what is the correct response?

[saygbye]

almost got hit the other day sitting at a red light. S.U.V. slammed on breaks, swerved arond me and blew the light. I got pissed chased the guy down, cussed him out threatened to beat his a**. guy was apologizing the whole time but i wasnt hearing it. all i could think was this guy deserves a buttwhippin'. after i calmed down i thought damn that guy almost killed me.
however, i myself have almost pulled out in front of a bike at a red light. never almost hit 1 at a red light though. i dont know i just fell kind of bad cause he was trying to say sorry.
i also thought would i do the same thing if it were an elderly person, a woman, a pregnant woman, a friend.
am i crazy for gettin so pissed?

 

[NearDeath]

Yea, I think its bound to happen and I will be honest there was one time I was making that left and didn't see the bike coming around the bend and would have hit him if he hadn't of hit the brakes. That just happened last year and I am ALWAYS watching for bikes, but everyone has that one day when they just didn't see it coming...

I have been almost hit via tee-bone and have been rear-ended at the light by some old lady, came inches from a real bad collision on the tee-bone, and no harm done on the rear-ending. I was just thankful I wasn't hurt.

We all have close calls at some point whether we put ourselves there or someone else does and all we can do is try to make good descisions on the events to follow... I always ride like I am invisible, but at a light you are at the mercy of the guy coming up behind you...

Every road rager pissed off at the guy next to him for cutting him off has at one time done the same...

Don't get too stressed out; normally they weren't trying to hit you in the first place, they just really didn't see you coming and it happens...
Cloud

 

[Spike]

An appropriate response to me?

Get your point across that they screwed up so they understand how ticked off you are and at the same time get it off your chest. Whatever means necessary short of violence in my opinion.

 

[Spike]

And let me just say this: I am generally not PC, I speak my mind and speak the truth whether it hurts or not. Am I a wuss? Oh hell no. I can and have backed up my words many times with being physical when needed.

Why let it escalate if you don't have to though? What's the point?

 

[species0113]

you did all you can do. ifyou or i fought every person we ever got pissed at, we'd either be dead or in jail. theres always someone who can kick your ars. the problem today is you dont know whos carrying a gun. i always carry if i'm not leaving the state. i think carrying makes me try to avoid confrontations more. i dont want to shoot anyone. i lied, theres a couple people i woudn't mind using for target practice.

 

[Rylinkus]

(Spike @ May 20 2007,11:05) An appropriate response to me?

Get your point across that they screwed up so they understand how ticked off you are and at the same time get it off your chest. Whatever means necessary short of violence in my opinion.

Exactly. Let them know they ****** up, so maybe they're more aware next time they change lanes, etc. But petty violence is not the answer. Trust me.

 

[DAB]

The guy was probably scared enough from having had a near miss, but you probably gave him some "instructions" he's not going to forget in a hurry.

Sometimes people need a wake-up call (I include myself ) - just don't put yourself in jail over it.

 

[rlachermeier]

Had a person almost merge into my lane and hit me but I caught it in time and thanks to the bikes acceleration (torque=beautiful) it wasn't too hard to get out of the way. But it does pizz you off.

Had an old timer tell me that he drove "evasively" not "defensively" kinda makes sense if you think about it. Your awareness just has to be at a much higher level when your on a bike. There will however be those times that you just don't have time to react.

As far as road rage goes everyone has a different tolerance level. It is real easy to sit back after the fact and tell someone how they should have reacted but when your caught up in the moment it's obviously not that clear what you should do. If we were all able to count to 20 or pullover and write our feelings down on a piece of paper and reread it in 3 days we might be able to react differently but the fact is we have a very small window of time to decide what we are going to do. Let's just hope it's the right thing.

One thing we should always try and do is clear our heads before we go riding. By that I mean never go for a ride when you are already pizzed off. Riding makes us feel free. But anger is one emotion best left behind.

 

[BigDiesel]

the way I see it-if I hit a biker i deserve to get beat as least as bad as the biker's injuries.
if i just scared the pizz outta them-up to them to nail my big stupid truck for getting in the way or just throttle on. Not saying it ever happend to me (because I actually LOOK where Im going all the time-not at a cell or paper or doublecheeseburger n fries); I actually concentrate on driving when Im behind the wheel. NEVER hit another vehicle and only been hit 3 times outta the blue with no time to react-in my cages. NEVER hit on my bike, and when it DID get close?

lets just say the drivers were VERY aware of my discontent with their poor driving skills-havent hit anyone yet, but 2 came close when they got beligerent after the fact. Only thing that prevented me from laying in was witnesses. Cops are even less fun than stupid cagers with opinions about their driving abilities

 

[COLDSTONE1298]

(saygbye @ May 20 2007,10:43) almost got hit the other day sitting at a red light. S.U.V. slammed on breaks, swerved arond me and blew the light. I got pissed chased the guy down, cussed him out threatened to beat his a**. guy was apologizing the whole time but i wasnt hearing it.

Check your mirrors more often from now on and always position your bike incase you have to move quick for someone you see coming that's not going to stop. I always like to either be in the slow lane so i can zip right onto the next street and hug the curb in case traffic is coming from the left (which will probably get nailed by the vehical behind me blowing the stop so just concentrate on accelerating) or if there's a sidewalk i can get on, that too. Otherwise, depending on the road, i'll position myself to lane split between the vehicals in front. Hope they're wearing their seatbelts.

Next time, ponder that they may have a gun or decide to use their vehical as one if you get too close chasing them. Best you can do is get their plate and call their reckless driving ass in. Tell the operator they must be drunk or something and almost hit you along with a few other vehicals (your not exactly lying here ya know?). Cops HATE DUI's and the poor sap will have a horrid end to their day if the police get to 'em. I'm thinking of getting a blu-tooth or such a setup so i can make such emergency calls on the cell phone while riding. Other reason would be to call in and bust the little ricer street racers i catch now and then.

(species0113 @ May 20 2007,12:13) you did all you can do. ifyou or i fought every person we ever got pissed at, we'd either be dead or in jail. theres always someone who can kick your ars.

That's why you fight beyond dirty and know your law well enough to show you were just protecting yourself. Works for the lil thugs doing things illegal but know the local laws well enough that even if they're caught they know how to avoid getting any charges to stick to 'em. Hell the 14 year old ghetto brats in my area are doing crap and have their attorney on retainer. Citizens that take the time to know this knowledge and methods too live good lives without fear of chumps of any kind or the law after taking care of them.

 

[CrashTestDanny]

It's not abnormal or even bad to get angry. But what good comes out of going off on a tirade against someone who is already sorry that he didn't see you? Did your threats cause him to drive any more carefully than his own realization that he nearly killed someone? I personally doubt it.

On the other hand, you may have given him just the impetus needed to transform his remorse at almost hitting you into resentment of all bikers. This has been said in another thread, of course, but I don't think you reacted rationally. I think you'd have gotten a lot farther if you had graciously accepted his apology while explaining to him the need to be particularly aware of motorcycles during the riding season. Had you done this, you might have even made a friend and made a cager thing that motorcyclists are pretty cool people.

 

[dadofthree]

Road rage is bad anyway you serve it up, and especially if you're on a bike, no matter how justified. At lights I almost stare in the mirrors unless someone pulls in behind me. I also try to stay just out from behind the vehicle in front of me, just in case.

Glad everyone's alright.

 

[manatrader]

I think your response was okay, he almost killed you! Anyways he didn't stop and come back to say sorry or anything.
I too have went after someone who put me off the dam road, pulled up next to them and knocked on the window, when they rolled it down I left them have it total verbal abuse, after I pulled away, they just sat there!