More motorist shenanigans

[Schmed]

I totally concede that doesn't rise to many of the incidents posted on this site. Nobody pulled a gun on me, and I didn't even come close to getting hurt, but here goes......

Riding up a long hill on a semi-residential street. 30 mph limit, nice quiet evening for a ride.

Car comes up behind me and POP! Some kid throws one of those bottle popper things at me. The kind you pull the string and stuff shoots out with a bang. Not quite a firecracker, but loud enough to think "Oh SH_T" in your head as you toil up the hill!

I mouth a few choice words and chalk it up to end of school antics by teenagers.

5 minutes later, car pulls up, throws a handful of those Pop-It things at me. Those little white things full of little rocks that go CRACK when they hit the ground.

Turns out..... it's the same car! A gold newer Honda Pilot.

This time, I make a rude gesture, as the little son of ______ decided to come back for more.

Now I'm being a bit more wary and waiting for them to make another pass as I start to crest the hill.

I pass a side street and hear "POP" off to my right, so I figure "now I've got them!" and turn around to see if I can find them. They pull right up to the intersection and seem a bit surprised to see me coming back for them. I see the little kid in passenger seat that threw the stuff at me, and the kid can't be more than 12 yrs old. I made eye contact and say "GET OUT OF THE CAR YOU LITTLE ______!"

At that point, the driver pulls away in a hurry and I see that it's HIS MOTHER driving him around giggling the whole time as her kid is throwing these things at pedestrians!

[Peter P.]

Funny story yet sad at the same time because of mom's actions.

I had some 20-somethings pass me in a car once and do something nefarious as they passed. Unfortunately, they got stuck at the stop sign and I caught up to them. I got off the bike and flung it in the grass, all the while screaming obscenities. I didn't really have the muscle to back it up, but I put on quite a show.

So did they-you should have seen them blow through that stop sign when I caught them and start my act!

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Schmed

I totally concede that doesn't rise to many of the incidents posted on this site. Nobody pulled a gun on me, and I didn't even come close to getting hurt, but here goes......

Riding up a long hill on a semi-residential street. 30 mph limit, nice quiet evening for a ride.

Car comes up behind me and POP! Some kid throws one of those bottle popper things at me. The kind you pull the string and stuff shoots out with a bang. Not quite a firecracker, but loud enough to think "Oh SH_T" in your head as you toil up the hill!

I mouth a few choice words and chalk it up to end of school antics by teenagers.

5 minutes later, car pulls up, throws a handful of those Pop-It things at me. Those little white things full of little rocks that go CRACK when they hit the ground.

Turns out..... it's the same car! A gold newer Honda Pilot.

This time, I make a rude gesture, as the little son of ______ decided to come back for more.

Now I'm being a bit more wary and waiting for them to make another pass as I start to crest the hill.

I pass a side street and hear "POP" off to my right, so I figure "now I've got them!" and turn around to see if I can find them. They pull right up to the intersection and seem a bit surprised to see me coming back for them. I see the little kid in passenger seat that threw the stuff at me, and the kid can't be more than 12 yrs old. I made eye contact and say "GET OUT OF THE CAR YOU LITTLE ______!"

At that point, the driver pulls away in a hurry and I see that it's HIS MOTHER driving him around giggling the whole time as her kid is throwing these things at pedestrians!

License number, call the cops..at least a cop will visit mom and 'splain how dumb this is.

[Cicli]

I had two 18-20 somethings in a rusty pickup pass me the other day. They did the classic mirror buzz and full throttle pass. I cought them at the light up the road. The passenger leaned out the window and yelled "nice a$$ fa&&0+!". He quickly realised that is sounded better in his head and that he was commenting on mens posteriors. To each his own.

[austex]

https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/report-card/

[bcroslin]

you called the cops right?

[tuxbailey]

Did you record it?

[Schmed]

I have the license plate number and can identify the kid and the mom. I (like most of us?) struggle with this. I don't want to get them into trouble, but the flip side is that she's teaching this little SHI_ that it's OK to do that. He'll probably grow up to do that, and possibly hurt or kill someone.

The fact that SHE was encouraging it and that they went back to mess with me a 2nd time is really hard to comprehend. A suburban mom.

So.... I chew on it a bit more, but call the police later this morning.

[carpediemracing]

I am the camera preacher. Camera. Call the cops and show them the clip. Optionally post clip on social networks. For all you know it might have been his teacher or girlfriend or something, not his mom.

Before the days of cameras I had someone spit tobacco at me. They missed but it went between my arms from under my let arm. For whatever reason (because I was 20?) I chased down the car, it was an older Dodge, huge sedan, the kind that were the police cars in Dukes of Hazzard. I blew threw (yes, me) about 3 stop signs, full speed. To their credit the car would slow and stop at each one. I caught the car at a red light maybe a mile or two later. I could see the two guys in the car looking in their mirrors so they saw me coming, and they were chuckling or whatever.

I didn't know what to do at that point and I was doing one of those "if I don't know what to do then take a sip from my bottle" things. I looked at the bottle, popped the top with my mouth, and rolled up to the car. Dumped the bottle inside as I rolled by. As I started to dump the bottle I realized that there was this enormous tatooed arm on the windowsill, like his upper arm was as big as my leg (and I'm sure every time I remembered this story the arm got bigger). I should point out that at the time I weighed about 110 lbs. Whatever, my bottle was well into launch-water mode and it was too late to divert.

Water dumped into car, basically a full bottle's worth.

Arm goes up, like "***???". I hear a lot of swearing. The gas pedal goes to the floor, engine screams, and they're screaming at me.

I was like "omg I'm going to get pulverized by that arm and whatever is attached to it". I take a right (sort of a legal right on red if you will), which was my plan.

Problem is that I'm riding out of my girlfriend's house and I didn't know the area. I was near the Pratt & Whitney plant, and they have the longest runway in the state so they can have 747s land and such (Bradley had shorter runways I'm pretty sure). I happen to turn right onto the road that's next to the runway. It's dead straight as long as I can see. There's a chainlink fence that starts pretty shortly on the right side and extends down the length of the visible road.

The Dodge or Chrysler or whatever, the driver has punched the go pedal, the tires are spinning, smoke pouring out from the rear wheelwells, and the car slews around and starts coming at me.

I'm sprinting down the road, I listen to try to gauge when they're going to hit me with their car. I hope that they get near me before the chainlink fence starts because I can hop onto the sidewalk and turn around.

Then I realize there's this woman in a bikini sunbathing in her driveway right next to the street. That's when the car is super close. I dive into her driveway, ride behind her, and I hear a tink-tink-tink as a tobacco tin goes flying down the road. I u-turned, crossed in front of a line of traffic coming the other way (so the car couldn't turn around) and started sprinting down roads, turning whenever I could, and trying to get myself lost.

http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...tooed-arm.html

[GregL]

Originally Posted by Schmed

I have the license plate number and can identify the kid and the mom. I (like most of us?) struggle with this. I don't want to get them into trouble, but the flip side is that she's teaching this little SHI_ that it's OK to do that. He'll probably grow up to do that, and possibly hurt or kill someone.

The fact that SHE was encouraging it and that they went back to mess with me a 2nd time is really hard to comprehend. A suburban mom.

So.... I chew on it a bit more, but call the police later this morning.

Zero tolerance for this cr@p. As parents, we are not raising children, we are raising future adults. Guess how this kid will turn out to be in a few years? Both the mother and the child should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This was not a prank, it was assault (depending on the laws of your state...). Call the police, the DA, and politely demand that all applicable charges be levied against the criminals.

- Greg

[echappist]

Originally Posted by Schmed

I have the license plate number and can identify the kid and the mom. I (like most of us?) struggle with this. I don't want to get them into trouble, but the flip side is that she's teaching this little SHI_ that it's OK to do that. He'll probably grow up to do that, and possibly hurt or kill someone.

The fact that SHE was encouraging it and that they went back to mess with me a 2nd time is really hard to comprehend. A suburban mom.

So.... I chew on it a bit more, but call the police later this morning.

thank you.

The parent is actually condoning the actions, and the only way to address the issue is to escalate upwards.

Even if the mom weren't condoning it (e.g. just bunch of teenagers in the car), I'd still report it for the sake of yourself and others (cyclists, pedestrians, and, yes, even runners). Whether they get in trouble gets tossed out of any considerations when their action is physical intimidation more than just a mere honking of the horn

[William]

It seems like many motorists feel that they are in a protective bubble and with the perceived comfort/safety will feel like they can get away with stuff most people wouldn't try standing face to face. Add to the fact that (in their eyes) you are on a "toy" wearing bright clown colors on the outside of their bubble.

Amazing how quickly most of their attitudes change when you catch them at a light and are knocking on/popping their little bubble.








William

[malcolm]

Originally Posted by Schmed

I have the license plate number and can identify the kid and the mom. I (like most of us?) struggle with this. I don't want to get them into trouble, but the flip side is that she's teaching this little SHI_ that it's OK to do that. He'll probably grow up to do that, and possibly hurt or kill someone.

The fact that SHE was encouraging it and that they went back to mess with me a 2nd time is really hard to comprehend. A suburban mom.

So.... I chew on it a bit more, but call the police later this morning.

I think calling the police is the right thing. They likely won't get in trouble and likely won't even change her behavior but she needs a reality check/wake up call.

[velomonkey]

Originally Posted by William

Amazing how quickly most of their attitudes change when you catch them at a light and are knocking on/popping their little bubble.

Yup.

[PQJ]

Originally Posted by Schmed

I have the license plate number and can identify the kid and the mom. I (like most of us?) struggle with this. I don't want to get them into trouble, but the flip side is that she's teaching this little SHI_ that it's OK to do that. He'll probably grow up to do that, and possibly hurt or kill someone.

The fact that SHE was encouraging it and that they went back to mess with me a 2nd time is really hard to comprehend. A suburban mom.

So.... I chew on it a bit more, but call the police later this morning.

You absolutely, unequivocally, no question about it, should file a report with the police. In my opinion.