BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I had that happen to me one time (by another motorist, not cyclist) who felt I was not driving fast enough on Penn Avenue. I can sympathize it's a pretty terrifying experience. I was worried that he would come by later and damage my car since it was really close to my house.

Sorry she was so shaken and glad no one was hurt.

Interesting. I wonder if it was the same bloke who pulled a similar stunt at Negly and Baum last week. Dude hit the intersection at full speed and nearly caused an accident. Perhaps Lucas Brunelle's alleycat videos have been rediscovered...

someone on here is fond of reminding us something along the lines of - stupid people / assholes abound and some ride bikes.

Really sucks that she got abused like that. Road rage is scary no matter how they're moving on the road. Glad she's ok, and I hope she doesn't go through that again. Karma'll sort things out in the end.

There's no excuse for escalating the conflict - pounding on someone's window, etc., so I won't try to defend that.

But, consider that yellow lights are timed for cars, not bikes, so it's certainly possible to enter an intersection legally and still end up in the path of a motorist who has a green light - especially considering the differences in acceleration. If the driver had to "slam on the brakes" before even clearing the intersection, how much gas pedal use preceded that?

Maybe it went down exactly like the OP said and the cyclist was 100% at fault, in which case the rest of you are free to get on with lynching the cyclist. Or maybe there were other factors at play. In any case, it sounds like this happened just as the light changed, and I'm sure the driver in this story has *never* had to wait for a car to clear the intersection in similar circumstances. Or that when she did, she went on aaa.com and posted a rant about how that driver was giving all the other drivers a bad reputation.

Sounds like this guy entered the intersection much too late. If you're gonna pull a dick move like that you might as well own up to it.

bronzey214, I'm sorry that happened to your girlfriend.

As others have stated here, sometimes there are "jerks" on bikes...why would that be any different than the proportion of jerky car drivers?

On the other hand, cyclists are pretty vulnerable, so my guess would be that perhaps she accidentally cut him off (maybe even blocks earlier) without intending to or realizing it and this particular cyclist felt compelled to yell at her.

Having a close brush with a car--getting cut off or even buzzed at too close of a distance is VERY SCARY...and it's also annoying, same as when it happens to you when you're driving.

I hope she will use the incident to remember that sharing the road is hard for everyone, cyclists are more vulnerable to physical injury, and sometimes jerks are thrown into the mix.

Thanks for all the kind words. I'll tell her. She's not a person that hates cyclists, but she does get nervous when trying to pass one on Carson Street or any other street. I do too for that matter.

Now for some replies...

@Tabby

Yeah - she's worried that he might try to call the police on her. I told her that he probably won't.

@bjanaszek

Wouldn't surprise me. It's literally a block apart from each other.

@ejwme

I think she was more shaken up than anything. Couple years ago, she was following me on ELB at night toward Highland Park and 2 or three police cars started flying up behind us. She was in the passing lane and pulled to the right to allow the police to pass (since I was in the slow lane) and ended up cutting one of them off and got yelled at over the loudspeaker to get out of the way. She was shaken up after that too.

@salty

If the cyclist wouldn't have pounded on her window afterward, she probably would have just brushed it off. It was the escalation that freaked her out. The cyclist was coming south on Negley when it happened (she was going west on Center).

She said he passed a car that had already stopped for the signal and came out in front of her. I'm not trying to overly defend her just because she's my girlfriend, but it doesn't matter if I'm going 5 MPH or 30 MPH, if something pulls out in front of me or jumps in front of me, I slam on the brakes.

I'm not going to argue with you, cars are much more visible especially when in an intersection, but a car would have a hard time cutting around someone who had already stopped for a yellow/red light to go through it.

Like I said though, I don't think it was that encounter that frightened her. It was the escalation.

@Pseudacris

She was on Center from Highland to Negley and he was coming south on Negley, so I don't think she cut him off. She's a pretty defensive driver because she drives a small car and doesn't always know SUV drivers see her. I told her that cyclists feel the same way.

I go through Center and Negley intersection all the time.

For her to get a green light, proceed into the intersection, and then have a cyclist end up in front of her, the cyclist would have had to go past the light extremely late

He would also have to be moving pretty slow, unless he ran a red

On the other hand, the girlfriend should have been able to see him entering the intersection before he ended up in front of her

I semi-regularly end up in similar circumstances where I'm pushing the limit and trying to pedal through the a light that's already yellow.

If I'm entering the intersection that late, I keep eye contact on the cars to see if they're going to move and I kind of apologetically wave.

Don't see the point in calling people names and flipping them off because I'm the one pushing the limit

I think her response is pretty appropriate, and more mild than most on here would respond with

so, bronzey, to veer off topic a bit, do you and the GF ride bikes? There is a great social ride called Flock of Cycles that is a perfect intro to riding in the streets, respectfully as part of traffic. Also, BikeFest is coming up so there are going to be lots of fun and interesting rides to do.

Now that you're here on the message board we're going to try to get you both out there riding. It's what we do.

I completely agree that the escalation part is indefensible. I've gotten steamed at motorists in the past and had verbal exchanges (as i'm guessing pretty much everyone, cyclist or not, has) but pounding on a vehicle's window is going way too far.

Your second description certainly makes it sound like the cyclist was in the wrong - whether he physically *can* go around a car or not it's certainly a questionable if not illegal maneuver (and I believe that intersection is "No Turn on Red" - not that it's ok to pull out in front of somebody even where it's permitted). Obviously I have no idea what exactly happened, I was just pointing out that it's possible no one was really "at fault" but the conflict happened regardless. Regardless, like you said, it's what happened afterwards that is the real problem.

Def agree that sometimes both parties actual THINK they are both right. But she didnt say anything to make him pound on her window. Thats ridiculous.

I hate that jerk cyclists give all of us such a bad rap.

Sidenote- could you imagine if she had been a ben a big burly man with a gun in the car? confrontaion is never the answer.

EDIT: I hope she's okay. I've been on edge for days after people confront me! it's super scary.

Really glad nobody was injured.

Based on Bronzey's description, and my familiarity of the intersection, I can easily see such a thing happening. That intersection is a circus of cars crossing through after the light, because there is always someone turning left and gumming things up.

The key part of the description of events to me is that the cyclist passed a car that was stopping for the light, and went around it into the intersection. If a car can stop for the light, there is no good reason for the bicycle not to. In an intersection like that, my strategy is to take a lane and be patient like anyone else. It's just not safe to do otherwise (for me, and by my standards. Others may differ.)

I know having a car screech to a stop so close can be alarming and get your blood up. And I know in that moment it is natural to have a visceral, even vulgar response, but to chase the driver down the street and pound on the window like that is inappropriate, particularly since the cyclist was, in my opinion, at least partially responsible for the incident.

On the other hand, the girlfriend should have been able to see him entering the intersection before he ended up in front of her

The cyclist went around a stopped car on Negley, which might have hidden him for a while.

Glad she was able to avoid hitting the cyclist. I doubt she has anything to worry about from a false report, with the potential for so many witnesses, and perhaps even video from one of the businesses. A cyclist who behaved as described isn't going to risk calling up the police and telling them a bunch of lies, when an investigation could get him in all kinds of trouble.

@Tabby, etc. Maybe B & friend don't ride bikes ... still ... it might be interesting ... to do a drive and ride demo ... enough of us here operate different kinds of vehicles on the roadways. For me, I think I ride in a predictable and reasonable fashion, and I also think I drive near cyclists in an appropriate way. Still, I've never had firsthand friendly feedback from cyclists on my driving or from drivers on my cycling.

I'm only thinking and typing here ... maybe there's some event idea.

I've definitely gotten positive feedback from cyclists. The most popular: a wave for not pulling out in front of a cyclist to make a left turn when they are thru traffic. I guess there's not really a good way to acknowledge safe passing. I wish that there was. Sometimes on my bike I'm pleased as punch when someone passes slowly with lots o room that I want to catch up with them and tell them.

if only i made a thread for every instance of verbal abuse i've received.

i consistently give both positive and negative feedback on the road, mostly positive nowadays.

While biking I wave thanks to drivers all the time, when they let me turn, often they'll let me take their turn at stop signs, wave me through intersections, being all kinds of nice to me. Usually they wave back. That's also the way I drive, though people in my area are typically less extra accomidating to drivers than cyclists (not rude, just more normal).

+1 on since you posted we'll pester you to ride bikes. Don't take it the wrong way, it really is just what we do. We ride bikes, and get as many other people to ride bikes as we can. It's our thing.

I've got friendly little beeps from motorists after they pass, usually during the series of merges on forbes at the blvd.

Incidentally, that bit of road seems intimidating but it would be a piece of cake if the speed limit was enforced.