Repeat offender - honking, beligerant driver
 

Today for the second time on my commute I was passed by a pickup truck driver who honked obnoxiously at me then proceeded with hand gestures to tell me how I should ride further to the right of the road. I've only seen this guy twice, probably because I've only been running as late as I was today twice. Normally, I wouldn't remember the driver but this guy is easily recognizable as he has an advertisement for his website on the back of the truck. I've considered contacting him through email to explain my side of the story and hopefully change his mind about bikes being on the ride. I feel it might make me safer on the road as who knows what will happen the third or fourth time we meet up and hopefully it will help out the other bikes on the road.

Do you think this is a wasted effort? My email will not be an attack but an effort to educate as I can only assume this guy has never ridden a bike up a narrow, hilly backroad and has not considered the impact of not taking the lane in such a situation. Opinions welcome.

Or get his license plate # & report him. He'll likely get a call.

I don't think email would be a good way to go. Look at craigslist rants and raves and see how most people act when they read an email trying to change their ways. Maybe if you can catch up to him at a light, politely say,
"Sir, please don't do that. It's startles me and could cause an accident." Not guaranteed to work, but will make him think about being so mean to you and shouldn't escalate things Florida-style.

- hey, hey, hey!

- shouldn't that be: "... and shouldn't escalate things Los Angeles-style." ????

- hmm?

:-)

Email him this link: http://www.deldot.gov/static/bike/de_laws.html

from which I quote in part:

Every person riding a bicycle shall have all the rights and responsibilities of a driver of any other vehicle.... When traveling less than the normal speed of traffic a bicycle shall be ridden "as close as practicable" to the right-hand edge of the roadway except: a) When passing another bicycle or vehicle, b) When making a left-hand turn, c) When avoiding parked or slow moving vehicles, fixed or slow moving objects, animals, surface hazards, etc., or d) When the lane that is narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

You can get all his contact information from his website Internic info.

I thought a personal email might have less chance of making him more inclined to run me off the road than a call from the police. And I'd feel bad calling the police as he technically didn't do anything wrong (it's not like he actually tried to hit me) and I'm only singling him out because I know I can easily contact him. Many other drivers have done much worse but they don't have their contact information on their car.

I do hear your point about people getting steamed when someone wants to try and change their ways. If I thought this guy would be understanding, I'd have talked to him while he was stopped at the light today. Maybe I'll just give him a third chance and try to talk to him if I get the same reaction.

I think this guy can be a worthwhile project, since you probably will be seeing him again. Maybe you should make an equally impossible suggestion via hand gesture... "make yourself narrower" which involves pushing your hands together. I also like the braking hand-gesture where your left hand goes down. people have no idea what that means either. I've nearly been killed when using that gesture.

Personally, I believe that people who drive these new wide-ass pickups and trucks have no right to complain about the 24" of roadway that you're taking up.

Keep us informed.

My past contacts with drivers never amounted to a hill of beans. I used to carry a similar clause (and others) from the CA vehicle code and present it to drivers that argued that bikes don't belong on the road.

No matter how logical and lawful my arguement, the driver continued to believe and insist that cyclists did not belong on the road... as if their personal beliefs overrode the laws.

It was interesting. I don't bother anymore. I figured there wasn't enough of me to educate all of THEM.

Florida-style??

I commute 20 miles round-trip in Miami traffic. Is there something I should be concerned about (over and above the usual, like not crashing, doors, etc..)?

Just curious.

A lot of bad behavior stems from the fact that people feel anonymous in their cars. If you contact him, he'll realize you know who he is, and might behave better. There's also the possibility that he is just an employee, and you'll actually be contacting his boss, who may be quite concerned about his employee creating liability for the company.

Don't expect too much. I've also had the "personal beliefs override laws" response from just about every motorist I've tried to educate, and email is not the best medium for persuasion.

Wow - more power to you! I find that the vast majority of really, really dangerous drivers in NYC have Florida plates, and I definitely had my share of scary moments when I was riding in Miami (though I also had my share of really good riding down there...). In fairness, many or most of the Florida-plated drivers in NYC might not be Floridians; there seem to be a lot of drivers here who skip out on paying their vehicle taxes by getting their cars licensed out of state.

-chris

Let me ask this to the forum....have you ever in talking to anyone about anything actually changed their minds on any subject where they had an opinion first. My guess is no. You can only change the mind of someone that wants their mind changed. He thinks he is right or he wouldn't try to get you to change your ways by honking and gesturing. I will bet a buck ($1) that no matter what you do, email/cops/talk to him at the light...nothing will work. He is trying to change your mind, but are you going to? Never try to talk, it never works. Just keep riding the same way you always do and expect this kind of behavior from motorists.

I've been trying to change peoples (other commuting cyclists) minds about the proper way to cross the I-5 bridge from Portland to Vancouver. 2 multiuse paths on either side of the bridge. My common sense tells me to ride with traffic..i.e. when I'm north bound in the morning I ride on the northbound path. (the northbound side is 4' wide, southbound side is 5' wide, not enough room in my opinion to pass another cyclist safely). Southbound in the eve with southbound. I've talked to a few people about this...northbound people on the southbound side. They ride that side because they like to....I'll never change their minds..not worth talking to and these are other commuters. Basic human nature.

:beer:

I would opine that this is the best summation / comment for many, many
threads in many forums.

I used to think that letting them know what the actual laws were might change their minds... but then I saw them admit the law and deny it. That was the strangest part. Present it in black and white and yet... I was wrong.

That was why I made the effort thougth in the first place... simply because I believed that some motorists did not understand the rights of cyclists. Usually they didn't know the rights... but bottom line is they didn't care either.

"Well, that law is old... " or "that law is wrong... " or "well, they don't do it that way around here... " were the sorts of responses I generally got.

Just amazed me...

the one I usually here is I don't really care. I'm going to do what it was/is I'm going to do and you can go to france.(or other nasty place).

I think maybe I've gotten my hopes up for convincing people since I've had luck with the members of my family, even my extremely impatient sister. But, they now have a vested interest in cyclists' safety (that being me since they know I'm all over the roadways). This guy in the truck obviously has no interest so chances are I'll receive a reply much like genec's attempts received. It's frustrating to say it but it's not worth it :( Thanks everyone for saving me some headaches. I'll be sure to post about my next encounter just to be able to let off some steam.

I think flying the bird salute proudly is your only recourse. Share-the-road flyers mailed daily to his place of work might be an interesting exercise in frustrate the driver though.

Sorry I didn't make that satire very understandable.
I was talking about their new law that allows people to respond with deadly force if they feel threatened in any way.

I did leave out of my story that he got the one finger salute the first time he passed me. He deserved it though for passing me on the left while I was moving left into a turning lane.

Unless you are into classic cars, you wouldn't have the chance to boycott the business. If he was from a larger business, I'd be making more of a stink about it.

These days I thank every driver who notices me at roundabouts and waits like they're supposed to, or cars who slow down behind me when the lane is too narrow to pass, etc. I thanks lots of drivers every day. The idea is to generate good returns; if the cager notices you as a friendly rider who has the courtesy to thank them for obeying traffic rules, then you are likely to get good treatment next time round from the same driver. I would have waved a thanks. Flipping the bird has probably ruined your chances. You will likely have an ongoing feud with this guy.

Tell the cops, if he keeps it up they'll be very interested, get that legal record started, that paper trail.

You know where he will be, you know approximately when he will be there, all you need now is a sniper rifle and a vantage point. ;)

Seriously tho, let's face it, it's extremely unlikely you will change his opinion therefore it's even less likely you will change his behaviour.... Start reporting him to the police, maybe even mount a camcorder on your bike and get evidence - a picture tells a story far better than words. Organise to ride with someone else and get a witness. Keep reporting every encounter to the cops.

I'd say the opposite. Don't boycott him, patronize the buisness! Be a customer and when he asks where you heard of his buisness tell him as if he never did anything wrong that you saw his truck around town. When he honks again yell "Hey Charlie" (useing his real first name) as familliarly as if you've been best friends forever. It's harder to be randomly jerkish to people you know. If he keeps honking invitie hime to a bar-bq and say 'hey Charlie whats up with the grumpy driving? Everything okay at home?"
I've worked, drank and lived with some rednecks that were anti biker. I've been to their works x-mas parties and rode my bike to thier houses. And yeah, i've changed a few opinions. A couple people were anti-biker 'cause tehy saw us as elitists and sports yuppies that want to 'play' in the street. Finding out that i'm a nice guy and a cyclist and just a regular joe on his way home from a long shift helped change people a lot.

You CAN change people's opinions, but you'll seldom so it by an adversarial stance. That meks people dig in more. Get into their world and show, don't tell. And they'll usually understand.

....and if that doesn't work, shoot him :D