Originally Posted by pj7
The police officer that saw someone almost right hook me and chase them down...
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
Have you written about this? The details? If so, where?
No, I have never mentioned it on here before. I don't bring up everything that happens to me on my commute... unless it's funny or overly interesting.
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
If not, what were the circumstances (# lanes of each type, bike lane?, where you were positioned, where the right hooker was, etc.).
There was no bike lane, as I've said before we have no bike lanes here and I have actually never been in a bike lane.
I was riding north bound on a residential street. This would have been in either late November or Early December as it was during the time of "no on-street parking parking" and was before the new year. (No parking is allowed on-street due to snow removal)
I was about 10 feet from the curb placing me just left of the right tire track. I was aproaching a yield sign and was slowing down. Mr. I-Have-A-Hummer-To-Make-Up-For-My-Small-Manhood aparantly felt unobliged to wait behind me so he crossed the center line to my left about 15 feet before the sign. Since there was no oposing traffic he proceded to turn right in front of me. He did not use a turn signal so I assumed he was going straight and just wanted to share the lane with me. I actually had to put my arm out in front of me (and sort of to the left) to brace myself against his SUV so as to not hit it with my bike.
A police officer was coming up right behind us, I saw him in my mirror but Mr. 'Small-Manhood seemed not to have. As soon as this happened he lit up and pulled up beside me. I had stopped right at the sign because I was about to fall down and yelled out his window "follow me" and proceded to turn right in front of me and go after the guy.
By the time I caught up to them the officer was already at the guys window and I heard him saying "yielding applies to all vehicles who have the right of way before you, not just coming from other directions". I had a **** eating grin on my face at hearing this and stopped behind the Hummer nad next to the police car.
The cop walked back to me, asked if me and my bike were alright and proceded to write a ticket for "failure to yield" to the motorist. After all was said and done the officer and I had a small chit chat talk. He sees my riding every day and just wanted to commend me on doing something that he thought he never could. He also said he might take up riding in the summer. I told him I commuted all winter long and his eyes got as big as saucers! Phrases such as "iron man" and "will power" were used to refer to me by him. Anyhow, we talked about other problems I have on my daily route and he asured me that the drivers here are overly agressive to everyone on the road and not just me. We exchanged pleasantries and went on our way.
Originally Posted by Helmet Head
No, and that's my point: He's anthropomorphizing the cars, and naturally feeling inferior to them.
That's why part of VC is learning to avoid thinking that way. I might slip once in a while (and use the anthropomorphizing language of someone I'm talking to), but I'll bet you won't find Mr. Forester ever slipping. Yesterday up in the A&S forum (
link) someone asked for comments on something they were writing, and my revision included de-anthropomorphizing the language). To ride vehicularly consistently and instinctively, your paradigm really has to be "it's me and drivers just like me" out there, as opposed to "it's me vs. the cars".
Well, technically it is "me vs the cars" because in any sort of confrontation the two
bodies involved are the human body of the cyclist and the steel body of the car.
But I see what you mean, and have never confused the issue.
Still, using my technical meaning it still holds true that one body is inferior to the other when it comes to an incident involving the two. But when referring to the
person in control of the two bodies neither is superior nor inferior to one another... unless of course it's my mother in the car.
