You've probably met him. You'll be belting along or down a road when he races past you in an overtake move surely snagged from professional motor-racing it's so tight. Moments later, turn signal on and he's turning right, right in front of you (UK readers - he's turning left), forcing you, if you're paying attention*, to slow down for him. Seeing as he was going to have to brake anyway, all he needed to do was tap the brakes a few seconds earlier, and (gasp and shock) WAIT a few seconds for you to get past the road or entrance he had to slow down to turn into, instead of rushing around you and being a hero.

**** you, impatient idiot.


*extra pus-filled flea-bitten love for those ****ers who don't bother with the turn signal. So you've got this guy who comes roaring past, you figure with that kind of effort he's surely going to be going some distance down the road, no threat, and OH HELLO suddenly he's just thrown on full anchors and you have to brake and swerve around him not even sure why he's stopped.

Someone did that to me the other night and I hit them going 15mph. I have to go get my wheel retrued today because of it.

It's worse when they turn before they get completely by you...

Given that my evasive maneuvers aren't too extreme, I've taken to slapping rear quarter panels and slapping them pretty hard too.

It really pissed one guy in a mini-van off but for the most part it ends up scaring the hell out of people who have no idea they're giving me so little room and suddenly think they've hit me.

My favorite is when you're rolling up to a red stoplight, and this guy (who was behind you at the last one) just HAS to get ahead of you to sit in a line behind the other stopped cars. A whole three seconds that could have been spent behind bike guy, as opposed to idling in traffic. grrr...

I did that to the rear passenger window of a hatchback. My heavy watch accidentally struck the window too. The sound was incredible. Must have been loud inside the car. I rode on a hundred metres or so and looked back. The guy was still there, partway into the bike lane wondering what just happened. I actually felt as though I'd over reacted for a moment.

Let's be fair, now. Drivers like the ones you described are so oblivious to their surroundings that they'd do this to another car if they could. In fact, I've seen it.

I think we suffer from excessive entitlement syndrome here in the USA, an attitude that says, "It's my right drive how I want to, as long as it's legal. I don't care about the impact on other drivers, bikers, the environment, or anything else."

I've stopped being bother by this. I usually ride on the less-traffic roads, so the car lines up aren't too bad at the lights. If the car races past me to get in front at a red light, i assume she/he is doing it 'cause then she/he won't have to pass me later when we get going again. there usually isn't a car behind me then.

at least when you're approaching the red, things move slower. it's better they pass you THEN then when they pass you when you're out-of-saddle trying to accelerate through the intersection (or pass you just after, which is more common).

Used to engage, but stopped when a motorist and his tire iron stopped to have a conversation. Unless they seriously nearly kill me, I NEVER touch their precious cars. When a moron who has not taken the time to have someone read the vehicle code to him suggests I "Use the sidewalk, Buddy" I used to explain (if we were stopped) that in California, bicycles are defined as vehicles with all the rights and responsibilities that acrue, and that it makes just as much sense for him to drive on the sidewalk. And I am not, nor will I ever be, his "Buddy".

Now, I just smile and feign incomprehension. That really seems to grind their gears. Invariably, these encounters involve male drivers. Once stopped at a light, on the line between a right-turn-only and the through lane, so as not to impede turners. A guy in a battered red pickup in the right turn lane, face flushed in rage, shouted in my ear, "get off the f*****g road!" The baffling smile he got in reply created a priceless reaction. I wonder what kind of day he'd been having?

Females are distracted and dangerous as often as males, but the confrontations are male only, in my experience.

I was approaching an intersection with a stop sign when an idiot did his damnedest to beat me to the intersection. The moron wound up stopped at the intersection on my left IN THE ONCOMING LANE.

I was a motorist before I became a cyclist, and discovered something... so I set out to test it.

I was discussing this very subject with a friend (in a car on the way to college, back in the day). Knowing the point I wanted to prove to him, I secretly counted all the motorcycles and bicycles we encountered during a half hour city trip. When we arrived at campus, I asked him, "how many motorbikes and cyclists did you see on the way here?" He looked at me sincerely puzzled and said, "none." I counted nearly thirty, about half of which he had over-taken!

I remember my friend often when I cycle on roads... I always assume that every car out in the street DOESN'T see me...

... and another 2 things I observed:
1) on the odd occasion that motorists do see cyclists, they are often regarded as a nuisance.
2) drivers who are considerate and courteous to cyclists, are usually cyclists as well.


.

Classic right hook maneuver. Its best done by a driver who speeds up to pass you before slamming on his brakes to make the turn and cut you off. Defiantly saved himself a quarter of a second over slowing and waiting till you get beyond the street he was turning onto, probably rushing home to park his butt on a barkolounger.

I've come to the conclusion motorist view bicyclists that they pass as not in motion.

Weird, weird, weird. Except it was a jeep, the EXACT same thing happened to me, same words too!!! I replied by wishing him a good day though and smiling, though.

However, I'd be lying if I said it didn't upset me. The guy was just so filled of venom, you had to wonder, why? His life must have been really bad to have been that frustrated.

he's driving a vehicle from a company that's going to be out of business in 2009?

:-)

p.s. i make the assumption that ALL drivers are going to right hook me, pull out in front of me, or otherwise try to kill me - they are ALL the enemy and i watch out for and avoid them whenever possible

a right hook deserves a smack on the sheet metal. It does make a resounding boom inside the car. In general, I prefer to use my open palm, no chance of damage to car or hand. I have always figured out someone was going to right hook me in time to make the turn with them. I guess some day my luck will run out.

I had some guy race me to a stoplight down a hill in a 15 mph zone. I just rode further and further out into the lane. He must have been going about 40 by the time he realized he wasn't going to pass, I'm sure we were riding at least 25. There is almost zero chance of hitting this particular light on the green cycle. I don't let cars pass me at that light or on the next stretch of road because there is no chance of catching the next light on the green cycle either, and the road is covered in potholes. I ride it at the same speed they would drive anyway.

In general, I let cars pass me on the way to a stop sign or red light. It is better to have them in front of me in almost every situation. I try not to think about the fact that they are saving themselves zero time.

I was thinking of getting a jacket that says " I am someone's Dad,Brother, and Son. Please kill someone else with your reckless driving."

Ever since what happened to the local hospital's CEO, I'm a firm believer in karma.

I can relate - once,when my dad was driving, we passed a pedestrian on our way to a destination, and on the way back an hour later I saw the same person walking on the shoulder about four miles up the road. Keep in mind the shoulder is only about a foot wide, and there's only one lane in each direction. Anyways, I commented, and my dad went, "what pedestrian?".

It's a nice message, but there is no way all that text will fit on a jacket in any reasonable size.
Needs to be short and simple and big text for the motorist to see it ore even have the attention span to register it.