How would YOU have handled this dangerous situation?
I was driving an automobile today, minding my own business, with a child in my vehicle, on a two lane road (one lane each way).
I encountered, what ultimately showed itself to be a belligerent group of bikers, who, attacked me en masse, and, who prior would not yield the right of way, who crossed the yellow line repeatedly, & who apparently threw stuff at me and made rude gestures.
At one point, I was so afraid that they would break my windows, as they were repeatedly pounding on them. I was so scared, I could only look at their legs, I instinctively thrust my hand up to protect me from the breaking glass - Lord know how they didn't break it, they were pounding so hard on the glass.
All I wanted to do was avoid these people, both before and after they showed themselves to me to be dangerously & uncontrollably belligerent.
What should I do to properly report such dangerous activity so that it doesn't happen to some other poor unsuspecting soul?
Has this ever happened to you? I'm still shaking from the experience!
DETAILS:
- Minding my own way on a two lane road. Child in front seat.
- I slow down, & stay behind, at a respectful distance, for some time, awaiting them to move over as any reasonable bikers normally do so that I may pass legally & safely.
- Bikers continue to block the way, two and three abreast.
- I beep respectfully, a short toot; suddenly the rear-most bikers change speed, and one shows what appears to be a disrespectful motion with his hand, and then, swerves over the the yellow lines (apparently in a blocking move?), the other of the rear-most members throwing or dropping an object which bounced obliquely in front of me.
- I decided to do what anyone would do in that situation, which was simply to safely pass the bikers.
- There were more up front, all of whom I could clearly see, so I warned them with a long toot of my horn as I passed, safely far away.
- Apparently 'something' (unbeknownst to be) in my actions or theirs, caused them to become irrational as events only later showed.
- Further ahead, at a T-intersection stop sign, was an equal sized "gang", again completely blocking the roadway.
- I stopped behind them, and waited far longer than a reasonable person would wait, but nobody moved, even though some of them clearly saw me waiting patiently.
- I tooted again, and then suddenly, they surrounded me!
- Bikers on the front, to both sides, and presumably to the rear!
- A huge thudding sound, repeated multiple times showed me they were STRIKING my windows with the intent to break them, and they were shouting loudly.
- Some even took blocking positions in the front!
- This sudden escalation in force scared the wits out of me as I realized belatedly this was, perhaps, a planned action on their part.
- All I wanted was out of there!
- Remember, I have a kid in the front seat - and - I have absolutely no quarrel with anyone - and this is clearly an unprovoked attack!
- I was able to squirm out of there, all the while seeing these strong tree-trunk legs outside my window pounding on the glass - but I couldn't the faces of the people attacking me from the side as I had my hand on the glass to protect my face from the inevitable shattered glass.
- Luckily, I was able to get past them, and on my way, breathing a sigh of relief.
- My passenger was stunned, as was I. "What did we do?", we asked. Why did they attack us, unprovoked, and en masse?
Do you think the horn was what they had so violently reacted to?
This sounds unbelievable because putting a motorist into a fight or flee situation when the motorist is behind bicycle riders is profoundly stupid.
As to the horn, ~95% of the time when a motorist has sounded a horn from behind me he's going to attempt to brush pass me or even force me off the road. Most are just stupid others are deliberately on the attack.
I would have whipped out my trusty cell phone and called 911 for police backup.
I always carry a legal concealed handgun as well. If the situation got to the point where I felt it was justified, I could decide whether to use it or not.
arkland wrote in news:j1jub9$5lq$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
Really? you have no clue??????????????? what a troll, you should have just found another way around them, turn off, go around, you never saw a tv movie or heard what a bike gang can be like. you were a idiot and asked for the treatment you got. First part of driving is know where you are and what is around you. You failed this. next time don`t put your child in a dangerous situtation because you were to oblivious to the world around you. KB
I agree. I had no inkling prior to being attacked.
I guess I'm a wiser driver now - but - I still am unsure how I could have prevented the attack (which seemed, based on being swarmed at the intersection, to have been premeditated on their part).
In hind sight, 'after' I was able to get away from the gang, I 'should' have pulled over and called 911. If, for nothing else, to give them the location of the gang for them to see for themselves.
I don't know how many were in that belligerent gang of bicyclists, but, I would put the odds at very many to one (not counting my child); so, even with a weapon, I would have been far outnumbered by people physically much stronger than I am - and certainly much more dangerously threatening!
My biggest worry was that they were going to break the windows and hurt my child and/or myself!
Some woman in a spandex bike suit was doing that. Here and the guy she was with were riding side by side in the middle of the lane on a blind corner. Takes brains...
I should note- I'm not against cyclists, and think it can be a great form of exercise. (Especially for folks whose feet, knees and ankles are no longer up to the impact loads of running, or extended walking on pavement.) In fact, I have a rather nice vintage 10-speed sitting in basement, because my middle-age ass can no longer take an old-style road bike seat without annoying side effects, and I simply have never gotten around to buying a different one. But it is a pastime for residential side streets, bucolic country lanes, and improved trails in parks or converted railroad ROWs. It is not a plausible way to commute to work (unless you live in a small flat town), or a pastime for major traffic arteries.
Not limited to cyclists. I was once run off the road - actually had scratches on the side of my car from some hedges afterward, good thing I didn't have a particularly pristine paint job - because an idiot driver decided to pass a cyclist around a blind curve. Guess who was coming the other way...
Before questioning the cyclist's judgement as to riding on that particular road, there really aren't any good roads to ride on in the area... to get anywhere useful you're still limited to roads with either no shoulders or else curbs right up on the white line. Seems sadly all to prevalent these days... even in rural PA where I grew up quite often there'd be shoulders, albeit gravel, that you could use to get out of the way in emergencies...
I hear you about 'no good roads' and all. And while I do feel sorry for the cyclists, my statement remains valid- if there are no safe roads to ride on to get from where you live, to someplace safe to ride, well, you need a car with a bike rack, or you need to find a safer way to get exercise. And add 'bicycle friendly roads' to your list for house/apartment picking criteria for next time you move. Getting healthy is a stupid reason to get killed.
Ummm... what if you're using your bicycle as transportation? Fairly common around here, both among those who apparently are doing it for exercise, because they feel the need to be "green," or just enjoy cycling, and also those who apparently either can't afford a car and/or possibly could but only barely and therefore made a choice not to have one. Surely you don't want especially the latter to "get off the road" because that likely means onto welfare.
Our transportation infrastructure has become quite motor-vehicle-centric, even where it doesn't have to be, or where it would make a hell of a lot of sense (densely populated areas) for it not to be.
I personally would be very happy if our roads were made better for mixed cycle and vehicle traffic - and I don't mean any dedicated bike lanes or silly crap like that. Just simply make the right lane wider or provide a narrow paved shoulder, and for the love of Pete, please don't put a damn CURB right up next to the white line on a main road.
New residential developments are another little circle of hell for both cyclists and motorists... tons of "can't get there from here" type scenarios where you either have to ride way out of your way and hop on a busy high-speed main road, or else cut through someone's back yard to get out.
As for choosing to live in a bike-friendly area... not always possible. I just moved from one, but without a second income, I simply couldn't afford to remain there. Mortgage on a modest home would approach 75% of my take home per month.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.