I run and ride out in the country. And like most of you, I train year round. I am pretty accustomed to cars honking, not giving me three feet, being yelled at and even having things thrown at me. It’s a small minority of the vehicle population so I tend to let most of it roll off of me without further frustration. But once or twice a year, a motorist really crosses the line.
A few months I was riding on a large shoulder (4-5 feet) and an SUV came up behind me blaring its horn for no reason. First few times, didn’t bother me. Got next to me blowing his horn and we have a problem. I escalate it and give him the finger and he swerves at me. And then he pulls into the shoulder trying to slam the brakes. Nothing comes of it and he drives off. In this case, I happened to see a sheriff on the road a few minutes later and I flagged him down. I knew the sheriff wasn’t/couldn’t do much about it but I felt it was my obligation to report the vehicle (description, county and most of the tag).
I just finished a run where I was pretty much run off the road. The motorist made no attempt to yield any of the road. His tires were right on the white line. I don’t know if he didn’t see me or just wanted to hog the road. Either way, at the last minute I was forced off the road. I watch the car turn into a driveway a 100 feet down the road and it’s still there.
It made me really ask myself at what point do you contact law enforcement on these issues. I don’t really expect the police to do anything about it because there isn’t really anything to do. No incident occurred However, I wonder if I am doing myself and other runners/cyclists an injustice by not reporting it. Do you ever call the cops? And at what point?
Many years on the road and many similar experiences unfortunately. Never once called the cops though. In cases like the SUV you described I’ve started waving instead of flipping them off as those are the types that for whatever reason are generally looking for a reason to escalate it. A wave seems to piss them off more than anything yet ratchets the tension down pretty quick as they couldn’t get the rise or response that they expected out of you. The finger has resulted in many problems, the wave zero.
I once confronted someone who cut me off - I was in that adrenaline and high heart rate induced rage ready to kill - and the guy wound up being extremely apologetic and I truly think just didn’t see me when he cut me off. I actually felt really bad afterward because I was pretty hard on him and I think it was an honest mistake.
Sucks but it comes with the territory. I have noticed that if you can get your rides and runs in before noon it seems to eliminate 95% of the problems. I don’t know if its stress, alcohol or what but the later in the day the more likely you are to have problems.
I called the cops once. Was riding on a side street right up the road from my house. I pulled into the middle of the lane so I could go straight at the stop sign and not have someone cut me off. This intersection is notorious for people not stopping. This idiot woman in her Land Rover drove completely over the yellow line to go around me and blew through the stop sign. I busted my ass to try and catch her but couldn’t. Saw her blow another stop sign in the process. I called the cops and they basically said they couldn’t do anything because it was witnessed.
I work at a shop and a few guys here have told me that friends of theirs essentially arm themselves. Some carry around little ball bearings to throw at cars. One guy said his friend carried a wrench with him and whenever he took it out people quickly calmed down. I think he only ever hit a car with it once.
Honestly, don’t bother. By the time the job gets dispatched out the car will be long gone.
On top of that, if they do find the car then they will need to find you bc they did not witness the recklessness.
Hate to burst your bubble but when I was on patrol (in nyc) reckless driver jobs would come over all the time and without an accident it was near impossible to do anything unless we happened to be right where the reckless driver was.
We would stop the car and then try to locate the caller and we never could.
If you see the guy again, just stop your bike and let them go.
I called the cops once when i was running and a similar situation esclalated the the point that the teenager drove over the sidewalk and into the grass towards me. Cops called his mother and I was informed that the situation was “taken care of”.
I have now taken the approach of pretending to take a photo whenever someone does something dumb to me. They can’t tell that i don’t actually have a camera on me but it seems to make people behave when they know there is evidence. Same with throwing a pretend item at a dog. Nice dogs go off in search of the “stick”, mean dogs think i am throwing something at them and back off.
Angry motorists can really be frustrating. However, I agree with others who have said it is best to pull over and focus on cooling off. Unpleasant interruptions like that can really thrown me out of my zone. Pulling over gives me an opportunity to regroup mentally and by that time the aggressor is usually long gone.
I called the cops once when i was running and a similar situation esclalated the the point that the teenager drove over the sidewalk and into the grass towards me. Cops called his mother and I was informed that the situation was “taken care of”.
I have now taken the approach of pretending to take a photo whenever someone does something dumb to me. They can’t tell that i don’t actually have a camera on me but it seems to make people behave when they know there is evidence. Same with throwing a pretend item at a dog. Nice dogs go off in search of the “stick”, mean dogs think i am throwing something at them and back off.Jeez, and I suppose you just give empty boxes an xmas time
Of course you’ll need some details and information about the incident. They will follow up with you to confirm a few of those details. If the story sounds plausible. They will send a letter of notification to the driver. Three letters and they get a call or personal visit from the Police. All of those reports go on the drivers record, so even if they get pulled over in some form of road-side check for something else, or if a police officer trailing that car in normal traffic runs a check, on the license plate, as they normally do as a matter of course, those little details of being an ass will show up on the record.
It may not seem like much, but it is a small group who are no doubt being the real reckless asses here and this is one way of building up evidence and information against them.
I’ve filed three reports - two for blatant illegal cell phone use, the other for nearly running me off the road. Imagine the drivers surprise ( who think they are invisible and anonymous), getting a letter in the mail chastising them for that offense!! That alone might force some to change their behavior and smarten up when they are driving.
Sounds like a great idea. I once called the cops when a guy assaulted me. I didn’t feel the need to lay any charges, but I was hoping that it would go against his name as a reference for any possible future incidents. I don’t know if did or not.
I’ve called the cops 1-2 times from people being obviously aggressive towards me on my bike. Once a guy buzzed me, then pulled off the road and let me pass, only to buzz and try to force me off the road again (50’ ravine on the side as well). Called 911, gave a description of the car/driver including a full plate and nothing ever came of it.
What if you had video to back up any claims? Would that change your thinking? www.rideye.com
I bought one of these because of that specifically, after being in an altercation when a guy did the honk/buzz/cutoff and then jam on the brakes routine. Cops were called after that incident and nothing could be done. I started doing some research and found this as a kickstarter project and now hope it is the best $ I’ve spent all year.
Yes and no. It backs up the call and we would know exactly what we were looking for.
There will not be a case taken for reckless driving that will be investigated past patrol functions. In fact there will only be a case if there is physical injury from an accident where one of the parties involved flees the scene, that’s for vehicle/vehicle, vehicle/bicycle, vehicle/pedestrian.
Accidents of any kind that only result in property damage do not get criminally investigated due to the penalty only being a summons. Property investigations are handled by insurance companies and accident reports prepared by police and/or motorists.
I believe something like this could be very helpful. The way I see it, I feel like I owe it to myself and others to report really aggressive behavior. I don’t expect the police to actually track down the vehicle and talk to the person (though it would be nice). What I think a phone call (or a reporting system) might accomplish is a bit more police awareness on key routes. I enjoy seeing the sheriffs out on the roads. It gives me a (false) sense of safety. I wish I saw them more when I am out riding.
I believe something like this could be very helpful. The way I see it, I feel like I owe it to myself and others to report really aggressive behavior. I don’t expect the police to actually track down the vehicle and talk to the person (though it would be nice). What I think a phone call (or a reporting system) might accomplish is a bit more police awareness on key routes.
Agreed. The police are busy. I am hoping that this does not take up a huge anount of their time, but It is a way of making note of this irresponsible and possibly illegal behavior and establishing a pattern. I’m not a huge fan of the big brother watching aspect of it, but clearly from the behaviour of some, they feel they are immune to the respect and responsibility of driving on the roads and in some cases breaking the rules/laws of the road with impunity, and thinking they are doing so in an anonymous way and getting away with it all. This reporting, if it’s followed through on, hopefully will give them pause on that.
I believe something like this could be very helpful. The way I see it, I feel like I owe it to myself and others to report really aggressive behavior. I don’t expect the police to actually track down the vehicle and talk to the person (though it would be nice). What I think a phone call (or a reporting system) might accomplish is a bit more police awareness on key routes. I enjoy seeing the sheriffs out on the roads. It gives me a (false) sense of safety. I wish I saw them more when I am out riding.[/quote
What do you do about it if you’ve been harassed, cut off, etc by police officers? In that case, I don’t feel any better when I see them while I’m riding. Ultimately they are still people behind the wheel of a car, so their own personality affects things
I once yelled out “hey use a blinker” when a cop made the dreaded left turn in front of me with no warning. He turned around and told me he wasn’t required to use a blinker because there weren’t any cars around…I left a message at the local precinct, never heard back
In situations where I have received complaints from the public (cyclists, pedestrians or motoring), if they are willing to provide a statement and attend court I will issue a ticket to the registered owner or driver (if the complainant can identify them). Most complainants just want a warning letter sent or the person spoken to, in which case we do that. I know busier spots just send letters.
I believe something like this could be very helpful. The way I see it, I feel like I owe it to myself and others to report really aggressive behavior. I don’t expect the police to actually track down the vehicle and talk to the person (though it would be nice). What I think a phone call (or a reporting system) might accomplish is a bit more police awareness on key routes.
Agreed. The police are busy. I am hoping that this does not take up a huge anount of their time, but It is a way of making note of this irresponsible and possibly illegal behavior and establishing a pattern. I’m not a huge fan of the big brother watching aspect of it, but clearly from the behaviour of some, they feel they are immune to the respect and responsibility of driving on the roads and in some cases breaking the rules/laws of the road with impunity, and thinking they are doing so in an anonymous way and getting away with it all. This reporting, if it’s followed through on, hopefully will give them pause on that.
I live in a fairly small town of about 7,500 outside of a large town, Charlotte, NC. Over the past six years, I have contacted the local PD three times for drivers that were so disrespectful and/or endangered myself or other cyclists that I couldn’t, in clear conscience, let it go. I was able to get a tag number in all three cases. Our PD paid a visit to the registered owners all three times and told me about their discussions afterward. In two cases, the drivers were residents of my own neighborhood. One of those was a member of our golf club and the female driver plays golf with my wife. It was a tough decision to call the PD on her, but I told my wife that the alternative was for me to pay a visit to this woman. She was the worst offender of all three incidents and was cursing at the entire group of us as she made two dangerous attempts to pass on a 25mph residential street.
I am a firm believer in contacting the cops so that it can be used against them if the person causes harm to someone else later.
I am a firm believer in contacting the cops so that it can be used against them if the person causes harm to someone else later.
What ever “system” is in place . . even the analog call it in complaint, this should be done. Otherwise drivers get away with it.
I realize that unfortunatly, as noted in some other posts that in some areas there is little concern on the part of the police to do anything with these sorts of things, and indeed often turn the issue back on the person filing the complaint - like they are at fault!
Only once I think in 30 years plus of cycling. The driver swerved at us for no reason - he was coming toward us on an empty road and crossed over to buzz us in his 4x4.
Not sure arming yourself with ball bearings is a smart idea. Some people in cars will do ridiculous things when in their metal box - that they wouldnt dream of if they bumped into you in the supermarket. Even if they’re nuts - attacking their car would be a bad idea. It can only escalate things.
