Austin truck threat - what to do?

Triathlon Forum
1

Esteemed colleagues,

I seek advice on handing an irate driver incident that occurred over the weekend in Austin.

I was riding alone along 2769, 2-lane windy hill country, approaching Bullick Hollow. After the Dies Ranch descent, a white pickup truck pulled up next to me and the driver was pissed.

“You f’r! I am going to f you up! If I ever see you again, I am going to f you up! …”

I couldn’t get his plates because he was pulling a trailer. However, the trailer had a huge logo on the back for a teak furniture store about 400 yards down the road.

I continued riding down the road, and passed the teak store. The pickup truck had driven around the back of the store and was now pointing out toward the street. The driver had been waiting for me.

I took a quick left and headed for Cypress Creek Park. The pickup truck continued down 2769. The park ranger called the sheriff’s office, the sheriff came and took my statement.

That was Saturday. I haven’t heard anything from them.

I enjoy riding 2769, particularly Lime Creek, but there are some long, solitary, windy sections.

Do you think I should be concerned?

What else can I do?

Are there any legal measures I could take?

Thank you.

wmh

2

I would follow up with the police/sherriff’s office. Ask them if they had contacted the store yet. Calling the store owner and letting them know that one of thier drivers threatened you is an idea. Thats a big liability for them. Find a few riding partners for you next couple of trips. Best of luck to you.

3

You have a couple of choices.

  1. avoid that road for a few weeks.

  2. get your biggest, badest riding buddies and ride that road all day. A few clydesdales may work well here.

  3. You’re in Texas carry your side arm.

Always bring your cell phone. But most of all don’t look him in the eyes, that will provoke the beast.

4

This is why I am trying to get my cyclist defense group started (yes, I am still working on that). Here’s my advice:

  1. Bug the sherrif’s office.

  2. Bug the teak store.

  3. Take mace along. Don’t let some hick intimidate you. And make sure your aim is true. Call the police again (IF you have to use it) and tell them that you have just defended yourself against this maniac. It was self-defence.

  4. Write to the Editor of the local newspaper. Chronicle this incident to the editor. They love things like this.

  5. Get some pals together and pay for a quarter-to half page ad advising a boycott of said furniture store. Chronicle this incident in the ad, and tell people they should not buy this person’s products as they advocate murder of cyclists. I would only advise this if no action is taken on the part of the furniture store.

In my Defence Group, one thing that we will try and do is come up with a fund to be able to take out full page ads in newspapers so we can call out people like this. Let me work on this a bit more and I can make an announcement within a year.

5

Immediately contact the police so assault charges can be filed against the driver. After you have done that contact a plaintiff’s lawyer that specializes in handling cyclists. Have the lawyer send a letter to the furniture store advising them of the civil lawsuit you will be filing against the store; since the truck driver was probably on company time, the store is liable for the actions of the driver. Chances are you won’t have to take any action after this, if the store managers/owners are reasonably intelligent the truck driver will be disciplined by the store and possibly fired. To further eliminate any chance of revenge on the part of the driver, you may want to inquire about a restraining order against the guy. Lastly, you will want to contact as many local sports/recreation publications to publicize this in the hope that it might educate drivers in the rules of the road.

Your gut reaction might be to round up a bunch of bruisers to pummel this guy, but just remember broken bones eventually heal, a criminal record lasts a lifetime. I would rather give the truck driver a criminal record than broken bones.

6

Sounds like bunnymans got a plan.

7

First - just got back from seeing my parents in Georgetown (just North of Austin). Love that place. Miss it alot.

Second - you handled this very well. You didn’t flare up in defense, thus provoking the driver. You then got a public place and had the park ranger call a sheriff. Excellent choice.

We had an inident here in Portland (I wasn’t on this particular ride, but heard the story from multiple buddies who were) where a driver for a Lock Safe company cut off about 10-12 riders on a noon ride. He was pretty blatant about it, almost taking out some of the front riders. They sprinted after him and caught him at the next light. They went up to his van and hit the hood with their fists (once or twice) to get his attention and I’m sure had some choice words. He reached under his seat and pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the riders - who immediately began to duck for cover. The light changed and he drove off. They got a license and description (wasn’t hard being a company van) and called the police.

The police nabbed the guy about 6 miles away. His story … he was accosted by a bunch of cyclist who were banging on his car and was just trying to defend himself. According the cop, he legally was able to carry the gun, so he couldn’t site him for that. The cop told the cyclists - “Don’t ever touch the car! Get the license and report the guy, but don’t ever touch or accost the driver.” Hard to do when you are fired up from almost being run over.

Haven’t heard what else has come out of the story, but if I do, I’ll pass it along. Be careful out there.

Dennis

8

I think you did the smart thing by riding away - my rule is “you’re never gonna win an argument with a guy in a truck”.

I would definitely write to the owenr of the funriture store- (s)he’s definitely liable for the actions of employees who are in a company vehicle. I would demand that the owner discipline or terminate the driver and demand to be notified about the outcome. Can’t imagine that a business owner wants an employee who could be convicted of assualt with motor vehicle on the payroll.

Contact the motor vehicles dept, he’s probably got some sort of commercial driver’s license, maybe you can take some action that affects his ability to drive a commercial vehicle. I bet a conviction for battery or assualt with a motor vehilcle isn’t good in his record.

If you were threatened, that’s battery and people ain’t allowed to do that. Keep after the police, make sure they at least talk to the driver so that he know’s he’s been identified.

In a case with some similarities, the police (actually city prosecutor) eventually did not press charges- the issue of my word against his. BUT they did talk to the guy ( he threw a beer bottle at me, hitting my helmet) and I hope that scared him.

Oh, then there’s always the “mystery 4 flat tires” solution"…

9

Even if he had a CCW for his handgun, I cannot believe that drawing it in that situation could be justified. How can a bunch of skinny guys in lycra outside of his truck be so threatening that he thought his life was in danger. As far as I know, you can have someone 20’ away, running at you with a knife, and you still can’t draw until they get withing arms length.

10

Buy yourself a Computrainer. The roads are NOT safe to ride on. Period. Until bikers are legally allowed to carry tactical thermonuclear weapons to instantly eviscerate the offenders, I don’t think we have ANY chance. This is a fight we will never win. Detroit has won, sorry to say. A Computrainer is much preferable to your relatives scraping you off the side of the road or you spending months or years learning to operate your new wheelchair, which will be as close as you might ever get again to two wheels.

Have you read Lance Armstrong’s new book? He has a chapter on Texas drivers. And they aren’t even the worst! You should live in Florida. I’d rather swim in an alligator pond than ride the roads here…

-Robert, who was almost killed by a truck driver.

11

Sorry to be the skunk at the picnic, but what set him off? Someone you don’t know threatening to kill you out of the blue just doesn’t make sense. Maybe if you told the owner of the store what happened and asked what you did to set the guy off? Maybe you cut him off, maybe he nearly hit you and is screaming at you because his heart rate is 195, or maybe he mistakenly thinks you are the guy that nailed his girlfriend. (You aren’t, are you?) There is more to this story and I would want to find out what it is if I were you.

I know drivers are pretty inconsiderate of bikers, but they usually don’t stop the vehicle and beat the crap out of me.

12

Was out on a group ride one time. The group had become split up and myself and another guy where ahead on our own. Some a-hole in a car almost knocked us over so one of us flicked the middle finger. Obviously to impress the woman sitting next to him, this guy turned the car around and came back. He stopped and started calling us every swear word in the book. I thought for sure something nasty was going to happen.

Just then another one of our riders arrived, the biggest guy in the group, about 6’6". He said to the guy in the car “Care to step out the car and repeat that”. The guy in the car drove off quite quickly.

Chances are BillyBob has cooled down a bit and forgotten about you. Unless the guy’s a real psycho he’d realize that doing a cyclist bodily harm isn’t worth hard jail time. I’d follow up with the sherrifs office, ride a different route for awhile and ride with some partners rather than alone.

13

Here are a few things that go a long way towards avoiding and diffusing encounters:

  1. Always wave to cars that pass you, even if they cut you off (or flick you off).

  2. If a driver pulls up beside you and starts talking or yelling, say calmly: “Please move away from me” or “Please do not talk to me.” You may have to repeat that a few times, but the key is to not engage in whatever conversation the driver wanted to have. Talking to him will only inflame the situation and the importatn thing is to get that driver away from you.

  3. Always report reckless or dangerous drivers to the police and their employers. This does not help you but can help the next rider he passes. Public buses and commercial vehicles often have on-board surveilance cameras, so the supervisors can go back and review the camera logs to confirm the poor driving behavior.

-Marc

14

Thank you for your thoughtful advice.

In response to Bill T, I have no idea what set him off. I had pulled aside to let a truck pass a minute before the incident; there was no backlog of cars.

The sheriff who took my statement also said something to this effect. “A lot of times a cyclist will ride down the middle of the road …”. I wasn’t riding down the middle of the road and I wasn’t holding up traffic.

There were cars behind me, but I was not impairing them. I was going 40 mph off a descent; cars were passing me.

Secondum, when I buy groceries, sometimes people with 11 items go through express. Sometimes people don’t go right on red. Sometimes people walk in a red cross walk. I put a pox on them, curse them under my breath, etc., . I don’t threaten to kill them.

This is not Kabul. There is a reason why we don’t tolerate death threats in this world. Shame on you. Perhaps if/when you are threatened you will understand my ire with your response.

15

Whoa, Chief! I’m sorry if my post didn’t convey it but I’m on your side here. I’m only trying to come up with alternatives to fouling up your training schedule to avoid the guy. Unless you really are the guy who stole his girlfriend, I didn’t mean to imply that you were at fault. Like I said, maybe he wasn’t paying attention and you scared the crap out of him when he looked up and saw he was about to hit you.

There is a 99% chance that even if you do nothing, whatever it was that set him off will be forgotten and he won’t even remember you if he sees you again. If I were in your place, however, I would try to find out what it was to avoid the 1%.

Peace?

17

Dude, you must ride in some very cyclist-friendly areas where most are tolerant. I have been threatened out-of-the blue (no provocation on my part) like wmh just was. I think how wmh offended the redneck was being a cyclist on the road. This is where my cycling advocacy group is going to take back the roads, as when I get it going and renowned, drivers will be afraid to mess with cyclists, for certain.

18

First of all I’m glad you came out of that situation with just a bit of shaken nerves. These altercations are always scary.

Second, disregard any comments that this was in some way your fault. If it doesn’t make sense to someone that this guy went apeshit on you with no provocation, then that person must not live anywhere in the Southeastern or Souhtwestern US.

There was a passage in the Sportsman of The Year article on Lance in Sports Illiustrated describing a run-in LAnce had with a pickup truck driver outside Austin…guy chasing him down and waiting for him at a redlight. I seriously doubt Lance provoked him. These rednecks are just plain old mean, are intoxicated most of the day even whle at work and are just mad for good reason…maybe their penis is shrinking from all the booze. There’s a reason Lance lives in Spain almost year round…he has been qouted as saying, he cannot train in Austin because of the trafffic.

Being in Austin, though, you might be able to follow the advice of Bunnyman and get this thing public with Lance’s support perhaps??

Mark Allen used to say went he went on a 3 hour ride in San Diego, there were only 5 minutes of peace…the time he spent leaving and pulling into his driveway.

Computrainer isn’t the answer. I’v e tried that and while riding a CT is 1000% percent better than lying on the sofa, it is specific training tool for development of skills and doing interval work that cannot be accomplished on the roads. If riding indoors were as good as outdoors, you wouldn’t see Lance riding in the cold and rain, or 1000s of other pro riders doing the same. I went thru a long period of dedicated CT riding, up to 3000 miles a year on it and only riding outdoors when conditions were perfect or a race loomed on the horizon…my splits suffered bigtime. Over the last 6 mos I rededicated to riding outdoors and I have seen the difference. When i do have to ride the CT, I notice it feels easier now.

you need maps of secondary roads and to do recon missions in your car before…try ride in nonpeak times for traffic…wear reflectors, stay over to the right as far as possible, and of course do be courteus. Find riding partners as you not only APPEAR less vulnerable when in a group, you in fact ARE. Most of the really scary threatening stuff I have heard about involves cyclists riding alone. Carry a cell as well…at least you can call 911 or keep the police dept/hwy patrol number on speed dial.

I reckon the comment on gettinga Glock was joke but it goes without saying that is not the answer. Try to picture yourself standing on the side of the road in your lycra shorts having a gunfight with a redneck in a pickup truck. And should you kill someone, you WILL be prosecuted for murder 2 and I don’t think Texas courts would be real friendly about that.

Best of luck out there.

Chip