Almost got run over by a jealous cager

[Ashbone]

Up here in BC we are not allowed to filter to the front of the traffic at lights:spank: we have to wait our turn in line with the rest of the cagers.
Been in very similar circumstances and in all honesty best thing you can do is pull over and let the twat go,:Flip: if they do decide to give you a nudge you will definately come off worse, that's my advice, well done though for not getting hurt or worse!!

The worse thing up here wether you are in a cage or on your bike are the damn semi drivers...think they own the road you know and have absolutely NO respect for other road users!!!!

 

[cv_rider]

Semi drivers in CA are the most courteous drivers on the road. They always keep a huge following distance, despite a steady stream of drivers always filling that slot in front of them. In Boston, they drive as aggresively as cagers, tailgating you. Awful.

 

[Ashbone]

Semi drivers in CA are the most courteous drivers on the road. They always keep a huge following distance, despite a steady stream of drivers always filling that slot in front of them. In Boston, they drive as aggresively as cagers, tailgating you. Awful.

Your lucky in CA then cos the majority up here are just dangerous, I had one cut right up the inside of my truck today forcing me out to the centre line, I just stepped on the horn and made a few gestures :Flip::Flip: but you can do nothing except let them go, I even looked for a "hows my driving decal"....being in the fire dept here we see a lot of dumb ass semis on there sides and worse, jumping red lights is another favorite just so they can save there brakes, boy this makes me mad!!!!!!!

 

[SovietRobot]

My local police department will only do something if you tell them they're drunk.

One night I almost got hit by a local taxi service running a red light, I followed him, called the cops, told the police where he was stopped, waited for 10 minutes and no police showed up. Saw 3 cop cars drive by though.

One time when I called 911 it said "Please press 1 if you would like to report an emergency" :| I'M SURE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF I WAS DYING.

 

[Ashbone]

My local police department will only do something if you tell them they're drunk.

One night I almost got hit by a local taxi service running a red light, I followed him, called the cops, told the police where he was stopped, waited for 10 minutes and no police showed up. Saw 3 cop cars drive by though.

One time when I called 911 it said "Please press 1 if you would like to report an emergency" :| I'M SURE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF I WAS DYING.

Cops are pretty good here in town, we work quite closely with them, give them a call and they will pull over the clown regardless to check things out.

 

[robertdroberts]

Not a big fan of filtering...If at a light and not up front I pick either the left of right side of the lane (whichever has an opening to get out in a hurry) and stop at least a bike length away from the driver in front of me.

Those who follow to close: I either use speed (I normally travel in the 8000 rpm range in close traffic) to move out and away, or slow way down granny speed (still maintaining a high rpm rate when geared down), and look for an exit. Live to fight another day. The cagers turn will come, just not at my expense or skin.

Example: Roy Jones Jr didin't fair well in the heavier weight class.

 

[Data]

I ride all over the US and can assure you that drivers are bad (and getting worse everywhere) but FWIW - on average- California drivers do tailgate more aggressively than any others I have noticed.

When confronted with a dangerous driver, the best thing is to get away from them without any confrontation at all- if you confront enough cagers, you will end up badly sooner or later- you can't win against a larger vehicle and a psycho operator.

Consider that with the decline of the US education system "driver training" is poor to non-existant now (and has been for some time) and we are riding among the uneducated and uncaring.

 

[Ashbone]

I ride all over the US and can assure you that drivers are bad (and getting worse everywhere) but FWIW - on average- California drivers do tailgate more aggressively than any others I have noticed.

When confronted with a dangerous driver, the best thing is to get away from them without any confrontation at all- if you confront enough cagers, you will end up badly sooner or later- you can't win against a larger vehicle and a psycho operator.

Consider that with the decline of the US education system "driver training" is poor to non-existant now (and has been for some time) and we are riding among the uneducated and uncaring.

Our instructor told us to ride as if everyone was out to kill you, he's not far wrong there!!

By the way we have some good mcycle riding education programs up here, well worth taking, I have been riding for 31 yrs and still took the course, very informative and well worth to get my test completed first time, well first time here in Canada, I already had my British licence from way back!!:thumbup:

 

[jerdman89]

You have a lot more self control than I do. Had he said that I would have been off the bike right there! I would have found out what he was scared of.

Im with ya on that one. I was almost off the bike when some dude in his lincoln navigator changed lanes and almost pined me to a parked car. I got ahead of him looked back like WTF and all he did was shrug his shoulder like oops my bad. Good thing the light turned green.

all I can say is some people suck

 

[mstewar1]

Our instructor told us to ride as if everyone was out to kill you, he's not far wrong there!!

That's pretty much the mindset that I use as I ride. I figure if they see me, they don't like me, but more than likely, they just don't see me. I'm so happy to have my stebel. I use it every time I ride, without fail.

I filter to the front, usually. If I get there and someone gives me a vibe that they are pissed and are going to race me or whatever, I'll just let 'em go.

My sister asked me recently about whether it was legal for bikes to lane split. I explained what I understood about the practice. Then she proceeded to tell me about a moto rider who'd filtered up to the front of the line, but then spaced out when the light turned green. So she just accelerated around the guy, not in a "I wanna race with you" kind of way, she just started to go. And the rider went ballistic. I told her he was in the wrong -- if he's not going to go when the light changes and it's safe to get around him, then she had every right to go. The guy was just a tool, IMHO.

And I definitely agree that the only thing to do when someone does something like what soviet encountered is to either exit the roadway or drop back in traffic. Live to ride another day.

 

[Howattzer]

Not that I would ever do this, and nor am I suggesting it, but I know of riders that tape a used spark plug or two to the handle bars.

Nothing says "mind your own business, cager!! " like a quick tug on the spark plug to break the tape, then throwing it through the glass of the drivers side window.

Probably a good idea to ride in the opposite direction after pulling that stunt though. My two cents.

 

[MarinaFazer]

I have no problem with telling a cop that a dangerous "drunk" driver just tried to run me over "back there". Some guy did it to me on my bike, I went down another street and there was a cop stopped on the side. I pulled up next to him and said that I was almost run off the road by a drunk driver and described the car. He radio'd it in and went off to find the guy! YAY local PD for that one...I hope he got pulled over for speeding or something.

 

[FZyLarry]

I ride all over the US and can assure you that drivers are bad (and getting worse everywhere)

I agree 100%! I'm a bit of an old timer and I grew up driving in the greater Cleveland area. I went to AAA driving school because my birthday would have made me wait until too late in the year but the school's all had drivers ed and I think they did a pretty good job. Kids I grew up with were proud of their driving skills and even though we liked to have fun, we drove with respect for others on the road. That meant using the left lane for passing, not 5 mph slower than traffic cruising. And yes, we passed on the left, not the right or any damn side that was empty. We kept a reasonable distance between us & the next guy and used the damn turn signals.

It seems like now days driving for most people is just an inconvenience between where they are and where they want to be...

 

[Ashbone]

I agree 100%! I'm a bit of an old timer and I grew up driving in the greater Cleveland area. I went to AAA driving school because my birthday would have made me wait until too late in the year but the school's all had drivers ed and I think they did a pretty good job. Kids I grew up with were proud of their driving skills and even though we liked to have fun, we drove with respect for others on the road. That meant using the left lane for passing, not 5 mph slower than traffic cruising. And yes, we passed on the left, not the right or any damn side that was empty. We kept a reasonable distance between us & the next guy and used the damn turn signals.

It seems like now days driving for most people is just an inconvenience between where they are and where they want to be...

Totally agree.....

Undertaking must be one of the worse driving practices I have seen and they love to do that up here, they will whip past then cut in undertake then back out again, then it's all stop at the lights and they have actually achieved f*** all except piss a whole bunch of people off and for what, so that I can get called out to go peel some poor bstard that wasn't so lucky out of his car because of their stupidity aaaaaarrrrrghhhh!!!!!

 

[lonesoldier84]

follow him home and talk to him outside his house. i am sure he will be more calm with his kids watching. probably not tho.

damn. that sucks tho man, i had a similar (tho not as bad) encounter. drives you up the wall it does.

 

[mstewar1]

Yeah, talk about folks not using their signals. Just two nights ago I was about a block from parking near my apartment. I stop at a four way intersection with a car pulling up to the stop directly across from me, we arrived at the same time. Since he didn't have a signal on I can only assume that he's going straight. I started to pull out and blammo, he's turning right across in front of me. His passenger is giving me this look of disbelief, as if I'm the tool. I just nodded my head and breathed a sigh of relief for not having gotten smacked.

 

[Goop]

I often filter, except if the vehicle at the front is a jacked up monster truck.

When I do filter I do it with extreme caution and when the light goes green I make sure to get on the gas quickly.