may have told the driver to watch out for the bike.

big john

It's not a phenomenon when sadistic, cowardly jerks threaten your life. It's just sick.

zatopek

If it was an accident, I don't understand why the vehicle slowed as it pulled alongside me. If they were slowing as they approached me, as some vehicles do, seems to me the driver would never have moved so close to me.

sonik90

There was a video a while back where a kid opened his car door to hit a cyclist. then he fell out and was run over by his own car. justice was definetely served for this jackass. i've had close calls and it is usually caused by people paying no attention what so ever.

MONGO!

Pounding hard on the side of the car to let them know you're there works.

darkhand

^ That sounds like a terrible idea, especially when someone is already shown that they are very close to assaulting you with a deadly weapon.

pdedes

happened to me, reported to police. i caught up with the guy at a light, he said he did it on purpose which triggered my decision to report him.

gettingold

Becoming more frequent. Such encounters generally always involve a pickup truck (and I hate to add as I am a fan), often emblazoned with the interlocking NY emblem. We look for them now and keep count.

gettingold

Wake up and smell the coffee. Its a jungle out there.

key

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81oPQ...eature=related

hello facial reconstruction...

ghettocruiser

Probably every 200 miles or so.

But I've only been deliberately clipped once or twice.

fauxto nick

I've had it happen once, except the guy didn't slow down he grazed me at about 25 mph while I was climbing. We get messed with out in here in Southern California it's like anywhere else. As many have heard it's been ugly this year with two riders getting put through a mans rear car window. I don't understand why drivers want to mess with us, especially the yoked out elite cyclists all jacked up on adrenaline. I'm sorry yah you're probably going to win if you're able to drive away but man when these people do this in situations where they're going to have to stop and the cyclists are going to catch up they're just asking for it. I just usually let it slide off my back but my buddy has a habbit of drafting the cars if he can and following them till they have to stop and confronting them.

dcbikeguy

Holy ****.

merlinextraligh

Actually, I've found it works pretty well.

One, the fact that you are communicating to them that you have the ability to inflict damage on their vehicle gets them out of their illusion of invulnerability pretty quickly.

Two, you can use you elbow against the car to help maintain seperation from the car, and decrease the chance of being run over by the car.

Three, when they are already aiming their car at you, you're kind of past the point of worrying about upsetting them, they've already shown a willingness to assault you, so you might as well defend yourself.

I've only done it twice. Each time had the driver continued their path uninterrupted it would have been a bad outcome. Each time they backed off.

DrPete 

Hitting the brakes quickly works well too. You might have to stop, but if a motorist is really trying to taunt you they probably won't notice you stopping.

bikeybikebike

don't take it personally, some people just suck.

I got clipped the other day, and by clipped i mean i slammed into the side of his car. The guy made a right turn into me irratically (no signal, positioned far left in the lane). He knew he hit me, because after that he took off, and zig zagged to avoid stopping. I pursued him and he eventually got stuck at a light. I caught up to him and screamed bloody murder at him. his response: "you're fine". The dent in his car door looked less fine. I think his girlfriend was pretty embarassed though, which was cool.

After that a motorist who had witnessed it and followed me gave me his plates and her contact info. Nice of her, but nothing will become of it.

BoSoxYacht

I wish I could say that being a Yankees/Mets fan, and an A-hole were mutually exclusive, but it's just not that simple.

danny124

There are "REDNECKS" everywhere!!!!!!!!!

BoSoxYacht

Priceless

Jynx

banging on the car works. they are all tough until they realize you can do thousands of dollars worth of body work damage. I have seen cyclists punch off sideview mirrors too.

joe_5700

I do most of my riding out in the country in Nebraska and so far everyone has been really nice. Yes, even the pickup trucks. From what I gather, people in smaller towns are in less of a hurry so if you are riding on the right side of a 2 lane road without a shoulder, cars, trucks and SUVs kindly slow down and pass far to the left. The only "encounters" I have had were with a Ford Mustang and a driver of a Chevy Suburban. Both seemed to be in a hurry. This doesn't count as being buzzed or clipped but on Saturday I saw a DB in a pickup with wife/GF in Omaha just toss out garbage from his truck onto the road. It wasn't at me because he was 100 yards ahead of me when the polluting occured. I was so pissed and was facing a climb and couldn't get a plate #. Jerk.

Tulex

All I can say is report it. The more people that report incidents, the more attention it will get. Even if it's to call the cops and ask them to watch a certain area or ask them to start watching for how bikes are treated. You gotta make noise to get change.

Febs

On Sunday, I was deliberately run off the road by a SEPTA bus. I was riding in the right lane, just outside the bike lane. I heard a beep and saw the bus in my mirror. Almost as soon as he beeped, he accelerated past me (missing me by about 1 foot), and cut across the bike lane and gutter, directly in front of a parked car. As he came to a stop, the bus was positioned diagonally, with the front of the bus at the curb and the back in the right traffic lane. I was barely able to stop without colliding with the bus or the parked car.

I immediately called SEPTA and reported that I had been intentionally run off of the road by one of their drivers.

When I got home, I checked the route schedule for that bus, and discovered that there was not even a scheduled stop at the place where the incident occurred. That reinforced my belief that the driver was deliberately trying to force me off of the roadway, so I followed up my telephone report with a written report yesterday morning. I have not yet received any response, but I intend to continue to follow up and to escalate my complaint if necessary until some action is taken.