ummmm...alexi? i'd edit that last post, the FGG one. waaaay too many specifics in that one.

I got knocked over by a cab driver on Drexel's campus while coming to a stop (right on 33rd and Market where there is a marked bike lane) in the beginning of January. I got up, kicked my bike to the side, and slammed my hands on his hood yelling "YOU F***ING HIT ME!" trying to create the biggest scene I could. He made an illegal right hand turn on red and sped off. I was so pissed off at the time, that I didn't get the number or even the cab company......neither did any of the people watching. Go figure.

buy a small airhorn, ride by and blow it in his face, no harm done and it's quite relieving

not to pick you apart... but...

Seeing the things you just stated in that which I quoted.. does NOT show proof that the car is the factor causing people to behave this way. I'm not sure where you or others look to find truths.. but people have acted this way in grocery stores.. in libraries, and countless other enviornments. The car has little to do with it.

The human mentality towards others has been this way for longer than ANY of us have been alive. You already know this, but these days we are trying too hard to find the blame that things such as the car, guns, money and other material items are victims to OUR already natural habits. It's called.. drum roll please... The EGO! :O yes folks.. the ego. YES, cars do provoke us into unleashing this beast called the ego, because they are sort of.. in a strange way, tanks. We usually feel bigger and more in control of others, so no they don't help. But they are in no way the cause of humans acting hateful. I've been in the store getting a jug of milk and bread before.. when a lady basically shoved her way in front of me before I could get to the cashier. I said in a joking way "haha, I've just got two items.. mind if I go first?" All I got was a sneer and the good ol fashion "are you ****ing stupid" look. She ofcourse had an entire cart full of things.

Anyways. I wasn't trying to bust your chops.. just saw an opportunity to rant about something I find important.

sure, but how many of those people at the store or the library drove there and got pissed off on their way over? i can't deny it's an ego matter and some people will be *******s, no matter what. but i think being caged up like that exacerbates things.

i think it's commendable that he kicked off the mirror. people flip one another off all the time, so what? it shouldn't ever go farther than verbal. the driver chose to escalate the situation by chucking a bottle of water at the cyclist. i'm sure he's going to regret being such an unreasonable prick when he's signing that check for hundreds of dollars.

now before you hippies get on my case , the cyclist chose to escalate the situation by kicking the mirror off - if that driver got out of his car and the cyclist got his ass handed to him, then i wouldn't have any sympathy for him at all.

the underlying point is: don't start s__t you aren't prepared to finish.

perhaps if more drivers felt the consequences of pissing a cyclist off would be more severe than the cyclist doing breathing exercises then they would think twice before acting the fool.

Someone said that Austin is bike-friendly?

That hasn't been my experience at all. Along the north side of the river / downtown and around the UT campus is excellent, but if you dare to venture out of the paths and onto the streets anywhere else, you're fodder for abuse in my experience. I've had more people shout and throw things at me in one day of cycling around Austin than I typically get in two or three years of daily cycling in Colorado.

Gutter-bunnies and sidewalk cyclists are legion in Austin. A couple of months ago, I was walking along the sidewalk and a whole herd of OCP mountain bikers came thundering by on the narrow sidewalk on their way to a nearby trail. It was a Sunday and there wasn't even much traffic on the adjoining street!

Pluses about Austin: The trail system is excellent. If you stick to downtown and the campus area then street riding is just fine. There are a zillion buses constantly running so it's easy to draft behind one or hitch a ride. There's a large community of fixed riders. There are good bike shops all around Austin. There is no winter so you can easily ride year round.

Who knows man, really? Me? nah, being in my car lightens my mood, but then I love driving my car. Not only that, but I tend to be a light hearted person to begin with in most circumstances.. which, leads me to believe even more, that cars have little to do with how people CHOOSE to react and act on events.

I can see however, if an individual has an anger problem, that being in a metal coffin would increase said problem, due to the fact that there arises that "control problem". So, yes, I don't think cars are on the helping matters side. But I really don't think they cause it.

I'm a FIRM believer in not blaming my actions on ANY outside factor. I believe that we, everyone of us willing make our choices to be negative or positive. That's putting it rather simply, but I don't discard that other factors can come into play, but ultimately, if a driver chooses to run you over... it's not because they've had to drive a vehicle all day.. it's because they ALREADY have issues. So, if you're in the grocery store.. that same person could flip out on you because you went for ben and jerry's instead of sealtest.

I think Im wording all that right.. but eh..

:)

yeah, sure, a nice person won't become a monster because of a car. but those who can't handle it or are already not so nice will have those problems exacerbated by... you know...being cooped up in a metal box, stuck in traffic...all that sort of thing.

"can't handle it" pretty much lets me see exactly where you're coming from.. and I agree.

The other day I was swerved at by some dude in a pickup. I don't think he was actually trying to hit me, just spook me a little (he'd been stuck in traffic and construction behind me while I commanded the whole of my lane, the bike lane being closed off), so I gave him the double-middle-finger salute and figured that was that. Until I saw his brake lights come on. He pulled into the bike lane ahead of me and stopped. I stopped as well and pulled onto the sidewalk. We waited there for a while, until I decided he just needed another opportunity to swerve at me, so I started up again. He gunned his motor, turned right inches in front of me and sped away, but not before shooting me one of those tough-guy Clint Eastwood looks we all know so well.

Maybe the biggest problem in car-vs-bike altercations is the disproportionate response to actions on wither side. I considered (and still do) the middle finger to be a perfectly appropriate response to a swerve, but the implicit threat in stopping and waiting (will he get out? does he have a weapon? should I reach for my lock yet?) coupled with yet another swerve seem out of all proportion. When he cut in front of me, he came so close that, were I less skilled (okay, even less skilled) than I am, I could easily have fallen, maybe even under his back tire. I don't think I'm out of line in interpreting this as a threat on my life. Finger =/= threat of violence.

In this case and millions of others, I would say that the car itself plays a big part. I'm guessing that this guy (I actually recognized him once he drove by; I haven't seen him for years, but we used to drink together very occasionally) doesn't go around making random threats at people he passes in the street when he's on foot. But while safely inside a giant suit of armor, herded into a line of other such creatures and subjected to traffic, construction, etc, frustration coupled with an enhanced sense of power conspire to lower the limits of what he feels he's justified doing.

Ah, hell, I'm preaching to the choir, and probably not saying anything new. To summarize: cars aren't the whole problem, but they're well above 75% of it, in my opinion, by virtue of exacerbating the frustration of otherwise average law-abiding Joe (and Jane) Sixpacks, as well as enabling them to lash out with minimal threat to themselves and maximum potential for harm.