I've heard stories here, and in RL, about motorists harassing bicyclists.

[raccoon]

Throwing things at them, etc.

First time I heard it, I could hardly believe it (silly me).

My thought is such people must be mean-spirited cowards and bullies.
Maybe their only satisfaction in life is someone else's misery....

[TexasProgresive]

1. I used to ride 100 to 150 miles each week

Most of this on rural roads near where I live. One day I was tooling along at 18 to 20 MPH when I heard a vehicle approaching. There was no one on the road. A reflex action may have save my life. I moved slightly to the left and then back to the right. The passenger in the pickup was attempting to hit me with his open door. Because the driver when a bit to the left the fool almost fell out of the truck.

I was approaching a creek and the ride down the embankment would've been bad. I haven't been able to ride since. I lost my nerve.

[Butterbean]

2. How can people be so cavalier about attempted MURDER?

Every time I see a cyclist on the road, I always think to myself, "their life is in my hands, be careful, take time, slow down, pass them when you can, don't worry about pissing off the other drivers behind you for going slowly, your life and that person's life is what matters." I don't want to KILL ANYBODY, even accidentally. I can't imagine deliberately trying to do so. That's a deep pathology there.

[Art_from_Ark]

8. I couldn't agree more

When I'm driving, I give cyclists as much room as I can, because I don't want to kill or even injure anyone, either. When I'm cycling, I try to keep as close to the edge of the road as I can. I can't imagine what possesses people to try to deliberately harm others.

[IDemo]

3. I had to drive to work one day

I got behind a woman on the cellphone who swerved well into the bike lane, twice, which gave me pause about riding again. Non-issue on my new job, since bike riding would be suicide on the new route.

[ThomThom]

6. that is a horrible story

twice I have had guns pointed at me in Texas
I hope you can get back out there, biking still apart of my life and I won't give it up.
I can't even count the number of times people have threatened me with their cars also, I try not to ride in traffic. Sidewalks and separate trails only for me.

[frylock]

11. you should consider taking up mountain biking..

i've never had the animals harrass me while riding the trails. well, except that wolf spider that tried to attack me, and one close call with a pacific diamondback.

[Ron Obvious]

16. Seconded, but...

Seconded, but it's not risk-free either. Check this out:

[Stargazer09]

13. Hugs!

I don't blame you for not riding anymore. I've had people throw garbage at me, and that was enough to make me nervous about riding on the roads. I was alone at the time, too. I hate feeling vulnerable.

[MagickMuffin]

4. Cross my fingers this will not happen to anyone I know including me

However, last year we were riding our bicycles through the neighborhood at 2 in the morning. It was Memorial weekend which was a Sunday IIRC. Most people were asleep. But there was one house we passed by that had a bunch of "bikers" out in the front yard BBQing.

We have colored finger lights attached to our spokes. Everyone in the group of bikers were impressed by our lights mostly the ladies. Everything was groovy, until one of the guys who was probably drunk got pissed off. He told us to "git off my street", I yelled back "this street doesn't belong to you!" in which he replied "if I had another beer I would throw it at you."

My thought was "Why would he want to waste his beer on me?" I did get a little worried that he might get on his motorcycle and .......

Luckily he didn't and we continued riding our bicycles without incident.


Then a few weeks later again we were riding our bicycles in the wee morning hours when someone in their car yelled at us "Hey you crackheads!" Didn't know what to make of that statement

[PDJane]

5. I've had motorists hit me with doors, I've had a motorist run me off the street

Apparently he was under the impression that I should be riding on the sidewalk. I've had a motorist run into me and claim not to see me (I am a large person and was wearing a lime green slicker. He had to have been blind.) I've had a motorist open his damn door right in front of me, I hit the door....he then got out of the car and started berating me. I got off the bike. The idiot didn't back up. He stood right on my toes and looked up. Waaaay up. He then got back into his car and slammed and locked the doors. The cop who witnessed the incident was leaning against a lamppost laughing like a fool.

I've also, it might be noted, run into a biker rider the wrong way on a one-way street. SHE was mad at ME.....the cop she called told her she was in the wrong and she should have been grateful I was on a bike, not driving a car.

There's more than enough blame to go around, I swear.

[Ron Obvious]

7. I think we all have our stories...

It's happened to me everywhere I've been in this country, but it's never been a daily occurrence. I've never been struck, but the old beer can to the head is about a once a year event. It's almost always a regrettable, inferior domestic brand as well. Screaming loudly in my ear as they pass happens about once a month, I'd say. In both cases, two young men an one girl in a pickup truck seem to be the most aggressive combination.

I don't even react anymore. Sometimes I visibly glance at their license plates and pretend to make a mental note of it. That almost always shuts them up, but I suppose one day it'll really enrage some psycho.

[seabeyond]

9. my son is a cross country runner. he runs miles, daily. he told me the other day

he had avoided a more busy street cause he gets things thrown at him. he said, mostly like empty cups with ice or something. not like bottles that could hurt him. i could not believe it. he had already told me about the number of people that yell at him, generally about being gay. (no shirt, short shorts). he says that it is almost exclusively old (middle age, ) men.

[progressivebydesign]

14. Wow. that's awful. What part of the Country is he in? n/t

[seabeyond]

15. amarillo, texas. as a matter of fact, he just now sat down and i asked about it

he has been going on and on and on about his different experiences. lots of them. one car went around the block four times to call him a fucker and shit. another tried to race the team in a car. hmmmm, car vs kids running, lol. he said even girls yell out.

and the always

run forest run.

that one i think is kinda cute.

he doesnt.

weird though, huh.

[frylock]

10. i had someone throw a big gulp at me from a moving vehicle just a few weeks ago..

it whizzed just passed my face. sadly, i was on a 50 mph road and riding my single speed, because if i could've, i would've sprinted after them and probably pulled the guy from out of his van.

[greendog]

12. Several years ago I was riding in Glacier National Park and...

...someone threw an empty beer can at me.

[maveric56]

17. I was almost run into a parked car in Ocean Beach, San Diego

OB is a very blue/progressive area BTW. These assholes had their door open and were screaming "Burn Gas Like Everyone Else!" and tried to run me into a parked car, on a busy street (Cable St).
WTF!!!

[Fumesucker]

18. It's interesting that the less your bike looks like a standard road bike the less this happens..

I have a semi recumbent bike and people are considerably less likely to mess with me now than back when I used to ride a "normal" bike..

Mine looks like this..



Here's a post by a guy who rides a really strange looking home made contraption most of the time and he says the same thing, he noticed the difference in a single trip on a standard bike..

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39877&start=15

First day's commute: Bike is ok, but car drivers SUCK. I almost got run over several times, most of them in broad daylight by people that just *barely* moved sligthly over in the lane to sort of kinda go around me. SOme of them honked their horns *as* they passed me, or screamed out the window trying to scare me, etc. Doesn't work as I have been thru that for years as just a regular cyclist, pre-electric.

But none of this happens when I'm on CrazyBike2. People treat me like I belong on the road, for the most part, and typically go all the way into the other lane to pass me, and certainly don't honk or yell at me trying to scare me.

I'm wearing the same MC half-helmet I do on CB2, riding the same way, going the same speed, etc., but the bike under me is OBVIOUSLY just a bicycle, so I am a target instead of a fellow "driver". It's a shame people have such a shitty mindset--but I think that is one of the big reasons ebikes are going to have a super-hard time catching on in much of the USA.

If they look like bicycles, they will get treated like crap on the roads. If they don't look like bicycles (but more like the scooter styles with "pedals&quot , they will get treated like crap on bicycle facilities, and often anywhere else. If they look like wierd contraptions like my CrazyBike2, they seem to earn respect. I dunno what the heck goes on in people's heads, and I'm not sure I want to.

[Generic Brad]

19. Do traffic rules apply to bicyclists?

Because I routinely have to dodge cyclists running red lights and making dangerous and illegal maneuvers when I am driving. And when I am on designated walking paths I am constantly getting run off the path by cyclists who are not supposed to be there.

[PDJane]

20. That's why I said there's enough blame to go around.

The things I see most often are:

For Bikers:

Black bike, black clothing.
No front or rear lights, which is illegal in this city. You have to have reflectors on the wheels, too, but you are to have a rear light.
lane changes without hand signals, applies to all turns and sudden stops.
Inside turns without looking for right turning cars.
Riding on the sidewalk, or taking up an entire lane; done most often by bike couriers

For Cars:

opening car doors into the traffic
Running bikes right into obstacles
deliberately throwing something out the window at the cyclist
sexual harassment; I've been pinched at the light.
lack of signals when changing lanes
Outside turns with lack of care for cyclists


Believe me, neither party is innocent, but I will say that the cars have the right of weight, and more utter assholes behind the wheel. Cyclists with that kind of attitude don't live long.

[own your story]

21. Many car owners seem hostile

I sail past their window while they are in their metal boxes in a jam. They fell for the okey doke and became addicted to their cars to the point where they ride them to go a mile or two when a bike would more than suffice and be twice as pleasant.