Idiots behind the wheels alert!
 

Spring is here along with a lot of idiots behind the wheel that don't respect the rule - Share the ****ing road!. Almost got hit by one today and almost got on fight with another.

BE VERY SAFE!

Cheers.

Yikes. Glad to hear that those things were "almosts" instead of the alternative.

+1 on the stay safe.

do you speed? do you slip through lights just as they turn red? do you talk on your cellphone sans headset while driving?

perhaps you are breaking the rules and upsetting someone else.

What makes this different than any other season?

What are trying to say here? I was riding on the bike lane and he was making a right turn crossing bike lane without looking and almost ran me over. I am obeying the rules while I am on the bike. Do you?

I am not sure about Knoxville, but here people tend to go outside when winter is finally over, plus a lot of people don't drive their cars during the winter. As a result there much more cars on the road.

Seems like business as usual. I "almost" get hit with some degree of regularity.

From the sound it you are not too far from an ahole either.

Its very unusual in this neighbourhood. Never had any encounters before in years.

It was a friendly warning to fellow cyclist to keep their eyes open and be cautious. With your comment you're trying to be personal here.

There's more people doing stuff outside when it is warmer, but I encounter idiot drivers year round.

True. I guess, it was my lucky day ;)

Here watch this video of me getting buzzed at 35 mph less than 12" this was last month sent this to police also plate # can be seen.http://www.jtgraphics.net/video/ContourHD-2-13-2001.MOV

That's pretty bad. Huge SUV going that close! I am going to put my camera up on every ride now. Great idea to keep everything documented.

Was that a bike rack on that SUV's roof?

Local police Detective was glad I had video but even then he said nothing could be done unless I was hit! or threatened I was hopping the next signal was red and I could catch up I was planning on making sure I had video and audio and politely ask a few questions in hope of getting some threatening response. Then something could have been done, I have been riding all my rides lately with my camera running when I can, police said that with video if something were to happen it would be great documented evidence people yelling at you throwing things you know all the stuff we get on the road.
So my plan is next time if I don't get hit I will as I said in my best effort get a threatening response with out provoking it so something can be done all on camera.
All I want to do is ride my bike and make it home in one piece is that to much to ask for?

No bike rack glad to say!

Personally, I don't like the attitude that cyclist should just ignore bad drivers. I don't see anything wrong with calling people out when they are acting in a way capable of killing someone. That doesn't mean get into a fight, but maybe he just yelled at them and they tried to escalate it. The standard argument here seems to be if you do anything then the driver will just be more likely to run someone off the road later. I think it's equally likely that they realize we are on the road and pay a bit more attention. Not everyone is trying to hit us. Most are just ignorant, clueless on daydreaming.

Cyclists also have a responsibility to not be an impedance to other traffic. Stay to the right, hug the line, wave motorists by when you see it's clear for them and give them a wave when they wait to pass. Laws are one thing. Common courtesy is something else. I've been behind plenty of ******* cyclists riding around my neighborhood. It drives me bonkers when they don't have the courtesy to ride single file or at least to the right when traffic is behind the. And yes, I yell at people in my groups to stay single file and move to the right. Hugging the yellow line is frowned upon.

Absolutely. Idiot is an idiot. No matter he is behind the wheel, riding a bicycle or shooting a gun.

I will describe my situation one more time- I am in the bike lane, car is going right across the lane right to me, guy obviously didn't look. I am lucky that I didn't fall. I think, that did nothing wrong and entitled to yell whatever name he deserves. Case closed.

FACT: There are many distractions on the road. Hot chicks and fancy cars trump guys in lycra.
FACT: Bikes aren't a rare sight. They sort of "blend in" with other things on the road that aren't a rare sight.
FACT: Driving is absolutely tedious for most people. That's why they listen to music and even watch TV on their iphones while driving.
FACT: It takes very little skill to get a driver's license and keep it.
FACT: Most people are incompetent.
FACT: Things that SHOULD happen don't always happen. And things that SHOULDN'T happen often do. This is known as reality.

CONCLUSION: It's your life. Don't put it in the hands of incompetent motorists and expect them to do the right thing 100% of the time. If you're in a hairy situation, actively do something about it, even if it means something as Freddish as dismounting and becoming a pedestrian until it's safe again.

You have to get out in the lane, riding so close to the edge in a situation like that is inviting someone to do this. I am not suggesting the driver isn't wrong, but with no shoulder and not room for both car and bicycle you need to be more assertive and take control of the lane. If I am going to ride on that street I will be just slightly to the left of the center of the lane, my reasoning is that there are 3 traffic lanes, force the cars to use the #1 and #2 lanes, some won't like it but they will do it.

Yeah, that was close. Although the bike has a legal right to the lane, I guess, for my own safety I try to stay off busy, narrow streets like that. It's usually not worth the risk to me, and around here I can usually find a safer street to ride on. Cars are much bigger, go faster, are usually driven by people that aren't looking specifically for cyclists or are plain not paying attention. Regardless of what my legal rights are, I don't want to get myself killed to prove a point or "exercise a right".

Are you going to get this angry everytime a motorist does something wrong?

I normally do take the lane in that section but I could here tires coming up and I just knew it was coming if I had moved to the left I may not be here as you can see he had no intention of staying behind me.

And that part of the road is the only part that bottle necks and I will still ride it.

I don't know man... it looked like the SUV was pretty close to the left lane lines to me. I try to stay away from situations like that: busy roads with no room for a bike AND car. And if there isn't room for a cyclist and a car in the lane then I'll take it. But considering how much I hate doing that I would assume just take a small detour or travel at less busy times.

It's not entirely your fault that situation occurred (the driver could have slowed to your speed and passed when safe) but if there was a car in the lane next to the SUV and you were hugging the shoulder allowing cars to pass you it's not that surprising they tried to squeeze past you. Assuming he isn't a cyclist he probably didn't even think twice about it.

And I'm really sorry some of you guys aren't able to separate bad drivers from good drivers but really I'd like to think there are far more good drivers than there are bad drivers. This us vs. them thing is so old.