Why do you antagonize the motoring public by obeying traffic laws and legally travel within the right-of-way?
...such a menace.
2011-07-27 20:05:54
8
YA run-in with a motorist
I'm more-or-less inured to getting harassed by drivers but I did want to post about my ride down Penn today.
A truck passes by and the driver yells "get off the f*cking road". Ho-hum. A few blocks down he's parking and yells out the same thing. I get to the end of the block and decide to turn around and make a note of the truck (actually, to take a photo). But he's done and gets back in the truck (opens the door in front of a car and stops traffic). I don't manage to get the camera out, so after the light changes I ride after him, eventually following just behind (funny how bikes make better time than cars); he turns off at 45th. I just go on. Now there's someone else behind me, leaning on the horn. I take the lane. We all stop at Main. The driver tosses a cigarette butt out the window. I decide to forego the "excuse me ma'am but bicycles are vehicles too and we do have right-of-way on the street" lecture (it never seem persuasive, at least my versions).
Anyway the truck is a recent-model grey (metallic-ish) F-150. It's a company truck; it had "Hooper" on the side. The tag is YTP-2158. I somehow thought it was a roofer, and there's several in the book. I called one and talked to the owner but they don't have such a truck in their fleet. I didn't have the patience to call the others. (However the moral of the story is that owners are sensitive to these issues.)
The honker is a turquoise Buick compact ("LS"?) with tag HMZ-2992.
I did manage to get the camera out for this one: 
Now, where was I? Oh, right. Trying to get some work done.
2011-07-27 19:41:26
sorry you got hassled, glad you arrived at your destination safely.
Most small business owners are extremely sensitive to their employee's driving and behavior and how it reflects on their business. Friend used to have a small towing business, painted all his trucks bright purple - 1) easy for customers to remember, and 2) easy for him to spot when drivers decided to take his trucks to the local bars (if it wasnt' for a call, he'd repo the truck and fire the driver).
For them, public = customer, no matter what mode of transportation they choose, even if they don't like it. Chances are "Hooper" would be very interested in apologizing and correcting his driver's manners, unless you encountered Mr. Hooper himself (unlikely).
I'm convinced that some kind of feeling of anonymity allows people to be rude to each other on the road - that anonymity is gone when your business/employer's phone number is on your vehicle, or if you're in your own neighborhood where people know your car. Remove the anonymity, and while they may not become cycling advocates, the explatives may turn to quiet grumbles as they see us as humans, not obstacles.
2011-07-27 20:14:10
The truck did have the phone number on the back which was one of the reasons I wanted to get a photo. (It was hard enough remembering the tag.)
2011-07-27 20:21:53
@sloaps: I'm curious, when you ride, how do you compensate for that chip on your shoulder? Is it hard to keep your balance?
2011-07-27 21:02:21
an overloaded, ill-fitting messenger bag helps, ALMKLM
there should really be a font devoted to sarcasm.
2011-07-27 23:36:56
Or an emoticon. Well played, sir.
2011-07-28 01:30:47
A final note:
I did this post not because I was upset but because I want to leave a "paper" trail and also warn others about an apparently dangerous individual. I know that there are sites for this kind of thing but I don't get the impression that many people read them regularly.
2011-07-28 03:31:06