driver's in spring (rant warning)

What is it about the first few warm days of spring that seems to bring out the worst in people's driving habits or just the worst of the drivers?

Today, being a warm day, I decided to take my bicycle out instead of driving down to the store to pick up the hoses I ordered for my saab.

On the way back, in the space of 5 minutes, I was almost hit twice and was finally gotten on the third attempt on my life.

the first was an idiot in a van who could not wait for the light to turn green to make his right turn (even though it clearly said "no turn on red" in several spots.) his taking the corner sharply brought the side of his panel van inches from the handlebars of my mountainbike as I sat there and waited patiently for the light to change.

The second was an middle aged lady pulling out of a bank. At least she saw me at the last moment and stopped, and because her window was still down, said Sorry to me. I was kind and gracious and told her thankyou.

The third was an older gentleman in a malibu who finally got me.. not bad, I did more damage to his car than he did to me. He clipped me while pulling into a parking lot, with my hip taking the mirror off of his passengerside before my handlebar made a LONG scrape down the side of his car as I went down.

I have a bruise on my hip and the "bullhorn" on my handbar is bent.. thankfully I wear gloves when I ride of I would be nursing some road rash too.

the "gentleman" immediatly got out of his car and began ranting and raving about how I hit him and that he was going to get me to pay for the damages. I was not even off of the ground yet at this point.

Getting up, I dusted myself off, checked my bike while he tried to get in my face and then offered him my phone. When I told him to call the cops, he backed down quick.

I have his license plate number and a description if I have more than a bruise later, last I saw him, he was getting back into his car grumbling and cursing.

Just a reminder people.. the idiots are out in force and they do not share the road

mad_machine wrote: I have his license plate number and a description if I have more than a bruise later, last I saw him, he was getting back into his car grumbling and cursing. Just a reminder people.. the idiots are out in force and they do not share the road

You could call the cops and report a hit and run. He has damage on his car to corroborate you story. I'll also bet you still have his car paint on your bike somewhere.

...but if it's not worth it to you I'd just smile when I thought about that part. It might not be worth the aggravation.

Glad you're ok.

not worth the aggrivation. I got a bruise and a bent bullhorn.. he has to go home and face his wife about why the car is damaged.

Tell me about it man! Glad to here you're OK, but I still would have called the cops.

Yesterday I nearly got hit 3 time in the COP CAR!!! The worst was some dude in a minivan pulled out into traffic across both lanes mere inches in front of me and the car I was next to. He was very, very lucky that I decided to use the brake pedal instead of t-boning him with the push bumpers.

mad_machine wrote: He clipped me while pulling into a parking lot, with my hip taking the mirror off of his passengerside before my handlebar made a LONG scrape down the side of his car as I went down.

Please elaborate on the accident description. Were you in a bike lane, were both of you travelling the same direction, etc.

both of us were traveling in the same direction and I was on the shoulder (no bike lane). He basically came up and turned in as if I was not there... how he missed me I do not know as my bicycling jacket has a nice bit of reflective yellow on it

I was out jogging yesterday, opposite traffic... and its a pretty narrow lane for maybe 100 yards but there is a center lane that cars can encroach on a little. This fat faced a$$hole in an old buick started drifting across the lane, looked right at me and zipped within about 4 inches. I had just enough time to consider that attempting to rip his passenger mirror off the car at those speeds would hurt a lot. If I was riding a bike - I'd have kicked it off in a heartbeat.

I am going to start carrying a big berkeleying rock.

You've got a cooler head than me (and that's saying something, I think) because I would have smiply come unglued when he blamed me (and the still being on the ground part...sheesh!)

I saw an elderly woman almost do the same thing to a bicyclist last week (I was following on my moped). The cyclist chased the woman down and proceeded to let her have it, verbally.

I realy just wish folks would open their eyes sometimes!

Clem

mad_machine wrote: both of us were traveling in the same direction and I was on the shoulder (no bike lane). He basically came up and turned in as if I was not there... how he missed me I do not know as my bicycling jacket has a nice bit of reflective yellow on it

Had he just passed you, or were you moving faster than him?

The latter is totally your fault. The former, yeah, he deserved an ass-kicking.

Glad you're okay. Next time, call the cops. No accident report, no dice. I learned this from experience.

CrackMonkey wrote: Had he just passed you, or were you moving faster than him? The latter is totally your fault. The former, yeah, he deserved an ass-kicking.

He clipped me as he passed me to turn. If I had been going a bit faster (I ride at 20mph) he would have nailed me with the front of his car

It's not the heat, it's the stupidity.

I had one of those encounters once. I was a bike mechanic then and test riding a $7,000 customer's (full carbon frame) bike after finishing working on it when some teen-age genius clipped me. It snapped the bike in half and I walked away with some scrapes and bruises, but he got caught by the cop that was just pulling into our shop and who saw the whole thing. Needless to say, that bike got replaced pretty quickly.

Guys PLEASE, if you ever get hit while riding DO NOT DO NO DO NOT let it go without filing a report. A friend had a little headache that ended up being intercranial bleeding and death before the night was over.

Can I remind you of how hard it is to post whore while dead.

I just can't believe that there are that many people driving their cars on the sidewalk.

I kinda kept my "hipster punk" riding style from when I was kid...I pretty much ride like I own the road.

I think all too often, cyclists assume that because they are riding "correctly" that people won't hit them. Like if by signaling or staying in their lane, or waiting at stop signs and lights....that will keep them from being hit.

I've been riding for 19 years (i'm 24), and I my parents allowed me to ride across town by myself at age 12. I would ride over to my friends houses in the next town over (about 5 miles), on normal secondary roads, through town, I've ridden in small cities before.

Never once been hit, and the times that I came close were due to my own stupidity (rolling a downhill stopsign?).

All of this has contributed a little to my lack of interest in distance road riding. I feel much safer in a town or city than I do in the suburbs or country. The mentality of "share the road" seems to dissipate the farther away from population centers. In town, I have people who refuse to pass me, in cities you can ride the alleys just as fast as the streets, but in the country, the boys in the lifted F150's make damn sure you know they own the road. Sickening.

Glad you are OK. Always file a report.

I ride to class a lot, which requires me to cross some pretty heavy traffic roads. It's not too bad, though; I can get to where I need to be faster than taking the bus.

But there is something that really gets me about a minority of cyclists in town: There is one road (Archer road) that is three lanes each way, with a 45 mph speed limit for the majority and pretty heavy traffic morning and evening. Despite there being a nice, six foot wide bike path that runs parallel to the road, some cyclists still ride on the street. I don't advocate riding on sidewalks, because that can be a danger in itself, but riding on the street when there is a designated bike path available? Come on!

Here is my rule of thumb in town referring to where I ride:

• Bike path first priority
• On roads less than 35 mph, I ride on the shoulder when there is enough room
• On roads 35 mph or higher, I ride on the sidewalk, since these tend to be less residential in nature and with fewer storefronts

When I was 15, my younger sister borrowed my Huffy (el cheapo mountain bike. I loved it, though) and got hit by an old man in a Volvo. She was fine, but the rear rim was bent out of round and the front reflector got twisted and cracked. The driver called an ambulance and everything, but my sister never took down any info except that it was a Volvo. At the time, that was my only transportation besides my dad. Since she didn't get any info from the driver, we couldn't have it repaired.

That bike is still sitting in my cellar, hasn't been touched since the day of the accident.

John Brown wrote: Guys PLEASE, if you ever get hit while riding DO NOT DO NO DO NOT let it go without filing a report. A friend had a little headache that ended up being intercranial bleeding and death before the night was over. Can I remind you of how hard it is to post whore while dead.

+1, been hit head on in my younger days from a guy who pulled out of a side street and drove right into me. I lost a fork, and didn't file a police report, didn't have no recourse. At least file so it shows up on his insurance.

a new rim for a huffy is 20 bucks at most....why did that sideline a decent bike?

I have scavenged about 4 bikes to get mine to where it is now...and it still needs more.

I was a bicycle messenger in DC and have been nearly hit countless times, that all ended when I started riding super aggressive, plus I made more money. Mostly cabs too from what I can recal. kryptonite lock on a chain can be your best friend, nice dents in metal

DustoffDave wrote: I had one of those encounters once. I was a bike mechanic then and test riding a $7,000 customer's (full carbon frame) bike after finishing working on it when some teen-age genius clipped me. It snapped the bike in half and I walked away with some scrapes and bruises, but he got caught by the cop that was just pulling into our shop and who saw the whole thing. Needless to say, that bike got replaced pretty quickly.

that part scares me.. my bike is a C/F Trek... I did not see any marks on the frame, but now I got to give it a good going over

Putting on flame suit.

I'll start by saying I am glad you weren't seriously hurt.

Now,

Lets look at this. Bike, with rider: 250#

Average car with driver over 3000#

My van with me about 7300#

Y'all want to demand your right of way.

Car drivers hit cars on a regular basis. Most drivers do not pay enough attention to other cars. You expect them to keep up with this little bike that is going 20-50 MPH slower than they are. Yeah right.

I came up behind a biker on the way home from my last autocross. Two lane road, traffic coming from the other direction. I'm driving a E150 towing a 8 X 24 enclosed trailer. Weight, almost 14000#. I tapped the horn to let the biker know I was coming up behind him a 50+ MPH. He checked his little worthless helmet mirror and proceeded to pull out in the lane in front of me so I couldn't pass him. I then proceeded to blow his ass off the road and into the grass. If he kept it on two wheels I will be amazed. Bikers around here don't want to "share" the road. They think they own it. I personally don't give them any more room than I have to. If you are riding on a narrow high speed road, you deserve to get run over.

Even the guy on the noisy a$$ Hardly knows that cars do not see anything smaller that they are. Get real guys. They might go to jail for hitting you, but you will probably be dead or worse, maimed for life.

Edit: Be realistic. Drivers are not going to see you or consider you a threat to them. They are going to dismiss you. Be courteous to the cars and trucks around you. They are not watching you and they never will.

Yeah I know, POOF

I do see your point.. and as both a bicyclist and a driver, I can see both sides of this coin. I have also been hit on both sides of that coin.

It is also why I ride a mountain bike and not a roadie.. I tried one of those bikes, it was a lot of fun and very easy to build up some serious speed on them.. definatly the porsche of the bike world.. and just like many drivers of porsches, I found most roadies to be compleatly full of themselves and I got pretty badly snubbed when they found I came from mountain bikes to road bikes.. to the point where I did not get invited on rides anymore. Attitude alone, mountain bikers are a better bunch to be around.

however, back on topic.. just as nobody here wants to be painted with the same brush that tints the Fast and Furious crowd, I do not want to be lumped in with the "other" bicyclists who feel they own the road.

I ride VERY defensivly and very curiiously. Those two things have kept me out of a LOT of accidents. I tend to do 20+ miles a day in warmer weather, so even one near miss every 100 is a lot of near misses for me.