"Road Rage" Bicyclist vs. City Bus Passenger

[waggy]

sounds like both are idiots.

The biker for getting in front of the buss and teh idiot for getting off.

 

[Reggae4k]

what the cyclist did was not a crime, assaulting is.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Reggae4k
what the cyclist did was not a crime, assaulting is.

Not to split hairs, but he probably could have been ticketed for "impeding flow of traffic" or something.

Again, I sympathise with him to some degree (while not excusing his actions). When you literally have a near-death experience due to negligence or malice on the part of a motorist, it can make you a tad confrontational. 😛

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: supafly

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Shivetya
stay in bike lines or get off the bike

until bikes have tag fees and license their riders they don't deserve to use the road. half the time they don't obey any traffic rules around here

Until you obtain a license to Kill, give all Cyclists as much room as you can. <^>:|

I don't care if you're the most law abiding and courteous bike rider in the world - that doesn't mean bike riders in general are, like the one in the article.
Fvck all the bike riders who ride in the middle of the lane. Fvck the bike riders who do not hand signal or stop at red lights or stop signs. There are bad drivers out there just like there are bad bike riders.
Bike riders who obey the law and are courteous completely have my sympathy when drivers try to run them off the road or generally put them in harm. But as a bike rider, you have to understand our point of view when we constantly have to deal with your (bike riders as a collective) shenanigans, as much as you expect us to understand your POV.

So because some cyclists are dicks, you're going to treat them all like this?

In law enforcement, they call that profiling.

No - I never said that.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Yay for ignorance! If you're driving on a stretch of road and you see a big patch of ice, or bunch of tacks or some other hazzard that will cause you to have an accident, flat, etc you would drive out of your lane to avoid it too.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: supafly

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: supafly

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Shivetya
stay in bike lines or get off the bike

until bikes have tag fees and license their riders they don't deserve to use the road. half the time they don't obey any traffic rules around here

Until you obtain a license to Kill, give all Cyclists as much room as you can. <^>:|

I don't care if you're the most law abiding and courteous bike rider in the world - that doesn't mean bike riders in general are, like the one in the article.
Fvck all the bike riders who ride in the middle of the lane. Fvck the bike riders who do not hand signal or stop at red lights or stop signs. There are bad drivers out there just like there are bad bike riders.
Bike riders who obey the law and are courteous completely have my sympathy when drivers try to run them off the road or generally put them in harm. But as a bike rider, you have to understand our point of view when we constantly have to deal with your (bike riders as a collective) shenanigans, as much as you expect us to understand your POV.

So because some cyclists are dicks, you're going to treat them all like this?

In law enforcement, they call that profiling.

No - I never said that.

So what are you saying? "understanding your POV" to me reads like "understand why we'll f*ck with you given half a chance".

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: oboeguy

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Yay for ignorance! If you're driving on a stretch of road and you see a big patch of ice, or bunch of tacks or some other hazzard that will cause you to have an accident, flat, etc you would drive out of your lane to avoid it too.

See above. The cyclist was within his rights to ride around the bike lane.

Bike lanes aren't generally compulsory anyway, just for the record.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Paths are sometimes chock-full of gravel and glass and tires are expensive. The OP seemed to indicate this was the case.

Roads are sometimes full of gravel, glass, pieces of old tires, people, etc. That doesn't mean I should drive on the sidewalk.

/devil's advocate.

I'm sorry, but cars (and bikes in some states) are never allowed on the sidewalk so your example doesn't fly.

Bikes are supposed to be in the road "as near to the right as is practical". If the right side of the road is mangled or full of debris, or whatever, the cyclist is well within his rights to ride around this stuff. It is the motorists' job to be aware of these details in the law (though they almost never are) and be patient for a second as the guy on the bike negotiates around the crap in the road.

You're right, he missed tha analogy a bit. Replace sidewalk with bike lane.
/devil's advocate

Question for the cyclist, when a bike lane is available, are you forced to use it? I know you are supposed to be in the street, but are you supposed to be in the bike lane if it's there?

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Paths are sometimes chock-full of gravel and glass and tires are expensive. The OP seemed to indicate this was the case.

Roads are sometimes full of gravel, glass, pieces of old tires, people, etc. That doesn't mean I should drive on the sidewalk.

/devil's advocate.

I'm sorry, but cars (and bikes in some states) are never allowed on the sidewalk so your example doesn't fly.

Bikes are supposed to be in the road "as near to the right as is practical". If the right side of the road is mangled or full of debris, or whatever, the cyclist is well within his rights to ride around this stuff. It is the motorists' job to be aware of these details in the law (though they almost never are) and be patient for a second as the guy on the bike negotiates around the crap in the road.

You're right, he missed tha analogy a bit. Replace sidewalk with bike lane.
/devil's advocate

Question for the cyclist, when a bike lane is available, are you forced to use it? I know you are supposed to be in the street, but are you supposed to be in the bike lane if it's there?

Laws on this vary, but even if it were legally required in this case, I'd be willing to wager that the need to get around a hole/grate/debris in the lane would supercede the bike lane law.

It's really almost analagous to a farmer using the road to move a tractor; yes, he's going slower than you, and yes it's probably annoying, but you can't just run him off the road. By the same token, it's up to him to try to stay to the right and not pooch traffic more than necessary.

The basic problem here is that most motorists think cars are the ONLY thing that should be on the road whereas this is not legally the case unless you're talking about a highway.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Reggae4k
you sir, are an idiot. how does swerving cause a two car accident?

I'm the idiot and you're asking that question?

You see, when two cars run into each other they usually call that an accident. When you swerve into some one else's lane without warning...sometimes you...wait for it...run into their car!

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Paths are sometimes chock-full of gravel and glass and tires are expensive. The OP seemed to indicate this was the case.

Roads are sometimes full of gravel, glass, pieces of old tires, people, etc. That doesn't mean I should drive on the sidewalk.

/devil's advocate.

I'm sorry, but cars (and bikes in some states) are never allowed on the sidewalk so your example doesn't fly.

Bikes are supposed to be in the road "as near to the right as is practical". If the right side of the road is mangled or full of debris, or whatever, the cyclist is well within his rights to ride around this stuff. It is the motorists' job to be aware of these details in the law (though they almost never are) and be patient for a second as the guy on the bike negotiates around the crap in the road.

So to borrow a previous example...if I'm driving along on a 2 lane road, and there's a pile of rocks or something in my lane...its the guy in the lane next to me's problem when I swerve left into him?

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Fausto

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Paths are sometimes chock-full of gravel and glass and tires are expensive. The OP seemed to indicate this was the case.

Roads are sometimes full of gravel, glass, pieces of old tires, people, etc. That doesn't mean I should drive on the sidewalk.

/devil's advocate.

I'm sorry, but cars (and bikes in some states) are never allowed on the sidewalk so your example doesn't fly.

Bikes are supposed to be in the road "as near to the right as is practical". If the right side of the road is mangled or full of debris, or whatever, the cyclist is well within his rights to ride around this stuff. It is the motorists' job to be aware of these details in the law (though they almost never are) and be patient for a second as the guy on the bike negotiates around the crap in the road.

So to borrow a previous example...if I'm driving along on a 2 lane road, and there's a pile of rocks or something in my lane...its the guy in the lane next to me's problem when I swerve left into him?

Obviously, you can't just ram into the guy since he's already occupying that lane.

The difference in the bike case is two things:

1. Cyclists and cars share a lane legally, two cars don't.

2. The bus almost clipped the cyclist while passing him. This says to me that the cyclist had moved outside the bike lane at some point prior to the bus coming up on him. Since he was already out there, it was up to the bus to give him the proper amount of room.

 

[silverpig]

The cyclist was a prick, but the passenger was also a prick. I say they should both just let it go.

The cyclist should either take up more of the lane, or be out of it. Riding on the edge is stupid because it opens the pass up for vehicles. Either be assertive and take the lane, or get out of it and into the bike lane. And kevlar tires are your friend.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Well, when there is crap in the bike lane you have to avoid it. I ride all the time and you'd be amazed at the sh!t you see on the road. Glass, pieces of metal, hubcaps, food, roadkill, car parts, screws and nails. The city really needs to clean them every now and then.

I had some d!ckhead in a car get all pissy at me once because I was riding on the road where there was construction and the bike lane was closed. WTF a55hole! Where do you expect me to ride?

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Fausto
Okay, read the article.

1. Bike lanes do get filled with crap now and then, so this is plausible.

2. Bus driver needed to give the guy more room.

3. Bike guy should have just taken down the bus number/route and called it in.

4. Bus driver f*cked up letting the passenger off/on.


Cyclist could have handled this better, but he's got a valid gripe with regard to the passenger assaulting him.

That said, when you have people casually threaten your life on a near-daily basis, eventually you snap and do something like this. Not saying it's right, but I am saying you have to be a bike commuter to really know what it's like to have people not think twice about nearly killing you for legally being in the road.

:thumbsup:

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Well, when there is crap in the bike lane you have to avoid it. I ride all the time and you'd be amazed at the sh!t you see on the road. Glass, pieces of metal, hubcaps, food, roadkill, car parts, screws and nails. The city really needs to clean them every now and then.

I had some d!ckhead in a car get all pissy at me once because I was riding on the road where there was construction and the bike lane was closed. WTF a55hole! Where do you expect me to ride?

I commute on kevlar tires and I still mangle at least one a year running over crap on the road.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Yeah, I don't think I'd turn that guy in even if I did know who he was. The guy didn't want to ride on the god damn bike path made for him? Thats like me driving my car on the sidewalk and then b|tching that people don't get out of my way.

Well, when there is crap in the bike lane you have to avoid it. I ride all the time and you'd be amazed at the sh!t you see on the road. Glass, pieces of metal, hubcaps, food, roadkill, car parts, screws and nails. The city really needs to clean them every now and then.

I had some d!ckhead in a car get all pissy at me once because I was riding on the road where there was construction and the bike lane was closed. WTF a55hole! Where do you expect me to ride?

LOL. If there's one thing I've learned from all the morons on the road its that the answer to that question that he doesn't care.

 

[AMCRambler]

Who chases down a bus on a bicycle and then parks his ass in front of it so that it can't move because it came to close to him? I'm sorry but that is pretty arrogant and foolish. All the cyclists are saying the bus driver needed to give the cyclist more room, but if the cyclist had a bike lane, and couldn't ride over some gravel he should have gotten off the bike and walked past the gravel. Bike lane for bikes, car lane for cars. Write the damn number of the bus down and lodge a complaint if it was a near miss. Don't be a smacktard.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: supafly

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Shivetya
stay in bike lines or get off the bike

until bikes have tag fees and license their riders they don't deserve to use the road. half the time they don't obey any traffic rules around here

Until you obtain a license to Kill, give all Cyclists as much room as you can. <^>:|

I don't care if you're the most law abiding and courteous bike rider in the world - that doesn't mean bike riders in general are, like the one in the article.
Fvck all the bike riders who ride in the middle of the lane. Fvck the bike riders who do not hand signal or stop at red lights or stop signs. There are bad drivers out there just like there are bad bike riders.
Bike riders who obey the law and are courteous completely have my sympathy when drivers try to run them off the road or generally put them in harm. But as a bike rider, you have to understand our point of view when we constantly have to deal with your (bike riders as a collective) shenanigans, as much as you expect us to understand your POV.

Yeah that annoys me too. But there are more drivers who run red lights and do really stupid things.... drunk driving included And you don't see other drivers trying to run them off the road. Do you know why? Because then they would be culpable and in trouble. Drivers who do this kind of stuff are complete cowards and bastards because they only pick on someone who can't fight back. 9/10 times that I have been run off, I was doing everything I could to follow the traffic laws. The one time I didn't was because I took a turn too tight and oversteered and it was my fault. Most bike riders who get run off didn't do anything in the first place.

By your logic a bad driver should be run off the road and beat up, but that doesn't happen often right. While at the same time, a biker, any biker who gets run off probably deserved it because of the one out of 10 bikers out there that don't follow all of the rules. I bet I can use more anecdoctal evidence that the driver was in the wrong rather than the cyclist with anything you got. I am sick of these threads where the non-cyclists always end up claiming in the end that "sure some cyclists ride well, but some don't, and that pisses me off... <so the at least some bikers deserve it, so you understand my point of view>". Yeah, 1 out of every 10, and usually they aren't the ones hurt. By that same logic, half of the drivers out there, and more than half in Houston, piss me off and should be run off the road and maimed.

******************************************************

Originally posted by: Fausto
So because some cyclists are dicks, you're going to treat them all like this?

In law enforcement, they call that profiling.

BEST ARGUMENT EVAR.

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Fausto
Laws on this vary, but even if it were legally required in this case, I'd be willing to wager that the need to get around a hole/grate/debris in the lane would supercede the bike lane law.

That would surprise me actually, I doubt the law is fashioned to allow for it.

Don't get me wrong, I think your analysis after you read the article is spot on.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Who chases down a bus on a bicycle and then parks his ass in front of it so that it can't move because it came to close to him? I'm sorry but that is pretty arrogant and foolish. All the cyclists are saying the bus driver needed to give the cyclist more room, but if the cyclist had a bike lane, and couldn't ride over some gravel he should have gotten off the bike and walked past the gravel. Bike lane for bikes, car lane for cars. Write the damn number of the bus down and lodge a complaint if it was a near miss. Don't be a smacktard.

You're incorrect here as I've mentioned.

As I've said, the cyclist didn't need to escalate things the way he did, but you just can't understand his position unless you've been there. The notion that someone could casually erase me, widow my wife, and deprive my daughter of a father is enraging to say the least. If you don't know what I'm talking about, ride a bike to work for a week and then revisit this thread.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Originally posted by: Fausto
Laws on this vary, but even if it were legally required in this case, I'd be willing to wager that the need to get around a hole/grate/debris in the lane would supercede the bike lane law.

That would surprise me actually, I doubt the law is fashioned to allow for it.

Don't get me wrong, I think your analysis after you read the article is spot on.

It is VERY rare that a law requires bicyclists to use bike lanes. It would have to be a specific, local law, because all 50 states (IIRC) specifically have laws for bikes riding in regular traffic lanes.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Fausto
The notion that someone could casually erase me, widow my wife, and deprive my daughter of a father is enraging to say the least.

That could happen whether you are in the bike lane or not. I'm not sure if I were really concerned about my well-being if I'd ride my bike in traffic to work every day. Then again, I also don't own a motorcycle for the same reason.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Fausto
The notion that someone could casually erase me, widow my wife, and deprive my daughter of a father is enraging to say the least.

That could happen whether you are in the bike lane or not. I'm not sure if I were really concerned about my well-being if I'd ride my bike in traffic to work every day. Then again, I also don't own a motorcycle for the same reason.

In both cases, you have to draw the line at what level of risk you deem acceptable, take all possible precautions, and watch out for retards. I do everything I can NOT to get in the way whenever possible; my commute to work is about 30% longer than it really needs to be for this reason.

Cycling, behind family and work, is my life. It's what makes me happy and gives me a sense of purpose. I'm not going to give that up because some motorists are borderline retarded and my presence offends them any more than you'd give up your religion because lots of people like to mock you (and I'm being serious here).

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: DaShen

Originally posted by: supafly

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Shivetya
stay in bike lines or get off the bike

until bikes have tag fees and license their riders they don't deserve to use the road. half the time they don't obey any traffic rules around here

Until you obtain a license to Kill, give all Cyclists as much room as you can. <^>:|

I don't care if you're the most law abiding and courteous bike rider in the world - that doesn't mean bike riders in general are, like the one in the article.
Fvck all the bike riders who ride in the middle of the lane. Fvck the bike riders who do not hand signal or stop at red lights or stop signs. There are bad drivers out there just like there are bad bike riders.
Bike riders who obey the law and are courteous completely have my sympathy when drivers try to run them off the road or generally put them in harm. But as a bike rider, you have to understand our point of view when we constantly have to deal with your (bike riders as a collective) shenanigans, as much as you expect us to understand your POV.

Yeah that annoys me too. But there are more drivers who run red lights and do really stupid things.... drunk driving included And you don't see other drivers trying to run them off the road. Do you know why? Because then they would be culpable and in trouble. Drivers who do this kind of stuff are complete cowards and bastards because they only pick on someone who can't fight back. 9/10 times that I have been run off, I was doing everything I could to follow the traffic laws. The one time I didn't was because I took a turn too tight and oversteered and it was my fault. Most bike riders who get run off didn't do anything in the first place.

By your logic a bad driver should be run off the road and beat up, but that doesn't happen often right. While at the same time, a biker, any biker who gets run off probably deserved it because of the one out of 10 bikers out there that don't follow all of the rules. I bet I can use more anecdoctal evidence that the driver was in the wrong rather than the cyclist with anything you got. I am sick of these threads where the non-cyclists always end up claiming in the end that "sure some cyclists ride well, but some don't, and that pisses me off... <so the at least some bikers deserve it, so you understand my point of view>". Yeah, 1 out of every 10, and usually they aren't the ones hurt. By that same logic, half of the drivers out there, and more than half in Houston, piss me off and should be run off the road and maimed.

******************************************************

Originally posted by: Fausto
So because some cyclists are dicks, you're going to treat them all like this?

In law enforcement, they call that profiling.

BEST ARGUMENT EVAR.

Yeah, DaShen and Fausto, my heros! Pwning any and all idiots in this thread. 😀