Mouthing off...

Lonnie Utah said:

(Cars MUST give cyclists 3 feet of room.)

Nothing really makes me mad unless they drove by me at 50mph in 2ft. distance. Older people tend to do that... 🙄

I do it. Cars always have plenty of space and they can wait an extra 5 seconds for the oncoming car to pass. So when they yell something at me for being on the road, I let them have it. I mouth off at people that give me [censored] when I ride by them. I don't stop to say anything, I keep going, but I let them hear my mind. They don't show me respect, I don't show them respect.

But, it really comes down to what mood I'm in.. If I'm ancy and [censored], I will mouth off. If I'm really really focused on my ride or have other things on my mind, I'll shrug it off.

One time, this guy gave me [censored] in an intersection, I said nothing and kept on my way, he ended up turning onto the road I was riding on, and slowed down next to me and started giving me an ear full. Needless to say, I gave him a piece of my mind and how he should obey the traffic laws (he didn't yield to traffic, thus he almost had hit me). I've never sworn so much in my life at that guy. As he sped up, I flipped him off with both hands. He ended up going to my same destination (school parking lot). I rode by him and he said, "punk." That time, I just glared him down, saying nothing.

While it might may you feel good, Its a bad idea. In each of your cases you were in the right, but you never know who you are mouthing off to, and what their state of mind is.

Think about it, you are on a bike, they are in a car: if they are seriously psyco they hit you and the game is over.

If they are just a bit off they stop and come out of the car with a gun ( USA ), knife, tire iron, baseball bat, criket bat...... there you are suddenly on the defensive alone and out gunned. I would say it is almost always a bad idea when alone to let them know what an ass they are and that their driving sucks.

With several people? If you are at a stop try tact first, maybe they don't realize what they did was stupid. If they come back with a smart ass answer and you're with a few people by all means light 'em up.

I'm not a pacificst by any means, ex-army and current police, I just want to make it home in the same or better physical condtion as when I left.

One last thing, if someone does something that you think was intended to either harm you or intimidate you call local law enforcement. If you can get a tag, an officer can track them down and have a word with them. It depends on the laws where you are as to if they can be charged, but at least they'll know that they can't endanger us.

sooray02 said:

Nothing really makes me mad unless they drove by me at 50mph in 2ft. distance. Older people tend to do that... 🙄

There's nothing worse than when a car swerves over to the left thirty or so feet after passing. It's hard to believe that so many people can be driving that drunk before 10 am.

jordon198 said:

I'm not a pacificst by any means, ex-army and current police, I just want to make it home in the same or better physical condtion as when I left.

Must be nice to be able to screw things up for a driver that pisses you off 😄

I've got a friend who was almost hit years ago and he caught the guy at the next set of traffic lights. He gave the driver a mouthful. To my mate's suprise the driver pulled a knife and threatened him. The funny thing was that my mate was riding with a guy who was the deputy chief of police in my city at the time and he duly introduced himself to the car driver. The driver sped off but they got his license plate number and the deputy chief made a personal arrest later in the day.

My wife was buzzed purposely and it caused a pretty bad crash (we both went down- she hit me). I still look for the car six months later, ready to let the road rage fly

My other bike is a Harley- you bet I mouth off. Biker trash in spandex- they never see it coming🙂

I carry my AMT .380 along with my concealed weapons license ever since a tractor-trailer driver skidded his rig to a stop after I gave him a "WTF was that for" shrug (he buzzed me on a wide open road). If I'm going to have a chat with an ignorant and belligerant truck driver on a deserted county road I want to have something in my hand besides a padded glove. Does anyone make a decent holster that would carry my .45 Ruger while cycling? I wonder if it'd be smarter to carry it exposed or concealed? Which one avoids the need for shouting matches?

suckinwheel said:

I carry my AMT .380 along with my concealed weapons license ever since a tractor-trailer driver skidded his rig to a stop after I gave him a "WTF was that for" shrug (he buzzed me on a wide open road). If I'm going to have a chat with an ignorant and belligerant truck driver on a deserted county road I want to have something in my hand besides a padded glove. Does anyone make a decent holster that would carry my .45 Ruger while cycling? I wonder if it'd be smarter to carry it exposed or concealed? Which one avoids the need for shouting matches?

I think carrying it exposed would be better, because then you don't have to pull it on anybody and they still know you have it.

I'm not going to say that I always practice what I preach, but when it comes to confronting motor vehicle drivers--no matter how egregious their offense was--I always preach the same thing:

High risk, low reward.

Be careful out there.

Funny story good for you. Sometimes you just have to say it otherwise people are oblivious. The 3ft law that is a good idea. Its like common sense really. Some people give even more than that.

You could imagine his shock when a 140 lb guy in lycra starts yelling at him about not running over cyclists. We exchanged a few words and I kept going.

Depending on what this exactly means, why would it be shocking? Sounds to me like you were riding by on the bike shouting. What is so brave or shocking about that?

Now if you got off the bike and approached him, then I would say that was shocking. But otherwise, not all that impressive as it doesn't take much machismo to ride by shouting on a bike. :huh:

How does one ride a bicycle to a ski resort?

Old quote by sw:
"I carry my AMT .380 along with my concealed weapons license ever since a tractor-trailer driver skidded his rig to a stop after I gave him a "WTF was that for" shrug (he buzzed me on a wide open road). If I'm going to have a chat with an ignorant and belligerant truck driver on a deserted county road I want to have something in my hand besides a padded glove. Does anyone make a decent holster that would carry my .45 Ruger while cycling? I wonder if it'd be smarter to carry it exposed or concealed? Which one avoids the need for shouting matches?"

I like the cut of your jib, sir.

Always carry concealed. A .45 is a bit large for cycling with, but it can be done. Even the little AMT is on the heavy side for me. Try a Ruger LCP and a spare magazine. .380 isn't the be all and end all, but it sure beats an empty hand or throwing rocks.

I can be pretty short-tempered at times, and sometimes and am inclined to mouth off If someone or something rubs me off the wrong way. But it's always best to be cautious, because we don't often know who we're dealing with. There are just too many psychos out there.

Glad they are going to pass the 3ft law. That's really important when you don't have lined bike lanes.

I don't think I've ever said anything to anyone, but that might be partly due to the fact that I live in a small enough town that if someone got really mad at me for yelling at them, they probably wouldn't have too much trouble tracking me down to retaliate. I do not need to start a fight here, not worth it.

Dang that's crazy! I usually don't yell back at them though since that only adds more tension...

People are very rude when it comes to the road. My country, Serbia, along with Turkey and some neighbour countries of Serbia, is infamous for crazy drivers that always have a practical tool like a bat to get out of the car and explain some things to you. I do not recommend mouthing when you come to these parts of the world. I am not a driver, I prefer bicycles and I really have problems with stupid car drivers who do not understand you are equal by the law with them

Why do so many people think that whatever part of the world they are from corners the market on road rage? Lunatics are everywhere, your local area isn't special. It's a bad idea to get mouthy anywhere, not just wherever you are from.

I always hate it when people drive really close to cyclists when they have a share of the road too. However, I'm glad that they are implementing laws for road safety.