Confronting a motorist
 

I generally avoid confronting motorists, despite my anger--- since I have never received a satisfactory resolution to any grievance I might have. This was further reinforced on today's ride.

I was riding through an office park-- and ahead was a bus facing me-- pulled over, with a line of cars queued up behind waiting for the bus to resume. The SECOND car back suddenly decides to pass the car and bus, and is heading directly at me (on a relatively narrow two lane road). I expected the driver to slow or stop when he sees he cannot make it, but instead, he actually speeds up, forcing me into the curb (I didn't crash or anything). Knowing that this is an office park, I figured he wasn't going far. I did a U-turn, and he turned off a block away into a day car parking lot. I was there before he was out of his car-- and nicely (relative to my adrenaline) confronted him as his wife shuffled their daughter into the day care.

His response was that he didn't care, and that there was plenty of room. In my mind, I was especially frustrated since I was traveling the opposite direction as him (not impeding him in any way), he passed from the second car behind the bus, and forced me off the road---- I don't see that he had any rationale for driving so dangerously, and he was mere blocks from his destination. No apology. I quickly calculated my options--- wasn't really that interested in assaulting him. Semi-interested in doing serious damage to his BMW (hey I drive one too, so no ripping on BMW drivers here). But damaging his car would mean that I could never commute that route to work again.

Quick thinking meant that I decided that I knew where his kid went to daycare--- and his wife would likely give him much more on-going grief and nagging -- far more effective consequences than I could ever give. Still, I wanted to ruin his day. Not even a hint of apology. I wished I had my phone handy-- or I would have snapped photos of him, his car, and plates for all to enjoy. I am keeping a rogue's gallery of sorts.

Sadly, this kind of behavior can be summed up in 7 words:


People today are in too much of a hurry to get where they are going, and think that their destination is more important then yours. Sadly rudeness seems to be the "rule" of the land these days. Just look at Kanye's rude behavior towards Taylor Swift on the award show the other night.

People are all to ready to accept and make allowances for people's rudeness, particularly if it's their own. :-(

I'm sure that had he found out the hard way that there wasn't as much room as he thought that he'd be thinking of suing you for damages to his car because of his reckless act.

What might have happened if you "stood your ground," maintained your position oncoming on the road where you were?

What if you had an AirZounds to get that driver's and witnesses' attention? Or what if you had shouted out?

Were you forced to the curb in a manner in which you could not continue at your previous speed, or was there enough room for you to slide by?

Making use of road rage hotlines are a good way to feel you are "doing something" without dealing with the potential negative consequences of a confrontation. I just wish such hotlines were more regional rather than being a different hotline for each municipality or county, as that would make it easier to find the phone number applicable for that location.

In the very few occasions I've had drivers play "chicken" with me I've come to a complete stop and stayed put until they stopped or just drove around me. Maybe this is passive-aggressive, but I don't want to reward their behavior nor play the same game.

+1

Stand your ground and make some noise to get someone's attention. If someone is crazy enough to run you over in the wrong lane with other people watching then they probably would have just chased you into the gutter and run over you anyway.

Pretty much it. I was nearly run off the road by a git in a minivan on a four lane road on Sunday because they were in an all fired rush to pick up a stupid pizza.

I would not be typing this if I had "stood my ground" (and sometimes, reminding myself that I have a wife and two kids enhances my sense of self-preservation) Initially, I made it clear that I was not going to hug the curb (and it is a brink curb-) by taking more of my lane. I expected him to stop--- as other motorists have done in the exact same spot (it is a daily commute--- this isn't the first time this has happened). Rather than stopping or slowing, he sped up-- right at me. (The last time this bus scenario happened, I stood my ground, forcing a car to completely stop--- which was quite interesting. He was completely in my lane facing me, and I was track standing, watching the drivers behind me giving him the stink eye.) This is a terribly planned area--- there are no sidewalks either, so half the time there are pedestrians walking along the curb (from buses).

I don't see how a horn would help (he said that he saw me anyway-- he just didn't care)--- and witnesses would just make sure an ambulance arrived to scrape me off the pavement.

So yes, I slide by--- barely--- and the fact is, it was my lane. This was a bus--- not some lane closure where people are expected to take turns driving through. Furthermore, he was two cars back-- behind the bus, when he pulled this stupid stunt-- one block from his destination.

I can always revisit this guy at the day care.

Thanks for the reply... at best the horn would have alerted others to the situation. (witnesses)

If indeed you feel that the driver would have plowed right into you, I think you were left with little recourse. Others have suggested reporting drivers, but I have found that police tend to treat such reports with a "yeah yeah whatever..." attitude.

The fact that he was the only driver to "leave the queue" does show aggressive tendencies.

Police won't do anything. I guarantee that. They have to literally witness something worth doing something about before intervening. On the other hand, I would guess they would respond if I enacted a bit of street justice-- though not so much in my favor.

I certainly don't want to second guess your judgment. I have three kids and know how my risk tolerance has changed.

I do observe, however, that while motorists often underestimate my approach speed or the speeds of other vehicles and get themselves into trouble, they seem to do relatively well with not hitting completely stationary things they are paying attention to in front of them. This is why I would rather be stopped than riding toward them in this situation.

I was once the last vehicle to enter a single-lane construction zone when I was unable to pedal fast enough uphill to keep up with the other traffic. Before I reached the other end of the lane closure, the person directing traffic started the oncoming traffic from the other side. I moved into the center of the lane and stopped. The first oncoming driver also slowed down and stopped. Then once the column of cars had stopped moving, I proceeded to the right to pass them on the roadway edge (there was no shoulder or sidewalk). Their collective inability to accelerate immediately allowed me to pass the rest of the column to the end of the construction area more safely.

Not in all cities, here locally, there's a strong interest taken by local law enforcement to reduce aggressive driving, especially when our city was tagged with the second highest auto collision rate, out of a hundred cities our size, in the state.

Depending on how the road rage hotline works, the police will file the complaint in a computer for future reference for that driver/license plate, and send a postcard with the complaint to the address on file for the vehicle.

On the one occasion where I called the police emergency to complain about a driver whose license number I recorded, they went to the driver's home and the driver called me to apologize (for an unsafe close pass at low speed that kissed my bar-end mirror but didn't cause damage or loss of control). So on average I have found using the police more satisfying that confronting drivers, which I have resolved not to do anymore.

Simply say to him- How would you like it if someone drove directly at your daughter with their car the same way you just did to me?

This should also (hopefully?) change the way the driver views the situation. Instead of it being (in his view) your responsibility to get out of his way, you are now motionless and he is the one who must avoid hitting you.

Now, this assumes that he's not insane and willing to hit you anyways. :eek:

If he thinks there was "plenty of room" ask him how he'd feel if someone pulled that same manuver with his wife or kid.

Since you know where he goes every morning, and the approximate time, stake out the place, and get a good pic of him, and the car. Then, file the complaint with the local PD ----- and share the pics with a description of what he did........LOL

+100

Don't count on it. It's just as likely she was egging him on... "I hate it when busses get in the way! We're going to be late for work!! Step on it!"

I can do it in one... infrontitis :(

I don't think it's so much a matter of trying to save time as much as trying to avoid being frustrated or feeling thwarted... and anything that makes some people take their foot off the gas counts. It's purely reactionary. Bus in the way? Whip around it! Light turn yellow? Floor it! Traffic backed up beyond where your right-turn lane begins? Drive over the curb! So long as people like this guy get in front of whatever's in front of him, they don't care...

Yep, some time last year or the year before I was heading north on 9th st going out to look for a GeoCache in the rear parking lot of a local strip mall. So here I am sitting in the left hand turn lane waiting until I felt that it was safe enough for me to proceed through when this moron who looked like he could have been a "Duke's of Hazzard" wannabe. Not only pulls up behind me but shoots around me to make a left turn.

Where was he going you wonder? Did he need to get to the pharmacy to get a prescription refill? Did he need to run into the store to get something to eat to avoid a diabetic reaction? No, he was pulling up to the McD's drive through for a "cheese burger."

He not only tried to tell me that I could have gone sooner then I had, there was a at least one if not two cars headed south making no indication that they were going to turn anytime soon. So I decided to air on the side of caution and see exactly what they were going to do. Then mister intelligent actually wanted to get into a fight over it. At that point I just basically threw up my hands and walked away. As it wasn't worth getting in a fight over.

Sadly, there were no cops around. But question, had there been mister "Dukes of Hazzard" would have been ticketed, right, what about me would the cop had said anything to me or would he have concentrated on the reckless driver?

Maybe printing out the laws that apply to bicycles and slipping it under his windshield wiper might, emphasis on might help a little. Or if you have any friends who are LEO's maybe a visit from them might again emphasis on might wake him up.

Oh, and wouldn't watching daddy killing a cyclist cause he's in a hurry to drop his "brat" off be a good childhood memory?

This sounds nice now, but likely would have little effect at the time of the incident. The enraged driver would merely cuss that his wife/kid would not be so stupid as to ride a bike in the road, blah, blah, blah.

When anyone is as upset as this driver was, it's better to say nothing, because you can't win. Personally, I like the anonymous note idea, and have done it in the past. It can even be "written by" ;) a concerned citizen who witnessed the incident, and noted the vehicle information. Assure them that you know their vehicle, where they live or drive, and that you will be watching them. The use of vague threats are not out of the question. Guaranteed to scare most anyone straight.

Wonder how Mr. I-Don't-Care would change his thought processes after a week of two flat tires on his precious Beemer. Probably just as well I'm nowhere near where(ever this was) this happened. I get awfully curious about things like that....

Just call him as a probable DUI dropping his daughter off at daycare. Give the address of the daycare and the license plate number.

Hey DX-Man,

I've got a couple of those valve caps with the valve stem removers on them, in my toolbox. Maybe I should start carrying one in my saddle bag. . . Obviously I don't use them as caps on my bike, there are enough vandels with enough "tools" to vandalize, why give 'em one more.

And would using one of those caps to remove the valve stem to let the air out be vandalism? I mean no real harm is being done to the vehicle. . .