ModoVincere

I posted about this in the "How was your commute today" thread, but I'm curious as to other peoples opinions. I'm not sure it would change my future actions, but it might make me think about it.

Anyway, this morning a JAM in a jeep cheerokee decides I don't need to be in the left turn lane and that he wants to be in it, right wher I am. He starts to turn right into me , so I hauled off and hit his window, at which point he stopped. I gave him a nice long stare and then went on my way.
So generally, I'm not an advocate of touching someone elses property, but in this case it was a quick wake up call for the guy. I really did not even have time to get much of a yell out of my mouth and the hand to his window was almost instinctual.

Do you think my actions were wrong? Was there a better way? I'm curious as to what others might have done.

jyossarian

Sounds like you did the right thing. He was about to reach out and touch you and instead, you touched him first and alerted him to the fact that he's not the only one on the road. He probably pissed his pants a little cuz he thought he hit something.

squegeeboo

If you hit it with the intention to break it, maybe it was wrong, maybe. If you hit it with the intention of not becoming a pancake, then nothing wrong with it at all in a case like that. Nothing like a nice little love tap to say, "Hey, I don't know if you understand your basic physics or not, but 2 objects can not occupy the same space at the same time"

xequar

Nah, you do what you gotta do to save your hyde. I'd say don't worry about it.

seriouslysilly

i'd say it was the right thing to alert him of your presence.
not cussing and getting into a verbal argument is another +1

CliftonGK1

I've done the same thing, so I'm saying you were in the right. Sometimes you've just gotta make it known that you're A) There. (Driver doesn't see you, starts coming over) or B) NOT MOVING. (It's your lane, why should you move?)

My personal peeve is when people see me coming up the bike lane, the intersection is full and I have a green light, so they pull out of the side street to make a right and end up blocking the entire corner so I have to go around them. I make a point of stopping and tapping on their window so I can tell them how much of a JAM they are.

Two Buck Chuck

I'd probably do the same thing. I usually just hit cabs, who deserve it for their poor driving. I'm worried about getting shot if I did it to normal car in DC.

dalmore

Glad it was not worse. The visibility this morning as bad around here. Where was this encounter?

ModoVincere

this was on Windward Parkway, turning left to go southbound on Westside parway.

robcycle

Nope, you were in the right. I have banged on car windows several times to alert a driver that they were about to run me over. It does startle them. I had to do it once in a parking lot when someone was trying to back over my wife and I. Aparently neither the driver nor my wife saw this comming, and both thought I was in the wrong. But we're both still here, so I'm OK with it.

Also, I don't know of the laws in other localities, but in VA it is illegal to pass a cyclist and not give a 3' berth. My arms and legs are both much shorter than 3', so if I hit/kicked your car, you were clearly in my space. It reaches a point where you have to be aggressively defensive, mainly to position yourself where you are safe, and sometimes in alerting people to your presence.

Does anyone here use one of the 130dB air horns?

-Rob.

JohnBrooking

I don't blame you at all for your reaction, it may have prevented your injury or even death. Still, whenever anything like this happens, I like to ask myself if there was anything I could have done differently to prevent it from happening. Are you sure he saw you? It sounds like he pulled into you from a position beside you. Maybe you were somehow in a blind spot. Were you in the center of the left-turn lane? If not, that may have made you more visible, and/or given both of you another split second or so of reaction time. Were you dressed brightly? How light was it outside?

Please note that I'm not shifting blame, just trying to see if there was anything more you could have done pro-actively to avoid the close call. Maybe there's not, I wasn't there...

Glad you're okay!

JohnBrooking

+1

I ride through a mall parking lot every night on my way home. I always ride right in the center of the lane. Cars are going slow enough, and usually not for a very long distance, so I don't have to hold up anyone for long. I think the further-out lane position allows people to see you sooner, gives you both more reaction time, and also gives you more latitude to move around them. You not only have more room between them and you, but you also know that there's not a car on the other side of you should you need to swerve slightly. Plenty of times I've seen a car start to back up, then stop as the driver notes my presence. In all cases, I've been far enough out that there was still plenty of time and room to avoid a problem. If you were riding directly next to the cars, they would likely not see you coming, and there would be no room to avoid a collision.

caloso

I wouldn't give it another thought.

ModoVincere

I appreciate all the inputs. Just to answer some of the questions posed, to see if it would effect the repsonses:

1) It sounds like he pulled into you from a position beside you. Maybe you were somehow in a blind spot.

I was directly next to him. I was maybe 10 feet away from the white line cars are suppose to stop at at the intersection. The light was red. I can not imagine that being a blind spot. Turn head and look through window...he would have seen me about 5 feet from his door.

2)Were you in the center of the left-turn lane? If not, that may have made you more visible, and/or given both of you another split second or so of reaction time.

I was in the center of the lane. I learned to do this by reading on this forum. And I must say it is good advice as witnessed by the fact that I am still in one piece.

Were you dressed brightly? How light was it outside?

It was daylight (about 9:15) this morning. Cloudy conditions, but easy visibility. I was wearing my hi viz green/yellow jacket from REI. Also had a planet bike super flash going in the rear. For the front, I normally have a Cateye el-410 but since it was daylight, I had turned it off. Still trying to figure out why this happened, but maybe just one of those things that I'll never figure out.

JohnBrooking

Sounds like there was truly nothing more you could have done. Just one of those things that happens despite your best efforts.

Looking on the bright side, being in the center worked for you!!

roadfix

A firm tap on the window with a smile to alert the driver is no different from tapping another rider on the hip when he gets too close in a tight group ride...

CrosseyedCrickt

I think the law will back me up on this one:
When it comes to defending your own life, anything goes.

chephy

Gee, let's see... Touching someone's car vs. getting killed... looks to me as though you made the right choice.

dalmore

I have to make that same turn in the afternoons. It's always a fun one. I sometimes can't get over to the left and have to use the crosswalk. :{

kjmillig

Here's one that'll really scare the crap out of a JAM. Smack the window or hood then throw yourself (carefully but convincingly) to the ground. Makes 'em think they hit you.

Speedo

Yet another acronym. What (Who?) is a JAM?

squeakywheel

Jackass motorist.

I don't see anything wrong with slapping the car to say I'm here. It probably woudn't be my reflex action. I think I would have taken evasive action. Just speculating. This never happened to me.

Phantoj

A smack on the window causes no damage to the motorist's property at all, as long as the window doesn't break... whereas beating on a body panel could scratch or dent it.

My question with smacking the window is that if you have enough stability and control to smack a window, can you veer out of the way just as easily? I'm afraid that if I tried to whack a car window, I'd be putting myself at risk for a wreck just through the act of slapping.

I had an experience where a motorist tried to merge directly into my lane; we were both traveling forwards at about the same speed. I moved over to maximize my room, and yelled, "HEY!" (Normally, I have a very quiet voice, but I was actually able to yell loudly in this circumstance.) The yell caught the motorist's attention, and he veered back into his lane.

dalmore

I got the impression from the original post that he was stopped and the car tried to muscle into the space he was occuping.

robcycle

Which reminds me of my favorite attention getter. Lets face it, if you're in a car and someone yells at you, its quite possible you'll ignore it. However, if you whistle, high and sharp, like you're calling your errant dog, people pay attention. Kinda like yelling fire instead of ****.

Now I return you to your regularly scheduled programing.

-Rob.