Deliberately Cut Off By Car

[ultraviolet]

My worst experiences have usually been with drivers of Jaguars, Hondas and the Toyota Prius. *shrug* I don't think bad/rude/inconsiderate drivers are necessarily drawn to particular brands of cars. It seems to be a pretty diverse group.

[Eden]

I'd guess it has more to do with the predominate make/model of car on the road in your area..... out here you could probably say most incidents are caused by green or silver subaru wagons - just because there are so darn many of them...

[Crankin]

Thanks, I drive a BMW.
Don't make assumptions. I find it's more a certain kind of person who does clueless driving stuff around cyclists. And these people come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and religions. And it all comes down to 3 things: One, drivers don't realize we have the same rights they do; two) they don't realize how fast we can go; and 3) they can't wait 3 seconds.

[Desert Tortoise]

Thanks, Crankin I drive a full size SUV, I especially LOVE slowing down for bicyclist when there is another big vehicle behind and obviously impatient. It is so sweet when that big vehicle cannot go around me, cannot intimidate me with their big vehicle and s/he just has to wait and be nice.

When I drove my small sedan, some of the big vehicle drivers would try to come up close behind me and try to get me to move faster or something. It made me nervouos sometimes, but I wouldn't give in. After driving the Tank (it's what I call our SUV) no more. Of course if the person's behavior was looking dangerous, a different approach.

Big SUVs can be a good thing too...besides having to haul loads from Costco

dt

[marni]

around here in texas it is almost invariably a Ford F150 pickup, usually white, more often than not, jacked up and more often than not driven by a young stud. The gas prices seem to have cut down the SUVs and Hummers but not the pickups.

ah well. I have twice been bumped from behind by cars who were planning to run the yellow light instead of stopping.

The joke around here is that "red is the other color of light you can run."

marni

[m.eliza]

When I drove my small sedan, some of the big vehicle drivers would try to come up close behind me and try to get me to move faster or something.dt

I get this all the time in my car. I guess a Civic coupe with a bike rack on the trunk makes me look "weak" to certain drivers of larger vehicles, so I get tail-gated often. Just yesterday I was driving down a windy back road on my way to the farm with a 2-year-old and a 5-week-old in the back seat (going the speed-limit), and this big truck with a tiny little man in the front seat sat on my bumper until I pulled over to let him pass. Then when I pulled over, he leaned on his horn and waved his hand angrily at me as he zoomed by, as if I was the one being unreasonable.

Fine, threaten to rear-end me if you want to make a point, but if you injure those children in the backseat I wil make the rest of your life hell.

[Owlie]

I drive an Accord, so I get this a lot, especially if I leave the rack on the trunk. It's not always the big vehicles, though. Some crazy lady in a Cobalt tailgated me most of the way up a windy road (I was doing the speed limit) then crossed a double yellow line to pass me.

Strange, the number of people who seem to think that the speed limit is a lower limit.

[jessmarimba]

The people here who are most unsafe to bicycles...are people who are not legally supposed to be driving. Some of them are not able take drivers ed or qualify for a license to begin with and learn laws pertaining to cyclists. Some have had licenses revoked for not following the rules of the road.

So it's almost impossible to tell by what they're driving. But unfortunately, if any of that population hits you...they aren't likely to have insurance, either.

[Megustalaplaya]

When I drove my small sedan, some of the big vehicle drivers would try to come up close behind me and try to get me to move faster or something.

dt

When drivers do this to me I slow down to a snail's pace. It really pisses them off but they do back off my tail.