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Sensless violence. If I was punched by the bicyclist what are my options?

philip964 wrote:http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/04/ ... -incident/

Does any one know the joke about the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?

Heck... I can understand a person wanting to throw bricks at a bicyclist, but ramming them with a car is going too far. Coming around the corner to a nut job going four mph on a bicycle in the middle of the road is enough to set anyone off. its funny to me that my whole generation were constantly warned to stay out of the road on our bicycles. Then along comes thousands of lance armstrong wanna bees who make out like they have some kind of right to the highway, even though they pay zero registration fees for the vehicle they ride on them. Before you know it, spandex wearing dare devils all over the country side are blocking traffic with self entitled disregard for the hazards they create.

It's Babylon......'scuse me.... I mean Los Angeles. These things happen. Nothing there surprises me anymore.

03Lightningrocks,

I completely agree with you..

I'm an avid cyclist, but I don't travel with a self-entitled pack. I go alone and always ride well to the side of the road - out of the way of vehicles.

During the week-ends in my part of the world, I see groups of fifty plus cyclists blithely hogging the entire road and all I can do shiver at their disregard for the rest of the world.

Their mob mentality does a lot of damage for those of us cyclists who are considerate of the motoring public, after all we drive vehicles too...

And you're right about their being L.A. wannabees, though after his recent admissions I wonder why.

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a spandex uniform either - why look like a clone?

I've asked and the squirmy response falls along the lines of the spandex uniform is ah, functional, yeah, that's it, it's functional for bike riding. (cough, cough, and you look like a cool Euro bike racer...blech)

Abraham wrote:03Lightningrocks,

I completely agree with you..

I'm an avid cyclist, but I don't travel with a self-entitled pack. I go alone and always ride well to the side of the road - out of the way of vehicles.

During the week-ends in my part of the world, I see groups of fifty plus cyclists blithely hogging the entire road and all I can do shiver at their disregard for the rest of the world.

Their mob mentality does a lot of damage for those of us cyclists who are considerate of the motoring public, after all we drive vehicles too...

And you're right about their being L.A. wannabees, though after his recent admissions I wonder why.

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a spandex uniform either - why look like a clone?

I've asked and the squirmy response falls along the lines of the spandex uniform is ah, functional, yeah, that's it, it's functional for bike riding. (cough, cough, and you look like a cool Euro bike racer...blech)

I kid you not, I have come close to plowing through a pack or two of them more times than I can count. Not on purpose either. your driving along doing the speed limit, come around a bend in the road or over a hill and, POOF, like magic. There they are.

It may be my imagination but it seems like I am seeing less and less of them these days. Maybe you are right, the new Lance Armstrong image is not one to be proud of.

Funny story about a bicyclist to break the thread up. My daughter was riding in my truck with me and we come up on a guy wearing.... Get this now... Wait for it... A 100% hot pink spandex outfit from head to toes... Including hot pink shoes and all hot pink accessories. Well she rolls down the window to get a picture of this sight. The guy flips her off! LOL. She hollers out the window at him that he is going on you tube... LOL. No, we didn't hit him with a brick but he deserved it.

In Austin my dad had an incident with a group of we own the road cyclists a couple years ago... He just honked (short beep)at them because they were 4 wide and 6 deep on a single lane road with a bike lane(18 of them were in the road 6 in the bike lane) 4 of them show him he is #1... 2 more short beeps... And 4 stainless steel water bottles smash his front window...low and behold the vehicle behind him throws on his flashers and blasts a rather loud horn and speeds by and blocks the entire roadway...stopping traffic in that lane... Out steps an off duty police officer still in uniform on a cell phone calling for a marked unit and backup...18 tickets for impeding the flow of traffic, 4 for disorderly conduct/vandalism, and 6 for interference with the duties of a public servant because they tried to interfere with the writing of traffic citations... My dad just shrugged it off and went about his business after the officer took down his information and a statement.

And here in Austin the cyclists want motorists to be courteous and share the roadway?.. And want their own roads built? Are you serious?

03Lightningrocks wrote:

philip964 wrote:http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/04/ ... -incident/

Does any one know the joke about the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?

Heck... I can understand a person wanting to throw bricks at a bicyclist, but ramming them with a car is going too far. Coming around the corner to a nut job going four mph on a bicycle in the middle of the road is enough to set anyone off. its funny to me that my whole generation were constantly warned to stay out of the road on our bicycles. Then along comes thousands of lance armstrong wanna bees who make out like they have some kind of right to the highway, even though they pay zero registration fees for the vehicle they ride on them. Before you know it, spandex wearing dare devils all over the country side are blocking traffic with self entitled disregard for the hazards they create.

They have a right to ride on the road. My issue is they want to ride on the road but ignore traffic laws. If they ride on the road, they are obligated to follow the traffic laws. I had a guy give me the bird and question my parents' marriage after I stopped for a stop sign in my pickup and then proceeded into the intersection. He was on a bicylce and coming up to the same stop sign but assumed I would wait for him because he was on a bike.

I also strongly dislike the bicyclists trying to pass by me when I am stopped. If they want to ride on the road, they have no business riding up the side or in between cars at a light so I have to go around them again after the light turns green.

You can't have it both ways.

packa45 wrote: And here in Austin the cyclists want motorists to be courteous and share the roadway?.. And want their own roads built? Are you serious?

I don't have a problem with building bicyclist their own roadway, as long as they pay for it with a special tax on bicycles and bicycle accessories. But nope. I bet they expect the funds to come out of everyone else's pockets.

It would be like gun enthusiasts demanding the city provide free shooting ranges at tax payers expense. How about we use tax payer money for movie theaters? Heck... Resteraunts too.

It is amazing with the technology in our vehicles these days that my truck seems to know when the Lance Armstrong wannabe's take up the entire side of the road making it difficult for me to pass by them. Seems that the windshield always needs to be washed when that happens.....

Salty1 wrote:It is amazing with the technology in our vehicles these days that my truck seems to know when the Lance Armstrong wannabe's take up the entire side of the road making it difficult for me to pass by them. Seems that the windshield always needs to be washed when that happens.....

LOL... I have to get me one of them new fangled trucks! My truck is old school technology. The best I can hope for is that the distance I drag them is reduced to less than sixty feet.

It is amazing that cyclists want to have the same rights to the road as a motorist in a motorized vehicle, but think they don't have to obey the same laws.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I did a lot of cycling in my twenties. I rode in the traffic lane about a foot from the white line. I refused to ride on the shoulder. Have you looked at the road shoulders and the debris in them? It doesn't take much to destroy those skinny tires. If you have a blowout at 12-15 mph and go down you can be sprawled out quite a bit and placed in the direct line of traffic. I respect cyclists but one must remember with rights come responsibilities. I rode my bicycle as one would a motorcycle respecting all laws and common courtesies. I had some close calls but never was involved in an accident. Some altercations are unavoidable but must be handled in a judicious manner. A firm defensive stance on the opposite side of my bicycle with a confident statement of "I highly recommend you get back in your pickup and leave" worked just fine a few times. "If you don't come and get your dog I'll shoot it" worked once too.

Unfortunately not all cyclists see life as I did/do.