I'm riding home, it's dark. I hit a right turn red/green forward signal and wait. A driver slides into my lane and keeps going toward the next set of lights, up ahead. This car misses my left handlebar by 2" or so.

I sit there for a second, seeing the car stop a few hundred yards ahead. I'm a bit stunned and decide I should tell this person that they nearly killed me. I ride up to the car, the driver's busy doing her makeup in the rear-view. I knock on the window and say, "Did you know how close you where to hitting me back there?"

I was polite, I've got into these confronations before. Yelling and taking the angry, moral high-ground (whilst momentarily satisfying) acheives little.

She responded, "Did I hit you?"

"No, I'm still alive, you'd know if you hit me." I replied.

"So did I hit you?"

"No, you just need to know that you nearly killed my son's dad and nearly made my wife a widow, that's all."

"So did I hit you?", becoming more obstinate.

Lights went green, "F**K YOU!"

It makes me seriously sad. Did I hit you? If no, then what's your problem?

Angry, moral high-ground sounds great right about now.

for some, the rule "no harm, no foul" could apply.
since alot of people ride bikes here in basel, many
cars are used to cyclists and pass really close. its
happens to me daily.

i think another thing is the more serious you look
on a bicycle, the more likely it is that a car passes
you closely. maybe most people think that the cyclist
who spends alot of time on the road is used cars
passing them.

another possibility is the people are just dicks and
are passing a close as possible to piss you off.

edit: just for the record, this sort of thing pisses me
off too ...i've just gotten used to it and usually don't
care enough to try to reason with a motorist about it.

Another possibility: she knew damned well that she was wrong, and was embarrassed and angry at herself. Surprisingly often, people in this situation will turn their anger on whoever points out their mistake to them, even if the person pointing out the mistake is also the person hurt or endangered by the mistake.

How did you get her away from her cell call?

it would be great to spray paint " BI T CH " or " SL UT" on the back window =)

Let everyone know who's driving.

a-> b
b-> c
------
A->C

Thats the best logic ever.

--Aaron

Yes because I'm sure if someone sped past her and cut her off 2" from her front bumper, causing her to panic and slam on the brakes so she doesn't get in an accident... she'd laugh it off and not care because she wasn't actually hit.

What a piece of trash. Shouldn't be on the road.

People should have to spend 6 months commuting by bike, just as they should have to spend 6 months waiting tables.

If you realized how scary it can be having a car get that close to you (especially when you're just starting out) then you'd be a little nicer to cyclists.

If you realized that you're not the only table in a restaurant, then you'd be a little nicer to your waiter.

When I am involved in situations like this the driver almost justifies their dangerous maneuvers by saying that I don't belong on the road and should get on the sidewalk or bike path. As soon as they say this, ALL hope is lost of having a conversation above a level that an amoeba could understand. Either that or they say 'Sorry! I didn't see you' wven though I'm lit up like a christmas tree, and coverd in reflective film, riding in the middle of the lane when they come up from behind me.

People are just dumb and constantly have moments where they completely lose all form of judgement past 'I need to get home in 7 minutes or I will miss the previous episode montage at the beginning of Lost!'

At least we don't live like 500 years ago when bandits would decend upon our town and steal our rice forcing us to contract a motley band of samurai mercenaries to protect us... that would be way worse than people buzzing you.

while i'm not upping the punx and i do actually own/drive a car, i can't stand 75% of the motorists on the road when i'm in my car, that number drops even further when i'm on my bike.

People do make mistakes, I know that I wasn't the best driver when I drove. She still could have apologized to you and said it was an accident.

exactly, you shoulda flung poo at her

You always know just what to say...

yeah i bet the same people who are a-holes on the road are also a-holes to any service industry people they encounter...

maybe they should have to commute by bike to their job waiting tables .

I've heard worse ideas in my life, but this is the worst one I've heard today.

My take:

- they didn't hit you
- they didn't force you to change your line or brake

I think you're pissed over nothing.

When she asked, "did I hit you?" you could have walked to the back of her car and made it obvious that you're writing down her license number, returned to the side of the car, then thrown yourself against the side of the vehicle, screaming "you did now, *****! You did now, *****" manically on the ground.

mmm. that's good misogyny.

Her logic really was: "I wasn't scared. I didn't hit you. This doesn't affect me." Perfectly logical if you are a self centered a-hole. I'm sure she'd have given a semi more than 2"

particularly with ****. what does ones sexual proclivities have to do with their homicidal driving practices? I know plenty of ***** who are very courteous drivers.

+bajillion. Car driver like to think they exist in a bubble. Popping that bubble really pisses them off.

why didnt you kick her damn door in. Whater you made of?!

Oh, this is what I really agree with. If I had to stop and confront every car that came a little too close, I wouldn't get to spend any time riding my bike.

I did once pull up to a guy who almost hit me as he zipped out of a parking spot. At the light I asked politely to look out into traffic before he pulled out so fast. We both saw eye to eye. I think a ray of light broke throught the rainclouds overhead and a rainbow showered skittles unto our intersection. I later had his baby.

Eh. You two have heard of 'insults' before, right? Their single goal is to offend the person. I think those words would accomplish that. Most insults aren't crafted to carefully protect the feelings of the person they're thrown at...

Just because she's a woman, she's not granted immunity from receiving insults from men she nearly kills because she's being a careless driver around our bike-riding friends. And throwing the misogynist accusation around because of that is unfounded because calling a woman who nearly killed you a "b***h" does not in any way imply a hatred of all women. You do realize that's what "misogyny" means right?

I guarantee the next time a car driver runs me off the road, I'm going to call them an idiot regardless of sex or race. If they happen to be of another race, that doesn't suddenly mean I'm implying that my insult is directed at that entire race either. So please chill, everyone.

Bikes are fun.

"Am I bovvered?

Does any part of my face look bovvered?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyF-DsVCJOE