BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Beautifully written,

Mind if I repost this on my site, I will link back to this post.

DB

I wish there was a way we could compile everyone's bad experiences and make it mandatory for drivers to read...things like this happen way too often.

All good with me. Cross-post away.

What exactly happened with him trying to run you down? Call 911, you have his vehicle description and license plate number.

Agreeing with Noah... call the cops.

I thought about it. I actually had my phone in my hand while stopped at a light. But it's my word against his, there's no damage, and he didn't actually do anything except yell at me and behave aggressively. Yes, I felt threatened, but what do I report 2 hours after the fact?

That was really great.

Although I'm sad you had to write it, I'm very glad you were able to.

Update: After further consideration, and talking to the lady on the police non-emergency line, I called and made a report. The officer took the vehicle information, but basically said that since the driver didn't directly and verbally threaten me (or at least I didn't *hear* a threat that I could repeat), and I didn't get hit, there is nothing they are really going to do.

He did take the plate number though, so I'm hoping he'll run it through his computer and see if anything else interesting comes up.

At least it's documented I guess.

I guess if you don't feel strongly enough about what happened, then there's no reason to report it.

I drive occasionally, and from my experiences in the cage I know that if I wanted to hit something with it intentionally, it would be pretty easy, particularly a cyclist on a narrow street with parking.

That said, if he tried to hit you but failed, he must be a pretty crappy driver. Maybe he has a bunch of points on his license related to that. Reckless driving carries points - maybe it's enough to take him off the road for a while. Maybe he was driving a company vehicle... I know that at least one report I filed made it to superiors.

Seriously - threatening a cyclist with a vehicle is assault. You were assaulted. If it were me, I'd have reported it on the spot & posted about it later.

Ugh! Bad timing on my post.

You made the right call.

I'm not surprised the cops don't care considering they don't even care when people in cars kill cyclists. Whether he said anything threatening or not, it sounds like he did something threatening with his vehicle - and I don't think you get off if you point a gun at someone's head and pull the trigger - even if the gun isn't loaded.

The worst part is I'm sure I (and most other cyclists - or motorists for that matter) spend more time stuck behind cars on that stretch of Highland than any car ever spent stuck behind me. But cyclists are easy targets.

If you would have reported it right then and there the police may have done something. I had a similar situation with a taxi driver repeatedly trying to squish me in between his cab and parked cars, and yelling obscenities. I guess it was probably a little more extreme, but after he stopped at his garage I called the cops and they went and chewed him out for it.

I live one block over from there. That stretch is absolutely terrible. The ridiculous thing is that there's the double-light at Aldur, a light at Center, and several parking lot entrances along there (including the Eastside entrance just over the bridge), and yet some drivers seem to think that they're entitled to go fast.

It's not bicycle-specific. I've seen many pedestrians narrowly escape being creamed, and a ton of near-misses involving two or more motor vehicles.

It will be interesting to see what happens if/when they decide to fix that overpass. The current one is not structurally sound. I talked to Peduto about it at a neighborhood meeting a couple of years ago, and he admitted that the city has no plan. Their engineers reported that it's too far gone to be cost-effective to repair, so it needs to be replaced. The money to replace it isn't there.

I kind of hope that if it gets crumbly, they leave it open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, even if they close it to motor vehicles. Unfortunately, I doubt they would.

cross posted

http://fatguyorangebike.blogspot.com/

Many thanks

the reaction of the police in this, and most every other similar instance i've heard, is totally inadequate. a friend of mine was run off the road around that area a few years ago, and was told the same thing "there's nothing we can do. it's your word against his." the second part may or may not be true, but the first part is patently false. there is something they can do, they can get the other guy's word.

we all feel that there's no consequences, nor even a threat of them, when something like this happens. it would be surprising indeed if the drivers who thus assaulted cyclists felt any differently. and, as quizbot said, you were assaulted, and you didn't need to be verbally told it, despite what the cop said.

i don't expect you to pursue it any more, and i understand that completely, but i wish there was a good way to change this, in general. i'm quite tired of stories where people were threatened and feared for their lives, and are told by the constabulary "there's nothing we can do." it's bull, and someone needs to tell them so.

(oh, and incidentally, situations like this are precisely what i hope to avoid by running the second alder light every time i turn onto highland from alder. that way, i get to the next light before traffic catches up with me.)

I imagine half the time when they got the "other guy's word" it would be something along the lines of, "I'm sick of all these bikes thinking they can bike in my road, I was just teaching him/her a lesson!"

There was an ER doctor in California that brake checked a couple cyclists, causing them serious injury. He told the officers at the scene that he wanted to "teach them a lesson". Without this, they wouldn't have convicted him and sentenced him to 5 years.

Sometimes "the other guy" will put his foot in his mouth.

First off, I'm glad you're alright and survived to tell the rest of us your tale.

This stretch comprises part of my daily commute, and I count myself lucky every time I get to work or home safely. It's a remarkable combination of dangerous factors, for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians alike. Narrow street, on-street parking (always full during business hours), new development with LOTS of traffic (East Side), funky intersections, bus traffic, large SUVs or other expensive vehicles driving to and from Casbah, etc, etc, etc... Unfortunate that it's the important connecting street that it is, or I would avoid it altogether.

Helmet cams

Never let a cop tell you "it's your word against his," unless they GET the other guy's word.

A stupid, aggressive, driver might say stupid, aggressive things to cops, too.

I cross-posted too.