Cyclists: Ever have weird encounters with motorists?

[Navarone]

He replied "I was going to stop and help you but then you called me a fucking waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles. FUCK YOU!"

Fuck no he wasn't going to stop and help!! A road is 12 feet wide, so if he's in the last 3 feet then the fucking piece of shit driver swerved to hit him. What a worthless piece of crap.

[Hooffenstein HD]

Don't call people waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffless. You'll get hit by cars and then beat up.

Did he at least get the plate number?

[Codym42]

Wow, these are some crazy stories. I'm probably not going to ride as much anymore.

To those saying not to ride on sidewalks, 95% of students with bicycles ride on the sidewalk. I'm not saying its right, its just how things are. In my opinion, its much safer. With that said, I try not to piss people off. I don't just haul ass without paying attention. I take caution when crossing intersections and usually make sure that drivers makes eye contact with me so that I know they saw me coming. Since this was at night I couldn't do that. Its really a shame that there aren't more bike lanes. There are only a few on my campus and most of them end before the road ends.

After reading all of these stories I wonder what the hell is wrong with people. I don't understand the aggression towards cyclists. Yes, some cyclists need to obey traffic laws and things like that but a lot of these stories involved some crazy person taking out his aggression for no reason.

[myinfernalbmw]

The laws of physics will always supersede the traffic laws. That is the main reason I not only do not understand some bicyclists, but really fucking hate the ones that ride with a chip on their shoulders. It's like they have zero concern for self preservation. Oh, and you don't get to blow through controlled intersections just because you're on a fucking bike. I respect cyclists that are utilizing a bike lane or are following the traffic laws. When I see fuckwits riding like a hoon, I want to see road rash and shredded spandex.

On a lighter note, one of my buddies told me about a time he was riding home from work one night. He was off at about 11 PM and was about a block away from home in a residential neighborhood. As he approached a 4 way intersection he saw headlights coming from his left, which had a yield sign. He assumed that since he had the right of way (as well as lights and a reflective riding shirt) that the guy would see him and stop. He made it through all but about 3 feet of the intersection when the car clipped the rear tire of his bicycle which flung him around on the ground and left him tangled and bleeding. He was fortunate enough to only get a scraped up arm and leg at this point. He yelled "You just hit me with your fucking car you fucking fa ggot!" The guy started to pull away then slammed on his brakes, got out of his car and walked up and punched my buddy in the face. He replied "I was going to stop and help you but then you called me a fucking fa ggot. FUCK YOU!" then drove off. Not only did he get hit by a car, but he then got beat up.

Don't call people waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffless. You'll get hit by cars and then beat up.

[Stanley Rockafella]

I don't ride bikes particularly for this reason. People are crazy as hell where I live. Bunch of soccer moms driving around texting each other about brushed silver picture frames at target or some such bullshit.

SIG WORTHY!

[Stanley Rockafella]

if the roads are so dangerous for bikers and boarders, why are they on it?

I don't mean to be a dick by saying this but when I had my scooter, I knew it was only a matter of time until I had an accident or a run in with a car that I finally said "that's it" and sold the scooter and bought a car for daily commuting. Far too many texting/drunk/ditzy drivers to put my health and well being into their hands.

If being "right" means I have to end up in a wheelchair, Id rather suck it up and get a car to commute with and use my bike/scooter as a recreation vehicle

[z31maniac]

People just like to mess with cyclists, not really sure why.

Because they don't follow the proper traffic laws?

[rturbo 930]

Well you really shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk. Bicycles are a vehicle and as such they are required to obey traffic laws.

When I was in college and used an old bmx bike to get around, I mostly rode on sidewalks. More often than not, there was no one on them or there was room for me to ride with people walking, and there's no distracted drivers on the sidewalk either, generally. I was definitely not the only one who rode on the sidewalks either.

I'm not a road biker though, and for good reason. Anytime I see a biker out on a 45mph+ road with no road margin to speak of, I just think they're nuts. Regardless of the fact they're allowed to be there, no way in hell would I trust the general public not to hit me on a road like that (or any road to be honest). It's for that same reason I won't get a motorcycle.

[acolella76]

I don't ride bikes particularly for this reason. People are crazy as hell where I live. Bunch of soccer moms driving around texting each other about brushed silver picture frames at target or some such bullshit.

One time when I was like 13 or 14 I was skating home with a couple of friends and we were skating down the left lane of my neighborhood sort of near the front. I hear a car pull in and of course think nothing of it, but it slows down and pulls into the lane we were in (almost hitting us) and we saw the barrel of a paintball gun sticking out of the window. The punk bitch pressed it right up against my rib cage and popped me 4 times. 10 stitches and a bruised rib. Pretty sure the paintballs were frozen. The car, couldn't tell what it was since it was pretty dark, drove off and turned around for another run but me and the homies ducked off into some shrubbery. It looked like a bunch of kids that were in high school at the time. Fuck those guys.

So because of this I usually try to treat cyclists with respect, but man sometimes it gets tough. Some of the local bikers like to take up the entire lane of a two lane road in the middle of rush hour. I get why they do it but it is infuriating when I'm trying to get to work on time.

[Navarone]

Cyclists: Ever have weird encounters with motorists?

I was involved in a situation while skateboarding...

What the fuck is wrong with people?!

I was skating home on my dead end residential street in the right half of my lane where it was recently paved for a water main install and it was the only smooth part. No sidewalks. Some asshat in a dark blue MKIV mustang pulls up on my ass honking and shit instead of just going around like a normal person, and since I'm about 14 and innocent I stop to see what's up. He's all pissed I'm in the lane and starts asking where I live to tell my parents etc and I tell him go around, this is the only smooth part to skate on. He's all "oh show me where you were skating, go ride like you were" then goes to get in his car like he's going to run me down. This is a neighbor that I know where he lives!! What the actual fuck?!

[DEV0 E30]

The longer you ride a bicycle or motorcycle the more situations, potentially bad or other will happen. There isn't always a good outcome, you just have to be extremely aggressive and be aware of everything. People make mistakes but yes, the people who go out of their way to be a dick to bike riders are the ones that should be castrated.

I used to ride bicycle to work, and yeah plenty of drivers do stupid things that could be bad for someone on a bike. Honking or yelling at 5AM at you when you don't have a sidewalk, and the road is a 45MPH road (which means people go 60+) is definitely a hair raising time, especially when they do it right at a bridge. Normally it's dumb teenagers, but adults can be just as bad. Having someone shoot something at you, or in my opinion even show any aggression to someone on a bike is one of the most cowardice things to do. In a situation like that, I'd be sure to get the make, model, and license plate of the car. Then file a police report, hell, I'd say I thought I saw a real gun. They'll never do that again.

[jdt10768]

lived in Alabama a while back, and some redneck arse-hole threw a beer bottle at me while I was riding alone out in the middle of nowhere. It hit the pavement just below my bottom bracket, but could have been bad if it had hit me

people who don't ride just have no clue. be careful out there

[cwatt]

I was involved in a situation while skateboarding home from university. I was on University Ave in a small city, skating in the lane with parked cars. There was an open lane to my left. I had my earbuds in and heard someone honk. I turned around and saw a car about two feet behind me - straddling both lanes. They then pulled out into the open lane beside me, rolled down the passenger side window, shouted at me, and then flicked a cigarette at me. I hadn't even said anything until this point. I didn't even know what was going on.

The car then accelerated, pulled ahead of me, and slammed on the brakes. I managed to avoid them, and then they accelerated off. I met up to them at a traffic light and I'm going to stop writing. I will say, it's useful to have a skateboard.

[Dozyproductions]

I always yell out to bikers how fast they're going when it looks like they're hoonin. I dunno if you guys like that or not.

[Navarone]

When I was about 10 some guys in a white mustang foxbody pulled up to me asking for directions to aosdfiasdmf and then hit me with a super soaker. That's as bad as it's been for me.

I don't take shit from cars, I ride hard knowing I'll potentially be killed by some idiot not paying attention, or some asshole trying to hit me. I stay as far away as possible.

Some asshats at Bike Party like to cause shit and breed a stupid mob mentality where they block cars and shit. Having the right of way and standing up for it is one thing, I support that, but they also pound on hoods and rid off like little bitches when they were blocking cars to begin with.

Fuck being right if it means you become a pancake.