Sunday's incident
 

I hardly get any honks during the week, but this weekend I got three honks. Yesterday it was teenagers which did not bother me too much. But today was a bit disturbing. I caught it on my helmet cam. I need to think of better things to say on the fly. In this video I'm going 25 mph down a hill. I normally don't confront honkers as I feel the airzound gets the message across.

Edit: I have deleted the video from youtube. Lots of good discussion here. I dont want casual people to watch it and get afraid of cycling. These incidents are the exception, not the norm..

Wow.

If I were you, I wouldn't have confronted them the first or the second time. I got stressed just watching that.

I guess she thought that blowing the horn would make you disappear or something. I didn't see any shoulder or sidewalk. What did they expect I wonder?

I'm glad you told them something. Next time they might consider a cyclist could conceivably catch up and hassle them. Although had I been in your cleats, I would have blown past them at the stop and said "bye bye" as I went past the open window. I am not above tossing the "C" word out there for a rude female motorist to chew upon too. But then you better be ready to fight the boyfriend. Or pepper-spray him.

I'm glad you spoke up.

I was almost sqeezed of the the road yesterday. I was doing 30 mph (downhill) in a 30 zone. Two cars passed me while an oncoming car arrived. No shoulder...

I wish I had a video. I would have taken mine to the police.

Michael

It is so easy to get po'd at these people. Take the high road.

Easy for me to say huh? I go off on somebody for being stupid probably every few months.

How much was that camera?

I didn't detect any confrontation on your part. Your tone of voice was questioning and not accusatory.

That's one reason I guess I've started road bike riding in Japan. I don't think any Japanese person would ever no anything other than bow an apology.

I don't think I've ever been buzzed on purpose. What they will do though is pull up to a light and as they're pulling up they'll ease that car over as far as they can to the curb.

Yeah, it's a little rude but it isn't threatening.

Show the cops your video. Something tells me they'll use that car as a threat next time.

John

See:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ht=flip+velcro

I am tempted to call the police about this since they showed no sign of backing down after my first and second confrontation. The problem is what do I tell the police? Is blowing the horn at someone for no reason an offense? How about the abuse the boyfriend shouted at me, can I say that was assault since I wasn't sure what he was saying?

in my small town I am likely to cross paths with them again. Thanks to my camera I do have the license plate number down.

Thanks. I keep planning to buy one but when I get to the LBS all the shiney bike stuff makes me buy other stuff. Tom has a cool one too, but I think his is that Oregon Optics company. I am going to buy one, thanks again for the info.

Yikes that lady was a loser all i gotta say.

Prolly report it. The police might file it. They might tell you they'll file it and then make fun of you when you leave.

I think that since the guy stopped and got out of the car it's worth taking note of. That's pretty aggressive behaviour.

What did he say? I can't make it out in the video.

I've been told, rather angrily, that it's only assault if they kill you. Err, actually I think we came to the conclusion that they have to have a weapon in hand. I think it's harassment. It's definitely road rage.

looking back that is quite aggressive. Do I still dial 911 even though it's not an emergency?

No, 911 is for emergencies only.

Ok , so what do I do? Can I send them a letter with a link to the video?

call the non emergency police number and tell them what happened.

You have it on the internet, email it to the local PD. I would probably let this one go, but he did get out of his car and yell obsenities at you. If you find out who he is you could harass him further, but why. Both of them have already proved they are stupid.

+1 When you argue with stupid people they'll just beat you down with their expirence.

i would call the non emergency number and tell your story, ask if they'd like to see the video or if they just want the license plate number to keep on record as an aggressive driver. Ohio has a 1 800 number to report aggressive drivers, so you could google if illinois has one of those.

I went ahead and e-mailed them from the website here:

http://www.ci.peoria.il.us/policedepartment

I have used that website before to ask questions about my property tax bill and election information. I was always surprised to get a response pretty fast. I'll keep the group posted if I get a reply from them or not.

Depends on your state laws. In California it would be a violation of CVC 27001 which only allows use of the horn when necessary for safe operation of the vehicle. Not that the police are likely to ever enforce this unless they're the ones being honked at.

lol love your response. Sounds like something i'd say but in more of a smart a** manner. Stupid people are fun. You may have been a little shaken by the incident, but I promise you dude that got out of the car is super relieved you didn't stop. I'm sure his trailer trash of an old lady would have dumped him right there if he didn't get out and protect her "honor" lol

What an angry couple, :(

Their dog looked like it was saying "please get me away from these guys!" (In a Brianesque/familyguy sort of way).

It's a pity you could not find where they live, post a letter with a link to the youtube vid and a copy of the law, to see you were in the right.

If they watched it and had any sense they would be deeply ashamed at their thuggish behaviour.

What was the guy saying at the end? I can't decipher it- it's like listening to EVP.

:lol: pity he's not on the "otherside"

I was imagining responding with "I hadn't noticed" or something like that, but in reality, they'd have driven a mile away before I'd have come up with any response at all.