The worst

10/2/2014

It takes a lot to shake me when I'm riding my bike. We get honked at on occasion and buzzed every once and awhile but this experience was terrifying. I was glad that my kids weren't with me.

As I started riding through the intersection, I noticed the van behind me was too close. The next section of road has a stripe of paint in the door zone and because oncoming traffic was heavy and the van was wide, I didn't give up my spot in the lane to be squeezed out. Sure enough, the driver of the van lays on his horn and starts screaming. That's when his engines revved and I had to swerve out of the way to avoid him running me down within inches of my bike. Right after he passed me so dangerously, he attempted to right hook me and slammed on his brakes across my path, still screaming at me.

I followed him around the corner to try to get a photo of his license plate but he pulled over and got out of his van, yelling that if I "want rights, I need to get in the bike lane!"

I was shaking so badly when I got away from him and unfortunately, I didn't get any other photos of his license plate or van. His plate was an old style blue with yellow numbers and the van had an email address: [email protected] although the third letter might have been something different.

It makes me so angry to think that someone is horrible enough to believe running me over is an appropriate reaction for me slowing them down 10-20 seconds.

I don't have any info on this violent and dangerous man to report him nor do I know where/how to go about having it taken seriously.

I am positive that my rights to not be murdered by a psychopath in a van are valid whether or not I happen to be in the bike lane at the time.

It didn't help that on my way home, I had two other drivers pull out and turn right in front of me. They were both older women who didn't bother to notice me in their path. I know that overall, biking is not a very dangerous activity but today definitely felt overwhelming. I am glad to be home.

5 Comments

Kaycee Militante link

10/2/2014 03:21:57 pm

Elle, I'm so glad you're okay. That's awful. besides the fact that he was ignorant, that's attempted assault. The fact that this guy mentioned your wanting to have "rights" disturbs me deeply...
I am wondering what sort of action can be taken to educate people (or if they even care.) What's up with these perceptions?? How can planners encourage us to share the road without sharing very basic information with motorists? Do they care?
I heard from a friend recently that there was only one question about bicycles and one on pedestrians on the DMV test. That's unacceptable. I don't think they realize we aren't required to stay in the lane, or that it's sometimes unsafe to do so.
Last week I was with the kids and took the lane, signaling to move into the left turn lane, saw it was clear, and a woman in an ENORMOUS SUV in the lane I'd just moved from laid on her horn- like wouldn't stop honking, and it made me hesitate even though the intersection looked clear and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I won't share exactly what she yelled as we both held up traffic, but suffice it to say it was clear she was also ignorant of the law (and mean) and was willing to endanger me AND my kids because she believed we should ride "on the F'ing sidewalk." I said absolutely nothing, tried to get my bearings, and proceeded shakily to swim class a block away.
I was sick to my stomach for about 48 hours, because it was an insane confrontation to have in the middle of an intersection with both kids on the bike. (And I didn't mention it on my blog or FB because my mom and dad would flip!!)
I'm really hoping someone calls this guy out :( Jerk.

RoZa

10/3/2014 02:17:13 am

I admit I don't know what it is about getting behind the wheel of a car that makes people so intolerant about slowing down for a few seconds. It isn't like they can press a small lever and instantly get back up to speed. Oh, wait they can.

I have had a couple of instances recently as well, including a car speeding up to pass me over a double line with 3-6 inches. Then I sat behind the vehicle at the light.

Tom

10/3/2014 05:52:41 am

My guess for SBC would be Small Block Chevy racing, if you got the C correct. Maybe a call to the Sacramento Raceway would confirm. If he is an employee, then maybe his boss would be interested in what happened.

The vast majority of drivers are good guys....but a small percentage are violant, and need to be called out. This is the same for any other type of violence. The bad guys need to be identified. What I suggest is a bike camera. There are many new ones coming on the market, some very small and with a video loops. Send the footage to your representative and ask for legislation to address street violence, road rage, and harassment against vulnerable road users. There have been talks of anti-harassment legislation to protect cyclists, and we need to keep pushing for this with stories, pictures, and ideally video.

Chris Nelson

10/6/2014 03:44:22 pm

Elle,

Sorry to hear about your bad road experience. At least the laws are starting to catch up in some places:

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/10/when-harassment-of-bicyclists-and-pedestrians-is-a-crime/381151/

Chris Nelson

Elle

10/13/2014 01:36:43 pm

Thanks, all, for your kind words and encouragement to report this psycho! The biking community is fantastic and, unfortunately, we all share these horror stories of dangerously misguided drivers with entitlement issues. It makes me want to get better at recording instances like this so that I can report them with accuracy and hopefully get the drivers rightfully charged with assault and harassment. I have to keep reminding myself how lucky we are that these encounters are so rare. So many bicyclists have to deal with this behavior more frequently--and that includes encounters with law enforcement! Let's continue to change the face of bicycling as being fellow humans on the road who deserve safe routes and protection.

The worst

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