Friday, March 18, 2011

"Get Off The Road And Bike On The Sidewalk You Big Dummy"

I was bicycling on Comanche Avenue just north of 19th Street when a van decides to pull out of a McDonald's parking lot and make a right turn into my lane as I'm passing by the parking lot exit.

Most drivers would stop for me to pass and then turn after I pass the exit.

Not this van driver,

Even after seeing me, he decides to make a turn right into my lane. I swerve to the left to avoid his van and I scream.

He stops.

I ask him why did he turn out of the parking lot right into my lane as I was passing by.

His quote: "Get off the road and bike on the sidewalk you big dummy."

As I'm inclined to do, I memorized his license plate.

364 JJY

6 comments:

CyclerJim said...

Oh so familiar.

As I was turning into the parking lot at the Jan Platt Library, a big pickup truck leaving, ignored my right-of-way and didn't care if he ran me down. I went after him and caught him at the light. As I approached he was rolling down his window, and I immediately thought he was going to apologize. On the contrary, he started laughing at me and said " you aren't a car". I guess that means that someone on a bicycle can't have the right-of-way and he has the right to run me down.

I think he demonstrates the predominant feeling by most drivers, just like the one you encountered.

I'm sure he was a Republican-Hate-Monger, of which there are so many.

Scott said...

You can either call it in or make a police report at the station. I did that once in Tallahassee, when I was run off the road. The police will contact the driver and ask him for his account. Given that the two of you are the only witnesses and that you don't have any evidence of damage or injury, no action will result. That was my experience. I imagine no action would be taken, even if there was injury.

However, once the report has been filed, you will be able to obtain a copy and that will include the driver's name and address. With that, you could write the driver a letter or perhaps pursue civil action.

At a younger age, I would run the driver down, yell and scream, maybe pound on the hood. It is my recommendation to any cyclist that is wronged on the road to make a report. Then, at least, you are establishing a record and identifying that driver as a bad one.

peep said...

Good luck getting Tampa Police to file a report for such an incident...

lisa robbins said...

maybe we could all write a letter using his license plate number and complain.

John Shehan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Shehan said...

I live in Kentucky and it is illegal for bikes to ride on sidewalks