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What to do? Assholes while lane splitting

Whoops - while I was on my soapbox I didn't actually answer the original question. Of the 3 intentional blockers I've encountered, one happened on the freeway (280N near SF) and 2 were at street lights. The freeway one, the guy made a sharp maneuver toward my lane so I backed off. When he moved back toward center I tried again - uncertain whether it was an accidental move. He again swerved toward my lane, which made it clear it was intentional. So I moved over a lane and continued on.

With the 2 that happened at street lights, I just stopped and didn't try to go past until traffic started moving again.

All 3 were basically non-events. Just because they get all upset that they're stuck in their cage and don't have the freedoms that we do doesn't mean I should let that affect me and my enjoyment.
 
budman said:
Ya know Mike that is what we have doing for along time and I agree that this is what is to be expected, but why not step it up.???

Why not take note of the license plate, vehicle description and report it here?

...

I will start a thread on reporting these ..people and let see if it makes a difference.


:smoking
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I like the idea, Bud. More than I like the idea of freeway vengeance, (mirror-bashing, door-kicking, etc.) which only pisses 'em off more and puts us all in danger. Maybe multiple reports of the same douchebag out there using his/her car as a weapon could result in some police action?
 
I'm generally pretty easy going. I do occasionally yell at other drivers, but my road rage rarely escalates beyond an inner monologue that would make Al Swearengen blush. I was definitely a bit less forgiving in my youth, but I rode less too.

anyway, I also find that 99.999% of lanesharing "incidents" are accidental and avoidable. nevertheless I will relate that this past Friday, I was headed home to Oaklamd on the bay bridge when I had two awful incidents in a row.

lanesharing eastbound between the outermost and second outermost lanes (what is that, 4&5? 5&6?) past the last sf exit but before the last onramp. anyway, traffic's almost stopped and I'm definitely doing <20mph. I've got my eyes up and I'm totally tuned into my spidey sense. then one of my alerts comes on. I'm tuned into lifted trucks, luxury cars and f'ed up beaters because they seem to be involved in most of my close calls. I slow down a bit and cover the brake as I get close to a beat up old 80's or early 90's econobox. there's no gap in traffic anywhere, so I split past on its left. as I look over while splitting past said beater, I see the driver jerk the steering wheel first right then back to the left right as I'm beside his window. I honk (new Stebel horn) repeatedly as I twist the throttle to jump ahead. HE ACTUALLY CLIPS MY FOOT WITH HIS BUMPER! I hear the sound of some kind of metal plastic collision. but I realize that this guy's car is a POS and he's obviously unbalanced enough to think he can ram MCs at will so I just keep honking and riding. traffic's almost stopped so I think about parking the bike in the middle of the freeway, finding the car behind me, grabbing the keys and throwing 'em over the freeway wall, but I figure someone might knock over my bike if I did that.

so I give the bike a loud rev (it just makes ya feel better, dig?) and continue. within seconds, some big black Escalade or the like starts bullying it's way into my lane too. still amped, i thumb my loud ass horn over & over & over (pissing off all the other drivers too, I'm sure) and make a dramatic cut around the offending SUV. there's no secret service agent driving the Escalade, but rather a mildly attractive woman who apologizes profusely with a fluttering hand and an embarrassed look on her face. considering that it really was accidental and easy avoided (by me) I forgive her and continue.

at any rate, in 15 minutes, I'm over the bridge and at home with a cold one while both drivers probably have yet to clear Treasure Island. I figure I'm the winner in this scenario.

out. :)
 
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I go around or wait usually. I used to get all pissed off and do stupid things like race around them, rev at them etc. I have reported drivers doing this to their employers when in company vehicles. The only time I intentionally made contact it was a clueless old dude, and I knocked on his window fairly politely just to get his attention that he was drifting and halfway into my lane. Now I'm old, and I don't want to make unintentional contact anymore than I want to get some prick excited enough to want to get me, so I'll wait, and pass them smugly at the earliest opportunity, which usually isn't that long, and often even before we get to the light we're all waiting for.
 
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One other thing to consider when playing revenge games.

You see ahead a car fucking with another splitter. You go by him and remove his mirror.

The driver, who is now enraged, decides to take his revenge on your buddy, the rider who was splitting right behind you.

If you pass clean, 1. you got away while the cager continues to sit in traffic, and 2. if does hit another rider, at least you're not responsbile.
 
I will admit that I've only had one case of someone deliberately moving over on top of me in 25,000 miles of commuting this year.
 
I had a crappy toyota do this to me, I waited a minute he forgot about me and I got by.

I'd be cool if you could take the cigaret from him while you split by.
 
Watch for typical (jackass) vehicles. Minivan any model, BMW, Honda, and Toyota. Then look at the typical (jackass) drivers. Asian, Young White Male, and Indians. Then beware of any combination of the above. After that watch out for everybody else because anybody can make a mistake at any given time.
 
dvorak said:
i was afraid that he might flick his cig at me or something.
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Aside for the usual answer of "just wait until you have room to pass" if you are truly afraid of a flicked cig, or someone who might flick a cig, well....:rofl
 
As much as I'd love to react (and have done so in the past), to get around the driver is the best way to do. Besides, once passed, I'm done with the moron.

Why keep perpetuating the hate? The last thing we need is one more pissed-off driver who might get back to the next rider he/she run across.
 
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ShizukaVixen said:
Someone I know years ago kicked off the guy's side view mirrors. That's probably not the best option. I usually do what Thateguhate does.
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A good swift strike downward will remove 99% of mirrors and teach a good lesson. Of course this is malicious destruction of private property, and therefore illegal so of course I would NEVER encourage that! ;)
 
MSHax said:
A good swift strike downward will remove 99% of mirrors and teach a good lesson. Of course this is malicious destruction of private property, and therefore illegal so of course I would NEVER encourage that! ;)
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No it won't , and if you catch it wrong that's a damned good way to break a hand.........
 
You have a superior power to weight ratio .. what the hell is the problem?

I ride a hella lot of miles throughout the week.. and I don't have to kick cars.. its all how you ride.

Timid non aggressive riders are going to get punked by car drivers and everyone else.

WHY?

Because they can.. because you slowed down.. !!!!because you were there.!!!

!!! Don't be there. !!!

Ride like the wind.. not like a wiener.

If you stop or slow up to punish or tell someone about themselves.. your a wiener.. Wasting time.. putting yourself at risk.

Giving someone else opportunity. cause you took your mind off the road.
 
You also have to consider that here in CA, many cagers are (or have been) riders. I recall one time where the cager in the #2 lane dropped speed when I was faced on such an incident, clearing me enough space to get by the blocking asshat in the #1 lane.

But yeah, overall make it a peaceful journey, and enjoy your time on the bike.
 
I've only been deliberately blocked twice in the past 10k miles.

Last Labor Day I had a Mercedes guy on 19th pull to the left as far as he could; the driver behind him didn't move forward to fill the gap, and waved me around in front of his car. Mercedes guy actually put his cage in reverse (but didn't move), then energetically flipped me off as I slipped behind him. The guy who left me the space totally negated the negative actions of the Mercedes dude; made me smile, not scowl.

More recently I was stuck in gridlock on 101 in Monterey County; the cause of one snarl was a jackass in a pickup, cruising at 35-40 in the left lane, pacing the plodder in the right. He saw me sharing up and moved right to block. Took me a few minutes but the woman behind the plodder on the right backed off a tad, left me room, and I maneuvered around to the right. Again, a car driver was aware and courteous, and that's what really stuck in my mind.

I've been inadvertently blocked by clueless drivers more than once, though. In every case I keep in mind that all in all we're still WAY ahead of the traffic game; stopping for a few moments, switching which lanes I'm sharing, whatever, only cost me a few heartbeats, much less than those poor cagers are spending stuck in traffic.

I like the "zen-like approach" post; that attitude keeps one safe and sane.
 
Avoid them, go around them, wait for a better time.

I had a semi do that to me in stop and go traffic once on the transition ramp from 85 north to 101 north in Mountain View. He'd move over and block me every time I tried to move past. I waited until he was stopped and couldn't move forward to blast past and made sure he saw my upraised middle finger when I did. Ass hole.
 
If you're lane sharing, you have to stay icy calm and not let anything that anybody does get to you. Get mad later, but not while you're riding because you're only putting yourself in danger if you get mad and lose your focus as a result.

I've heard plenty of E-thugs talk about knocking mirrors off......that's just plain stupid. You may get away with it, but how about the next poor rider who encounters the 'tard whose mirror you just broke, if you got away their anger might turn towards the next rider.

I don't mind people memorizing their license plates and reporting them in here, but other than that, just stay focused, calm and get home safely.
 
One thing I would like to add to this thread, possession is nine-tenths of the law. When we are passing a car while lane splitting.... I am old school, sorry.... we are encroaching onto a portion of the lane that is already occupied by a car that was there first. They have the right to use any part of the lane they want, any time they want. This is just the way it is. So, since we will always lose any conflict, we just have to find another way around or be patient.

Friday AM I thought I had a 20 something who I thought purposely moved over to keep me from going around. I got on the CB and told my wife watch this... if they are all of the way to the right in the lane the left is wide open so I went around on the rear of the car and down the left side and cut back right in front of her. This is not a highly recommend manuever for a lot of reasons :mstingray... I did not expect my wife to follow me but she did.... she drove next to the driver's window and stared at the driver... apparently the driver was in a completely different world because when she saw my wife she jumped and slowed down to let my wife easily pass by in front of her. :boobies

The car was there first the whole lane is theirs, we have to work around it, we are not entitled to any part of it. If we can't work this way, then we should really think about how much we really do appreciate lane splitting.
 
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