Why car drivers get mad

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ok- so I have to preface this by saying that DH and I almost NEVER get honked at or cursed by drivers. We try to be courteous and safe and we stay as far to the right as we safely can under most conditions on the roads and highways. We find almost all drivers are in turn very courteous to us.

Today we were going along the highway on the shoulder to the right of the white line. The shoulder was only wide enough for one bike. The road was only one lane in either direction, with a 55 mile speed limit.

As we're riding along, 3 adult nicely dressed seemingly "weekend" cyclists on hybrid bikes come up fast behind us and proceed to pass us without letting us even know they are coming up on our left. In passing us, they move right out into the main traffic lane. There are CARS going 55mph along that single lane on the highway who then lean heavily on their brakes to avoid hitting the passing bikers who have swerved out into the lane to pass us. There are cars coming in the opposing diection lane, so none of these cars are able to swerve over the double line, mind you. More cars behind us all are slowing down very abruptly, and several cars start honking angrily at the bikers. DH and I are in the middle of this debacle, continuing on the shoulder in single file, embarrassed to be associated with these other 3.

These 3 cylists created a DANGEROUS situation by pulling out into the car lane in front of fast oncoming cars that had nowhere to go to avoid them without slowing extremely abruptly. Why didn't they wait until there was a gap in the traffic to pass us?? We were not going THAT slow that it would have ruined their day to slow down for a few seconds. And why didn't they advise us they were coming up close around us either?

Their actions put everyone in danger- themselves, us, and the car drivers as well who could have become involved in a chain reaction accident.
As several cars jammed on their brakes and honked, the cyclists passed us and got back into the shoulder in front of us and zoomed on down the road, all of them then giving the finger to the honking cars for good measure.

This is what gives all cyclists a bad name and this is the kind of behavior that makes car drivers hate cyclists. I was so mad AND embarrassed to be assumed a part of their pack.

[Zen]

Wow. That would have made me mad too.
I know I would have had something to say to them even if they didn't stick around to hear it.
Fortunately no one was hurt in that episode.

There's no excuse for that except ignorance and/or stupidity.

[Aggie_Ama]

Goodness!! We rarely encounter other cyclists, but when we do we are courteous. Even if cars weren't coming, I am a little jumpy and an unexpected cyclist can really startle me. When I was a newer rider one frightened me and I almost took us both out because I jumped!

I hate when you get unwillingly associated with a bad group of cyclists.

[MM_QFC!]

Lisa - first, I'm glad that you and DH came through it safely and I can't agree with you more...idiots like that reflect badly on all of us.
I've seen suggestions locally (Seattle area) from drivers, actually almost demanding that cyclists be made to pass a test and get a road license, if they want the right to ride on the road, just as with cars. I have to say that a part of me agrees with that thought, although I know that there are plenty of unsafe jerks behind steering wheels as well as on saddles...
Yes, our road laws include bicycles as vehicles, but there are so many who go out on the road and don't follow the most basic safety and road etiquette, never mind the laws...putting so many at risk.
It's a pet peeve of mine too, when my life is endangered out on the road by riders like that...unfortunately, they either can't or won't read alerts and rants like this!
Take care out there,
Mary

[RolliePollie]

Wow, Lisa...I'm glad they didn't cause an accident! It's really a shame when folks like that give us all a bad name. It's also a shame that drivers will be more likely to remember a situation like that and then generalize it to all cyclists. Of course, that's just human nature. I'm sure most drivers have passed tons of courteous cyclists like you and your husband, but they won't remember that. They'll only remember the crazy cyclists who pass when it's not safe and almost cause a huge wreck.

The other night I saw something I couldn't believe. I was riding up the hill through town and a cyclist who was coming down the hill towards me had taken the lane and was completely blocking traffic. The vehicle right behind him was a fully loaded LOGGING TRUCK! Talk about dangerous! Then yesterday in the grocery store parking lot (I was the car driver this time), two guys on mountain bikes came out of nowhere and passed me on the right just as I was about the turn right into a row of parking spaces. I nearly had a heart attack! And I think they did too, because the second guy realized that I'd almost just hit him. Unfortunately they couldn't hear me as I "politely" reminded them that you are not supposed to pass on the right!!!

[Grog]

The other night I saw something I couldn't believe. I was riding up the hill through town and a cyclist who was coming down the hill towards me had taken the lane and was completely blocking traffic. The vehicle right behind him was a fully loaded LOGGING TRUCK! Talk about dangerous!

I do not know your area at all, but I can imagine many, many situations where the cyclist and everyone else will be much safer, going down a hill, if the cyclist takes the lane instead of staying on the shoulder. Why exactly do you describe this situation as dangerous? For whom?

[RolliePollie]

I do not know your area at all, but I can imagine many, many situations where the cyclist and everyone else will be much safer, going down a hill, if the cyclist takes the lane instead of staying on the shoulder. Why exactly do you describe this situation as dangerous? For whom?

I take the lane a lot, and I totally agree with you that many times it is much safer to do so. But in this particular case, the speed limit is 45 and I know the cyclist was probably going 25-30 mph max (cuz that's about how fast I roll down that hill). Just the sight of this cyclist framed by a huge semi truck grill scared me. Maybe it wasn't actually that dangerous, but I know I wouldn't want to make a logging truck driver mad. Plus I worry about big trucks and their ability to brake, especially when they've just come down the mountain. I generally take the lane if I am going close to the speed limit and it is safer for me, but if I'm going a lot slower than the cars and I'm blocking traffic, then I move over. Even if I am going close to or above the speed limit, many times I need to move over to accommodate drivers who are speeding. Most drivers around here seem to despise cyclists as it is, so I don't want to do anything extra to make them mad.

[Starfish]

In passing us, they move right out into the main traffic lane. There are CARS going 55mph along that single lane

If they keep that up, they won't live long enough to make an impression on too many more motorists. I'm so sorry you had that experience!

[Mr. Bloom]

If they keep that up, they won't live long enough to make an impression on too many more motorists. I'm so sorry you had that experience!

Yep, it's a question of how many other folks they jeopardize in the meantime.

I would have told them what I thought on the spot, but then, for a short guy, I'm prone to living vicariously on the edge of my freedom of verbal and manuic expression

[bikerchick68]

that blows! I would've been furious at them too... glad they didn't cause an accident... lucky for them.

[Python]

Why didn't they wait until there was a gap in the traffic to pass us??

For exactly the same reasons that some car drivers do the same - often with tragic results.

People like that are road-hogs and think everyone else should get out of their way. They'll do that until one day and they'll go splat.

[IFjane]

People like that are road-hogs and think everyone else should get out of their way. They'll do that until one day and they'll go splat.

Thinning of the herd...

There is a cycling group in a neighboring county & they have several young (early 20's) men who have joined some of our joint rides. Those young men love to ride down our country roads three abreast & don't care if they block traffic. We finally had to tell them that they could block all the traffic they want in their own county, but not while they are with us. We ride these roads all the time & do not want angry drivers out there. We asked them to ride single file (or no more than two abreast IF they aren't blocking traffic) and said if they can't do that then maybe they had better go back home.

[Susan Otcenas]

As several cars jammed on their brakes and honked, the cyclists passed us and got back into the shoulder in front of us and zoomed on down the road, all of them then giving the finger to the honking cars for good measure.

Someday it may get me in trouble, but I just can't put up with this kind of crap. I believe those of us who care about how we are treated on the road need to be "roll" models. And I think part of that responsibility is educating (sometimes forcibly) those who ride their bikes in a dangerous manner.

Yesterday, I was paused at a red light when a cyclist (wearing headphones, no less) blew past me on my right and totally ran the light. I shouted at him, and when the light turned green, I chased him down and caught him at the next light, where he'd stopped (much bigger intersection). I pulled up along side of him and said "Hey, what do you think you were doing back there?". He refused to acknowledge my presence, staring straight ahead. So, I gave him a piece of my mind. Told him that not only were his actions dangerous to himself, but that that kind of behavior gives all cyclists a bad name and that he should respect the lights. Still staring straight ahead, he proceeds to ask me if I tell motorists the same thing.

Well, as a matter of fact, I do. He, of course, sped off at a furious pace after the light turned green, and I turned right.

I also won't ride with people who ride like boneheads. For the most part, I ride with people who, like me, wear an eyeglass-mounted mirror so that we can be aware of our surroundings and know when it's safe to ride two abreast, and when it isn't. I believe that we must SHARE the road, which doesn't simply mean cars sharing with bikes. It means we cyclists have to learn to share too, even if it sometimes means yielding our right of way to a big truck on a narrow road. Not because the truck is dangerous, but because it's courteous to the truck driver, who 99 times out of a 100 is a hardworking person just doing his job like the rest of us.

I could go on.....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Someday it may get me in trouble, but I just can't put up with this kind of crap. I believe those of us who care about how we are treated on the road need to be "roll" models. And I think part of that responsibility is educating (sometimes forcibly) those who ride their bikes in a dangerous manner.

Yesterday, I was paused at a red light when a cyclist (wearing headphones, no less) blew past me on my right and totally ran the light. I shouted at him, and when the light turned green, I chased him down and caught him at the next light, where he'd stopped (much bigger intersection). I pulled up along side of him and said "Hey, what do you think you were doing back there?". He refused to acknowledge my presence, staring straight ahead. So, I gave him a piece of my mind. Told him that not only were his actions dangerous to himself, but that that kind of behavior gives all cyclists a bad name and that he should respect the lights. Still staring straight ahead, he proceeds to ask me if I tell motorists the same thing.

Well, as a matter of fact, I do. He, of course, sped off at a furious pace after the light turned green, and I turned right.

I also won't ride with people who ride like boneheads. For the most part, I ride with people who, like me, wear an eyeglass-mounted mirror so that we can be aware of our surroundings and know when it's safe to ride two abreast, and when it isn't. I believe that we must SHARE the road, which doesn't simply mean cars sharing with bikes. It means we cyclists have to learn to share too, even if it sometimes means yielding our right of way to a big truck on a narrow road. Not because the truck is dangerous, but because it's courteous to the truck driver, who 99 times out of a 100 is a hardworking person just doing his job like the rest of us.

I could go on.....

Oh Boy I agree with all that! I am always trying to be as courteous as safety allows me to be to drivers. I take the lane immediately if I need it to be safe, but I stay out of their way if I can do so safely. I feel they appreciate my efforts in that I NEVER EVER get honked at or cursed. Drivers give me lots of room and tend to be courteous right back at me (unless they don't see me, that is)
Just today I greeted 3 teenagers on mtn bikes with a friendly Hello and then told them as I rode around them that they were riding on the wrong side of the road.

Your description of what the light-eater said to you about motorists reminded me of a funny interchange at a coffee shop last weekend. I locked my bike up outside a cafe to the backside of a park bench (no racks or trees to be had anywhere) and came in to eat. Some guy sitting by the window in there says to me: "You should lock your bike to a tree." to which I replied there were no trees, nor bike racks either. Then he says: "I can guarantee that nobody around here is going to steal your bike." to which I replied "Are you willing to back that guarantee up with cold hard cash?"....he did not reply.
The guy obviously needed a new hobby.

[Aint Doody]

Zen--I DID walk my bike over the bridge that had that sign. I'm not a lawbreaker. And I guess I shouldn't have mentionned my brother's weight. My reason for doing so was to point out that he isn't exactly an exerciser. I hate having to defend myself here. Good-bye........