# How do you respond to a-hole drivers?



## TiCoyote (Jun 28, 2005)

On the commute home, a driver tried to force me off the road. There were two lanes in each direction, and he passed me, getting closer and closer. I shouted, "Hey!" and then he slammed on the brakes in front of me, and crawled up the road, holding up traffic. I didn't want to go around him, because who knows what he would do next. I yelled, "move your f-ing car!" and then he wagged his finger at me. He actually did that. This continued until the intersection, and then he made a left turn, FROM THE RIGHT LANE! And I went the other way. 

I could have called the cops, but what would they do? 

Other than yelling and giving the finger, what do you do?


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## Steve B. (Jun 26, 2004)

It's really hard to do when you're a New Yorker like me, but I run into this in Brooklyn on occasion. 

I usually just come to a complete stop and wait till they drive away. Then continue along my merry way.

Still beats being in a car at rush hour.


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## MisterMike (Aug 12, 2004)

I always have a bike bottle full of rocks. Usually training ballast but also good for piercing car windows and denting quarter panels.

OK, I kidd...

Really, you just need to chill no matter how hard that may be. First off its a CAR vs you. Second anyone who does crap like that is unpredictable. Could have a weapon, could run you down, other bad stuff. Not easy to do. Can't say I always practice what I preach. It's hard.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

I've run into that same type of situation and just started to repeatedly yell the guys license plate number at him. When the realization hit that I was identifying him he drove off, post haste.


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## duriel (Oct 10, 2013)

I usually try and get my camera out to take his picture. If you live in a metro area you'll proabably never see him again. Around here, if you try hard enough you can figure out where he lives.


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## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

duriel said:


> I usually try and get my camera out to take his picture. If you live in a metro area you'll proabably never see him again. Around here, if you try hard enough you can figure out where he lives.


In today's world, this is probably the best defense. Or using (or pretend to use) your cellphone as if you were calling the police.

If the aggressive driver confronts you and asks what you're doing, tell them you were filming them and taking the evidence to the police. That usually causes a lot of shrinkage.


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## SauronHimself (Nov 21, 2012)

First and foremost, you can deter unsafe passing through lane control. If the lane isn't wide enough to accommodate you and a car side by side, take the lane and force motorists to wait until it's safe for them to pass.

I've been running an action camera for almost three years, and I noticed a sharp decrease in harassment once I started doing this. My camera is conspicuously mounted to my helmet, and you don't have to be a genius to tell what a camera looks like. The fact of the matter is motorists have a brass set of nuts until they know they're being filmed. 

Now, if you come across that special nutjob who just doesn't care, lashing out against them only validates their behavior (in their mind at least). I've found that rolling up next to them at a red light and staring at them silently creeps them out to no end. People expect you to say something, and they hate silence. It's unnerving, which is why it works. It's especially effective if you're wearing sunglasses, because they can't see your eyes and gauge your demeanor.


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## dir-t (Oct 14, 2005)

When I worked at a bike shop years ago we had a customer who ran a karate school. He kept a bag attached to his handlebars full of, I kid you not, throwing stars. He said he used them to thwart a--hole drivers and tweekers. 

I guess he was better at throwing things than I am.


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## crit_boy (Aug 6, 2013)

velodog said:


> I've run into that same type of situation and just started to repeatedly yell the guys license plate number at him. When the realization hit that I was identifying him he drove off, post haste.


Same here. 

Most recently, I had a guy yell out his window that he was going to burn me. That was a weird one. I pulled my phone out of my jersey and pretended to take his picture. That worked - he sped off. 

IME, the police won't do anything. Your word vs the driver's - plus you are on a bike which creates the presumption that you are wrong/should have been riding on the sidewalk, etc. 

As others have said, you need to keep a cool head. The other person is driving a multi-thousand pound weapon - and people are crazy. You are wearing skin tight PJs on a 18 lb child's toy. 

It is easier said then done, but with age comes some wisdom. I know from experience that a speedplay cleat will make a huge a$$ scratch in BMW 3 series paint. I have seen a riding buddy lean into a car window, pull the driver out the window, and drop him on the ground. I saw another guy reach into a convertible, turn off the car, remove the keys, and toss them into the trees. 

While I have been a part of those antics in the past, I won't recommend them. That stuff feels good at the time, but does nothing to make your ride safer.


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## Christine (Jul 23, 2005)

Sometimes Darwinism takes care of them. This just happened not far from the bike path: Car plunges off Van Wyck Expressway | New York Post

Yet another thing to worry about, not just a-hole drivers yelling threats and/or driving into you, but _falling out of the goddammed sky_. :nonod:


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## tka (Jun 11, 2014)

crit_boy said:


> IME, the police won't do anything. Your word vs the driver's - plus you are on a bike which creates the presumption that you are wrong/should have been riding on the sidewalk, etc.
> 
> As others have said, you need to keep a cool head. The other person is driving a multi-thousand pound weapon - and people are crazy. You are wearing skin tight PJs on a 18 lb child's toy.


Get an action cam and send the video of the problem to the local police. I’ve done this twice and have been surprised by the results. 

In one case I was in a construction zone and was trying to take what was left of the lane. A car went into to oncoming lane (taking out a string of cones dividing the lanes in the process,) got alongside me, and drove me into the construction barrier. I sent the video to the local police, and the next day I received a reply saying they were looking into the incident and they would be taking action to make that area safer. That afternoon they had an electronic sign up warning motorist that bicycles may take the entire lane and that motorist were to follow them thru the construction. And at the far end of the construction zone was a police car monitoring the zone. The sign stayed up during the construction, and the police car was an occasional presence. I never had another issue there during the construction.

The second case was near a major intersection next to a large park. A fire/EMT station and the local high school at the intersection end up on the far corner when I head home, and it is 4 lanes wide at the light, 1 left turn, 2 straight, and 1 right turn. Since I go straight I normally go to right side of the right straight-thru lane. Several time I encountered an Audi with an older male driver that either tried to ram me or got along side and tried to push me to the right. One day I was about 60 ft behind another cyclist coming to the intersection. The Audi pulled alongside her and drove her across the right turn lane and into the curb. I sent the video to the local police.

About a week later I was riding home and noticed the fire station had all of its trucks out. That wasn’t unusual but I noticed there were people sitting in the trucks, which was. I hit the intersection with the green light and my buddy in the Audi pulled alongside me. He swerved into me, driving me into the crosswalk and making a mom with a stroller run into the stopped cross traffic. Behind the fire trucks were several police cars, and at the entrance to the high school a half block down were a few more. They shutdown the lane, trapping the Audi. 

As I rode up one of the police officers in the fire truck stopped me and asked if I was alright. I told him I was and innocently asked what was going on. He said that they had several complaints about motorists being very aggressive towards pedestrians and cyclists at the intersection but a week ago they received a video of a cyclist getting run off the road. With the park and the high school at the intersection they felt they needed to do something high profile as the risk was too great of someone getting injured. And they really wanted to get that Audi driver. As I was getting back on the bike he smiled, pointed at my camera, and said “Nice camera. Thanks for the video.” I don’t know if he knew I was the one who sent the video to them or not, but worked. I haven’t had an issue at that intersection in almost 2 years.


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## mjf (Nov 6, 2006)

*Snot Rockets*

I turn, look right at them and scream while blowing snot rockets from both barrels at the same time, like a raging bull. Scares the crap out of everybody.


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## ROAD&DIRT (Mar 27, 2009)

mjf said:


> I turn, look right at them and scream while blowing snot rockets from both barrels at the same time, like a raging bull. Scares the crap out of everybody.



LOL .... :smilewinkgrin: I could only imagine...


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

mjf said:


> I turn, look right at them and scream while blowing snot rockets from both barrels at the same time, like a raging bull. Scares the crap out of everybody.


I think if I did that I would bleed to death.


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## old_fuji (Mar 16, 2009)

Smile and wave.

Or smile and thumbs-up.


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

TiCoyote said:


> ... Other than yelling and giving the finger, what do you do? ...


After 3 car-on-cyclists deaths within the last month in So Calif, we're gonna fight back.
What you describe is a *criminal, felony assault* in Calif and probably n most other states.
What should you do? 
Read the recent series of blog posts, especially the 1st one. Follow through and file a police report (in person). In Calif you can even write your own report and submit it, but you do need to follow the general format and include all the salient facts, as outlined in the 1st blog post.
The author is a well-known local cyclist and attorney.
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/report-card
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/24/the-people-police
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/south-bay-weekly-round-up 
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/dont-take-it-lying-down 
https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/its-only-a-cyclist/


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## jacksdad (Aug 7, 2012)

Had my first real experience with an agressive driver today. He was sitting at stop sign on my right and waiting for me to get close. Once I was close he pulls out slowly and I had to brake a bit and go around. He turned right and then drove very slowly as close to the almost nonexistent shoulder as possible. 

I knew it was intentional because his trashy looking wife kept glancing at me with a look I can only describe as ignorance mixed with fear and malice. 

Thought about smacking the truck but I was in a very rural area and would be on my own if he chose to stop. 

Not sure what motivates people to act like that. I'm doing nothing to hurt the guy at all. I surely don't drive to his trailer and ride slowly in front of his oyster shell driveway when he's trying to get to Walmart.


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## tka (Jun 11, 2014)

jacksdad said:


> Not sure what motivates people to act like that. I'm doing nothing to hurt the guy at all.


You exist. To haters like this that is the only thing that is required to hurt them. Getting you in a situation that they feel they can control is the other element needed for them to act out.


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## SauronHimself (Nov 21, 2012)

jacksdad said:


> Had my first real experience with an agressive driver today. He was sitting at stop sign on my right and waiting for me to get close. Once I was close he pulls out slowly and I had to brake a bit and go around. He turned right and then drove very slowly as close to the almost nonexistent shoulder as possible.
> 
> I knew it was intentional because his trashy looking wife kept glancing at me with a look I can only describe as ignorance mixed with fear and malice.
> 
> ...


Camera, camera, camera.


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## BCSaltchucker (Jul 20, 2011)

SauronHimself said:


> First and foremost, you can deter unsafe passing through lane control. If the lane isn't wide enough to accommodate you and a car side by side, take the lane and force motorists to wait until it's safe for them to pass.
> 
> I've been running an action camera for almost three years, and I noticed a sharp decrease in harassment once I started doing this. My camera is conspicuously mounted to my helmet, and you don't have to be a genius to tell what a camera looks like. The fact of the matter is motorists have a brass set of nuts until they know they're being filmed.
> 
> Now, if you come across that special nutjob who just doesn't care, lashing out against them only validates their behavior (in their mind at least). I've found that rolling up next to them at a red light and staring at them silently creeps them out to no end. People expect you to say something, and they hate silence. It's unnerving, which is why it works. It's especially effective if you're wearing sunglasses, because they can't see your eyes and gauge your demeanor.


well done sir. it's about all we can do to fight back - record and report.

I remember back east 25+ years ago one fellow I knew had a different tactic. Hit em with kindness. It was a big thing back in the day for cars to annoyingly honk and startle cyclists (whether well-meaning or not). A small number would yell and actually be abusive too. This fellow in our club just gave back a smile and a friendly wave. Cunningly brilliant, when it works, throws em for a loop while disarming them too. I am bit too much of a hot head for that.


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