photo credit: Shayan (USA)
Yesterday my hubby came in from his bike ride and exclaimed “I’ve encountered my first hostile driver.” I asked him what happened and he said this lady in a car buzzed by him with only a couple inches between him and the car. He said it scared the crap out of him, which is saying a lot since he isn’t flustered by much.
I have yet to run into a hostile car driver, but they are definitely out there. It doesn’t seem to matter if you live in a cycling friendly city or a cycling hostile city ~ the mad drivers are out there.
Recently in the Wichita Eagle this was posted in the opinion section:
While we’re riding there’s not much we can do to counter such blatant hostility, but once you are home and safe, what can you do to help foster better relationships between cyclists and cars?
Many communities, including Wichita have created groups to help get the word out and let the community know that cyclists really do have a voice, and we are not blocking traffic, we ARE traffic.
A guy in San Francisco was hit by a Prius a couple months ago and decided to take out an ad on Craigslist:
You hit me with your Prius
Me – Bicyclist, heading to jury duty on 10th Street, Friday at 8:50am.
You – Prius driver, crossing over two lanes, hitting me with your car and speeding away.I was hoping we could catch up for a cup of coffee, so I could get your views on the environment, and strangle you.
Not sure this is the best way to deal with hostile drivers, but he does make his point. It can be very frustrating for cyclists to try to deal with hostile drivers, who not only have bigger vehicles but can very easily kill us with their aggressive behavior and attitudes.
What do you do to deal with or manage aggressive drivers? I’d love to hear your best tips. Please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
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Ignore them, usually though it angers me. The problem with adressing it directly is you will likely experience this matter on a route you are both familiar with. Lets say I encounter a agressive driver on one of my many commute routes. I shout back or challenge him to a dual on the spot. He or she will likely keep driving beings they are probably already running late, thanks to you right? Then the next day or a few weeks later they may see me again and the confrontation could escalate at this moment of opportunity for the grudge holding driver. I try to be courteous, but to be honest I have only had a few people honk at me and appear angry, usually its just kids yelling out the windows nothing to worry about.