Slog Oct 12, 2017 11:58 AM

This Video Shows How Entitled Drivers Endanger Cyclists

by Chetanya Robinson

Comments

1
Share the road.
Dan Savage on October 12, 2017 at 12:09 PM · Stranger Staff
2
I was with him right up to him blowing though the Stop sign as he passed the stopped truck.
Food For Thought on October 12, 2017 at 12:12 PM · Report this
3
These are called a "punishment pass" when the driver has the goal of teaching the bicyclist a lesson.
meanie on October 12, 2017 at 12:18 PM · Report this
4
Cite the driver and the cyclist.
JonnoN on October 12, 2017 at 12:20 PM · Report this
5
@2 Or maybe he wanted to get the fuck away from this asshole who nearly drove through him?
mhulot on October 12, 2017 at 12:21 PM · Report this
6
@2 wow less than 15 minutes to a "he was no angel" comment. Same for @4. Fuck you both.
Jason Petersen on October 12, 2017 at 12:22 PM · Report this
7
I've been educated about victim blaming murdered cyclist by saying "yeah but some of them are assholes", but lol, yeah, he then did blow right through a stop sign and he blew past the other cyclist so the feild of vision needed to determine the they were clear doesn't require you to look that far back the truck. Seems like they were trying to teach the asswipe in a truck a lesson. Knock that shit off.

As a broader perspective, everyone needs to stop trying to teach one another lessons on the road. It's fucked up the rage people go through with blowing horn or banging on car hoods when some dickwad wouldn't wait their turn at a light blocks an intersection or crosswalk. Yeah, it sucks, calm the fuck down.

But fuck every car and CYCLISTS blowing threw stops and crosswalks. Y'all need to respect pedestrians.
Agrippa on October 12, 2017 at 12:26 PM · Report this
8
@5 poor reasoning as they only gradually cruised away from a giant truck that could easily catch them.

Stop the dick waving. Stop escalating the situation.
Agrippa on October 12, 2017 at 12:30 PM · Report this
9
Did the truck driver "almost kill" the other bicyclist who was in the designated bike lane? Kinda missed him by a mile didn't, he?

Stay in your lane and you won't have these problems, dipshit.
muffy on October 12, 2017 at 12:36 PM · Report this
10
Conclusion: Everyone sucks.
tabski on October 12, 2017 at 12:47 PM · Report this
11
Huh, all I saw was a big truck doing what most cyclists do every day, which is zip passed cars to get to the head of the line. Love how the cyclists blows right through the stop sign.
Kinison on October 12, 2017 at 12:52 PM · Report this
12
"You can always call 911 if you believe you've been threatened or see dangerous driving... An officer would typically need to witness a violation in-progress to be able to stop the driver & confirm their ID to issue a citation."

This is equivalent to them handing you a business card. You're welcome to call 911, but good luck with that.

My wife and I were assaulted by a road-raging driver who misunderstood the law and decided to use his vehicle to threaten us and endanger us and others to prove his point. After calling 911, reporting the partial plate and vehicle data, gathering witnesses,and waiting... the police never showed up. Later they talked to me on the phone and said they couldn't (wouldn't) do anything anyway.
Matt the Engineer on October 12, 2017 at 12:55 PM · Report this
12
If you a bike and riding in the road always ride in the middle of the lane. Cars don’t share, they always come close to clipping you. Take the lane, its allowed by law.
j2patter on October 12, 2017 at 12:55 PM · Report this
13
Assholes, both. Take their toys away until they can learn to play well wit others.
Francis7 on October 12, 2017 at 1:11 PM · Report this
14
Both of them should have been shot by the cops in the back of the head: problem solved
Cato the Younger Younger on October 12, 2017 at 1:22 PM · Report this
15
shorter @6: "HURR DURRR It's ok to break the law if you're vindictively filming someone else who broke the law". At least take a page from that shoreline motorcyclist's playbook, and edit the video to remove your own lawbreaking before tweeting it at the cops.
JonnoN on October 12, 2017 at 1:30 PM · Report this
16
Last year I had a driver cut me off making a right turn and after I ran into the back of his car he pulled to the side of the road, peeled out and tried to t-bone me at full speed. The curb threw off his trajectory and after hitting me with his door he crossed the street and smashed full on into a parked car. Officers, and Sargent, called to the scene explained they could not charge him with attempted murder because he did not state his intention to kill me in advance. That's Wa. law. People in cars have the right to kill you with impunity if you are on the bike.
caferacer on October 12, 2017 at 1:53 PM · Report this
17
FAKE. He wasn't in the bike lane. He knew he wasn't in the bike lane. He passed another cyclist that was in the bike lane. He rode in the auto lane on purpose. Also, after he gets passed, does he go into the bike lane. He was in the wrong lane. The auto was in the right lane. The cyclist rode in the wrong lane to get a bad reaction from a driver. He brought it on himself.
Thrill Killer on October 12, 2017 at 2:09 PM · Report this
18
@everyone who says cyclists should have stopped at the sign.
We're playing by Idaho rules out here. Way safer for the cyclist and saves time for everyone else on the road. If you don't like it, grow a pair and join us! Or continue to stew in your flaccid car induced rage.
you_can't_stop_us on October 12, 2017 at 2:15 PM · Report this
19
I've seen SPD request the criminal charge of reckless endangerment for less than this.
Eric Arrr on October 12, 2017 at 2:24 PM · Report this
20
Nothing wrong with biking outside of the bike lane.
bro on October 12, 2017 at 2:28 PM · Report this
21
In bike-friendly Oregon people tend to not ride their bikes out away from the bike lanes, in the middle of the street, unless they're making a left turn - because every decent bike-rider knows that they are slower than and an impediment to motorized vehicle traffic.

Share the road works both ways.

Yes, you can bike anywhere on the road. Maybe tootling along at 10-15 mph in the middle of the road in the dark, downtown, because apparently you feel like it is not the best idea.

The driver is not justified but riders of motorcycles don't seem to do these "look at these JERK BITCH DRIVERS GOD DAMN" baiting tactics and actually ride defensively to keep themselves out of harm. Bike riders should follow suit. Nobody reacts positively to entitled slow fucks.
The CHZA on October 12, 2017 at 2:35 PM · Report this
22
Honestly this could be the comment section of the Seattle Times or My NW. How embarrassing.

He was completely within his legal right to be in the general purpose lane. That's why they call it "general purpose lane" and not a 'car lane." Full stop. Forget all these comments saying he should have been the in the bike lane.

The driver clearly wanted to road rage at the man who was biking just to show him a lesson and had NO REASON to.

Also, forget all the "both sides" BS, he clearly slowed down and looked both ways before continuing across the street with the stop sign. Do you see any evidence of not yielding to people walking? No, you don't.
Capitol Hillian on October 12, 2017 at 3:05 PM · Report this
23
@22 other people were in the bike lane, he wasn't. You can call the lanes anything you want, if you have the choice between being in a bike lane and not being in a bike lane, you also have the choice of being a pain in the ass or not being a pain in the ass to people who are capable of going faster than you. The law doesn't have anything to do with the reality of how you are moving on the road vs cars and how people in cars are going to react to you (i.e. just the same as some moron driving their new Lexus 15 under in the middle of the road)
The CHZA on October 12, 2017 at 3:18 PM · Report this
24
@23 As was stated and clearly shown in the video, he was passing another cyclists in the bike lane. Which is why he was in the general purpose lane.
you_can't_stop_us on October 12, 2017 at 3:45 PM · Report this
25
Truck driver overreacted to the situation and shouldn't have because the "lesson" he was teaching the biker could have ended horribly. Being a dick is not a reason to die. If it was, Slog comments would be a lonely wasteland, with an occasional sobbing mourner dropping by to remember Will in Seattle, The Misanthrope, SargonBighorn, etc.

That said: So it's a "sorta stop sign" now? OK. I'll look forward to the video of this biker being knocked across the road by a car that has the right of way as he runs the sign. Then everyone can come back here and bitch about the car driver. Until then, everyone have a great day.
Jubilation T. Cornball on October 12, 2017 at 3:46 PM · Report this
26
I used to have a bicycle-pump inflated Air Horn for my bicycle. Pretty useful.
I wonder if they still make those...

...oh yep
treacle on October 12, 2017 at 3:51 PM · Report this
27
@23 next time your driving and there’s a slow car ahead of you, you better not go in the next lane to pass ‘em, as that will slow down the traffic in that line. Come on, stick to your slow lane.
j2patter on October 12, 2017 at 4:30 PM · Report this
28
@25 You don't ride a bike, do you?
you_can't_stop_us on October 12, 2017 at 5:27 PM · Report this
29
Dear seattle. I gave up a car for a bike becauyi live in the city and it just makes more sense. I don’t wear a helmet anymore because I know you could openly murder me with no witnesses and drive away and I could either drain my families resources sustaining a paraplegic or just pulling the plug...so there you go.
redwinesuicide on October 12, 2017 at 11:22 PM · Report this
30
I get that he's not *required* to be in the bike lane, but it's a jerk move to take up the auto lane when there is a bike lane right there. He's blocking just to be an asshole.

Is he more of an asshole than the driver? No. But he's still an asshole. Clear up the log in your own eye before telling your enemy of the mote in his eye.
Sportlandia on October 13, 2017 at 10:07 AM · Report this
31
@30, Wrong, he is traveling in the general-purpose lane (not an auto/car lane!) because he is passing a slower-moving vehicle in a safe manner, and he is staying out of the door zone (an opened door of a parked car can stick out an extra 3-4 feet).
He is not blocking. He is traffic. And yes, that is a poorly designed bicycle lane that has maybe a few inches of usable space between car doors suddenly opening and traffic to the left.
gyngve on October 13, 2017 at 11:45 AM · Report this
32
@30 naw. he makes no effort to "share" the road - he feels he's entitled to it regardless of the impacts on anyone else. Just because the driver is a jerk doesn't mean this guy isn't a jerk. Why exactly do you think he has a front and back camera rolling 24/7? I'm a daily cyclist and have been for the past 15 years or so. I know these dudes when I see them. Sharing requires compromise and sacrifice, not everything-for-me-whatever-is-left-for-you.
Sportlandia on October 13, 2017 at 1:16 PM · Report this
33
@32 I didn't realize sharing involved "If I mildly inconvenience you briefly I get the right to harass you (and potentially endanger your life with two thousand lbs of metal)." Count me out for your kind of road sharing. Safety>Convenience.

Capitol Hillian on October 13, 2017 at 1:49 PM · Report this
34
drivers regulary threaten bikers over 10 seconds of their/our meaningless lives, and all people do is think to call cops like cops care about anyone but themselves. the biker's problem is that he isn't a cop, same with the other victims of road rage, rage etc. if he were a cop on/off/former yes the video is admissable, the driver is cited, strangled what have you. cops are here to hurt those not part of their race ("blue" is a race now, to no objection from cops or the general (ie white) public). if the biker stopped at the stop sign, pointed a gun at the driver, the biker would get a citation/arrest, unless he was a cop then oh shrug.
pansack on October 14, 2017 at 6:08 PM · Report this
35
@4: This.
The driver is an asshole for passing the cyclist without giving him enough room. The cyclist is also an asshole for staying in the traffic lane when there's a perfectly good bike lane RIGHT THERE. And I say this as a dedicated cyclist.
venomlash on October 16, 2017 at 1:26 PM · Report this
36
@33 either learn to read or stop lying, dumbfuck.
Sportlandia on October 16, 2017 at 3:32 PM · Report this
37
@16- yeah, that didn't happen.
Francis7 on October 30, 2017 at 2:26 PM · Report this
38
@18- we're living by Washington laws here.
Francis7 on October 30, 2017 at 2:44 PM · Report this