What Have Motorists Done To **** You Off When Biking?



Apart from being mowed down by a van, which is less 'pissing off' and more homicidal, the thing that really dicks me off is the classic 'pedal to the metal overtake, followed by a hard slam on the brakes and a left turn placed carefully in front of you to cut you off' manoeuvre, as mentioned in a post above. (Right turn for those of you who drive on the right).

Another classic example of my recently proposed Grand Unified Theory, which attempts to explain every single non-natural event in life, as a result of the stupidity of one or more members of the human species. I'm telling you, if you look at the things that happen to you on a daily basis - those things that make you sigh in despair - you realize that all of these things are caused by human stupidity. This makes me sad and confused :confused:
 
I never tried it but a good advantage of having clipless shoes is that they have metal cleats, a nice little scrach will surely **** the hell out of them! But may get you in deep trouble...makes me wonder wath is the price of getting sweet revenge!!!
 
Originally posted by meehs
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 **** 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 ****** 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???
I was out one Saturday afternoon, light traffic 6 lane road, a small van changed lanes and came so close to me (at speed) that it literally sucked the air out of and around me. No other cars around just a bunch of f***wits in the van thinking it would be fun to terrorise a cyclist.:mad:
 
i'm writing a problem/solution essay for a college english class on car related cycling accidents. I was hoping for yer guys' input and stories that you wouldn't mind me using and any help on where to look for statistics and possible other topics i can speak on. thanks alot
 
yeah some people just arent very nice. Ive been run off the road by 18 wheelers on multiple ocassions. Had some crazy ass moron in florida try and run my team off the road with his van. Now if youve never riden in a 9 person line before it can move quick. We caught him and just about pulled him from the van and knocked the **** out of him. Also so idiot in florida passing on a two lane road almost hit me at 70mph in the opposite direction with his boat trailer. but i just take all their stupidity and forget about it and then i feel sorry that they werent born with a large enough brain to realize the repercusions of what happens when they hit us.
 
Originally posted by Rozzano
Not using turn signals.

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

Ohhh, yes, I know this one. Both from the below cause (their fault) and, once (my fault), from me trying to be aerodynamic on a windy and rainy day. I had my head down going over a viaduct. When I looked up, traffic was stopped in front of me. I "chose" to rear-end a Volkswagen Beatle with a Learner Driver at the wheel. She was quite surprised when I rolled over the roof and down her bonnet.

"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."

This used to be my method of interval-training - chasing cars that had cut me off. The trouble is when you blow just as you catch them and can't manage to get your point across because your brain is starved of oxygen and you can't support yourself on your jelly-legs.

"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 hear you. After riding around town on my track bike for a few years, my wife decided that I "needed" to have brakes on there. After resisting as long as could be considered humanly possible, I relented. I fitted a front brake at work, rode over to meet her in town and crashed on the way home.
 
Back in my early twenties I was hit from behind while riding in memorial park in Houston. Bike and me were launched down the road, did a partial flip and landed on my right shoulder and rolled the rest of the flip on the pavement. Broke my thumb and lots of road rash/briuses. I was very lucky. The incident was most certainly intentional as this is a 3 lane road, I was at the edge of the curb on the right side and all 3 lanes were clear of traffic. Driver kept going and never stopped.

When I lived in Australia some a-hole went flying passed me in a round-a-bout. It took all I had to stay upright and not end up underneath the car. Driver never stopped.

When on a group ride West of Houston with a group of about 12 people we were coming into a small town where the shoulder ends and we had to come onto the road before stopping at a stop sign and turning right. I big truck pulling a flat bed trailer tried to pass us just before we came to the stop sign. We all reached the stop sign at the same time. We sat there waiting for the truck to go, but he couldn't as we were all packed into the corner of the turn. If he had turned his trailer would have hit us. We eventualy just had to go.

A few minutes later down the road the truck and trailer came roaring up from behind us and passed. As it passed he slammed on his brakes and the tralier began to fish tail back and forth. The truck and tralier ended up swerving off the road out of control and the trailer fish tailed towards our line missing the front riders by about a foot. The guy gets out and yells some BS gets back in and drives off.

The usual fair on Texas roads is for the pickup trucks to pass with as little room to spare without killing you.

Whenever I have incidents like this I try and get a license plate and turn them in. If they do end up hurting or killing someone and they have a record of this kind of behavior it goes a long way towards successfully prosecuting them.

Safety in numbers,
David
 
I had one nice one riding home from work one day in Australia. On a section of road with two-lanes heading South, I was riding in the emergency lane at the side (ie off the main road) there was no other traffic and I heard a vehicle coming up behind me. This was a 100 kph road and this little SUV just clipped my elbow (only enough to redden the skin) as it careered past me towards the armourguard rail.
Baffled, still upright and surprisingly unhurt, I watched as the vehicle veered back across into the main road and then off again towards the armourguard. One more swerve and it was back onto the main road before slowing down to exit onto a by-road. Until then, it had maintained its speed. The driver was holding onto the driver's mirror doing her make-up during the swerve-session.
I turned off down the same road and eventually tracked her down outside her house with all her family in attendance.
She (and her family) were treated to a free "Introduction to extended profanity useage - 101" Course as I revealed to her my feeling that she could possibly place a little more emphasis on concentrating on the task at hand, in order to achieve her goal of receiving the "Best Perth Driver of 2001" Award.
 
I myself have had a 7 run ins with cars. One of them totally wrecked my bike up, write-off. I've been lucky though, as the worst one only sprained the joints in my right arm (wrist/elbow/shoulder). This was actully the second hit on a ride. This idiot was in a jeep (stolen) and passes by close enough to rip the sleeve of my jersey (long sleeve) at the elbow. He then swerves right and puts the breaks on right in front of me. I hit his rear bumper (we're still moving at about 20 k/h), stick my right arm out, it goes through the soft top and hits the rollcage behind the back seat. As I come back down to the road (still upright thank God), he steps on the gas and takes off.

Most acrobatic one was when a Stupid Useless Vehicle decided to pass and make a right hander in front of me. Almost passes me before making hte turn. I was actually even with the guy's front passenger window when he made the turn. I grabbed onto his roof-rack with my left hand and held on for dear freakin life. I rode/hung the turn out and let go when we were moving in a straight line again. Got his plate # and rode home. That's when I met the guy in the jeep.

Best on was with a cop though. I was track standing at a light on my mountain bike when a cop pulled up beside me. After a few seconds he slowly starts to roll to the right and inches closer and closer. Next thing, he's got me pinned to the curb. I start to smash my handlebars against his front door. WOW! you should have seenthe look on his face. Surprise, then anger, then fear. he takes off at the green and I kick out his taillight with my cleat (I'm no longer track standing). Must've given him about 9 good bashes into his door. I wonder how he explained that one at the station?:D
 
Best on was with a cop though. I was track standing at a light on my mountain bike when a cop pulled up beside me. After a few seconds he slowly starts to roll to the right and inches closer and closer. Next thing, he's got me pinned to the curb. I start to smash my handlebars against his front door. WOW! you should have seenthe look on his face. Surprise, then anger, then fear. he takes off at the green and I kick out his taillight with my cleat (I'm no longer track standing). Must've given him about 9 good bashes into his door. I wonder how he explained that one at the station?:D [/B][/QUOTE]
That's good! One incident I had, back before time began, is slightly off-topic, but oh so close. I was working as a wine waiter while I was bumbling through university in NZ. I was running late for work one evening and took/stole my sister's Suzuki A50 motorbike. Going as fast as I could (80kph) with my feet on the rear pegs, left hand down on the forks and lying on the tank, I made the long sweeping left turn along the harbour wharf area (NZ traffic drives on the left hand side).
I was in the right hand (fast lane) and knew that there were often cars stopped further around the bend waiting to turn right across the traffic. As I went to move left into the central lane, there was a car beside me who blocked my way. When I slowed down, he slowed down - when I sped up, he sped up.
I remember thinking that it must be about time I looked away from him and checked the road ahead. Good idea - there was a Holden HQ Station Wagon (Ranch Wagon / Estate) stopped dead ahead. No time to avoid/brake (similar to a bicycle crash I reported earlier). I remember dropping the bike and travelling along the road at great speed squatting on the side of it.
Just before the point of impact, I jumped back off it and came off relatively unscathed.
The funny part is that I was sitting on the road behind the car and my sister's bike had gone underneath it, lodging under the differential. This poor bloke in the car had heard and felt the impact, but couldn't see anything out of his rearview mirror. There was a break in the traffic and he tried to take off, spinning the wheels and going nowhere. The look on his face in the mirror as I stood up behind his rear window was priceless as he thought I was lifting his car off the ground.
My sister didn't think it was all that funny. oh well, you can't please everybody.
 
Currently there's a government sponsored advertising campaign on UK television highlighting the fact that many motorcyclists get killed by motorists who didn't see them. It urges motorcyclists to "ride defensively".

For most of us I would imagine the campaign is redundant, because any cyclist or motorcyclist with any sense knows that it's in their own interests to ride defensively.

Of course, there are cyclists and motorcyclists out there who aren't fit to be on the road and are just a liability to themselves, so I'm not saying that the campaign is entirely worthless, but what really gets me about the campaign is the way it lets motorists off the hook because it doesn't urge them to drive any less aggressively.

Not only that, but there are plenty of truly awful lunatic motorists out there whose behaviour you can't protect yourself from however defensively you ride.

Where's the justice?

OK, so there's a separate campaign aimed at making motorists drive slower, but it focusses on the damage motorists can do to pedestrians, not the damage they can do to other road users. It really is about time some energy was put into making motorists more cyclist-friendly.
 
Encouraging Motorcyclists and Cyclists to ride defensively (ride with your lights on / use cycleways etc) appears to be a common approach in UK / Australia / USA / NZ.......
Over the years, as safety features have increased in cars, the drivers have become more and more removed from the world that surrounds them. I remember reading a report from Volvo (I think) back in the 60's (?) where, as they experimented with introducing safety devices, the safer the drivers were made to feel, the worse they drove.
I also remember a suggestion, back when airbags were first being introduced, that, rather than airbags, the best way to reduce injuries on the road would be to have a large knife permanently sticking out of the steering wheel towards the driver. See how aware everyone would be then.
Here in Malaysia, Motorbikes definitely rule the road. It's actually scarier driving my car around than it is riding my fixed-wheel on the road. Mind you, it's a bit like a Mad Max scene at times - red lights mean absolutely nothing to most / many Motorcyclists and the roads are as many lanes as you can fit vehicles into.
Just be aware of the people who are not aware.
 
I, like many others, have had a number of occassions where I have been cut off by motorists turning right in front of me!

I now live in Japan and it also happens here. Curiously though it has only ever been Taxis that have done this.

I have also had a car door flung open just as I was going past - the idiot just did not even look. Fortunatley I wasn't going too fast at the time and didn't hit their door too hard with my bike - I was on my MTB instead of my road bike at the time. I was able to slow quick enough that I actually let my bike go a little harder into the door than it probably needed to! ;)
 
all of this is true! i have experianced most of these casses and i realy do belive that the more "safe" you feel the worse you drive. Most people who drive SUVs tend to think they are the biggest and baddest thing on the plannet, while they are driving and don't even think twice about pulling out infront of cyclist, motorcyclist or even small cars they realy are a danger to people around them!
I think it is just absolutly amzing that about the only time I ever get run off the road by cars is when im going OVER the speed limmit and keeping up with the car infront of me.
I would have to say that the worst is that I almost always run into this one is when i am coming off of a mountain trail, and just heading home (on the back roads). I alwas have some one pull out infront of me while while they are leaving a parking lot (especialy on Sundays at a church). Generaly that is the problem that most of us have with cars. Is just that they pull out infront of us cut us off and its almost like they don't even see you, or they are just realy ****** off at all cyclist on the road.

Just keep inmind that you are another vehichel on the road and should be treated so. You have no special benafits just becuse you are using "Flintstone power". make shure that the car behind you sees you by sticking to the center cection of the road, and don't fool your self on how fast you are going becuse your most likely not going over 30-35 miles per hour tops (downhill over-cranked you couldent push yourself to go any faster).
people want to pass you for no aperant reason and then it sudenly hits them they just missed there turn (a-holes) then they cut you off.
I would suggest learning how to urban ride in the city (very well) and just stay off the streets. peds see you just as dangerous as you see cars (if you are on the sidewalk) so keep that inmind if you decide to ride on sidewalks.
 
What have they done to **** me off, just about every thing including driving on the street.
 
Plenty of incompetent driving skills are always on display, too numerous to mention, but I suppose my most recent experience deserves a mention :

I was flat out on my local coastal strip ride (going solo) with a great tailwind when a "P" plate driver with 2 passengers came from behind. @sshole in passenger seat decides to throw screwed up paper bag (presumably full of rubbish) and let off a big scream as he does it. Bag just misses my head, and passenger is delighted with my shock & flinch.

What he didn't realise is that with the tailwind, I was hooting along averaging 43km/hr for the trip there......... and it was a 50km/h speed limit. So for 5 kms, I was able to keep an eye on this car. Finally I noticed it pull into a Marina complex, where I caught up with the car and pulled up next to them as they were doing a cruise-by. "G'day F#ckwits !" I said... "How tough do you feel now ?". The dumbfounded shock on their faces was worth every extra ounce of effort I put in to catch them.

Even better was the chaos inside the car after I emptied my entire bottle-load of Bright Red Powerade over their best Cruzin' clothes (which included a white denim jacket) AND the cream velour interior of the driver's pride & joy (which was a bucket)

Fair enough, I lost all the carbs I wanted to face the tailwind that would become the headwind on the way home, but the satisfaction of serving it up to these twits was more than inspiring!

Oh yeah, another experience with a smart-@ss driver inspired the 'signature' at the bottom of my posts. Lack of response from him, and look on his girlfriend's face was priceless.
 
Back in the 80's I was riding with a friend and my young son when two litttle punks drove by trying to soak us with a super
soaker water gun. I got out of the saddle and sprinted after the car. I caught them at a stop sign reached into the window grabed the water gun and broke in in half. The little punk said I going to kick you A--- lady. I said come on little guy if your man enough.I think he took a 2nd. look at this ****** off Basque lady and said I going to call the police. I said you don't need to and showed him my badge. I was a deputy sheriff at the time. I think he craped his pants them. I just wish iyou could just seen the look in his face.
 

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