Pinyon

I'm originally from Charlotte, and had friends that went to Clemson University that I used to visit. Stuff like this is pretty rare in that area now, but not unheard of. Based on previous run-ins with people like that in that area:

1. Get camera phone pictures if you can. The police won't press charges unless you have to go to the hospital and there are witnesses too, but you can use it to sue them. People do win similar monetary cases there.
2. Don't be aggressive back. Don't even flip them off. Someone mean and unstable enough to mess with someone like that is liable to do anything. They are in a 2-ton weapon, and are pretty likely to have a gun or knife as well.
3. UNLESS they turn around multiple times, and keep coming at you. My advice then is a combination of a camera phone, getting off the road, and calling the cops right there and then. If they get out of the car, don't mess around. Pick up something big to throw, or use the bike like a club to clobber them.

billyymc

It's amazing how many tough guys there are on the internet.

teachme

If you ever see his vehicle parked at walmart or something. Drain his tires of all their air. This way you didn't really cause any damage to his vehicle. Leave a note under his windshield wiper stateing that this was a payback for throwing a beer can.

sggoodri

You were assaulted. If he hadn't missed you, that would have been assault and battery.

Report it to the police now. They may not be able to do anything about it without a plate and a positive ID on the thrower. But at least where I live, the police will take assaults like this very seriously.

Gharp23

https://www.redhotpepperspray.com/fox...per-spray.html
the hottest and best you can possibly get. feel sorry for anything on the receiving end of this stuff. there are a few humorous youtube videos of people spraying each other with it.

it's nice to have in your bike bag just in case **** gets ugly. Better to have it and not use it than not have it and need it one day. I almost had to use it on a vicious pitbull chasing me yesterday. close call.


also, a tiny, cheap and good quality camera. records a little over an hour of video on a charge, holds micro sd memory cards. https://www.themicrocamera.com/

back up usb battery charger for longer rides. great for camera, lights, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Duracell-Insta...7117564&sr=8-1

be safe.

AltheCyclist

Light beer, bleah ... probably wouldn't hurt as much if were hit, though.

On serious note, if you had a phone on you, I would've called the cops. They probably would pulled him over and got him for drunk driving and you wouldn't have to do anything else.
After the fact, just let it go. This will (unfortunately) happen again (I've had similar happen at least a few times) and you can't fix the world.

ItsJustMe

Plate number, ideally video evidence, submit to cops. That's assault, possibly felony in some states (CA makes it felony assault to throw items intentionally at people from moving vehicles, for instance - maybe other states too).

ItsJustMe

I wouldn't do that, but if you do, I'd add that I ride with a video camera, what he did is misdemeanor/felony assault (whichever it is in your state) and you COULD have had him brought up on charges, and will next time. Should give him something to think about. But the problem is that you're making the bet that he knows what "thinking" is. Not everyone does.

bemoore

I recommend this. I graduated from Clemson in '83, and at that time, the Pickens County Sheriff dept was pretty heavy handed. I'd let them take care of it, and NOT try to take matters into your own hands. YOU would likely be the one who winds up behind bars. Get photos, plate number, and report it. Another reason to let them deal with it, and I hate to say it, is if the driver was a football player. I still pull for Clemson on game day, but I can't deny that the football players, especially if they're starters, get away with just about anything short of murder. An escalation of hostilities, resulting in an injury to a football player, would almost certainly result in jail time... for you.

filDim

I still don't have one but I'm considering getting one of those GoPro HD Helmet HERO camera and record my commute. It would be much better to provide visual evidence of the attacks. Plus the camera would be a better deterrent than a chain and lock

Elkhound

I agree; report all the information you have to the local police/sherriff. Keep copies of your letter, and if they don't follow up send them to the local media.

2wheelcommute

He's already shown that he's a sociopath. Yell at him and wave your chain all you want--it may make you feel better, but how do you know it won't just provoke him into "accidentally" running you (or another cyclist) over the next time he sees you?

Call the cops and insist they take a report for assault. They won't press charges, but like other says, it will establish a record. Watch for him again, get his plates, and give this info to the police. Be on the lookout for him doing anything shady in the future. If he does this sort of thing again, it may be a good idea to get a helmet cam so you can catch him in the act.

mconlonx

I was on a country road on my way home from work and got smacked in the back a couple times by yahoos with their arms out the windows of a car. Lots of hooting and hollering as they went by, didn't stop. Foolishly, they were in a car with an easily remembered vanity plate, so I pulled off the side of the road, called the cops, and reported an assault. Was met on the road a short while later by a squad car and filled out a police report on the spot.

Cops tracked them down, showed up at their house, got their side of the story. Hard to prove assault, but they were ticketed with $100 Passing Within 3' of a Cyclist citation. In retrospect, I wish I'd pushed for hit and run.

Get a plate number. Call the cops. File a report.

exile

Call the cops and give them the best description that you can of the vehicle and a description of what happened. Since it sounds like a unique vehicle it should be easy to recognize again, or known in the area. If you see it again get the tag number and call the police with the tag number and direction it was headed.

What a cop chooses to do is really hard to gauge. I've had police (after 2 calls and waiting an hour) show up and basically say "nothing much will be done" . The second time something happened (with a different driver) the police showed up in about 20 minutes and I told them to "let the driver know I don't appreciate things being thrown at me" or to give me their address and i'll do it (both times I had the License #).

I've heard of cops actually going and talking to the driver and of cops doing absolutely nothing. But if you don't report it, what do you expect to happen?

<Also document for yourself What happened, What number you called, The time and date of incident, The badge number of the officer who responds and what time they responded.> It lets the cop know you are taking the incident seriously and so should they.

gear

He is inside a two ton truck and you think you will intimidate him on your bike waving a chain? Sorry but all your doing is making a target out of yourself.

CB HI

I agree with reporting the assault to the police. Also practice reading and remembering license plate #s long enough to write them down.

Your are correct that these people are cowardly bullies. They pick on people that they feel cannot hurt them. Most of them will run away when confronted.

Most regular cycle commuters are in much better physical condition than these bullies and because of cycling, our legs are incredibly strong. If a bully gets physical with you, a hard kick will normally end the confrontation with the bully running away. Just be careful of gang areas with kids carrying guns.

El Duderino X

Y'know, I too have been thinking of this as, I'm sure, have many other commuters. The GoPro looks good as does the Contour HD. https://contour.com/
I recently ordered a lipstick cam for my Archos PMP that I'll try out for documenting my commute. Could come in handy for the rare act of rabid driver hostility.

KD5NRH

This. When we were having problems with mailbox vandals, maybe 1 in 3 cops would treat it as an inconvenience. Others would gather every bit of evidence they could, then stake out somewhere nearby the next night. It helped that the JP lived in another part of the county with the same problem and was notorious for making vandals pay for the mailboxes, install the replacements themselves and then spend 1-6 weeks cleaning up roads.

slcbob

At this point, he's a scumbag but to him you're probably just a nameless, faceless piece of street detritus. If you want to make it personal, be prepared for it to get very personal.

Your options at either extreme are:
a) get over it and melt back into inconspicuity, counting on some combo of the probabilities of chance and the old "run faster than you, not the bear" thing to minimize the risk to you
b) terminate him with stealth, vigor, and extreme prejudice for your own enjoyment and the betterment of society

Honestly, b is silly. At least at this point. Revisit if this becomes a pattern.

All the stuff in the middle about "I've got a chain" presumes that your manly deed is going to intimidate him. If you bring your weak game, my money is on him counter-attacking you (nothing personal, exaggerated for effect ). I encourage you to write out your plan and leave it in a sealed envelope with a loved one to be opened in the event of your non-return, ideally with a shred of physical evidence just as the lite beer can you scrounge out of the bushes with his fingerprints on it. At least that way there's a chance of your murderer being convicted.

+1 on this particular incident going nowhere on its own, with no plate, no blood, and no physical description of the alleged perp. You are being a good citizen if you follow the advice of others to report the incident to help develop a record. You're also dancing along the skyline which is a good, bold, brave, correct, right, important, and not completely risk free thing to do.

ebr898

Here is the crazy thing, You know what the Suburban looks like, but do you know who was driving? If you know the owner was driving, was he the one throwing the cheap beer? Now if the owner has teenagers or young adults driving the Suburban (sounds like a possablity due to the behavior) the owner may want to know about the behavior, then again they may not care (that is why thier young adult acts the way they do). The owner of the vehical may have had an inmature friend or realitive with them, and were shocked and upset by thier passengers behavior ( reminds me of this public service announcment from Chris Rock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gCCjFbFXn8 ) .
Either way reporting it to the police makes the most sense.

JeffSG

Not good advice...If the guy has only thrown one beer can he knows who you are and comes looking for you. Commuters are easy to find as we typically ride the same roads at the same time every day.

If you see the truck again, get the license plate and report to police.

Ride safe,

Jeff

rex_kramer

Don't retaliate unless you plan on changing your route forever. Yeah, you might actually get payback on this person, but they'll definitely be looking for you again. And the next time, you might be confronted with more than you can handle...a gun perhaps or two tons of steel mowing you down from behind. I know it's hard to let this stuff go, but try. Evil people like this eventually get theirs.

As far as prevention, ride with video running (https://tachyoninc.com/) and make sure you have your cell phone in a place where you can get to it easily.

KD5NRH

Not likely; the original confrontation is over. Threatening him at this point would be aggravated assault, and in most states deadly force in self defense against your attempt to renew the confrontation would be justified.

Grim

Its the system. When you have been injured that's evidence. Its your word against their word and the lazyness of the officer if you are not bleeding.

As an example of how lazy police are on some crimes: I am in the wireless telecommunications field. We have MASSIVE problems with copper theft. When the cops show up you can tell they are just over it and dont care and it almost never gets followed up. The issue here is every time one of these pricks strips the copper lightning protection off the site it is a minimum of $2k, making it a felony and that cost gets ultimately back to the user and tax payer when the company cant lower rates or take a tax deduction on it because it is a loss. It is also "Critical Infrastructure" where there are MASSIVE federal fines and penalties for messing with telecommunication anything. The company can be fined up to 30 million dollars if they take out the E911 system but we cant get the cops to solve the thefts and prosecute those that that caused it. The police just don't take it seriously.

dynodonn 

After I personally set a motorist off into an extremely vocal rage just by the act of writing down their vehicle license number, I wouldn't advise exhibiting a chain in one's hand to deter a motorist/passenger from throwing an object at someone, much less in using it.

I now use a couple of high quality videocams to help gather info on motorists that I consider a real danger to my safety, and even though the video cameras are somewhat expensive, and take a little more time in downloading info, I find that it's still cheaper and less time consuming than having to defend oneself in court.