doc
01-29-2005, 06:51 AM
Here's my recent encounter with a crazy driver:
I'm on a group ride with my LBS. I'm in the middle of about 10 guys riding 2 abreast on a wednesday afternoon. This nut in a gigantic white chevy suburban comes up behind us and starts honking incessantly. No exageration, she must have honked over 20 times. So we politley get in single file and stay real close to the side. She of course decides she must pass us immediately, at a very high rate of speed, over a double yellow line. Of course as she is in the on coming traffic lane a huge truck comes around the corner. Naturally she feels it is much better to quickly side swipe me than hit a truck. I was really lucky because right there the dirt was at the same level as the road. No ditch or anything. I did have the pleasure of riding into a pricker bush, but that sure beats meeting metal or asphalt. Nonetheless, she continues honking and immediately starts passing the rest of us once the truck passes and then pulls into the elementary school parking lot 1/2 mile up the road to park in the "pick up" lane to wait for her darling children. She couldn't wait the 1-2 minutes it would have taken for us to pass the school all together. Risking my life and hers makes much more sense.
One guy from my group pulls into the elementary school to get her license plate number. She jumps out of the car and starts SCREAMING at him. All sorts of bizarre things including we were riding illegally. What? Riding a bicycle on the road is illegal these days? Then she screams she is going to call the police. So he just left and rejoined us.
Here is the worst part. I call the police with her license and car make and model etc. They tell me they can't do anything because there are no witnesses. I said What?? I have 5-10 witnesses. "Sorry, they are not impartial so their input is not helpful" What?? I have to make sure there are impartial observers staggered along all 48 miles of my route to observe if there are crazy drivers because the people I ride with can't be trusted???
Grrrrr. I am burning up. But I can't decide if I'm more mad at the crazy mother who is happy to kill me in order to get to school on time, or the cops who wouldn't even agree to talk to her.
I'm on a group ride with my LBS. I'm in the middle of about 10 guys riding 2 abreast on a wednesday afternoon. This nut in a gigantic white chevy suburban comes up behind us and starts honking incessantly. No exageration, she must have honked over 20 times. So we politley get in single file and stay real close to the side. She of course decides she must pass us immediately, at a very high rate of speed, over a double yellow line. Of course as she is in the on coming traffic lane a huge truck comes around the corner. Naturally she feels it is much better to quickly side swipe me than hit a truck. I was really lucky because right there the dirt was at the same level as the road. No ditch or anything. I did have the pleasure of riding into a pricker bush, but that sure beats meeting metal or asphalt. Nonetheless, she continues honking and immediately starts passing the rest of us once the truck passes and then pulls into the elementary school parking lot 1/2 mile up the road to park in the "pick up" lane to wait for her darling children. She couldn't wait the 1-2 minutes it would have taken for us to pass the school all together. Risking my life and hers makes much more sense.
One guy from my group pulls into the elementary school to get her license plate number. She jumps out of the car and starts SCREAMING at him. All sorts of bizarre things including we were riding illegally. What? Riding a bicycle on the road is illegal these days? Then she screams she is going to call the police. So he just left and rejoined us.
Here is the worst part. I call the police with her license and car make and model etc. They tell me they can't do anything because there are no witnesses. I said What?? I have 5-10 witnesses. "Sorry, they are not impartial so their input is not helpful" What?? I have to make sure there are impartial observers staggered along all 48 miles of my route to observe if there are crazy drivers because the people I ride with can't be trusted???
Grrrrr. I am burning up. But I can't decide if I'm more mad at the crazy mother who is happy to kill me in order to get to school on time, or the cops who wouldn't even agree to talk to her.