tjspiel

There's a few reasons why sharing lanes with buses during rush hour isn't so great but it's workable. Tonight however I had my worst experience with a driver, ever.

The street is 4 lanes with auto traffic occupying the middle two lanes and buses/bikes the outer two. Cars can use the bus/bike lane to make right turns. Likewise, buses and bikes need to move left to take a left turn. This is awkward at times since there is often a left turn lane and you have to move left two lanes to turn left. The arrangement can be confusing for everyone involved, especially if you're never been on that street before. It requires that both bikes and cars be willing to cut each other some slack in order to work.

Given that I tend not to get too bent out of shape over drivers being in the bus/bike lane. It doesn't help that the markings that were freshly painted late last fall didn't survive the winter too well.

So tonight as I'm coming up to a red light, there's an SUV parked in the bike lane off to the right. There's nobody in it but it's running. There's plenty enough room to the left (even for a car) so I pull up along side to wait for the light. The SUV's not supposed to be there but I'm an easy going guy so I'm not bothered by it too much.

As I'm waiting there I hear someone call out behind me "Hey Biker!". So I turn around to look. There's a woman in a car behind me (in the bike/bus lane). "Can you move over so I can get by?"

I pride myself on being considerate. If I see somebody who needs to make a right turn waiting behind me and I can safely and easily move to the left I typically will. But in this instance, she couldn't make a right turn, I'd have to move in front of the parked SUV or behind it in order to let her by and besides that, I didn't like the way she yelled "Hey Biker!".

So I ask her: "Why do you want me to move?" since she isn't turning right anyway.

"Because I'm f*kn faster than you and then I won't have to pass you!"

Me: "You're in a bike lane."

Her: "No. It's a SHARED lane. Read the signs."

Me: "It's for buses and bikes."

Her: "It's a f*ckn shared lane"

At that point I decide not to engage her any further. I face forward again to wait for the light.

A moment later I hear: "AWW COME ON! IT'S TWO FEET! YOU WON'T MOVE TWO FEET?"

Then I hear the engine rev and am both surprised and not surprised to feel a bumper against my rear tire.

I don't move one inch. I leave my bike right up against her bumper, turn around and glare at her. A million words come rushing to my brain but none seem appropriate for what she's doing. I say nothing. Just turn forward again, shaking my head, and wait for the light.

The light changes. I move forward. She, as expected roars by me way too close on the left, gives me the finger, then cuts in front of some car in the lane that she's supposed to be in.

Of course given the benefit of hindsight, I probably would have been more clever in my exchange or changed some of the things that I did/didn't do.

What would you have done?