I just read the riot act to an airhead in a giant SUV!!

[guitar man]

No this isn't a copycat thread, I was just very nearly injured or possibly killed on the way back from lunch just now. :scared:

I was travelling along a 4 lane city street on my bike, and I'll admit, I was running a tad faster than I should have been, about 50 in a 45mph zone. I was in the right lane, there was a car in the left several lengths back and all of a sudden this.....woman in a Ford Excursion shoots a left turn in front of me. Not just any left turn, but a lollygagging, "take all day I don't give a shit about anybody but me" left turn.

I instinctively jumped on the brakes and started looking for options, remembering there was a car on the left that would be closing fast now that I was decelerating rapidly. My rear wheel locked up momentarily and about that split second I could see her, talking on the phone and LOOKING RIGHT AT ME!! Luckily, the car on the left saw what was happening and jumped on her brakes to let me go around the behemoth, which I barely cleared.

The SUV nut lady had turned into a strip mall parking lot and the first place I found, I spun the bike around and went back to have a talk with her.

She was parked with th motor running, STILL yapping on the damn phone when I pulled up. I shut the bike off jumped off and tapped on the window. She held her hand up like "just a minute" and I came un-freaking glued!! I beat the shit out of the glass about 3 times and she cracked the window open:

She said "What DO you want?"

I said "Oh, nothing, except you almost KILLED ME!!"

..and than I launched into a tirade about irresponsible, inattentive driving and inconsiderate, dangerous behavior on the road etc. I don't remember everything I said, but I'm sure my face was probably shades of purple and that vein was popped out on the side of my head.

She acted like she was going to cry and said "I didn't see you". I shot back, "well, when you realized I was there, why didn't you drop the phone and pick it up a little to give me a chance to clear you?"

"No, I didn't see you at all, I never saw you until you pulled up."

Then I really lost it..."How in the fuck do you NOT see a FUCKING HARLEY DAVIDSON SKIDDING SIDEWAYS TOWARD YOU WHEN YOU WERE LOOKING RIGHT AT ME??!!! :banghead:

I just threw my hands up, jumped on the bike and came back in to work. :eyes:

I need my Excedrin Migraine now, about 4 of them...:crazy:

[MissMillie]

1. I'm really glad you weren't hurt

maybe she would have seen you if she hadn't been pre-occupied with talking on the telephone.

[guitar man]

9. thanks :)

and you're right about the preoccupied part. I don't care whether it's a Hummer or a Prius being driven or a cellphone or cheesburger and milkshake that's doing the distracting, not paying attention while driving is SO dangerous. Motorcyclists probably realize that as much or more than anybody on the road.

[MissMillie]

17. there are a lot of times I have a beef w/ the motorcyclists

(you know the ones who weave in and out and between lanes in traffic and the ones who drive in the breakdown lane...)

and I have to remind myself that with drivers of all motor vehicles, there are good drivers and there are bad drivers.

Today, you encountered a bad driver, and thank goodness you were alert enough to avoid an accident.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Wow. Glad you are okay.

Although I did wonder in the beginning of your rant how ANYONE could possible ride their bicycle at 50MPH.

Now, of course, I see you were on a motorcycle. :rofl:

[BarenakedLady]

5. I thought the same thing!

but I noticed the avatar and the dim bulb in my head flickered.

:rofl:

[tk2kewl]

8. One can exceed 50 mph on a bicycle going downhill.

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. My thought exactly

"50 mph on a bike? Wow! Those are some steroids he's taking!"

[guitar man]

11. rofl

It's always been my "bike", that's just a natural thing for me to call it...:rofl:

[WolverineDG]

30. Glad to see t here's a club I can join

I wondered the same thing. :wtf: how can you possibly go 50 mph on a bike????

:rofl:

All's well that ends well.

dg

[volstork]

33. I wondered that, too

then realized it was a motorcycle. Glad you weren't hurt.

[BarenakedLady]

3. How frightening

And that's why it is illegal here in NY to talk on cell phones (handheld) while driving. Not that it stops anyone from doing it.

I'm glad you are ok.

:hug:

[Squatch]

4. You're lucky...TWICE

Once for not getting killed on the road.
Twice for not getting killed when screaming at her. Too many stupid people with guns nowadays.

[tk2kewl]

6. I used to ride my Bonnie in Manhattan traffic

The only way to survive was to stay in front of everyone.

Glad you're ok. :hi:

[skygazer]

7. You were possibly killed!!??

Wow! You sure are typing pretty good in spite of it. :hide:

Seriously, I'm glad you're okay - I would love to have a bike but there's just too much traffic driven by too many stupid people around here (most of them on cell phones). My heart's in my mouth in a car half the time - I don't think I could handle the stress of riding a bike.

Good for you speaking up - though I doubt it will change anything in her self-absorbed little world. :eyes:

[guitar man]

13. rofl!!

sometimes my command of the English language in it's written form leaves much to be desired :crazy:

Actually, the likelihood of me actually being killed in that accident had it occured would have been pretty low, but possible.

The most likely outcome would have been some bruises, scrapes, maybe some minor bone breakage.....and a bent up bike.... :(

[LynneSin]

12. I had the same thing happen today with an Escalade merging into my lane

No fucking bother to put the damn turn signal on. I was in the right of way because the Escalade wasn't even on the road but the section that divides the 95 split (technically the side of the road but this was in the middle of a highway splitting into 2).

Now, I've done it myself where I wasn't paying attention and was in the wrong lane for the split. But I figured I was the dumbass and I patiently wait in that middle section (which like I said - it's not a road) until I can remerge back into traffic.

This guy just comes straight on in and doesn't even bother with a damn turn signal. Thankfully no one was in the left lane because I had to get out of my lane just to not get the side of my car scraped up by the SUV.

Folks - it's not the SUV, it's the owners. And it just happens to be that the owners of many of these oversized gas-guzzling SUVs (ie Escalades, Excursions, Hummers, etc) are some of the most inconsiderate dumbass fucks on the road

[guitar man]

15. damn, glad you're alright

yep, like I said in my earlier post, SUV or Prius, Cheesburger or cellphone, my poor old bones are going to feel the same when they scrape me off the pavement. I think we need stricter standards and better education to certify drivers on our roads these days.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

19. Sorry To Disagree - It's ALSO The SUV's

Driving these GIANT MONSTROSOTIES gives these people a feeling of Power, like they have nothing to worry about from the little peons in their tiny compact cars. Heck, they don't even have to be concerned with bigger cars, since they are driving a TANK.

They figure that you're going to back off, or see them coming in their GREAT BIG TRUCK, and give them way, lest you be squashed like a bug.

But this administration works more or less the same way. It's their way or the highway. They have no concern for insignificant peons, like the public, either.

[LynneSin]

37. Which goes right back to the owner

Kinda like that "Guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people"

[kwassa]

14. he means a motorcycle when he is saying "bike"

and I am glad you gave her the lecture, because she would never realize how dangerous she is in an SUV.

She may still not realize it, but if you are on a motorcycle you need to be proactive.

[matcom]

16. Cell Phones should be BANNED WHILE DRIVING

those stupid Blue-Tooth's too.

BAN THEM ALL.

I too am on 2 wheels and now I don't look at tires at intersections, I LOOK FOR THE CELL PHONE. I immediately react differently when I see them.

Ban them. Yup. BIG GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STEP IN AND BAN THEM ALL!

$1,000.00 fine if you are caught talking while driving. NO other infraction needs to be present. Cop see's you talking on the phone while driving? Pull over.

Ok, $1k might be steep. How about $500?

I'm serious.

[guitar man]

22. I agree

here's a better idea than a fine for the cellphone yapping drivers...



http://images.google.com/url?q=http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/09/09/470_cellphone2,0.jpg&usg=AFQjCNHH9TQL59Mu7SG0x_5AesRA0GOBcQ

[Oeditpus Rex]

Someone please tell me why DWT is permitted

Glad you're okay, dude. :thumbsup:



Well, except for the headache.

[skygazer]

21. People are idiots

They all seem to think it's everyone else who has a problem but they're perfectly fine. It's like drunk drivers.

Last night, my SO and I drove to Oakland to see Roger Waters and this came up. He tells me that the other day, he was driving, talking to his boss on the cell phone and figuring out dimensions on a calculator all at the same time. But of course, HE doesn't get distracted. :eyes:

Sure. Uh huh.

"Just make sure the will's current," I told him.

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Did he actually say he doesn't get distracted?

I don't understand how people can think that. :wtf:

[skygazer]

27. Oh, yeah - all proud and superior

Just like the drunk who tells you that he's capable of driving after a 12-pack because he knows "how to maintain."

Of course, I laughed in his face and ridiculed him. And pointed out that it doesn't matter who you are, the brain can only perform so many tasks at once. He said, "Well, that's the average person."

I said, "Exactly, and since you're well below average..." :P

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. Give him this message for me, willya?

[Inchworm]

18. Glad you have your reactions peaked

And because of that, I can say I'm glad you are ok. Some people are totally unaware when they drive. grr

To fast thinking!
:toast:

[guitar man]

34. thanks

after 30+ years on a motorcycle, one tends to develop almost a "sixth sense", an "idiot radar" if you will in addition to quick reaction times.

I was just sitting here scolding myself a little for running as fast as I was. 50 in a 45 isn't that bad, but the way I like to ride and stay safe would have normally had me running 40 in that same 45 zone.

Shame on me!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

20. Isn't a Harley Davidson sort of the giant SUV ...

of the motorcycle world?

When I rode next to one on my little Triumph, I was like a PT-boat accompanying an aircraft carrier. And they had to stop for gas a lot (the peanut gas tanks didn't help).

Sounds like you let loose a real adrenaline storm on that lady. I remember the feeling, having my Triumph run over while riding (still don't know how I got out of that one). And that was in the days before SUV's, before cell phones, if anyone can remember those dark ages.

Congratulations on surviving another day.

:hi:

[guitar man]

24. not mine

I ride a Sportster, the "little" bike of the Harley line.

I don't have $15k or more to shell out for a "big" Harley, I'm a po' boy.

[Javaman]

23. Been there, only difference, it was a cement truck and yes, on his cell phone...

I lived.

[guitar man]

28. Damn

That's a big hunk of rollin' steel to come up against.

Back in '95, I was on a KZ750 Kaw and had a semi truck pull out in front of me, left me nowhere to go on a narrow 2 lane street. I lived, so did the wife who was on the back of the bike. Took us a while to recover though, rolling,bouncing, skidding and sliding on the pavement isn't much fun. :(

[Javaman]

32. It's amazing what the human body can survive.

I thought my slide would never stop. I imagined myself a personalized hood ornament for a cement truck. lol

[guitar man]

36. I wish I could have slid

With her on the back, a brand new rear tire and the piss poor drum brake on the back of that kaw, I couldn't get her to lay down in time. There wasn't much time anyway, we were real close when he pulled out, it was just the tractor without a trailer so it just jumped across the road. I tried to get around it in the ditch, but couldn't make it so we kissed the center of the front wheel and, wheeee! next thing I knew I was flying like superman!!

[NewWaveChick1981]

26. Jeebus! I'm glad you're OK.

:hug: That kind of driver pisses me off more than any other. :grr: She wasn't aware she'd done anything wrong. :mad: I'm glad you called her on the carpet for it. :)

[VenusRising]

29. I'm glad you're safe.

I'm sorry that you had to deal with that. I wish they would do something about people driving with a cell phone.

:hug::hug::hug:

[triguy46]

31. Sounds like a good way to get shot.

:scared: You are braver than I am. Would you have done same it if was a male behind the wheel?

[guitar man]

35. Yep

I'm packin' heat too :evilgrin:

[GumboYaYa]

39. It happens to me all the time.

Earlier this week, I amost got run down right in front of my office. I make eye contact with every person I see on the road and still people are so oblivious that they never see me coming. I don't understand why it is so hard to see a bike.

You have to be on hyper-alert riding. In a perverse way, it makes riding that much more enjoyable as it is one instance in life where you really have to be focused on the moment. Still, I wish people would pay more attention when they drive.

[nini]

40. just wondering.. if the driver was a big ass burly guy would you have done the same?

Personally, I have a problem with intimidation like that after a dumbass does something like that while driving. While your anger at her is justified on many levels, the fact you turned around, beat on her window and launched into a tirade is a bit much. Actually, she can charge you with assault for that if she felt at all threatened.

Road rage?


I'm glad you're ok but I think you took a bigger risk by going after her.

[guitar man]

41. yes, I would have

As a matter of fact, it would not have mattered who was behind the wheel, I would have dressed them down. If it had been some big burly guy, he would have been more than welcome to step out and try me on for size. Chances are his ass would be hauled off on a stretcher.

If you want to talk about assault, I consider any inconsiderate jackass, male or female, that would recklessly and needlessly put someone else's life in danger on the road by ignoring what is going on around them and treating the public streets as their own personal space behind the wheel of a 6000lb chunk of rolling steel to be commiting some form of assault.

Reckless negligence at the very least.

A lot of people need to wake up out there and realize that they are responsible for something that can maim, mutilate and kill someone when they are driving. As gas prices continue to rise, a whole lot more people are going to be taking to two-wheeled transportation to try and keep up with the rising costs associated with transporting oneself to and from work etc. I'm not just looking out for myself here, I'm looking out for all my brothers and sisters on two wheels.

If someone acts like an idiot and gets their feelings hurt when it is pointed out to them, that's just too damn bad.

[montanto]

43. Grats on your escape.

People who don't ride don't understand that that burst of adreneline not only helps your reaction time, but also makes you capable of dressing ANYONE down after such an event. Been there. I can totally relate. I've almost gotten it twice on this one: I'm behind a vehicle (an SUV inevitably) that is turning left, once onto a side street, the other time into a parking lot. The vehicle turns left and I was either clear to turn right after it, or had to hurry to avoid oncoming traffic only to find that the other driver's intention is not to enter the street or parking lot, but to stop, back up, and make a half assed illegal u-turn. The first time it happened I only cursed at the driver, mainly because there was no oncoming traffic. The second time though the driver nearly backed over me and also left me right in the path of an oncoming car. After I got out of traffic I parked my bike in the street and let the driver have it. People have no idea how dangerous some of the stuff they do is.

[idgiehkt]

45. I don't know what causes

"motorcycle blindness" but it is a real thing...I don't know why people don't see motorcycles but it's like the data isn't computed by their brain. I got flipped off once years ago by a guy on a harley (I don't mean casually, I mean he was in front of me and he turned all the way around and gave me the finger for a few seconds...actually he could have wrecked while looking at me instead of the road but he was trying to make a point) and it did make an impact on me because apparently I cut him off. I was in a compact car, and definitely someone driving an suv while talking on a cell phone needs to have some kind of 'intervention' before they kill someone.

[guitar man]

50. I'll have to admit

that even as a lifelong biker, I still have to remember to always take a second look myself, and listen too. there is a reason a lot of us like those ahem "throaty" sounding exhaust pipes on our machines. If you don't see us, maybe you'll hear us.

Even the biggest Harley on the road is a amall visual target.My Sportster is even smaller, especially from the front, where it has a very narrow profile.

What I got mad about wasn't the fact that she initially shot the left in front of me, I deal with those every day, it's a fact of life on a bike. What pissed me off was after my rear wheel locked for a bit and turned the bike sideways in front of her, I don't see how she could have missed it. I mean, that's a lot of shiny chrome and pretty paint not to see on a sunny day. I think she was bullshiting me when she said she "never" saw me. I think she just never saw me as a threat, like a bug on the windshield.

[nini]

I agree with you on that woman is a dumbass

never said I didn't.

I question your rage regarding all this. The fact you turned around and did what you did shows a bit of anger issues.

Hell, we all want to knock the crap out of people from time to time.. but thankfully most folks flip the bird or ignore it, and go on. Road rage is no joke and what you did many times has left someone with a bullet in them and ultimately is it worth it? Sometimes the reaction is more deadly than the stupid driving - THAT is not ok.

[guitar man]

52. maybe so

maybe I do have some "anger issues". Fact is, what she did was far more likely to have left someone dead or crippled. Had it been a novice biker,of which more and more are joining "the club" these days instead of me, there would have most likely been a bloody scene in the middle of the road to scrape up. My 30+ years and hundreds of thousands of miles on two wheels served me well in avoiding an accident today.

When one of us informs a cager of what an idiot they re being, it's not all about us, it's about our brothers and sisters on the road.When I see my brothers and sisters needlessly mangled, yeah, it mught give me some "anger issues."

[Xithras]

42. Disagree

Dumbasses who almost kill people should be challenged at every opportunity. The fact that they're a 4'11", 90lb woman or a 6'4" 250lb man is irrelevant.

I've had friends killed by stupid drivers and tend to take a zero tolerance approach to people who put the rest of the road in danger because they're off in their own little world. I applaud the OP's actions. He didn't hurt her, he didn't strike her, but he confronted her in a way that will make her think twice about doing it again. There's nothing wrong with that.

[idgiehkt]

44. assault laws vary from state to state

but assault is sometimes defined as causing person to fear that they are going to be hit or whatever, the contact is then called assault and battery.

[guitar man]

46. well, I had no intention of striking anyone

...least of all a middle aged woman. She only had the window down about an inch anyway, so unless I'm superman, I don't think I could have punched through the glass on that tank.

If she felt she was being assaulted, she was free to call the cops, she certainly seems handy enough woth a cell phone :P

[idgiehkt]

47. you just have to be careful and know the law in your state

but I think, like I said above, that she needed an intervention. Maybe she'll be more aware for bikes from now on.

[nini]

49. doesn't matter if you meant to hit her or not

If you invoked fear that is assault in some states.

[guitar man]

51. like I said

let her call the cops then, they could write her up for wreckless driving while they are hauling me in for assault. Wouldn't be the first time I've had my ass hauled downtown :D

[nini]

48. exactly...

I didn't realize this until my lawyer niece brought it up to me.. that's how it is in California.