My First Angry Driver Encounter
Lighten up, Francis
I often read about cyclists being on the receiving end of the angry drivers wrath but until the other day I had never had such an experience. My cycling virginity is no longer in tact.
Yes, I had my very first angry driver encounter and get this – we were not on a street with heavy traffic, we were not an an arterial (like Spring Valley or Coit or Northwest Highway), no, we were riding on a residential street in a small neighborhood. It’s not like we were impeding traffic for cryin’ out loud, there was no traffic to impede in the first place. And for that matter we were doing all the things you’re supposed to do when you “take a lane”. Sheesh.
So Mr. Angry Driver pulls up behind us and was not there for very long before he sounded off the horn, rolled down his window and started yammering, “get off the street!!!” as he passed us by in a huff. We smiled and waved.
Peace be upon you, bro!
He didn’t go Clyde Barrow on us or anything like that, no shots were fired, no one got hurt. In fact there was not a hint of road rage, this was a simple case of road stupid. And an utter lack of manners for that matter.
I didn’t have the opportunity to illuminate the laws regarding a bicycle on the road, he drove off too quickly. But this got me to thinking maybe we should do a contest or something to see who has the craziest Angry Driver story.
Oh well, we still had a great ride.
Got a crazy driver story?
- Chris
I never received harassment from motorists in my three years of daily bike commuting across the Mid Cities from Ft Worth to Irving. A three day visit to the bike friendly city of Austin, TX, however, netted a good two to four angry shouts and thrown objects each day, however. Not fun.
Three incidents. All with the same driver. Recounted in the website link. There have been other jerks, but those were the only times I actually felt in danger. I never did get the license number and I now have a different commute destination.
I’ve been riding in the North Dallas/Addison area for about 5 years now, including occasional commutes to work, and I haven’t yet had an angry driver encounter. What I do get from time to time are drivers and their passengers, apparently teenagers, who get a kick out of yelling at me as they pass by. I can never make out what they might be saying, but I don’t sense anger so much as the hope that they will see me freak out and crash into something. Yeah, that would be funny. Normally it’s just annoying, but I could see how things like that could turn off beginners who may be skittish.
Welcome to the real world. This veteran Detroit cyclist (over 20 years) has seen every kind of ignorant motorist that exists. An angry shout out is never unexpected. Being a big guy (6’6″) I always looked forward to catching up to these jerks at red lights. When I have, they’ve cowered like dogs with their undersides exposed. There’s something about zipping by enclosed in steel and glass at high speed that brings out the boldness in otherwise cowardly men. (Why are these drive-by shouters never women?) Are road cyclists so rare in Dallas that they provoke more surprise than ire from motorists?
Richard, that is a very funny story. I have yet to ride a bike in Austin but it’s on my list of things to do.
Peter, lots of roadies here in Dallas and now I’m curious about the lack of angry women drivers. I don’t recall anyone ever talking about a female driver giving them hell.
Well I feel like I have now joined some exclusive club. We need a membership card or lapel pin to show off our membership.
Chris
Chris, we need to plan a trip to the NAHBS in Feb, and get a ride in whie we are down there.
I have had more than one run in with road owning fools, and I must be the exception, because I have been shouted at by a woman driver. I was on Avenue K, not far from my house, when I was startled by someone laying on the horn behind me. When the person pulled around me (which took a few minutes, because I am FAST), it was an obese woman in a crappy old maroon Pontiac. She passed close to me, and she went so far as to roll her passenger window down and shout something at me as she went by. When I we both ended up at the red light together, I took the liberty of telling her exactly what I thought of her, in my best sailor lingo.
I have had a few people shout at me to get off the roads, but I have alos had people who run good interference for me – there is a guy who drives behind me on the busiest street that I have to ride on.
For the most part I have avoided the angry motorist while riding in Dallas. Only a few years ago, teenagers would yell out “Go Lance” – mostly in good fun I suppose. But my motorist story occoured not while riding, but rather going for a run. In a quiet N. Dallas neighborhood, I had a woman pull up to me and tell me I should run on the other side of the road for my safety. She was concerned because her elderly father drives in the neighborhood and she did not want him to hit me!
-CL
Steve your OU story reminded me to not ride downtown during an OU weekend.
Justin, a road trip to Austin sounds good to me. We can blog live from the event! Seriously…
I get yelled at sometimes 2 or 3 times a week riding from Oak Cliff to Irving. I hate it but every time that angry guys gets to yell at more than one of us, or just sees more of us to yell at I smile because eventually he will be out numbered.
Jonathan, are you riding on any of the trails in Irving yet? I have heard they are building quite a system there but I have yet to check it out myself.
At first I thought I had never really had any serious incidents with automobiles. Then I remembered an incident early this fall – I was cycling with two of Dallas’ better-known cyclists down Illinois Avenue headed out to the open spaces. This crazed person in a beat up old van weaved in front of us, slammed on her brakes and started yelling. One of my buddies instantly recognized her as the Crazy Cat Lady from the Simpsons and kept going. The other one stopped to see if she was okay and I stopped along with him. The good news is that she didn’t have any cats handy to throw at us. The bad news is that she started yelling at us about needing lights…even though it was about 9am and sunny. The discussion got heated quickly but we were able to escape without further incident.
So if you are riding in the OC, and it looks like the Crazy Cat Lady is after you in her old van…she probably is. Ride fast. The “Watch for Motorcycles” bumper stickers on the van are just for show.
Peace.
I have been bike commuting for a couple of years now between Arlington and Dallas (to connect to DART) and have had a few angry driver moments. Being yelled at hardly registers as an event any more, it happens once or twice a week, as well as being honked at frequently (seems like mostly as a prank).
I have had two eggs thrown at me (both missed), and two full water bottles thrown at me (one missed and one left a bruise on my thigh).
I once had a lady pull up next to me in broad daylight, pace me, and start yelling that she couldn’t see me. I let her know she sure could see me well enough to stop and yell, I then gave her a one fingered salute before she sped off.
I was hit by the passenger side mirror of a passing car once. They did not stop. There was not any oncoming traffic. The guy behind the hit and run driver gave chase before coming back to see if I was alright. I was OK, somehow I manged to stay upright and did not crash, possibly since the mirror shattered and was not a solid object.
However, most people give me plenty of room and are quite courteous.
I’ve had none to speak of. However, I find myself having these encounters in my mind all the time.
The most common fantasy scenario is where I invite the driver to meet me at the DMV the following morning to see who is right about the law. Lately I’ve been adding a bet to this fantasy: If I’m wrong, he gets to keep my bike. If I’m right, I get to keep his car.
And it’s always a male.
Why do I feel like I should be on a therapist’s couch right now?
Ted, when I expressed fantasies like that to my therapist they prescribed medication. Maybe you’ll have better luck with yours :-) Then again, if your fantasy came true you’d end up owning quite a few cars.
I’ve been commuting for about 15 years with 4 of those in Central London and the rest here in Dallas. I haven’t had any incidents in Dallas, but I had quite a few in London. I was hit by a car 3 different times. Luckily the traffic in central London is so slow that cars aren’t going fast enough for it to be life threatening.
For one of the incidents I was in a designated bike lane crossing an intersection with a green light and a cabbie cut in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and slid, but still went up on his hood. He got out and starting having a go at me saying I was in the wrong. I asked him if he wanted to go to the internet cafe next to us and I would show him the UK Driver’s Code that proved he was full of $hit. Coming from an American, that did not go over well. We were starting to draw a crowd and he had a client in his cab so he yelled some more and then left.
My most memorable incident was when I was riding on a 2 lane street and a car in the right lane (UK) going the same speed as me started to come over into my lane. He had no idea I was there and got so close that I knocked on his window to let him know. We were going about 20mph at the time. I am guessing the guy was at the pub all afternoon and his favorite football team lost because he flipped out. He sped up then cut in front of me while stopping to pin me against the curb. I stopped and he started to get out of the car. I was wearing cycling shoes which might as well been ice skates on the pavement. I would have been screwed trying to defend myself. I maneuvered my bike between the curb and his bumper and took off. He came around his car and started running after me. We were next to Hyde Park so there were loads of tourists watching the whole thing. It wasn’t funny at the time, but I laugh now to think there might be quite a few family summer vacation photos of a 40 y.o., beer-bellied, swearing drunk trying to run after me (he went a good 40 yds) while I gave him the finger.
Do pedestrians count?
-H
I bet they do.
I haven’t had a lot of trouble, but I ride sporadically and in well-known areas. I used to commute from my apartment to TWU in Denton, and I did run into some real idiots up there. Mostly dumb students who didn’t know any better, to be honest.
I commuted to work by bicycle for a couple of months in the Lewisville area, and the worst I encountered were some stupid teenagers who thought it would be a good idea to blow a foghorn in my ear as they passed. There were a lot of children biking to and from school in that area, so I have a feeling this was a regular occurrence. They had this really dopey look when instead of falling over, I didn’t even swerve and flipped them the bird as they drove off. :P
Other than stupid kids, the worst I’ve encountered is ignorant people doing things that put me in danger, such as passing too close, passing on the left to turn right when I’m about to pull through an intersection, or failing to give me the right-of-way at stop lights, etc. Fun fact: the people who do this sort of thing are almost always middle aged white men driving expensive cars.