Cycling and bicycle racing discussion forums.   View New Forum Topics
Today's Forum Topics

Set as homepage


Go Back   Cycling Forums > Other Stuff > Commuting and Road Safety
User Name
Password
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Welcome to CyclingForums.com

You are currently viewing our website as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions. You will have to register before you can post to this thread.

By joining our free online community you will have access to post new topics, communicate privately with other cyclingforums.com members (PM), respond to polls, upload photos and access other special features like product reviews and classifieds.


Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 12-01.-2004, 08:19 AM   #1
Snelvis
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1
Default Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Yesterday I had my worst case of abuse from a car. I couldn't make out any words - it was just yelling in order to scare the s*#t out of me. Normally when this happens, I just ignore it but this group of approx 18 year olds (4 of them) decided to go around the block and repeat their yelling tactics not just one more time but 4 times in total. Twice I nearly caught up with them at the lights but to avoid me they would reverse and take off down a side street (which was extemely bad/dangerous driving)

By this stage I was fuming and after the 4th I actually armed myself with a rock and intended doing some damage to the paintwork or window. I sat in the gutter and waited for the 5th round and when they came down the street to see me waiting they did a U-Turn. The fact that 4 guys in a car were too scared to face 1 guy on a bike is evidence of their cowardice. I guess I won considering that the ran away but afterwards I was concerned at how angry it made me and how excessive my intentions were.

Doe it get anyone else this angry? Does anyone have any other ways/stories of getting back at these idiots?

I live in Newcastle, Australia which I think may be the capital of the world for this sort of behaviour. I once even had it come from a national company removalist truck (brightly coloured vehicle with logo on the side) - I took the plate number and reported this one to the head office and even received a follow up letter apologising and saying it had been dealt with.

Cheers,
Mark
Snelvis is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01.-2004, 05:02 PM   #2
ridinslow
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3
Default

I have had a couple of run ins here in Boston. One comes to mnd that happened last summer.

A coouple of kids in their parents car were making it a habit to harass me (something about our schedules coincided so that we would meet on the road two or three times a week) Usually it was yelling and honking. The last time it happened - one of the kids leaned out of the car window and spit on me as they drove by.

Needless to say - that set me off, they had gotten too far away from me to do anything about it, so Ijust fumed for a couple of days untill the most logical thing I could have thought of occured to me.

The next time I saw them, I just followed them home. I still smile when I think of the look on thier faces when I rode up into the driveway.

I had a nice talk with the owners of the car (parents). While I was respctful and nice to them I was real careful to let them know that I wouldnt tolerate anymore harrasment from Jr. without involving the police dept. They were just as careful to let me know that Jr wasn't going to be driving anymore.

I havent seen the kid driving since then, but I have seen him on a bike. It doesnt get much better then that.
ridinslow is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 12-01.-2004, 08:38 PM   #3
Jim's ride
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 40
Default

My uncle is 6"4 with a build to match. He had a car almost run him over making a left turn in front of him.
Two days later he spotted the same driver and car, gave the bloke a huge dent in the passenger side door with his steel caps on the way home from work.
The driver said sweet F' all.
Not good advice to take such action, but I'm sure that driver will think twice about cutting a cyclist off again.
Jim's ride is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 17-01.-2004, 01:38 AM   #4
mozza
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 3
Default

One of the best stories I ever heard about his kind of thing was when a cyclist was forced of the road by a bus. Fortunately he wasn't hurt and he hmanged to catch the bus up, he then hit the safety engine cut-off switch, causing the bus to stop. He cycling right on by...

Rather than shouting at him, the bus passengers had seen the earlier incident and cheered!
mozza is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 27-08.-2004, 05:51 AM   #5
bikeguy
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Jyvaskyla, Finland
Posts: 665
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Teenage hooligans. It's the hormones or something.
bikeguy is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 27-08.-2004, 09:23 AM   #6
Grits
Registered User
 
Grits's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: S. Louisiana
Posts: 20
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ridinslow
I have had a couple of run ins here in Boston. One comes to mnd that happened last summer.

A coouple of kids in their parents car were making it a habit to harass me (something about our schedules coincided so that we would meet on the road two or three times a week) Usually it was yelling and honking. The last time it happened - one of the kids leaned out of the car window and spit on me as they drove by.

Needless to say - that set me off, they had gotten too far away from me to do anything about it, so Ijust fumed for a couple of days untill the most logical thing I could have thought of occured to me.

The next time I saw them, I just followed them home. I still smile when I think of the look on thier faces when I rode up into the driveway.

I had a nice talk with the owners of the car (parents). While I was respctful and nice to them I was real careful to let them know that I wouldnt tolerate anymore harrasment from Jr. without involving the police dept. They were just as careful to let me know that Jr wasn't going to be driving anymore.

I havent seen the kid driving since then, but I have seen him on a bike. It doesnt get much better then that.


It is true that revenge is very often sweet!
__________________
GRITS
(Girl Raised In The South)

Endorphins - the natural high! Gotta luv em!
Grits is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 27-08.-2004, 11:29 AM   #7
tpat3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 27
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snelvis
Yesterday I had my worst case of abuse from a car. I couldn't make out any words - it was just yelling in order to scare the s*#t out of me. Normally when this happens, I just ignore it but this group of approx 18 year olds (4 of them) decided to go around the block and repeat their yelling tactics not just one more time but 4 times in total. Twice I nearly caught up with them at the lights but to avoid me they would reverse and take off down a side street (which was extemely bad/dangerous driving)

By this stage I was fuming and after the 4th I actually armed myself with a rock and intended doing some damage to the paintwork or window. I sat in the gutter and waited for the 5th round and when they came down the street to see me waiting they did a U-Turn. The fact that 4 guys in a car were too scared to face 1 guy on a bike is evidence of their cowardice. I guess I won considering that the ran away but afterwards I was concerned at how angry it made me and how excessive my intentions were.

Doe it get anyone else this angry? Does anyone have any other ways/stories of getting back at these idiots?

I live in Newcastle, Australia which I think may be the capital of the world for this sort of behaviour. I once even had it come from a national company removalist truck (brightly coloured vehicle with logo on the side) - I took the plate number and reported this one to the head office and even received a follow up letter apologising and saying it had been dealt with.

Cheers,
Mark

Mine is a failed revenge story from this afternoon on my way home from work. I'm in the bike lane in Cambridge, Mass., and a cab begins to cut right in front of me. I holler "hey!", quite loudly, and the cab driver stops trying to kill me and yells to the get f%#@ out of his way. I cleverly tell him f%#@ you! and invite him to step out of the cab after he keeps mouthing off at me. He of course takes off. After a brief pause I decide chasing him down is a good idea. The pursuit lasts a couple blocks and ends when he looks in his rear view mirror while stopped at a red light to see me bearing down on him, frothing at the mouth and flipping him off.

Not an especially proud moment, but I did sort of enjoy the look on his face.
tpat3 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 03-09.-2004, 02:14 AM   #8
John Knees
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Worthing, Sussex
Posts: 116
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Long ago a clubmate had "words" with a motorist when riding through his home village on the A29 (Capel, Surrey, U.K.). Tony was a Rugby player-turned-cyclist, so built like a tank. He was an architect, and wanted to get his local blacksmith to make a dozen or so copies of a special wrought-iron bracket.

Tony rode off from his cottage, sample bracket in left hand resting on the handlebars, when a twit cut him up. Traffic slowed, so Tony caught up and said "I say, that was dangerous, please don't do that." Twit muttered "fat c*t" under his breath, and a hundred yards or so later, cut Tony up again. "Look old chap (Tony was very English) - I asked you not to do that". More muttered abuse - ignored.

Further on, it happened again, so when Tony caught up, with the bracket, DOING-DOING-DOING-DOING - put a row of dents in the guy's roof. "Look old man, I asked you not to do that" - the driver cowered away, fearing the the final DOING would be in his skull.

It's been long years since I last saw Tony, and he's probably long dead, but I always giggle when I imagine that idiot's face!
John Knees is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 03-09.-2004, 11:46 AM   #9
jp111
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Leominster, Ma
Posts: 57
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Oh Yes, I was walking my bike in the cross walk of a busy street/intersection, just out at the center line. A car, without slowing, breezed behind me, and the curb, at full speed. A policeman was sitting in his car, right there,...........it was sweet !
__________________
Happiness is when your bike is worth more than your car......a lot more !
jp111 is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 04-09.-2004, 12:57 PM   #10
pogmahoan
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?


I had an incident not too long ago with a bunch of teenagers in the car, yelling abuse and telling me to get the f**k of the road, my first response it to let them know I'm on a vehicle and by law, must ride on the road. They continued to yell and were hanging out of the car, at the lights I stopped and noted their plate number, further up they threw a half-full can of beer at me. Big mistake, I stopped and picked up the can, wrapping my cycling glove around it, put it in my back pocket and gingerly cycled to the local cop shop (with the beer still in it). Handing over the can to the desk sergant, I asked to file a report of some sort. I lucked out, as the sgt. was a cyclist and helped my file the report. As the kids had an open container in the car, they were charged and pled guilty to driving under the influence, underage drinking, dangerous driving and harrassment. One of the original charges was terrorism, as they also threatened to run me over. The guy that had been drinking from the can was on parole and ended back inside for breaking his parole! Revenge is all the more sweeter when it's done within the boundries of the law!
Pogs
pogmahoan is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 04-09.-2004, 08:56 PM   #11
Brunswick_kate
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 514
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

The best one I've ever heard was my husband who was biking home from his tennis lesson. He was carrying his tennis racquet in his right hand when 4 yahoos in a Mustang drove by and flug a glass beer bottle at "the fag on the bike". By some freak set of happenstance, hubby saw the incoming bottle and by some miracle managed to backhand smash it with with his tennis racquet right through the rear window of the Mustang.

Mustang brakes and 4 yobs pile out. Bike brakes and one pissed cyclist climbs off, pounding his tennis racquet into his open hand. The parties square off, a resident of the street calls the police. A few frank and honest exchange of opinions ensues. The jackasses eventually decide they may have some difficulties explaining to the police how the beer bottle got put into play and that furthermore, the barrel chested guy with the tennis racquet is going to do some serious damage. Discretion being the better part of valour, the idiots get back into their vehicle and leave prior to the police arriving.
__________________
Insanity has its price -- Please have exact change.
Brunswick_kate is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 04-09.-2004, 09:57 PM   #12
jcjordan
Registered User
 
jcjordan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Canberra
Posts: 493
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snelvis
Yesterday I had my worst case of abuse from a car. I couldn't make out any words - it was just yelling in order to scare the s*#t out of me. Normally when this happens, I just ignore it but this group of approx 18 year olds (4 of them) decided to go around the block and repeat their yelling tactics not just one more time but 4 times in total. Twice I nearly caught up with them at the lights but to avoid me they would reverse and take off down a side street (which was extemely bad/dangerous driving)

By this stage I was fuming and after the 4th I actually armed myself with a rock and intended doing some damage to the paintwork or window. I sat in the gutter and waited for the 5th round and when they came down the street to see me waiting they did a U-Turn. The fact that 4 guys in a car were too scared to face 1 guy on a bike is evidence of their cowardice. I guess I won considering that the ran away but afterwards I was concerned at how angry it made me and how excessive my intentions were.

Doe it get anyone else this angry? Does anyone have any other ways/stories of getting back at these idiots?

I live in Newcastle, Australia which I think may be the capital of the world for this sort of behaviour. I once even had it come from a national company removalist truck (brightly coloured vehicle with logo on the side) - I took the plate number and reported this one to the head office and even received a follow up letter apologising and saying it had been dealt with.

Cheers,
Mark


I dont know about Newcastle being the worst, i think Adelaide would give you a run for your money.

I offer two incidents which represent the general attitude to cyclists here.

1. this happened last friday on the way home from work. A couple of young twits in a beaten up gemini (you know the type, big exaust and mags but with crappy sounding engine) who decided to come up behind me and hit the horn, scared the crap out of me. I did get my own back though, as one of them hung out the window to say "hey wanker do you shave your legs" to which my reply was "honey for you i would shave anything" which i gave in my best sterotype gay voice. The head when back in the car so fast and all i could hear was him telling his mate to get the hell out of their.

2. I get cut off alot by cars, this is especially true if i am in a bike lane. But i got my own back last summer. I was going down Jetty road in Glenelge, the road was fairly busy and moving slow but i had a decent gap between the moving cars (at about 5km hr) and the parked cars. Then some silly women decided to open a door of her car right in front of me, without thinking i pulled my foot out of the pedal and pushed the door closed. The problem was i have metal SPD cleats, and ran my foot all along her door and front panel. I decided that i would not stick around to argue about whose fault it was and made tracks
__________________
"Pain does not last, bones heal and chicks dig scars"
jcjordan is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 06-09.-2004, 04:58 AM   #13
HellonWheels
Registered User
 
HellonWheels's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: on my bike
Posts: 392
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Probably the worst thing to ever happen to me was back in 1980 when I was riding my bike to work at night...a bunch of drunken teenagers hit me across my back with a half empty bottle of beer...when I got to work they called the police for me, but they never found them--I was only able tos ee part of the license plate number.
__________________
"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius
HellonWheels is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 20-09.-2004, 09:39 AM   #14
closesupport
Banned
 
closesupport's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,075
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Quote:
Originally Posted by HellonWheels
Probably the worst thing to ever happen to me was back in 1980 when I was riding my bike to work at night...a bunch of drunken teenagers hit me across my back with a half empty bottle of beer...when I got to work they called the police for me, but they never found them--I was only able tos ee part of the license plate number.
A friend of mine whilst out on his motor bike was bumped, and fell off, but when the guy he was riding with at the time noticed that the driver had made no attempts to stop, he rode up along the side of the car and tryed to tell him what had happened, the driver then presented him with the bird, and gave him abuse. then began to accelerate, he then took off after him since he had made no attemts to stop and the abuse, he caught him up and swung a spair chain across the rear window, but still he didn't stop.

probably didn't equal the amount of damage that was made to my friends fairing and paintwork, but he'll probbaly think twice next time when playing the fool with bikers

but me i'm usually quite firery when i'm out on my bike, its usually a regular thing where i hurl abuse at divers for cutting you up, pulling out on you, or purposly truy to overtake when your already up the arse of the car infront or where they decide they want to drive anear the kirb even though your already there.

Last edited by closesupport : 20-09.-2004 at 09:45 AM.
closesupport is offline  
Reply With Quote
Old 20-09.-2004, 09:15 PM   #15
less'go
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 750
Default Re: Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

Back when I first started biking, I was out on a big 4-lane street, when a group of teenagers came up behind me and honked, then passed shouting things like "Oh, t'es bonne! Pedales encore!", etc. They scared the daylights out of me!

I shot them the bird, and shouted a few choice words as they drove off.

Anyway, they pull over about a kilometer later, probably so they could do it again, or follow me, or whatever. But I pulled up next to them, which really surprised them.

Itook off my sunglasses for the eye contact, and laid into them about how that kind of stuff could end me up in the gutter or worse, and did they want to risk casuing me to have an accident, and it really wasn't a good thing to do that to cyclists, etc....

They were really ashamed, apologized, said they wouldn't want that to happen, no... Then they tried to hit on me. I said I was old enough to be their Mother and rode away. End of story

I like to think maybe they won't do that again (eternal optimist). I have all kinds of altercations while commuting, most of the time I try to go see the perp and be sure they know what they did. Most of the time the exchange is positive, but sometimes it backfires.

It may be more dangerous for guys in the sense that the attacks usually come from other guys, so there is no "never hit a woman" tabou. As if that really bothers some of these thugs.
__________________
The six-pack will be mine...
less'go is offline  
Reply With Quote

Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



All times are GMT +10. The time now is 02:03 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Copyright © 2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2001 - 2006 cyclingforums.com

Links to websites we like:
Pezcyclingnews | Cyclingnews.com | Wine Zone | iinet