Got "nudged" by a car today (RANT)
 

I say "nudged" only because I was able to stay upright and ride out of what could've been a pretty bad crash. I was on my lunch time ride and was heading back to work going northbound on Main St. in Hackensack, NJ. I was keeping my distance from the parked cars to avoid being doored, leaving plenty of space for cars to pass me on my left should they feel the need. This one car comes up on me and slowly passes. When her rear passenger side wheel gets to about my front wheel, she starts to veer right. I think she's just trying to show me who's queen of the road. At least she sees me right? Ok, I just move a bit more to the right as I've got plenty of room. But she keeps going and it's then that I realize she's going to parallel park head first into an empty space up ahead.

As she veers more right, she nudges me and hits my bars so now I am riding along leaning on her rear door, trying to avoid getting driven into the parked cars on my right. I'm still wondering why I didn't hit any of the parked cars. (I didnt think to bang on her window, probably because I was trying to stay upright, but the thought came up later.) The empty spot comes up just at the right moment and I'm able to quickly turn into the spot, avoid her front wheel and bumer and quickly cut left in front of her and back into traffic to avoid the parked car ahead of me. I turn back and she's got this look of disgust on her face. Probably disgust that I had the nerve to be riding on the street and place my arm and side on her car! B!tch! And to top it off, I'm at another intersection waiting to turn left alongside this SUV when the light turns yellow. The SUV and I are just about to go when an oncoming SUV, at leat 15-20 feet fro the intersection, decides to gun it at the last minute to beat the red. She realizes she can't do it and stops at the last minute, almost hitting me and letting the SUV go by. I yelled some profanities at her and continued on.

It might not be a big deal for some of you but it was a pretty scary experience. Forgive me for ranting here but no one at work seemed to give a crap. Just asked why the hell I was riding my bike as summer is over. Idiots!

Why didn't you stop to talk with the first lady?

She stopped to park, so she would have been an easy target for calling the cops and giving them the plate number. Did she get appropriately owned?

I wasn't really thinking about stopping to confront her as I was just happy to still be riding and not splattered amongst the parked cars. If there is a next time, I will defintely do something about it.

She didn't see you - you need to slam an open palm on her window to alert her. You got lucky, that could have been very ugly - if she pulled across faster, you'd be sandwich meat.

I really hope she saw him, considering she passed him from behind. Obviously, if she saw him and still did that she's a pretty ***ty person, but for some reason it scares me even more to think that she could drive past so blindly.

Was she the same extreme power walker from the mall?

That is some scary ***** and I'm glad you're ok. I'd have slapped my hand on her window and if that didn't work, I'd have definitely stopped to at least yell at her if not call the cops and tell them she tried to run me over.

open palm? try u-lock next time. j/k. its good everyone came out alright.

I'm pretty sure she saw me. Like I said, I was a good distance from the parked cars and she did pass me from behind.

FUNNY, today I nudged a car - close call # 3455634329385
a car cut me off to make a turn only to practically veer into me, luckily i got away planting my hand on the side of the hood while leaning in and pushing off the car as the driver came to a shocked halt. got my adrenaline going so i didnt stop or even look back.

glad it wasnt worse, sometimes i feel within city riding, its only a matter of time.

I got hit from behind on an empty road in broad daylight about three weeks ago.

talking on her cellphone. what a suprise.
she said "you come out of NOWHERE!"
I replied "I was riding down this street in the same spot in the same lane for 12 blocks. wake up, lady."

glad to hear you're not hurt. bad shake-ups still suck.

Ya, next time (hope there won't be but I'm sure this this incident is just the beginning) I'm slapping my hand on the car no matter what. All I thought of at the time was leaning on the car to stay upright as she nudged me.

that totally happened to me, exactly the same way--a car started to pass me, and then decided to pull into a space, nearly wiping me out and sending me sprawling (with a huge bag) onto the sidewalk. they were all like, "oh, ****, where did YOU come from?" and I just looked at them, thinking, "d**ches." What can you say? You PASSED me! Jeez....

I understand the whole not thinking about it thing - self-preservation kicked in, not aggression. Next time though, call her out on it.

fuk oblivious drivers....good to hear you escaped unscathed

I prob woulda def hit her car with an open hand and if she still cut me off to pull in, I'd prob just run into the passenger side of her car and leaned my side/shoulder up on her car to soften the impact.done this before...I wouldn't say it's a safe maneuver, but hitting the suv, kept me from hurting myself and let the driver know they done fuked up

Since she struck you, just phone her plate number and vehicle description into the local police
dept. on the non-emergency line. Describe what happened to the dispatcher. You might suggest that
she could be impaired, a possible 10-55 dui driver.
When the squad pulls her over to talk to her, that should get the driver's attention.

brilliant advice, lying to the cops is a fantastic idea :rolleyes:

i was reading this thinking, yeah i had the same exact thing happen to me a few months ago but my slapping got their attention and they didn't end up parking, then i remembered i got hit from a similar incident the summer before last, destroyed the wheels and the frame, the woman was such a nasty horrible cheap rich person too, she was driving a lexus but refused to beleive the shop on costs, it was literally right infront of a bike shop and i agreed not to press charges if she just paid for it all right there and the she was nuts about it, looking back i should have just pressed charges but i was pretty shaken and the cops seemed to think it was better not to press charges and just get it straightened out there, probably just less paper work for them, more reason never to trust a cop

Not lying, just mere suggestions that might explain her oblivious driving.

(it's weird talking to you on this forum)

I do not condone or recommend lying to police officers. The driver already hit one person;
suggesting the possibility-use of the word "might"- is not a falsehood.
I've witnessed more that enough death, firsthand, that was caused by drunken drivers to want them off the road.

You can make up all kinds of bull****, but the fact is that you are suggesting that lying to the police is ok if someone cuts you off. No, it isn't. Man up

You got to slap. I almost got hit.hhmmm.4 times today(car, taxi, taxi, bus) and I always tap or slap, cause the drivers aren't looking for you, even if they passed you 20 yards back. Better to make a noise and get their attention than you being run over.

No, I am not some crazy rider, I just had a long commute today and that is what happens.

Even though she looked where you were, she probably didn't see you at all. Drivers zone out when they see a parking spot/potential fare on the side of the road and go into complete tunnel vision.

Trust me, she didn't see you. Driver passes cyclist, driver cuts off cyclist or pulls into cyclist and claims that he/she never saw you. Ask how many people here have been passed by a car that then turned right into them, forcing the cyclist to crash or to turn with the car. I would guess hundreds of BikeForum members have experienced this.

The other explanation that motorists give, though not as frequently, is they didn't think you were going that fast (i.e., they figured you were now well behind them so turning wasn't a problem).

that's real scary. i'm all about the pound on the door or window. also (not to say that this is how you should have reacted split-second), if a car pulls next to me and scoots over, i brake--i get away from them.

however, the scariest part is that you were in Hackensack, NJ. Main street ****ing sucks, it's practically a highway (i grew up in teaneck...).