Deliberately Cut Off By Car

[jessmarimba]

Ugh.

I really think some people just don't know, either. Don't know how fast bikes can go, don't know how to react with them on the road. Get flustered and do stupid things.

We had an article in the paper here, likely a hit-and-run involving an injured cyclist, and in the midst of all of the bicycle-bashing comments one woman writes in to ask "So if there's a bike in the bike lane, and I need to turn right, what am I supposed to do? Speed up, get in the lane in front of him, and turn? Get ahead of him and turn from my lane?" I wasn't registered to comment, but I wanted to ask what was the matter with slowing down to wait for the cyclist to pass and then turning behind him. She wasn't being snotty, she just honestly had no idea - and it hadn't crossed her mind that slowing down was an option.

[Geonz]

I think a lot of the attitude starts out as just not knowing what to do, and then getting angry at the source of confusion, more than the "I shoudln't have to slow down for three seconds!"

But... lots of them sincerely believe we should keep our little toys on the sidewalk. I gave the boy who pulled his big pickup out in front of me on our city street a horn blast, and he stopped and rolled down his window to inform me that he had seen me... and "You had plenty of time!" Of course, I had the right of way -- having time to stop without hitting him wasn't the question... but he went on to inform me (while driving, now) that I should be in the bike lanes -- that aren't there. Then we *got* to bike lanes and he pointed to them and told me that's where I should be riding...

[goldfinch]

I have violent fantasies. I imagine middle age women vigilantes shooting out tires of careless and reckless motorists.

I used to walk to work. Over the years I had a few near misses with cars. Most of the time it was cars pulling up to an intersection, the driver would look left before making a right turn. They did not think to look right to see if a pedestrian might be crossing in front of them. I was almost hit a couple of times by these kind of drivers. I'd imagine a baseball bat connecting with the hood of their car.

The worst was once when I was crossing a quiet avenue while walking parallel to a busy state. A car on the busy street cut in front of me while I was crossing the avenue. He yelled at me to get out of the way. I was pumped and yelled a variety of obscenities back. In retrospect, a dangerous behavior on my part. But yet satisfying.

[Eden]

*A lot* of drivers have no clue what the laws actually are. I was crossing the street (on foot) just last weekend at an intersection and was screamed at to cross in a crosswalk, by someone who did not want to stop - they nearly ran me down..... In this state *any* place where two roads come together is a crosswalk - painted with white lines or not and cars have to yield.....

It really cheezes me off is that person was willing to actually threaten me with their vehicle (by not slowing down while I was practically right in front of them). Even *if* I had been jaywalking, they still have no right to run me down.

[zoom-zoom]

I have violent fantasies. I imagine middle age women vigilantes shooting out tires of careless and reckless motorists.

I used to walk to work. Over the years I had a few near misses with cars. Most of the time it was cars pulling up to an intersection, the driver would look left before making a right turn. They did not think to look right to see if a pedestrian might be crossing in front of them. I was almost hit a couple of times by these kind of drivers. I'd imagine a baseball bat connecting with the hood of their car.

A friend of mine who doesn't bike, but has a friend who does tells a story that I will never forget. Apparently the cyclist had a car from a perpendicular street run a stop...the cyclist somehow had the coordination/skill to unclip and run over the driver's hood...leaving DEEP and long gouges in the paint from her cleats. Of course the driver couldn't say anything, since he/she was totally at fault and knew it.

I fantasize about having the ability to react like that.