Traffic confrontation escalated, what would you have done?

jhuskey

My mistake as the law does read practical, not possible, and a crazed driver will not point. They will aim shoot and drive off.
I actually helped write the cycling passing law in my state, but I don't always proof read my internet posts for accurate content.

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Yojimbo_

s2cuts...

Here is a quote from your original post:

"BTW, I make no apologies for my actions."

Perhaps it is you who should read what you wrote.

In any event, there is no excuse for spitting on someone. Children do that, but they grow out of it by about 7 or 8 years old.

s2cuts

LOL, is that the best you can come up with? Yes, you're right, I didn't and I don't apologize, but I did say I accepted some responsibility, which is what you accused me of not doing. What about the rest of your BS assertions??

Yojimbo, you've made about 500 posts on this forum, and if your contribution here in any way represents the rest of your posts, I would say to you... stop posting dude! The best you can come up with is ad hominem attacks when you can't properly argue your position. Your a sad sad man.

alienator

Well, you've got a whopping 7 posts, and the only thing you've been able to do is recount a story in which your actions might have encouraged someone to hate cyclists even more....oh, and you've managed to get in people's faces here.

Other than allowing you to puff up your chest and feel all proud as a fit ex-wrestler, your response to the driver did absolutely nothing to help cyclists or yourself. In fact, just about every school of rational thought says that what you did was absolutely stupid. Road rage? Well, it's often precipitated by things like your actions. Like any war, it doesn't really matter who started it and who was right or wrong in the beginning. All that matters is that a couple of idiots refused to do the smart thing, the rational thing. Two idiots didn't have the spine to show a little character.

Congratulations, fuckwad.

BTW, take your own advice, and stop posting.

s2cuts

In life, shit happens. When, as in my situation, someone purposely puts your life at risk, you have a choice to make. Stand up for yourself, or take in the ass. Some of you have made your position entirely too clear.

I wish some of you cowards would have the balls to stand up to drivers, with the same vigor you've rebutted me. But alas, a keyboard is safe. I think much of the backlash stems from a fundamental fear of drivers, and the possibility of having to confront them.

How dare I stand up for myself. How dare I spit at a person who could have easily ran me off the road, killed me, and still made it home in time to catch the end of the game. Your outrage at my actions is ridiculous.

Edit: Re-read the title of this thread. Now, resist your temptation to call me an "idiot" or "fuckwad", and contribute to the conversation.

kdelong

Oh boy, this is going to get interesting!

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alienator

Wow. You are one of those heroes that Reader's Digest talks about. How humbling it is to stand in the brilliance of your light. FYI, if you don't like the fact that others don't consider you a hero, a lean mean fighting machine, a veritible Sgt. Rock, his pockets festooned with loaded clips, and his M-16 switched to rock-n-roll, maybe you should go to another website where others will write songs of your glory.

Of course, those of us live in the real world, that aren't yeasty twats, like you, with legs and mouth realize that what you did was the textbook definition of stupid given that you had no idea who was in that car, what he was packin' under the seat. Moreover your "heroics" did nothing but likely make things worse for some other cyclist. Yup. You didn't stop and think for a single picosecond about what the consequences might be for someone else down the road. Way to go!



Christ. You stood up? You oozing pussy, all you did was spit on a window like some prepubescent acne ridden 11 year old. Wow. I'll give you this, though: you'd be the hero to many 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Wow. You can spit. FYI, you didn't die. The driver didn't kill you, although if he had, we might feel sorrowful for you and what consititutes a family in your holler, instead of laughing at you as people are now.



Outrage? Where did you read that? Now you're really getting a bit too dramatic, Liza. On top of all that, you apparently have no reading comprehension skills at all. It's not outrage. I'm ridiculing you. I mean, you are quality comic fodder.



You have contributed oh so much in your ever so short stay here. Really. I'm hope you commend yourself quite hardily tonight when your top is having his way with your rectum. Hell, I bet if you tell Butch about your heroics, tonight as he's bangin' away at your man-pussy, he just might give you the reach around of your life.

Unlike you, realistic and thoughtful people realize that there is nothing to be gained from your cartoonish, melodramatic, yet effeminate flailing at the roadside. The majority of other riders know that in such cases nothing gets accomplished except for someone looking like a peevish prat.....that would be you. You might want to read up on this thing called "road rage." See, your actions fall under that term. Then you should read about all the social benefits that road rage has brought to our society.

Scotty_Dog

(snipped for brevity)

Bravo! Thanks for taking the time to tell this asshole exactly what I was thinking, but have been too busy to do it myself.

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Pendejo

I think we have a hung jury here (not to brag, or anything). I may not agree with S2's lunger, but I'll fight to the death to defend his right to hack it. Here's my legal reasoning. If someone in a car intentionally endangers my life, it is mere chance that decides if I live or die. If I live I have the right to be just as pissed off as if I had died (and could somehow know that I did). So we are talking maxi-pissed. Morally, the perp deserves, at least, serious injury. It's up to me to do my own risk/benefit analysis to decide if I want to try to administer that. I've been in that sort of situation a few times, but was never able to catch the alleged offending vehicle. If I had, instead of spitting (which inflicts no harm) I would have kicked a dent in his ride.

Sure, I incur a risk by doing so. But that's a personal choice. To my way of thinking, the assholes in this world are emboldened by the fact that few "rational" people are willing to run such risks.

Yojimbo_

s2cuts....

I'm afraid I can't add anything more to what Alienator has already said, and he said it much better than I could.

s2cuts

alienator...

You probably think you're quite witty with the insults. Score another one for good old alienator. You also probably didn't see the irony in your response resembling the behavior you're denouncing. Shame.

the people trying to have a discourse...

I think Pendejo makes a good point. There is an inherent amount of risk any time you confront a driver on the road. And I'm starting to think this whole conversation should revolve around risk. By just confronting a driver with words you're taking on some risk. How much risk are you willing to accept to make your point? I don't think it's as black and white as some make it out to seem. The second you scowl at someone in a car you've committed road rage, and you need a little road rage to make your point.

The point I think we all would like to make in such a situation is that the driver needs to see that (s)he endangered your life with their actions. A driver who responds in the confrontation without accepting his or her fault in the incident hasn't learned a thing, and will do it again. Now this is where it gets tricky. How far do you push it to make your point? What's your risk tolerance? These aren't easy questions to answer, but I think they deserve some thought. Consensus would clearly be far too much to ask for, but I think I've read enough in this thread to believe there's common ground.

Crankyfeet

Well. I wouldn't have done what you did I don't think. Most of the problem is motorist ignorance of the law. However the law can be irrelevant when it comes to irritation caused to motorists. Let's assume hypothetically that the law says you can ride in the middle of the lane whenever you feel like it. You're are still going to run into a lot of angry motorists. The guy was definitely in the wrong endangering your life. But why do I get the impression you like to ride down narrow lanes and pull out into the middle... to assert your legal rights as a cyclist?

The issue I have with law-waving cyclists and their assertions of vehicular rights, is that they will spit into a driver's window who doesn't respect that they were within the law... then career down a short hill half a mile later and breeze straight through a stop sign at 20 mph. Now some States in the US regard stop signs as yield signs for cyclists (Idaho for example), but most treat bicycles like any other vehicle, and by law, require them to stop. Now being a cyclist myself, I realize that stopping at stop signs, especially on downhill sections when there are no other vehicles in sight, is a pain, and I have careened through many. But it still isn't technically legal.

My point is that the relationship between cyclists and other motorists is an ongoing problem (but only for the minority of motorists). You are going to run into one in a hundred motorists who believes you shouldn't even be allowed on the road, let alone in the middle of the lane impeding his vehicle. Next time someone nearly kills you, as you point out, maybe try to get his registration number and report it to the police. You even had another cyclist witness. I am sure that a call from the police explaining the law, or even taking more action than that, will have a chance of changing the views of the motorist far better than getting into a puerile "spat" which only puts your life at risk.

texnnd

You are correct, but we need to step back and take a look at all risk on the road. The driver of the car faces a risk each time he leaves the house. For cyclists, this is especially true and if you don't realize that you face a greater risk by being on a bike, then you need to park it.

Perhaps the smallest risk you face is getting buzzed by a car. He didn't come close to killing you if he didn't even hit you (or your friend). I've been whacked and survived just fine thank you, so to say you could have been killed, well any officer that might have shown up after the altercation would have just laughed at you. The driver simply had to say "I didn't realize I was that close" and according to the law no harm no foul (sorry, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades).

Back to a previous posting; if a cop had shown up, you could have come close to appearing in court yourself to answer to an "Assault with Bodily Fluids" charge. If you are in the states, all 50 have this law to some varying degree. It was originally put in place to protect prison guards, but rapidly expanded to the outside world when people started realizing the wide array of diseases that can be carried in saliva. Problem is, here you are admitting in a public forum that you did it. Here in my area of the country, you would be looking at a Class A misdemeanor resulting in up to a year in jail.

And bragging about what you did on a public forum? I would say that would probably get you the full year.

Smart

Powerful Pete

Ok guys, let us sum this all up. Riding can be risky, so please keep your wits about you and stay safe. Always assume the car driver has not seen you/assumes you are approaching at tricycle speeds/is moronic. Always remember you will lose in a close encounter with a car.

Keep your calm in close misses. If you can, approach the driver and explain what they did wrong. If they become aggressive and/or threatening call the police (does anyone ride without a cell phone these days) and make it obvious you are using your camera phone to take pics of the driver and his vehicle (this works even without a camera on your phone - pretend).

Do not lose your calm and assault the driver.

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