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phddan wrote:Was told that yesterday, while I was out working on our easement road, from an old man that was mad I was working on the road.
Sheriff came out and took a report after I said that I do want to press charges. Don't expect much to be done, but did want to start a paper trail.

Dan

phddan wrote: We have almost 2 miles of dirt easement on the road which the HOA maintains. There are 4 of us that have tractors and dozers and such, and we work on it a few times a year for big jobs, and any time it needs mowed, one of us will mow it any time. Their is also a small creek we have to traverse, which is usually no problem unless there is alot of rain, and when it rises, your either stuck in, or your stuck out, until it goes down.
The older man that made the threat, thinks that he has the final say on what we can do when it comes to maintaining the road. 5 years ago they had to hire a off duty sheriff to stand there to put a culvert in the road, because he threatened to shoot my neighbors doing the work.
He does not live in our community, he has right of access to get to some of his land. This community use to belong to one of his relatives, and he thinks he still has something to say with what goes on.
Alright, there is the back story.
Well, I got a little earlier start than the other 2 that were going to work yesterday and was clearing out culvert ditches, when the older man stopped in the middle of the road and was waving me down. I slowed down and was almost stopped when he started yelling "you better stop, you cant work on this road......." This is where I put the tractor back in gear and kept going, not wanting to hear his crap.
I went down to the end of the road to work on that culvert, and he went the other way. When I finished there, and went to join up with the other two men that were supposed to be working on the road, and this old man had parked his truck in the middle of the road where I couldn't get around him without going in the ditch and up on the shoulder around a tree, which I did, because I didn't feel like listened to him.
As I pulled around him, he got out of the truck and got a broom handle out of the bed of the pickup and was walking toward me on the tractor holding the broom handle like a bat, saying "I'll knock you off that tractor if you don't stop."
When I got the tractor back on the road, I stopped and cut it off. Now, I'm 6'4" and 200lbs, and he is about 5'6" and pretty frail looking. I would guess he is up in the 80's. I wasn't to worried about him and the broom handle, which turned out to be one of those hollow yellow plastic handles, so I stepped of the tractor and asked what the problem was. He went on about tearing up the road and we aint got the right to do anything to it, and "if I have to I'll shoot you right between the eyes."
That's when I stepped back and dialed 911. Now we are out in the boonies so to speak, so it was 45 minutes before the sheriff showed up. During that time my neighbor drove up on his tractor and found out what was going on, and the old man repeated his threat several times to him.

Did I miss anything??

And Dan is definitely a man.

Dan

seamusTX wrote:I ride a horse on public roads in the "country" (such as it is). I have had people yell at me for riding past their house. I once had a guy threaten to shoot me, though in that case I may have been on his unfenced and unposted land.

- Jim

Txroadcyclist wrote:

seamusTX wrote:I ride a horse on public roads in the "country" (such as it is). I have had people yell at me for riding past their house. I once had a guy threaten to shoot me, though in that case I may have been on his unfenced and unposted land.

- Jim

I thought that only happened to cyclists. Welcome to the I don't like you because you're breathing my air club. I ride either on the shoulder or as far to the right as possible, i.e. about 12 inches from the side of the road. There are those who believe if you're not in a cage, cyclists term for cars, then you have no rights at all. I was discussing this one time with an anti cyclist who said I should not have access to the roads because cyclists do not pay taxes for road repairs. I told him that one Texas law says otherwise, cyclists have as much right to the road as everyone else, and two I do pay those taxes because I have a truck and my wife has a car. I'm also a homeowner and I'm sure some of the county and city taxes I pay do cover road maintenance/repair.

Txroadcyclist wrote:I thought that only happened to cyclists.

txinvestigator wrote:I coulda sworn I read something in the code about riding as to to as the right hand edge of the roadway as practical.

§ 551.103. OPERATION ON ROADWAY. (a) Except as provided
by Subsection (b), a person operating a bicycle on a roadway who is
moving slower than the other traffic on the roadway shall ride as
near as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway,
unless:
(1) the person is passing another vehicle moving in
the same direction;
(2) the person is preparing to turn left at an
intersection or onto a private road or driveway;
(3) a condition on or of the roadway, including a fixed
or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, pedestrian, animal, or
surface hazard prevents the person from safely riding next to the
right curb or edge of the roadway; or
(4) the person is operating a bicycle in an outside
lane that is:
(A) less than 14 feet in width and does not have a
designated bicycle lane adjacent to that lane; or
(B) too narrow for a bicycle and a motor vehicle
to safely travel side by side.
(b) A person operating a bicycle on a one-way roadway with
two or more marked traffic lanes may ride as near as practicable to
the left curb or edge of the roadway.
(c) Persons operating bicycles on a roadway may ride two
abreast. Persons riding two abreast on a laned roadway shall ride
in a single lane. Persons riding two abreast may not impede the
normal and reasonable flow of traffic on the roadway. Persons may
not ride more than two abreast unless they are riding on a part of a
roadway set aside for the exclusive operation of bicycles.
(d) Repealed by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1085, § 13,
eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

GlockenHammer wrote:I almost had to laugh at the thought of locking this thread again for the off-topic conversation on cycling. Goodness!