Jerk!

We were on our way home, going along at 20-22 in the drops. A car at a T intersection, turning left in front of us, decided to pull out when we were about 5 yards away from the intersection. He saw us - clear day, windows down, looking right at us, but didn't care. Jerk! I was afraid of crashing into DH as we jumped on the breaks - my sweetie gave this guy a piece of his mind, only to get a F-off back :eek: Lovely.

That got the heart jumping a bit - but thank goodness we didn't plow into or under him.

Oh, I'm so sorry you had that experience. :eek: I have to admit that is the kind of thing that threatens my serenity for hours! It is upsetting, and I admit the kind of thing that can make me spend time daydreaming about alternate scenarios (the driver smacks into a wall while saying his FU, etc, :o , OK not proud, but, oh well).

I seriously wonder sometimes - when I read an encounter like this - if these car drivers who choose to ignore or drive on despite/in spite of us have actually thought ahead to what happens after they have "shown us" or "taught us a lesson"???

Have they actually contemplated what happens when a huge chunk of metal powered by many horses taps or bumps lightly (let alone smashes into) a small bit of metal powered by one person???

Do they consider what might happen AFTER they have cut us off, made us crash into the curb or made us disappear beneath the bonnet?

I'm sure they swerve for cats and dogs... why do they gun for cyclists?

In the words of johnny farnham (I think) "We're all someone's daughter, we're all someone's son"

Pleased you escaped this encounter unscathed Nokomis!

Rave -at-a-loss- Raven

I know there are LOTS of jerks on the road but, thankfully, I don't usually run into all that many. Today I did. I was on my way into work, coming up to a 4 way stop intersection, when this guy in his bad a** souped up car (loud mufflers and all) stopped at the stop sign to my right. I stopped to let him go, and even waived him on, but he didn't move. So I started to go through the intersection and he starts to move. He does this stop and start thing 3 times, I am sure just having a huge laugh, and I finally ride through. Shortly after, he pulled up next to me, rolled down his passanger window and says "hey lady, you're supposed to stop at the stop signs." I ignored him but he kept driving right along side of me and saying stuff like "what about it lady?" I was really getting scared. I thought of turning onto a sidestreet but I didn't want to end up in a place with nobody around so I just pulled up a driveway and stopped. He stopped in the road for a few seconds then drove away. This really shook me up. I deal with Jerks on a regular basis but not under these circumstances. I didn't even get his license plate:mad:

Bastard had nothing better to do but harass people on the street. Put him out of your head and don't waste any more time thinking about it.:mad:

www.publicdata.com

25.00 a year for license plate lookups - then you can send those folks a nice letter outlining the laws in your state re cyclists rights to the road.

:)

Just the fact that YOU knew where to find them may be enough to chill em out the next time they see a bike.

We keep a little book at our local cycle club and make a note of driver details when dangerous or aggressive drivers have a go. ( We let the police know if it was a particularly serious incident) We all are getting pretty good at remembering license numbers. Failing that a mobile phone or a pad and a pen handy on a ride are great too. I think its good for a driver to see you noting their plate number - should make them think twice.