Drivers’ Road Rage & Cyclists

While riding north today on 75th Street in Hygiene a fellow cyclist approached, telling me about an incident recently on Rabbit Mountain. She said she had been openly taunted and harassed by a man in a pickup truck, and feared for her safety. The man appeared to be approximately 50 years old, and had dyed yellow hair. The truck was copper-brown Ford or GMC. He followed the cyclist extremely closely from behind, sped around her, then blocked her from the front. She rode around him, and he repeated his actions, while taunting and yelling at her out the window. The road was otherwise empty. She dismounted her bike and pulled out her phone to take photos, and he sped off. She reported this incident to the police, and they said they would keep a look out. This was over a week ago, and she has heard nothing. Please keep an eye out.

Here is an example of horrific road rage captured on camera last week in Southern California:

WARNING: Language Alert

From Mark Friis’ Facebook page:

DATE/TIME: August 10, 2016 11:08 a.m.

I was riding northbound on PCH near Orchid Avenue in Corona Del Mar I was in the # 2 lane going approximately 20 mph. We were single file. Vehicle traffic was moderate. The #2 lane is a “Sharrow” lane where bicycles and cars share the road. After passing Poppy and near Poinsettia, I was about four feet to the left of the parked cars in order to avoid hitting any car doors which might open. A white Ford Escape passed within a foot of me to my left while honking its horn. After passing me the Ford moved right and applied it’s brakes to block my way. Because I could not slow down and go to the right of him, I was forced into the #1 lane to move around him. As I passed by him on the left, his window was rolled up and he was flipping me off. After I was in front of him I moved back to the same position in the #2 lane and proceeded northbound on PCH. The same Ford then blew by me on the left and his right hand mirror touched my left elbow as he passed. He was yelling at me through his window …

Read the full detail HERE.
Perhaps equally disturbing is the police response:

I went to the NBPD and spoke with officer XXXX in the lobby. He did not want to take a report. I told him what happened before the video and then showed him the video. Afterward he said the video did not show any crime. He said it looked like two guys arguing. I asked about the “dead man walking” words and he said there was no crime. We took down the information regarding the licence of the car involved. I told him I had a thumb drive with the video on it but he wasn’t interested in it. I asked what he intended to do and he said he would try to call the guy and see what was going on. I asked about a time frame for this and he said he would try to accomplish this in the next few hours. After 4-5 hours he hadn’t called so I sent him an email. Before leaving, the cop told me that I shouldn’t get into arguments with people like that (as if it was my fault) because you don’t know if they are crazy or unpredictable. He did not take a report. He wrote the license number of the Ford down and wrote down my name and phone number. Our total meeting lasted around five minutes.