The pickup that almost took me out today

[DebW]

All this talk about idiot motorist lately and I was thinking how lucky I am that my commute is pretty tame and the drivers are generally courteous. Not so on my way home tonight. I'm going down the one big hill on my commute, doing around 25 mph (where the speed limit is 30) using the center of the lane because the right side is too bumpy, when a car comes up behind me and passes in the other lane. That's fine, but there's a pickup truck behind that car which starts passing me also. The pickup starts in the far lane like the first courteous driver, but as he pulls even with me, he starts to cut back over and squeeze me to the right. I move to the right side of the road but he doesn't stop squeezing me. He pushes me down to the last 2 feet of pavement, and then there was a square grate in the road sunken 4 inches below the pavement that I'm rapidly approaching. If I hit that hole at my current speed I'd either wipe out or badly damage my rims. Luckily there was a thin strip of non-sunken pavement between the grate hole and the edge of the road which I managed to thread the bike through. By then the idiot in the pickup had gotten ahead of me so I could pull back over onto the road. I just coasted down the rest of the hill shaking my head. There was a woman behind me in another pickup who pulled next to me at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill and yelled out here window "He tried to take you out! What a jerk!"

[chickwhorips]

wow my heart rate sped up just reading that. glad your ok.

at least someone else noticed what he did.

someone needs to kick these idiots in the shin!

[Imperfectstorm]

I ride on occassion from Natick to Sudbury, there are a few tricky spots.
You should have a cell/camera phone in your back pocket and call 911 if that happens again.

[DebW]

I ride on occassion from Natick to Sudbury, there are a few tricky spots.
You should have a cell/camera phone in your back pocket and call 911 if that happens again.

I was on Bedford Rd. in Lincoln, coming south down the hill in front of the library. I have a cell phone/non-camera, but by the time I could take my eyes off the road, the pickup was too far away to get a license or ever a decent picture. Maybe a quick call to the police could have caught him down the road, but I only had a vague id on the truck and not even a glimpse of the driver. Too busy trying to survive the incident to worry about anything else at that moment.

[KnottedYet]

Whoa, nasty!

Thank goodness you have great bike handling skills, and were able to ride onto that little strip!

(what would we do without our TE mechanic guru? Ride safe, we need you!)

[DDH]

Can you take down a license plate and report these people. Thats some scary stuff. I mean inconsiderence is one thing, but this was deliberate.

[DebW]

Whoa, nasty!

Thank goodness you have great bike handling skills, and were able to ride onto that little strip!

(what would we do without our TE mechanic guru? Ride safe, we need you!)

Thanks. It's nice to be needed.

[Geonz]

Yea, especially with a witness... that's reckless endangerment or assault or both, said the not-a-lawyer. I'm shaking with you... wonder if his license plate was covered with strategic mud...

... hmmm... I k now there are helmet mounted cameras... I also know some bookstores that have $10 faux cameras so it just *looks* like they're taking your picture...

[RoadRaven]

Its a shame the woman in the car behind didn't use her initiative and take down the plate.

A training partner of mine was in court last Friday - took a truck-driver to court for over-taking a car directly into the oncoming lane she and her friends were cycling - she had a choice - get run over, or crash deliberately into the verge. She chose to crash.

Fortunately, the car-driver that was being passed was willing to be witness.

The judge has reserved judgement til September.

Deb, I am so pleased he was unsuccessful in whatever his intentions were and the Cycling Goddess was watching over you.

[Denise223]

Deb:

I am so sorry that that happened to you !!! I am very relieved to hear that physically you are okay and were able to write your own report of what happened on the forum, rather than someone else writing it for you!

We were riding on Lincoln Road this afternoon making our way to Trapelo around 4pm. (road conditions in & around that area are not great).

It would have been nice if someone had seen the incident & taken down the plate # of that jerk.

Originally posted by DebW: Maybe a quick call to the police could have caught him down the road, but I only had a vague id on the truck and not even a glimpse of the driver. Too busy trying to survive the incident to worry about anything else at that moment.

Just too scary!

Have a peaceful weekend!

Denise

[mimitabby]

Just heard another interesting story about a bike/car incident.
a bike got thrown over someone's hood.
There was a cop there watching..
(you're going to hate this story because i dont know the ending)
the woman in the car said to the cop, my husband is a cop.
SO the cop did not write her up.
HOWEVER, the bike rider did not mention that HIS son was a prosecuting attorney. The son tracked the correct cop down (!!!) so perhaps
the lady will get a citation and so will the cop!!!!

[Tater]

Glad to hear that you came out of that situation unhurt! How scary.

[Crankin]

Sorry to hear about your close call. I've only ridden on that road once, in a charity ride, but it is very close to places where i ride. I wonder why some people get so angry at cyclists... my husband has this happen (along with angry words) every once in awhile on Rt. 27 when he is commuting to Natick. Not so much lately, but still. It's always guys in pick ups.

[spokewench]

It always seems like it is a redneck in a pickup, usually the lifted pickups that you have to fall out of to get out the door. Every tried to get in a pickup like that in a tight dress? Oh well, I digress

We have a stretch of about 7 miles of really narrow road till you get out to our premier road riding area in Flagstaff here. I have been trying valiantly to get the Forest Service, National Highway Admin and City to come together with the money to widen the road, but I'm sure it is 10-20 years down the road! anyway, I don't know how many times I've been squeezed really hard and run off the road, also had people passing right in my face (now that is scary)! Lots of my friends have problems with this too. Some of the worst are local rednecks in trucks and the others are the tourists who come up from the south to get out of the heat and just don't have a brain in their heads (with their rvs, and 4 wheelers in trailers)!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was hit by a drunk driver (who then ran). Thankfully, they found the drunk at home after he had stopped for more beer! Luckily, the friend is doing okay (at least he is alive), broken ankle, messed up shoulder, lots of road rash and cracked vertebra! I just don't know what is wrong with people in cars. They just don't take any responsibility for their inattention or lack of courtesy and or lack of reason when they drive!

[massbikebabe]

Deb;

Sorry you had to go thru that!!! Sometimes people are just jerks. My son got hit by a car here in Worcester about a month or so ago. He is fine, just got a big ole rasberry on his arse, and some minor scraping on his bike. The driver who hit him was VERY elderly and was so shook up my son had to get up off the ground and assist him. When the police came my son told the officer that he was at fault so the old guy wouldn't get in trouble. I don't know if that is good or bad but my son was very shook-up watching this poor old man cry.
We just lost my father so I am sure that had someting to do with Conor's response to the situation. My hubby tells me that he has been harrassed more so than not while riding lately. I think our society needs to cut down on caffeine!!

karen