Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Road rage

Well, it seemed exciting at the time, so I took a picture. Guy in the jeep ran a stop sign, cutting off guy on bike, who yelled, "Nice stop!" Guy in jeep screeched to a halt, slammed the the car into reverse. Jumped out and stomped up to the biker. Not sure what was said, but the biker called the cops. Mr. Road Rage surprisingly did not leave, but waited until they showed. "I thought he called me an asshole," was his excuse.

The cops eventually sent him on his way. I'm hoping they informed him that he was, in fact, an asshole.

Bikers piss me off when they blow through stops, but blowing through one in your car, and then threatening someone who yells at you, no matter what they say, makes you an asshole for sure.

6 comments:

  1. My biker Hubby has had a couple of close calls from people in cars who can't handle someone on 2 wheels going faster than they are, like they absolutely have to make that right turn RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU or else their ego is somehow compromised. Yes, arrogant law-breaking bikers piss me off, but arrogant bigVehicleDrivingAholes can kill someone. Like my Hubby. Just sayin'.

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  2. As you know, I became a pedestrian about four months ago. I cross four major intersections in a fairly large city twice a day to and from the train station and my office. It has become increasingly difficult to cross the street with the white walk sign and the more than obvious cross walk because the drivers turning right do not care to stop and two weeks ago nearly ran over a very small older lady and I broke one of my cardinal rules (zero tolerance for my own road rage) and slammed the flat of my hand against the driver's side window and proceeded to scream at her until I had the company of half a dozen other walkers and one cop on a bike. We have an escort most days now. He wears a yellow shirt, carries a badge and probably a gun and rides his bike up and down the streets between the cross walk. Strangely I am still embarassed and a bit ashamed of myself.

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  3. Nice. Obviously the guy was full of himself if he waited around for the cops! He's lucky they didn't give him a ticket.

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  4. I'm all for pedestrian and bikers' rights. But the attitude of bikers in the Boulder area is sometimes a bit much. They are supposed to ride in a single file and not side-by-side. But do they? On two-way roads with high speed limits and a fair amount of traffic? Nope. It is their birthright. They even spill out of the bike lane because 3 of them are riding together and their conversation is very important. Gah.

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  5. He was an asshole. Sounds like it wasn't a new phenomena for him.

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  6. Vicki, it's such a weird phenomenon, people who get all competitive in their cars. I'm guilty of it, too, but I always try to be aware of where bikers are and give them wide berth.

    Alecto, good for you! I have on a few rare occasions in my life pitched a righteous fit in public, and while it's embarrassing in hindsight, I'm still not sorry I did it. Sounds like you made a difference. How sad that you need a crossing guard just to get to work!

    Julie, they couldn't give him a ticket just on the other guy's say-so, but I hope he'll think twice about pulling the same stunt again.

    Manisha, I've encountered that, too. Every group has its share of people with an inflated sense of entitlement.

    Summer, I was thinking that. Definitely an anger-management dropout.

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