Just another anti-cyclist driver

I'm glad you're OK and sorry you had to experience that jerk :/

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Yeah, it happens. Some folks just can't help themselves. I don't let it bother me anymore, they haven't hit me yet.

Sorry for your experience. I have had similar. He saw you and "buzzed" you. What worries me more is those talking, texting, and not paying any attention (and i bet those are on the rise). Thank God you are ok.

This is what I usually think when this happens.

Relaxing song

I'm having to get back up to speed on Adobe After Effects and allowed myself 15 minutes to do this.

Yeah. I always try to focus on the fact that the majority of drivers are not jerks. Even yesterday i noticed a few cars pass me that gave me extra room when passing or just patiently waited to pass me rather than try to squueze by

I have found that the people that buzz me are usually in jacked up pickup trucks. It's a demographic.

Went into the gym the other day and a large "get well soon" poster was out for everyone to sign. One of the members was...you guessed it...hit by a car while biking. Still recovering in the hospital.

It seems like the stories we hear about this and see via threads on BT and ST forums would indicate an exponential rise in these incidents. You gotta blame a rise in distracted driving.

Edited by HaydenHunter 2016-08-30 9:09 AM

I've definitely found a higher percentage of jacked up pickup trucks who don't like cyclists. also, it seems people towing trailers or boats often don't have a clue how long their trailer/boat is because they often don't get far enough past me before they start cutting back in the lane.

There's really fascinating data about all this.
It's worse. Not terribly worse, though. It was WAY worse a decade ago.
It's hard to pin it entirely on texting. In 2014, vehicle/cycle fatalities actually went down. Texting/smart phones didn't just take off in 2015. Further, some states showed not insignificant declines last year. Generally one of the best indicators for all vehicle accidents/etc. (including cycle/vehicle fatalities/accidents) is employment. The more people are employed, the more miles they generally drive. Add in the aggregation of population density to the larger urban centers in most given states. Toss in an increase in recreation cycling...along with in an increase in the average age of recreational cycling.....there's a gazillion factors here at play and it should be WAY worse than it is.


Depending on which numbers
Vehicles/cycle accidents account for ~50,000 reported injuries
Cycle/dog accidents account for ~5000 reported injuries

Being that vehicles are incredibly important to our economy and way of life....and that dogs are completely superfluous to life, we should just put them all down. Well, except for the few legit working dogs. I mean, really. The labradoodle? We complain about genetically engineered corn but will welcome a genetic freak into our home and allow it to slobber all over our children? I'm telling ya....when the machines become aware....they will unleash these hellish beasts upon us.

I think we have to be careful here.....because....I think it can all be very regional. And, I think at the end of the day....it's some sort of genetic thing.
What you're describing is what we call a 'hoosier' here in St. Louis. Nothing to do with Indiana. More of an "urban redneck". I quite often ride in what I've always considered the epicenter of hoosierdom. And frankly, to a person.....they give me the widest berth....wave me on//smile/etc. From there, I climb the hill to the idyllic "uppish-scale" community I grew up in. Screw those people. Entitled jerks . Obviously, not all of them. But, the density of jerks is higher there. I do not like riding there at all. I only do it because it's at the top of a hill and there's good places to go east and north of there.

I really can't find a common thread of the hate that I get. I get it from my oldest brother. I get it from people in BMWs and people in the jacked up trucks....Camaros....minivans. I see no rhyme or reason. Except, the more entitled people feel....whether it's $$$/exclusive entitlement or simply "this is MY road, for MY car" entitlement....that's where it comes from.



Edited by jhaack39 2016-08-30 11:12 AM

Its a general mis-understanding of people driving, they think they own the rode and that cyclists do not belong.

I found myself 2 weeks ago yelling at my father because he was honking and coming too close to a cyclist on the rode. We were at the shore and in no real hurry yet he still did it, it cost us all of about 10 seconds to wait. I let him know how that could easily have been me or his grandson riding and that could have killed that person if they were startled and fell.

That's what's amazing is more often than not it's costing the drivers just a handful of seconds

two other cameras worth noting for biking...

Cycliq FLY 6

and

Rideye

http://www.rideye.com/store/rideye-combo

I have the Rideye, it's pretty decent, but a little difficult to configure via their setup files. But it does work.

Thanks. I have a garmin virb currently for front facing but am definitely looking to add something rear facing. The fly 6 and rideeye are nice just a little pricey. I think an older go pro might be sufficient for rear facing

But....almost the EXACT same thing could be said about us on bikes.

Stop signs. Stop lights. And often a sense of entitlement to "our" part of the road.
And....we all claim we're better than the next guy/gal.

I can say I am better than I was. There are some stop signs I will not even come close to a full stop at. However, I do now slow down significantly at all of them...even for the ones in very familiar residential-y neighborhoods/subdivisions that are the ones I'll roll. There's even a fairly major road back to my house that has a huge wide bike lane.....and I don't use it. Because it's full of jagged detritus from vehicle wrecks and stuff thrown out windows. However, I will judiciously use it if traffic is heavy. But only if traffic is heavy.

So, I'm no great law abiding cyclist. I am WAY WAY better than I was. 3 years ago when I really started cycling. I figure, rolling those low-traffic residential/neighborhood stop signs is my 'gimme' in law breaking. Kinda like speeding is in a car.

We have a lot of a-holes in our midst. And they don't do us any service. I admit to having been one. But, I'm more than convinced that there's some genetic thing that makes some drivers hate cyclists. Sure, there's some people who occasionally gripe....and they often have at least a constructive point.....like "I wish they would just not use this particular road during rush hour for group rides"....and if it stops there....fine.

It's when they get into "they run stop signs all the time, always breaking the law." Of course, not recognizing that they break the law 99% of the time they are driving by speeding.

But, you know for sure they have that anti-cycling gene the second they mention "tight spandex" and "silly shirts". Then you know it's nothing rational. Tight spandex has absolutely ZERO to do with their inconvenience or safety, but it still bugs the crud out of them. Completely irrational. I swear it's a genetic thing. It is not environmental.

I know laws vary from state to state, but I am curious what cyclists can actually do when confronted with a motorist who doesn't want them out there. I was hit in the neck one time by a Bic lighter, that actually left a half inch high welt. I guess it was moving sort of fast coming from a car going 60mph. I have had a pickup pull past me fast, and then repeatedly slam on the brakes in front of me, forcing me to brake. I have been screamed at to get on the %^&*$$% sidewalk in zones of the city where bikes are illegal on the sidewalk. I have even had a car pull up next to me, get closer and closer, as he tried to make up every name in the book to call me, until I had to go up on some guys lawn in order not to be hit.
So...does anyone have experience with actually calling police? Do they act on it? It seems like it would be my word against the driver. But, aren't cars also considered a deadly weapon when used as such? I should say that I try to be careful and stay to the right, and these incidents have happened over probably 15 years. But every time I get on my bike, I still get nervous, because that next guy is out there.....and for what it is worth, I have never had an incident with a woman yelling at me. I almost got smoked by one turning right with no signal, but she didn't yell at me!

I don't think there's anything we can do in the heat of the moment. I've never experienced anything other than being yelled at/sprayed with washer fluid...that kind of thing...or maybe someone not giving me space...and generally I've never been in a maliciously dangerous spot. I think if I found myself in one, I'd let them win. 100%. Save myself from injury or death.

I'm more interested on what we can do to keep people with no real opinion about cyclists on our side. What we can do to keep the people who only would get grouchy if they were "in a hurry" and were inconvenienced by cyclists. People who view cyclists no different than a slow truck/tractor, funeral, etc.

The people that hate cyclists. Hate them. Nothing will change it.

If it were you I would not have yelled It was in OC though

Where is the data on pick-up trucks (jacked up or not) harassing cyclists? I don't own one, but i live in an area where they are very common and I've seen the exact opposite. They move way over while passing. I guess pick-up trucks are just an easy target to stereotype without much back lash. Cheers

exactly why I have my virtual trainer and spend a lot more time riding indoors.

Sad but I've had too many close calls...to detail a few

1. bag of ICE thrown at me while in a pace line
2. truck stopping in front of me deliberately and then the girlfriend passenger harassing me (she rolled up the window when they got stuck at the light)
3. City bus swerving around me on a crappy shoulder to cut in to a bus stop DURING AN ORGANIZED CENTURY RIDE
4. Boat trailer swerving into the shoulder
5. drunk driver cutting me off in a curbed shoulder, ENDO !
6. drunk driver swerving into my shoulder, then 1 mile down the road, crashed head-on into SUV

* the last one, I actually rode up to the car... with the drunk woman still in the seat, pathetically drunk.