What Have Motorists Done To Piss You Off When Biking?

I was reading through the post on traffic lights that includes the poll and I couldn't help but think of some of the things that motorists have done to piss me off when I'm riding. So I thought it would be an interesting question to ask everyone here...

What single thing that a motorist has done (or not done) while you're riding has pissed you off the most?

Here's the one that came to my mind:

I was commuting home from work and I got to a four-way stop. I waited my turn to go just like every other vehicle does and when it was my turn to go, I went. However the guy in the pickup at the stop sign to my left apparently figured bikes don't count so he went too! He slammed on his brakes and I swerved to avoid him... Another near miss with a car! It wasn't the first time something like this has happened but what really got me was what the driver had to say when I rode by the driver's side of his truck. He rolled down his window and angrily yelled: "Use the sidewalk!"

What are ya gonna do???

 

Just one - sorry I have two - deliberately trying to run you off the road (Concrete truck - didn't think anything of it the first time - second time, same driver in a span of 5 minutes, hmmmm - I guess he was pissed that it wasn't him enjoying some time off pedaling his butt off uphill) & the second is throwing stuff out the window at me. (Pennies can hurt - thank goodness the beer bottle missed) Every time I was on the right side of the solid white line - so I wasn't even in the traffic lane or slowing traffic down. Tempting to ride in the center of the lane but there are to many courteous people out there.

 

Cutting across the white lines at T-junctions when I'm turning right. GRRRRRRR!

 

Not using turn signals.

Cars haven't hit me, but I've hit them several times.

It's 'funny'. They pass me (on the left) and then turn right right in front of me and are shocked when there's a collision.

It's even 'funnier' that I've never had this happen while riding my brakeless fixie. My only crashes into cars have been on my 'safer', braked bikes.

 

I was out riding along the beach in Melbourne on Tuesday, struggling into the blistering southerly when some idiot leaned out of the passenger side of a brown BMW, belting me on the arm.

Gave me a hell of a shock.

 

On two different occasions within six months , I had cars make right turns in front of me without signaling. Both times I bounced off the car's front fender and went flying over my handlebars. Not hurt either time but the first collison cost me a brand new open pro rim (second time no damage to me or bike). Fortunately the first driver was so scared that he'd nearly killed me -- as opposed to blaming me for the incident as drivers are wont to do -- he emptied his wallet on the spot to pay for my rim (he had enough to cover about 80% of the cost and it wasn't worth the effort to track him down for the other 20%).

 

There's definitely something in the water in Queens (NY). I've had several interesting experiences with drivers there, but one of my favorites is when I had a woman in a beat up monkeysh!t brown Ford stop at an intersection (she had the stop sign on a side street, I had right of way with no sign on the avenue), look at me (we made eye contact), and at the last possible second pull out in front of me and stop in the intersection for no apparent reason, forcing me to slide into the side of her car (I'd been going about 20mph). As I got up she took off halfway up the block, stopped again, and screamed obsceneties at me. I screamed her licence plate # back at her, checked for damage (just minor scrapes, scratches), and went home and called a friend at NYPD. Got her name, address, phone, etc., and on my next ride went down her street just out of curiosity. I found the car and as I was looking in the windows at all the mess inside it I heard someone shout "hey, whadda you lookin at" in a not very friendly or intelligent sounding raspy female voice. Up the street I saw 3 short, fat, and collectively unattractive women sitting on a stoop smoking cigarettes so I rode up and asked if any of them happened to know C***** W****. Suddenly they became the Three Stooges with Mo (Ms. Whaddaya lookin at) in the middle who mumbles "Uh, no" with her jaw dropped wide open while Larry and Curly on either side simultaneously turned and looked at her with stunned "How'd he know your name?!?" expressions. I tried not to laugh, told them (while staring at Mo) "that's OK, I've got her address and phone number" and rode off. Just watching their expressions was better payback then anything I could have thought of.

 

I was riding home on a gradual downhill doing about 50kph when a brain-donor in a large diesel pickup truck pulled out in front of me doing about 30kph - That was the first thing that pissed me off because he could see me coming and obviously he just didn't give a crap.

Needless to say I overtook the weener because there was no ways in hell that I was going to slow down and mess up my average besides I have as much right on the road as he does and I was travelling way faster...

Needless to say the twit took this maneuver as an affront to his masculinity because he immediately stepped on the gas and blew past me while screaming abuse...

 

Excellent story. I don't have any great stories on the subject to tell (yet). I'm trying to be very zen these days in traffic. I am, however, always peeved by the people who pass me in a narrow lane only for me to pass them again at the next line, traffic jam, etc. So I like to calmy go knock on the window, smile and ask them if they know about the 1 meter law for passing another vehicle.

Not very wild compared to some of these other stories...

S

 

Some guys last night kept honking as they were passing me on a fast street. I guess they were trying to scare me off the road. The first time shocked me: I hate looking surprised and goofy!!! They did it like 3 times. I thought maybe I knew them or they knew me or something.

Finally I passed the Hollywood Video and the same car in the parking lot honked again. They were some teenagers in a [email protected] up Ford Maverick or something being azzholes. I felt like beating them....but it was not worth the trouble. It was late, I wanted to get home. Better off ignoring them then making a stupid situation eventful!!

 

Riding home from the office during the summer a couple of young guys driving a Honda Accord threw something and hit me and laughed as they passed. It stung. I thought, well, they had their fun and now they're gone. Somewhere up ahead they pulled onto a side street and doubled back. They did it again and proceeded on up the road toward a busy signaled intersection. I chased they down. When they saw me in their rear-view mirror they tried to escape by turning into a shopping center parking lot. Because of heavy traffic they couldn't get out of the parking lot. I pulled up about 10 feet from the driver's door and told them I didn't appreciate their attack, that I had their license number, and that I was calling the police to report them. I walked over to a pay telephone about 30 feet away and dialed 911 and reported them while they sat trying to get out of the parking lot with license plate in full view. The police took the information. At the time of this incident I worked for a state law inforcement agency. When I got to the office the next day I looked up the license number in the state database. Their father owned the car and had a driving record that was really long and very bad. The father had a list of numerous citations including license suspension for driving while intoxicated. I let the matter drop.

 

I've had the guys come really close to me while passing - like they're trying to scare me - but fortunately that's been pretty rare.
I hate the idiots who throw their glass bottles on the road! I hate getting flats because of a litterer.

Tim

 

One day last week I was coming down a narrow country road at - I would guess - around 35mph when a truck coming the other way just pulled over and parked right across the road, leaving hardly any room to pass on either side. He'd seen me coming, no doubt about that, and had paused before making his manoeuvre, obviously weighing up whether or not to go ahead and then deciding to go ahead anyway, even though he could see me approaching at speed - fortunately, I was able to brake in time to avoid ploughing into the front of the truck.

It's a variation of the classic motorist idiot that cuts in front of you to turn rather than wait behind you a few extra seconds for you to pass the turn - I've had that happen to me more times than I care to remember.

 

Cycling along a country lane a delivery van in the opposite lane tossed a newspaper towards a driveway on my side of the road, missing my head by about four feet.

Thought about contacting the newspaper delivery service, but it would have been my word against his.

 

I have been swerved at ,cut off by people turning in front of me and various other situations but when some (usually) young punk runs up on my back wheel and lays on the horn, that scares the crap out of me and definitely pisses me off.

 

Reading some of these entries has brought back memories of rides that I had forgotten.

1) Beer can thrown from a passing Limo, missed my head by an inch, no kidding.
2) People have reached out windows in attempts to hit me, never successful, but they've tried several times
3) People passing and then turning right, right in front of you. Twice, both times lost the bike and the riding season.
4) Had a screamer once. Pulled up to my side and screamed "Go Lance", scared the crap out of me...almost wrecked.

And the worst, got me the most pissed off, wanted to track em down and seek vengence...

5) Got caught in a heavy downpour in late august, electrical storm to boot, was trying to make it to a covered location and take a break. Woman in a Big White S freakin U freakin V, gets so close she almost hits me and doesn't "Toot", but sits on the horn, scaring me like I've never been frightened before. Mostly because I always check my six, so I usually have agood feel for what is behind me. Bitch, I still have her plate and keep my eyes peeled everytime I see one of them White Trucks.

But the other 98,342 rides have been wonderful!

 

Anyone have any comments as to what kinds of vehicles motorists drive which may contribute to their attitudes?

The way I see it, SUVs are advertised as kings of the road. 'Don't let anything get in your way! Your tough (and "safe") if you drive one of these!' So people act accordingly. God forbid the SUV driver perceives a cyclist getting in their way... rev-rev honk-honk!

Similarly, sporty cars (esp. BMWs and the like) are always advertised as high-revving speed machines. I've yet to see a commerical where these cars are actually obeying the speed limit and not driving recklessly, etc. Anyway, the same thing applies. What's this cyclist doing on this back country road? This was never in the commerical!... rev-rev honk-honk!

Anyway, just a thought as to why I think motorists behave the way they do.

 

I've noticed that brain-capacity and engine-capacity seem to be inversely-proportional...this may also imply that seeing as bicycles have no engine - cyclists have infinitely huge brains

 

haha! good analogy....

 

Just one word: spit.

Some dickless piece of s#%t horked a loogey at me at a stop light. Needless to say I needed revenge, so I dropped my ride, whipped out my weener and pissed on the hood of his car. You have never seen such a look of stupefaction (is that even a word?) on a motorist's face. It totslly paralyzed him. I finished up, and rode along leaving him in my dust!