Fun with cars

Message

Nalian · #1 Unread post by **Nalian** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:43 am

I had my first fun encounter with a car on my bike today. I was on rt 16 heading towards rt 2 when a black mercedes in the lane next to me decided he wanted to be where I was. Literally. He knew I was there as I was next to him at the stoplight, and he tried to pull foward to get between myself and the car in front of me, but there was no room. We had just taken off from the light and the cars were still bunched up. So he decided to just move into my lane anyway and share.

I don't know what sharing class he took, but I wasn't having any of that. I was in the center position in the lane when he started moving which is fortunate - had I been in the left lane I think he would have just flat out hit me. Two quick honks did nothing to deter him and I started to panic....so I punched his car. Apparently that got the message through as he jerked back into his lane. WTF? Unfortunately he took off a different direction so I wasn't able to see his plate or I probably would have pulled over and called the cops.

In retrospect he's probably really lucky that I didn't punch his window - my gloves have gel-padded kevlar knuckles so it didn't even hurt my hand at all. I'm also really lucky that he just didn't continue into my lane anyway, as well.

The adrenaline rush I had going made my commute seem really short, though!

Andrew · #2 Unread post by **Andrew** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:48 am

I've had that happen a few times. Luckily, the horn on most BMWs are so loud they have the desired impact. Even I am shocked by the noise, even when I know it's coming. In some areas, I now ride with my thumb on the horn, just to be ready.

A little scary that he was close enough for you to punch his car.

jstark47 · #3 Unread post by **jstark47** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:06 am

I've upgraded the horn on my bike to 125 db. It's still not loud enough. I want a horn that will make car drivers stop and hide behind trees when necessary.

kellanv · #4 Unread post by **kellanv** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:15 am

I have had something similar to that happen on my bicycle as well. I'm a cyclist and regularly ride around town in traffic etc to get to campus or whatever else.

One time I was making a left hand turn, in the correct turn lane in the middle of the lane itself. I can accelerate on this bike plenty quick for the area. Turn signal turned green, I signaled myself and proceeded to bike into the intersection. Well, the car behind me in the turn lane decided to whip out around me then cut back into my lane in the middle of the intersection. Luckily I caught the mayhem out of the corner of my eye, hit the brake, and she skimmed right by me as I slammed the back window of her SUV with my fist.

Little too close for comfort ANY time you are able to touch a moving vehicle with your hand.

Anyway, glad you made it out safe. Its amazing how many dumb cagers there are out there. Keep an eye out and keep the shiny side up!

CNF2002 · #5 Unread post by **CNF2002** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:20 am

People are just too impatient and selfish...me me me.

SuperRookie · Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:45 am

CNF2002 wrote:People are just too impatient and selfish...me me me.

+1 Preoccupied with and acutely aware of their own presence. Me, me, me. Enough about me. So...what do you think of ME???

oldschoolorange · Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:29 am

did the car dent? I threatened to kill someone the other day because of something like that. Probably wasnt the smartest thing to do but 3 VW's driven by young women all pulled the same crap and I lost it on the third one, who knows maby she will look the next time she is going to change lanes, or maby she will just continue to paint her nails while taking on the cellphone and drive eradicly

Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:43 am

Be careful about hitting windows. I had a young guy follow me to my friends house to complain that I'd damaged his car and that he was going to call the police. I ignored him, went inside and about 15 minutes later a cop was outside reporting to a road rage/hit and run called in by the guy from the car.

I explained the situation to the police officer with the guy interupting every two seconds to say that I was covering my "O Ring". We looked at his car, there wasn't any damage other than a rusted over dent. The cop ended up believing my story and giving the guy a warning to pay more attention in traffic.

Luckily the guy he was a "wimp" and called the cops. If he was a real road rager or a happy go lucky gun carrier who knows where I'd be right now. People are weird... especially in Charlottesville Virginia

kellanv · #9 Unread post by **kellanv** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:57 am

If hitting the window is my only option for not being hit by a 2 ton vehicle, I am not going to worry about a potential run-in with a cop. Just the fact that I COULD hit the window of another car at speed should be a good indicator to a law enforcement officer that "hey, the person in the car wasnt paying attention"

flw · #10 Unread post by **flw** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:06 am

With road rage the situation can only go down. Your 700 lbs against his 3000 or more lbs car or truck. My regular 2WD pickup weighs about 4,000 lbs with a 2,000 lb front end ram on it.

Its a lose, lose proposition. And you'll loose the most no matter how right your are.