Do you mouth off at drivers?



If they put me in harms way, I do more than mouth off. I try to catch them. If I catch them, more often than not they are very apologetic or run like hell. My favorite experience was years ago. I use to race cars from lights. Two couples in a Mustang got a bit aggresive and showed their displeasure by yelling out the window and almost pushing me off the road. I caught up with them at the next light. I calmly asked the driver (a guy) whether he thought his actions were considerate. His girl friend opened up with several **** expletives. I looked through the car and said, "You have 250 plus horses under that hood and I was just one 200 pound horse. Put a rein on your filly or I'm going to start stomping." He apologized.
 
Lonnie Utah said:
While I do "mouth off" at drivers, I would be surprised if 1% of the actually knew I did. Most of the time I just keep my head down and keep pedaling and mutter a few choice words under my breath. What we don't want to do (as a group), is make drivers ****** off at cyclists. I can excuse "bonehead" moves, but I would hate for drivers to actually go after cyclists with their cars. Of course here in Utah we have no shortage of bike lanes and most drivers do a good job at "seeing" cyclists.....
I try not to swear at bonehead drivers as the next time they might just take it out on a fellow cyclist. In South Africa we are only starting to include bike lanes in newly built road lanes now. There are a few initiatives to make drivers aware of cyclists on the road, but we finally came to the conclusion that motorists need to be educated on a different level. Since we can all drive cars we know how it works, but not all motorists cycle and understand that you can not possibly stop dead going at 40km an hour if they suddenly decide to turn in front of you since your feet are clipped in!
 
typically no, but if they're talking on a cell phone and make a dumb @## move, my temper flairs. I had a woman pass me one time, go about 100 yards, stop and make a u-turn (one handed) while talking on her phone. I nearly ended up under her rear tire. :eek:
 
I got my road bike when I was 14, 2 years ago, for christmas, and on one of the first times out riding, some damn mexicans ran me off the road in a big moving van. This was in the back section of my neighborhood where they are still doing construction, I also live in a gated golf course community. So they were coming around a corner and saw me and he takes the corner even tighter, forcing me into the grass and fall over because i wasn't used to getting in and out of the clips, or being run over. After falling into the grass, i see the truck go up onto the curb where i had just come from, and then speed off down the street. By the time i got out of the clips, (lying on the ground and doing this is kind of hard), and got back up and going, i was unable to catch him before he got out of the neighborhood. Haven't had much toruble since then, cept i was riding down a country road with some friends when a line of dump trucks passes us and on of the pulls his air brake, that scares the **** outta you cause the only reason hes using is he cant stop, talk about white knuckels.
 
I don't generally mouth off unless provoked. I do most of my long rides in fairly rural areas so traffic is minimal. I'm more likely to have a run in with a dog or two than any ill tempered farmers. But on those rare occasions when I'm told to get off of their road or told to go back to the city I have to speak up. I mean, I don't even live in the city!!
 
I try not to but every once in awhile I lose my temper. Kind of like Turrets.
 
and on one of the first times out riding, some damn mexicans ran me off the road in a big moving van. This was in the back section of my neighborhood where they are still doing construction,
had i known you, and seen it happen, i probably would've laughed my face off, and when you got back on your bike, and had your feel clipped in, i would've knocked you over again.....



Before i came to school i rode a sportbike, so it was real easy to flip someone off, punch their car, and take off, after the first time i flipped someone off in the city on my bicycle, and had them catch up and just scream at me out their window for a quarter mile of the road, i figured i'd just keep my mouth shut, cause i'm kinda out of options, I keep my U-lock tucked in the back of my pants, so that's always right there handy if I'd ever need that, but usually i just keep going, day time isn't bad, the only time i'd ever do anything is during the day, when there's so much traffic, that they'd never be able to keep up
 
I must be fortunate to not have had a reason too yet. If the occasion arises I probably won't because it's not in my nature & they won't hear me anyway.
 
In this country all drivers do it... so I let myself a little here and there:eek: . I would never go out of my way to do so, just shout something and keep riding. It really is much better than holding it inside.
 
Yes... I remember a day pedalling home from school (slight up hill all the way for 15km). I was pretty tired, and listening to my walkman... A guy blew through a red light in front of me at a red light causing me to do a pretty scar yswerve. I ended up next to his window which I did not relaize was open. My "F-you" was also a bit "overthrown" since I was wearing a walkman - what was supposed to be inner-voice turned out a bit loud. All in all it was pretty much in his face!! He chased me for a bit but I made it away down some side streets...

PS A driver that deliberately chases you & forces you off the road can be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Check with your lawyer!!
 
I may mumble somethin' or if I'm really ****** and they did somethin' intentional, flip them off. However, I don't mouth off to them anymore.

I did that once. Two young guys in Hondas buzzed my friend and me on a local road. Scared the **** outta me...It wasn't my first time, but they were TOO CLOSE and running @ 70 in a 45.

Well, a mile up the road, one of them was stopped at a local gas station. My friend spotted them as quickly as I did, and made the hand motion to turn in. As I rolled up behind the Honda, which the driver was pumping gas into, I was fuming and boiling up a response.

"Was that you that just passed us?" "Uh, no..." "I believe it was." "Well, it may have been." "Don't you think you got a LITTLE CLOSE??"

I was getting louder, and you could tell he was nervous. He knew what had happened. It was then I saw the two kids in the back.

My friend interrupted, "Well...just watch out next time." I think he had seen the youngsters before I did.

Whether I would have made a difference or not, I wasn't gonna frighten the kids...no way, no how, no sir. I didn't feel bad, 'cause I think I stopped soon enough that the kids didn't have time to see that Daddy was on the road Gitya-ass-stomped-ville. But I learned (I actually knew it before) that mouthing off, on or off the bike, is not a good thing.
 
I live in New Jersey in the U.S (most densely populated state). My best experience so far was as I was coming up to a stop light which had 3 lanes this car came up behind me and blew its horn. When I stopped at the light I turned around to make sure that it was for me. When I did there was a fat ***** in the car yelling at me. I let it fly. A lot of "f&^K you ya fat f#@>*&g *****, who the F#$k do you think you are. She then pulled up alongside me and said that I had no right to yell at her like that and I told her to go f#$k herself. She then said that she would go tell a cop and there was one parked another 100 yards down the road.
She goes over to him and starts complaining telling him that I was in the wrong lane and that I have no right to be there. By the time I got there I let if fly again and the cop told me to calm down. I said that I was in the correct lane for the direction that I was going and that I have just as much right to the lane that she does.
The cop pleasantly agreed with me and told that lady that she shouldn't be pulling up behind cyclists and blowing her horn at them.
I then thanked the cop. She then complained that I had no right to talk to her that way. I again told her to **** herself and said that she is as familiar with the freedom of speech act as she is with the rules of the road.

It was great. The cop was laughing his ass off.
 
I'm not shy nor reserved at expressing my displeasure at being disrespected, trivilaized or otherwise dismissed by ignorant or unaware motorists (and idiotic cyclists, on occassion as well). However, I try to be creative, so that I'll be remembered. The standard F-you, etc. only earns further negative reaction and doesn't promote awareness or education. I'm not beneath such exclamations though when needed. ;)
 
phibbs said:
I've been practicing another tack - waving thanks to drivers who are NOT obnoxious. I can hear when a motorist slows down behind me waiting for oncoming traffic to clear. They get a friendly wave. The ones that change lanes completely get one too. I've probably waved at 3000 local drivers over the last 10 years. I live in a small town and ride rural county roads so I'm sure my ideas won't work many places though. The obnoxious drivers get the muttered profanity but nothing visible. If I can restrain myself with these few drivers a local favorite is to smile real big and give them a huge friendly wave (while muttering obscenities). The "friendly" response confuses them.
I'm right with you, giving considerate drivers a friendly nod or "thumbs up" works wonders I believe.
 
I don't mouth off at all, partly because you don't know if it's the one nutter in a million who'll pull a knife on you and partly because the next cyclist that driver encounters will probably get it twice as bad.

I remember reading ages ago a piece by Zapata Espinoza when he was editor of MBA describing a road ride around LA. He was making the point the riding a bike in traffic is a metaphor for how society treats 'have nots'. I think a lot of drivers have a superiority complex, they bully cyclists purely because they can - they regard themselves as having higher status because they are in a car.

Can't help but feel the answer is improved driver training. How about compulsory cycle training included as part of learning to drive?
 
I have to admit that I too have mouthed off, although I know that it probably does more harm than good. Normally I only get loud if its something really stupid and dangerous, like pulling right in front of me and causing me to grab lots of brake, things like that. For the most part, I dont imagine that they even know that I said anything at all. I do mutter under my breath alot though. The worst time ( and maybe the closest call) was with a cement mixer, coming into traffic from a merge lane. We (traffic and I) came over a hill with the light and he was determined to merge at speed. Unfortunately I needed to get over to the bike lane before he could do that. As fast as he came into the lane, my choices were to try and slide under or get in front and over. Couldnt even back off and go behind as there was traffic right behind him, so I hammered up front and passed. Near scared the **** out of me, ****** him off, so we exhanged words and gestures. He waved me over, but didnt stop and I chased him in traffic for a mile or so. Did I say that was probably the worst? Yeah that and maybe one of the dumbest things I have ever done on a bike. Moral of the story>>>there's little point in getting mad, just watch your ass and keep riding!
Someone made a comment about driver training....that's a great idea. I doubt that most drivers (and cyclists it seems) realize that we have to follow many of the same traffic rules as car drivers. Perhaps if they did, they might be a little more conscious of us.
ride safe (but dont forget why we're out there!)
kevin
 
kevinh01 said:
Someone made a comment about driver training....that's a great idea. I doubt that most drivers (and cyclists it seems) realize that we have to follow many of the same traffic rules as car drivers. Perhaps if they did, they might be a little more conscious of us.
ride safe (but dont forget why we're out there!)
kevin
I have long been an advocate for mandatory training, licensing and insuring of cyclists. I know that may rankle many here, but in my daily rides, I witness countless infractions commited by ignorant or reckless cyclists and, quite frankly, that just irks the hell out of motorists as well as creates dangerous and possibly fatal results. I have also seen accidents between two vehicles that were caused by cyclists veering into the lane of a motorist and the motorist being forced to take evasive action that concluded in an accident. In those cases, the cyclists should have been held accountable, but without a means of catching them or identifying them, the cyclists merely had to ride off to avoid facing responsibiity. Training and insurance would likely reduce those instances. On the other hand, I have also been petitioning our provincial government to include education for motorists about the rights of cyclists when they are taking their training and drivers-tests and advanced training and education if they are convicted of an offense involving a cyclist. There has to be a sense of equality, I think, before mutual respect begins to become the norm.