xcapekey

well, i have been commuting for about 2 years now and have never had an incident like this....coming up to an intersection (2nd and PCH in Long Beach) that is at a stop...i'm taking the lane (right in the middle) and a truck still decides to pass me....he passes with about 6 inches off my shoulder...i'm pissed so i ride up to him and tap his window and start yelling at him....he jumps out and shoves me right in the middle of the street...i'm a bit stunned at the whole thing and am frantically trying to tap his license plate in my blackberry...anyway, he speeds off...i was so amped that i couldn't see straight and got the license plate wrong (DAMNIT)...called the police and they ran the plates but no dice...

i know i rattled the cage a bit...but it was just one of those days when i didn't feel like getting buzzed....

so everyone be careful out there....and i don't know what the chances are of someone being on the forums that witnessed it but it happened today (Sunday) at about 10:20am on the intersection of 2nd and PCH going away from Belmont Shore...the vehicle was a white truck..the plate was 5??Y101...the driver is a 6 foot 2 white male, ponytail, mid thirties, stubble with a big ******* sitting on his shoulders...

kill.cactus

I so would have loved to see him shove you into the street so I could run up to smash his redneck face with my U lock, giving you enough time to go drive his truck off a bridge.

Man I FRIGGIN HATE these stories. It is just as bad as some racial hate crimes committed... SO UPSETTING.

Sorry, I really wish I could help, but I can't

Good luck though - and be safe!

donnamb 

I'm just glad you're ok, xcapekey.

pedalMonger

Hey cactus, I am in a² too.....and have a Trek almost like yours! (2007 FX 7.5). Similar color anyway

If you see some guy with long hair out riding on the above mentioned bike, say hello! Of course if I have a helmet on you won't notice the hair probably, especially if its ponytailed, but I have been riding without one sometimes in the heat


-----------------

xcapekey, I have a berry too. No camera on them unfortunately, would've been nice to be able to take a snapshot of his plate (or at least his truck if too far to be able to read the plate on a crappy cell phone image). Sorry to hear that happened to you

Jeronimo_

Long Beach has some pretty angry drivers. That guy would not have been big enough to jack me around.

pedalMonger

cactus, do you go down Packard on your commute? For about a mile or so between State and Stadium, EVERY garbage bin was tipped over last night by some punks as a "prank", and garbage was spilling into the street. Stupid punks, all that does is make the poor *******s job harder, who do the garbage pick up. At least most of the pranks we did as kids were somewhat creative and didn't make somebody's job miserable. Well I guess setting a paper bag full of dog crap on someones porch, lighting it on fire, ringing the door bell, and running away wasn't all that creative, but people still fell for it! And I guess having to scrap it off their shoe was kinda miserable, but it wasn't something that made the neighborhood look ghetto, and would take hours to clean up.

I'd tell ya about one of the creative pranks, but that would take too long to describe, and I am already going way off topic now.

dobber

Poking the hornets nest is always a risky action.

I had a incident several weeks ago coming back from a long ride. I was in the left hand land of a 4 lane road thru the middle of town (rural, population ~2000). I always take the left as the majority of the traffic stay right due to the three left hand turns situations, lights and general traffic flow.

Evidently Billy-Bob wanted to jump ahead of the right hand traffic and tried to come flying up the left, found me and had to cut back in to the right. We subsequently wind up at the red light, he's cursing and yelling at me about riding on the street, blah, blah, blah.

I'm doing my level best to look at him like he's something unpleasant I just found in my grandsons diaper then start doing my little hand puppet routine. He starts gunning his engine, like where is he gonna go, so I start making little vroom-vroom noises and lifting the front wheel of my bike.

Light turns green, he flips me the bird and promptly stalls his engine. He panic restarts it, grinds his gears, bunny hops about 5 feet and stalls again.

God it was funny.

Sahaquiel

Hahaha! That's some funny !@#$.

Similarly, when someone repeatedly honks at me, I usually press my imaginary horn and shout "honk honk" with a very sarcastic look on my face.

JeffS

Glad you're OK.

BUT - my stance has always been that you should never touch a car unless you're prepared for a fight.

le brad

I'm not a big guy, so I have to really resist the urge to rattle cages, because in the end I know it will be my ass getting kicked. Glad to hear that it didn't go any further.

jimlamb

I picked up an ATC2K (Oregon Scientific) and mounted it to my handlebars. Now I can record audio and video of my entire commute (you can get about an hour on a 2GB SD card). I found the camera for $75 on-line and it comes with a variety of mounts. It give me some piece of mind that, if something does happen, there's a record of it. That helps me keep my cool too.

littlewaywelt

does it just autoloop?

velocity

I always feel like after an incident like this that there are one or two things that can happen. One you get hurt. 2) he goes down the street and hurts someone else that is on a bike. Its not good. If you had just got his license plate after he buzzed you you could have turned him in without the public scene. I am glad your ok, but I feel like there is a freak out there that thinks he can now get away with pushing cyclist around.
V

jimlamb

No, but it's very easy to delete the contents of the card. If it was an incident-free ride, I just delete the clip and it's ready for the next ride. If your ride is over an hour, you can reduce the resolution and/or frame rate to get more capacity out of a 2GB card.

mparker326

So what did you expect him to do when you "tapped" on his window and started yelling at him?

n4zou

A friend of mine had an accident on his motorcycle with his helmet camera running. Of course it became a hit and run affair. That video got his motorcycle repaired and the idiot hit and run driver put in jail for 90 days. I started using a camera as well. Every time some JAM buzzes me or cuts me off I file a report with the next policeman I find or drop by the station as soon as I can. They mail out reckless driving tickets to the owner of the vehicle if I can't video the driver so they're still on the hook for a traffic violation. The recorded video always convicts them. I take two memory cards with me. If nothing happens while I'm out riding I just erase the card anytime I stop for a few minutes. If something does happen I remove that card and install the second card so I can show the policeman the evidence. They're really happy to have video! When I walk in the station to file a complaint all the personnel in the station will watch the video and make many copies of it. You should see the reaction of the drivers when they see the video of themselves driving stupid in court. Most can't believe they could be videoed by bicyclists or motorcyclists. Bike Nashbar has that camera as well but its $130.
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...All%20Products

kmcrawford111

Awesome story.

robtown

I picked one up on sale at Nashbar for $99 plus a special 20% off. Geomangear.com has them for $100.
I've got to mount mine on a helmet and start being diligent about wearing it. The video I've taken so far doesn't seem to pick up license plates well.

tarwheel 

Dude, you are asking for trouble tapping on someone's window and yelling at them. I'm not trying to defend the truck driver or excuse his actions, but you have to use some common sense as well. Road rage is not something you want to provoke. The guy may have been a jerk, but it's best to just ignore people like that or jot down their license number and report to their employer or the police.

littlewaywelt

do you have to take the card out to do it, or can you clear the card via the camera?

how does it work in low light/winter commuting conditions?

making

I think any time I lose my temper it is a sign of immaturity or some other character flaw I need to work on. But during my morning commute one morning I got really really po'd. I was on a four lane divided highway. There was no cars anywhere near us except several that had just passed us and were far ahead of me. One car was coming up slowly behind me. He kept getting closer but not too close as to make me nerveous. There was no other traffic and he could have eailsy passed me so I thoght he might be making a R turn or something. Then he sped up, got real close, honked his horn, went around me and cut me off, then took off. Dang I was po'd. For those of you who think there is no justice this one time there was. The light turned red and it was a long one. the other cars had blocked his escape and I eaisly caught back up with him. I was madder then, o well but at least I was thiking enough to pull up on the passanger side so I would not poke him in the nose. This guy was in a Lexus and was every bit of 145 lbs. Had a tie on, which is really just a handle to hold little guys by while you pound the a;lsdk out of them. but alas, I really only insulted his parents, intelligence and generally just cussed him our really good, the dummy stared straight ahead, never even looking me in the eye while rolling up his window and locking his doors. He was my age too, (mid fourties) and should know better. It po's me just talking about it.

vrkelley

Stop Dobber...you're kill'n me

vrkelley

The camera appears to be filming from the right side of the helmet...???

jimlamb

You can clear the card without removing it from the camera (or without even removing the camera from the mount). It has a sort of automatic gain control for low light conditions, but it takes it a moment to adjust. I haven't tried it in dusk/night conditions nor cold weather. I believe the manufacturer (Oregon Scientific) does offer a sort of "cozy" to make it usable in colder conditions. It's also water resistant (to 3 feet) so you can get it wet.

bobbyahines

The shrinks say ignoring the cagers and writing down license plates is the most effective course of action. Apparently the studies indicate any type of engagement with a bad driver has the psych effect of rewarding their behavior and promoting it in future auto/bike encounters. The stats also say reporting the plates = enforcement and charges for the baddie...