Drivers do the same thing to bicyclists. WAY too many times has a car pulled out in front of me while I was on a bicycle.... going down hill... at 30 - 35 MPH.
I have had a few accidents because, in their minds, people refuse to validate motorcyclists and bicyclists as 'valid things that are moving FAST on a street.'
When I was 19, I was going down a fairly steep hill, and a woman in a van pulled out in front of me. I saw the "I don't give a damned about you" vacant look in her eyes, and although I was braking as hard as I could, and I was yelling as loud as I could to get her attention, she pulled out in front of me, anyway. I slammed into the side of her van, and my body bent the sliding door in so bad that I think they would have had to replace the door, and I know she was never able to open it again.
After my body hit her van - right shoulder first - my bicycle continued to slide underneath her van, and out the other side. If I was lucky in this scenario, it is because I was bounced off the street, and into the small grassy area between the sidewalk and the curb.
That bitch jumped out of her van and yelled at me (while I was still on the ground!), "Look, kid! You need to watch where you are riding that thing!"
I staggered to my feet, holding my aching shoulder, and I asked her, "If a car was sitting at the same intersection, and it was going at the same speed that I was - 35 mph - there is a good chance that somebody would be dead now."
Would you believe that this hideous, beastly woman continued to refuse to see that she was 100% at fault, and she continued to blame ME.
This incident occurred 25 years ago, and it was before the time of small, easily portable and popular cell phones. Should this incident occur TODAY, I would definitely retain the driver, I would call the police, and the driver would be ticketed (and they would pay for the damages to the $6,000 bicycle that I own!
I started yelling back at this woman. I finally said, "Look, I can walk over to Hardees (which was a half a block away), and since I work there, I can use the phone to call the cops,and THEY can settle this matter."
Even though it was DIM, I could see a small light flicker on in her eyes, and she started to get defensive, stating, "Hey! You don't have to be THAT way, do you?" I answered her with, "Since you were very wrong, and you tried to blame me for your error, yes, I do think I have to be "that way!"
It was at that point that she realized that a bicyclist has as many rights and responsibilities as she does, including having their rights on the same roads that she uses.
She got in her van, and floored the thing. I never saw her again, but I do wish I would have gotten her license plate #. She destroyed my bicycle, and 25 years later, I have severe arthritis in the shoulder that flew into the side of her van, and it is to the point where I will soon need a new shoulder!
Motorists use 'perceptual deception', which is a cousin to 'denial'. When they are sitting at an intersection, many people are looking for ANYTHING with 4 or more wheels, and they honestly will not allow themselves to see anything on 2 wheels.
- Michael
I have had a few accidents because, in their minds, people refuse to validate motorcyclists and bicyclists as 'valid things that are moving FAST on a street.'
When I was 19, I was going down a fairly steep hill, and a woman in a van pulled out in front of me. I saw the "I don't give a damned about you" vacant look in her eyes, and although I was braking as hard as I could, and I was yelling as loud as I could to get her attention, she pulled out in front of me, anyway. I slammed into the side of her van, and my body bent the sliding door in so bad that I think they would have had to replace the door, and I know she was never able to open it again.
After my body hit her van - right shoulder first - my bicycle continued to slide underneath her van, and out the other side. If I was lucky in this scenario, it is because I was bounced off the street, and into the small grassy area between the sidewalk and the curb.
That bitch jumped out of her van and yelled at me (while I was still on the ground!), "Look, kid! You need to watch where you are riding that thing!"
I staggered to my feet, holding my aching shoulder, and I asked her, "If a car was sitting at the same intersection, and it was going at the same speed that I was - 35 mph - there is a good chance that somebody would be dead now."
Would you believe that this hideous, beastly woman continued to refuse to see that she was 100% at fault, and she continued to blame ME.
This incident occurred 25 years ago, and it was before the time of small, easily portable and popular cell phones. Should this incident occur TODAY, I would definitely retain the driver, I would call the police, and the driver would be ticketed (and they would pay for the damages to the $6,000 bicycle that I own!
I started yelling back at this woman. I finally said, "Look, I can walk over to Hardees (which was a half a block away), and since I work there, I can use the phone to call the cops,and THEY can settle this matter."
Even though it was DIM, I could see a small light flicker on in her eyes, and she started to get defensive, stating, "Hey! You don't have to be THAT way, do you?" I answered her with, "Since you were very wrong, and you tried to blame me for your error, yes, I do think I have to be "that way!"
It was at that point that she realized that a bicyclist has as many rights and responsibilities as she does, including having their rights on the same roads that she uses.
She got in her van, and floored the thing. I never saw her again, but I do wish I would have gotten her license plate #. She destroyed my bicycle, and 25 years later, I have severe arthritis in the shoulder that flew into the side of her van, and it is to the point where I will soon need a new shoulder!
Motorists use 'perceptual deception', which is a cousin to 'denial'. When they are sitting at an intersection, many people are looking for ANYTHING with 4 or more wheels, and they honestly will not allow themselves to see anything on 2 wheels.
- Michael
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