Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Commuting
Reload this Page >

Hitting cars...

Search
Notices
Commuting Bicycle commuting is easier than you think, before you know it, you'll be hooked. Learn the tips, hints, equipment, safety requirements for safely riding your bike to work.

Hitting cars...

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 10-25-10 | 09:34 PM
  #1  
Titmawz's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 637
Likes: 0
From: Miami, FL

Bikes: Raleigh Record Ace, Windsor The Hour

Hitting cars...

Have you ever got up to a moving car that has cut you off ??? I have tapped cars but next time they are gonna get Ulocked or hit with my 15mm. Had any close calls yourself ?
Titmawz is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 09:42 PM
  #2  
Newbie
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 58
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Titmawz
Have you ever got up to a moving car that has cut you off ??? I have tapped cars but next time they are gonna get Ulocked or hit with my 15mm. Had any close calls yourself ?
lol, famous last words
Bain19 is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 09:44 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 196
Likes: 0
From: Edmonton
Originally Posted by Titmawz
hit with my 15mm
That's how you get hit with a 9mm.
boro is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 09:47 PM
  #4  
Titmawz's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 637
Likes: 0
From: Miami, FL

Bikes: Raleigh Record Ace, Windsor The Hour

Originally Posted by boro
That's how you get hit with a 9mm.
LOL... yeha for real, the thing is that when I hit the car with my hand the lady did not even notice. So I doubt they would notice.... Guns are ubiquitous in Miami.
Titmawz is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 09:48 PM
  #5  
Titmawz's Avatar
Thread Starter
Senior Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 637
Likes: 0
From: Miami, FL

Bikes: Raleigh Record Ace, Windsor The Hour

But for real I have gotten really aggravated from time to time.... It seems as if it is OK for them to hit you but their cars are sacred.
Titmawz is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 10:40 PM
  #6  
CptjohnC's Avatar
Old, but not really wise
 
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 814
Likes: 0
From: Fairfax, VA commuting to Washington DC

Bikes: 2010 Kona Dew Drop (the daily driver),'07 Specialized Roubaix (the sports car), '99 ish Kona NuNu MTB (the SUV), Schwinn High Plains (circa 1992?) (the beater)

I do the open palm smack on the body or window sometimes -- They hear it. This is usually when they right hook me or pull out and cut me off when I have absolutely clear right of way. Of course, it is hard for them to argue with their having violated my ROW if I am close enough to smack, too.

I only do it when there are lots of people around. I don't worry too much about guns that way, though I know it is a risk.

Eventually I'll invest in an Airzound...
CptjohnC is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 10:47 PM
  #7  
CliftonGK1's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,373
Likes: 8
From: Columbus, OH

Bikes: '08 Surly Cross-Check, 2011 Redline Conquest Pro, 2012 Spesh FSR Comp EVO, 2015 Trek Domane 6.2 disc

I've been known to swing around the wrong side of a vehicle and leave a sweaty handprint on the driver's window of vehicles that block the bike lane in a stuck line of traffic.
__________________
"I feel like my world was classier before I found cyclocross."
- Mandi M.
CliftonGK1 is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 10:57 PM
  #8  
JayButros's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 212
Likes: 1
From: Richmond VA

Bikes: 1983 Mirage

I've hit a car in anger before, a month later a messenger spit on mine when I cut him off.

Accident on the cut-off, karma on the spit.

I did feel bad when I hit that persons car though. I can usually let it slide.
JayButros is offline  
Reply
Old 10-25-10 | 11:56 PM
  #9  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,037
Likes: 12
From: Eugene, Oregon
I've never hit a car after a close call. If I hit one every time I played dodge-car my lock would be all bent up and useless by now. I did once take off a pick-up truck's passenger-side mirror when I was walking. He ran a stop sign while making a right turn; the road had no sidewalk and the mirror was going to hit me in the face if I didn't either hit the ditch, duck or remove it. The driver was a bit pissed, but after he delivered a few choice words he decided that it was a bad idea to get physical with the person who had just punched his mirror and caused it to blow all four rivets.
B. Carfree is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 12:02 AM
  #10  
zeppinger's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,016
Likes: 4
From: Chicago, IL

Bikes: Giant FCR3, Surly LHT

Ive done it. Works really well when the car is stuck in traffic.
zeppinger is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 12:30 AM
  #11  
bragi's Avatar
bragi
 
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,911
Likes: 3
From: seattle, WA

Bikes: LHT

Originally Posted by Titmawz
Have you ever got up to a moving car that has cut you off ??? I have tapped cars but next time they are gonna get Ulocked or hit with my 15mm. Had any close calls yourself ?
I don't think it's a good idea to tap cars. Even if you're in the right, it makes you look like a fanatic, and won't help the cyclists that the driver will encounter in the future. Unless I actually have a collision, I just let things go now. Last week, I got right hooked, and I just got up, went to the driver's window, and, even though I was angry, just politely asked the driver to be more careful next time.
bragi is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 01:44 AM
  #12  
Bubba Zanetti's Avatar
Peace & Grease
 
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 170
Likes: 0
From: Just above sea level
Originally Posted by bragi
I don't think it's a good idea to tap cars. Even if you're in the right, it makes you look like a fanatic, and won't help the cyclists that the driver will encounter in the future. Unless I actually have a collision, I just let things go now. Last week, I got right hooked, and I just got up, went to the driver's window, and, even though I was angry, just politely asked the driver to be more careful next time.
+1
I suggest the op just let it go
Bubba Zanetti is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 02:20 AM
  #13  
009jim's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,289
Likes: 3
From: Australia

Bikes: Giant CRX3, Trek 7100

I think you will do better to let it go and it will be forgotten in a short time. But, if you escalate the incident it will most likely leave you seething with aggression for days, even weeks. Very stressful. Certainly if you must retaliate, it must be covertly done, otherwise you will find yourself with a claim from an insurance company.
009jim is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 02:21 AM
  #14  
Timber_8's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,090
Likes: 6
From: South East Massachusetts
you have to separate the car from the person. People make mistakes, I don't really think anyone is out to get you on purpose things just happen. It can be you wife, daughter, girlfriend or other behind the wheel.
Timber_8 is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 02:40 AM
  #15  
hermann's Avatar
Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
From: Thessaloniki, Greece
can someone explain to me the term "right hooked" ?
hermann is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 02:56 AM
  #16  
jwbnyc's Avatar
Señor Wences
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,035
Likes: 2
Right-hooked=Car making a right turn across your line of travel without warning. Very dangerous. Best way to avoid disaster is to shadow the car around the turn if you can. If you are too far forward along side the car you get dumped/runover. Or maybe if you are lucky you end up on the hood. Nasty.
jwbnyc is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 03:11 AM
  #17  
hermann's Avatar
Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
From: Thessaloniki, Greece
Thanks... You guys should come to Greece.
We cyclists are like jugglers here, trying to avoid cars all the time.
Only half of us return home after every CMR, LOL.
hermann is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 05:47 AM
  #18  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by jwbnyc
Right-hooked=Car making a right turn across your line of travel without warning. Very dangerous. Best way to avoid disaster is to shadow the car around the turn if you can. If you are too far forward along side the car you get dumped/runover. Or maybe if you are lucky you end up on the hood. Nasty.
Corollary: Don't ride to the right of cars that may turn right (or that may pull into a parking space, or that may weave around a stopped car ahead, etc.).
afwen is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 05:57 AM
  #19  
chandltp's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,771
Likes: 0
From: Erie, PA

Bikes: Bacchetta Giro 20, Trek 7000, old Huffy MTB, and a few others

Originally Posted by Titmawz
Have you ever got up to a moving car that has cut you off ??? I have tapped cars but next time they are gonna get Ulocked or hit with my 15mm. Had any close calls yourself ?
Never done it, never will. Mistakes happen. Most people aren't intentionally out to be jerks. If someone decided to hit my wife's car with a U-Lock or other device, I'd probably call the police and file charges.

Yea, I get close calls quite often. Sometimes I yell or hit my AirZound.. most times I keep riding. It's not worth the stress. I ride my bike to relieve stress, not cause it.
chandltp is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 06:20 AM
  #20  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 173
Likes: 0
oh good luck dude!
ArthurIhde is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 07:02 AM
  #21  
colleen c's Avatar
I am a caffine girl
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,815
Likes: 1
From: Bay Area

Bikes: 2012 Stumpjumper FSR Comp...2010 Scott CR1 CF...2007 Novara FS Float2.0...2009 Specialized Hardrock Disc...2009 Schwinn Le Tour GSr

I had the urge once or twice...no wait, make it countless times, but I figure if I keep hitting cars, then they will keep hitting me
colleen c is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 07:34 AM
  #22  
dcrowell's Avatar
Fat Guy Rolling
 
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,434
Likes: 1
From: Louisville Kentucky

Bikes: Bacchetta Agio, 80s Raleigh Record single-speed, Surly Big Dummy

I've only done it once, and it was for self-preservation, not anger.

I was a pedestrian, and a woman was turning right on red without looking forward first. She was beginning to drive right at me, I was in the crosswalk. I slapped the hood, and she stopped, looking frightened.

If someone makes you angry, just let it go. You'll feel better later, and possibly avoid getting seriously hurt.
dcrowell is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 07:38 AM
  #23  
Senior Member
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,302
Likes: 117
sure but very rarely I"ve tapped or smacked a car that was obviously cutting me off. Maybe one smack in 5yrs and a tap a few times a year. Using a wrench or lock is stupid.

The ones that get me is the person doing a left hand turn from the left lane in the other side of a fourlane two way road right in front of me as though I don't exist. That's when I started riding with a BRIGHT white strobe during the day in busy streets. The other one is going down a slight hill where the intersecting street at the light gets backed up bumper to bumper and i"m going straight. The guy in the opposite lane decides he has to turn when there isn't any room to go into the lane and he simply blocks the intersection. I'll give them a gentle pat so that the driver and others notice how close too close is.

The only time I did a hard smack was when an elderly person was shy about passing me even though I waved them through and I was riding a very straight line near the gutter. Behind them was an impatient person honking at them (I head the honking long before the elderly driver got near me). As the elderly driver SLOWLY passes me riding over the yellow line giving me way too much room(4'-5') the car behind was tailgating them and not giving me any room, or about 12". I'm riding about 17mph in a 25mph zone and the elderly couple car was passing me about 20mph and continued at that speed. It was obvious this ******* had been riding the old folks for blocks and as he passed me I hit his car nice and hard.

Bragi suggestion is a lot more mature and effective.

Last edited by LeeG; 10-26-10 at 07:45 AM.
LeeG is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 07:48 AM
  #24  
Randomhead
 
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 25,930
Likes: 4,825
From: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
I don't hit cars in retribution, but if they are passing me close enough to hit, it usually happens. Just be careful when you smack a VW beetle, it hurts when the fenders hit your hand
unterhausen is offline  
Reply
Old 10-26-10 | 07:51 AM
  #25  
pjn0629's Avatar
is The Stig
 
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 185
Likes: 1
From: Long Island

Bikes: 2010 Trek Madone 5.2, 2003 Trek 5500, 2001 trek 8000 disc, 2006 Rocky ETSX-30, 1999 Raleigh R-700

I got right hooked, cars are soft, but the woman driving had no idea I was holding onto the roof rack as she rounded out the turn, it wasnt until her 16 year old son in the passenger seat freaked out that she stopped.
pjn0629 is offline  
Reply


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.