Unprovoked road rage

[Brent099]

Earlier this week, I was riding my Hurricane through southern Alabama on my way to meet some friends at a camp site in MS.  I was enjoying the early morning ride on a long, unpopulated two-lane county road.  Suddenly, the road ahead of me is entirely enveloped in a cloud of fine, white sand which was spewing out of an 18-wheeler's uncovered hopper, severely limiting visibility for at least a quarter mile behind it.  Needless to say, as soon as I could see that the oncoming lane was clear, I was passing the truck at about 90mph (it was a 55 zone and the truck was going about 70).

As I'm overtaking the truck I see that there is a large diesel pickup about 200 feet in front of the 18-wheeler.  Not wanting to pass both in one go, I do a quick head check to make sure I've left enough room between myself and the 18-wheeler and then swing back into the right lane.  As I look back up front I see that the pickup has slowed considerably, while I'm still doing about 85 or 90. I immediately get on the brakes, not entirely sure why he is slowing so quickly, thinking that perhaps he is making a sudden turn or pulling off onto the shoulder (looks like it's a county utility truck).  

Then I notice that he's really slowing down fast.  My front tire begins to howl, it seems loud, then I realize it's because his tires are also joining in the chorus. I'm running out of room between myself and the truck in front as I begin to wonder how quickly the 18-wheeler behind me can stop. This guy better have a good reason for making an all-out panic stop. Then I notice the middle finger prominently displayed outside the driver's side window.  Now it all makes sense.  He's just trying to kill me.  New information, new plan.  Drop down two gears, slip into the oncoming lane, and throttle past him before he has a chance to block my pass.

I contemplated pulling over and grabbing a handful of gravel, then trolling along until he caught up, but I decided I was having too much fun to let that asshat back into my world.  Besides, at that point he was already a mile or so behind me.

You guys might be used to this sort of thing, but it was a first for me.  I was mainly just surprised that he made a snap decision to try to run me off the road after only knowing of my existence for less than 2 seconds.  I've only been riding for a couple of years, and I've never had anyone intentionally and blatantly try to run me off the road for no other reason than being on a sport-bike.  Granted, I generally tend to ride in areas that are more accustomed to bike traffic, rather than the middle of South Bumpkinsville, AL, where the only other two bikes I saw for three hours were Harleys.

Anyway, that was a lot of text for a relatively minor incident.  What are your unprovoked road rage stories?

[evilted]

Pretty scary stuff.  Did you happen pass the truck on a double yellow?

If not it's kind of hard to understand why a 90 mph pass in a 55 would get someone so worked up.  But then there are plenty of people for whom the right amount of speeding is whatever amount over the posted limit they deem to be safe, and no faster.  This guy might be one of those competitive clowns for whom driving a beat-to-shit diesel pickup truck is a kind of penance he feels he doesn't deserve.  

You did the right thing in avoiding a confrontation.  

Nobody wants to go to jail because one of the worlds unlimited number of asshats decided to be an asshat.  And if you'd ended up dead on the road as a result of not making an egress from the situation your top priority, I'm sure the official story of what happened would have favored whatever bullshit story Bubba and his friend in the unsafe-load truck chose to make of it.

[Brent099]

Pretty scary stuff.  Did you happen pass the truck on a double yellow?

If not it's kind of hard to understand why a 90 mph pass in a 55 would get someone so worked up.  But then there are plenty of people for whom the right amount of speeding is whatever amount over the posted limit they deem to be safe, and no faster.  This guy might be one of those competitive clowns for whom driving a beat-to-shit diesel pickup truck is a kind of penance he feels he doesn't deserve.  

You did the right thing in avoiding a confrontation.  

Nobody wants to go to jail because one of the worlds unlimited number of asshats decided to be an asshat.  And if you'd ended up dead on the road as a result of not making an egress from the situation your top priority, I'm sure the official story of what happened would have favored whatever bullshit story Bubba and his friend in the unsafe-load truck chose to make of it.

Nope, didn't cross on the double-yellow, I waited for a good spot to legally pass.  

The scary thing was realizing how far out in the middle of nowhere I was.  It was a good 15 minutes before I saw another vehicle.  If anything had happened, those two could have come up with any story they wanted.
Anyway, one more reason to avoid lower Alabama.

[JIMLARCH]

I've had similar incidents occur when riding a bike in the U.S.  Most of them were  because I apparently  upset the driver ahead of me by crossing on double yellows (even though most were not at speed and done in perfect safety).  I find the further South in the U.S. you go the more prevalent this is.

Although, I was riding in the Adirondacks one time and a couple of red necks in a pick up truck decided that it would be fun to try to tail gate me at 90 mph.  That lasted the 2 gear changes it took to leave them behind.

I can't for the life of me understand why some people get so quickly upset at a motorcycle trying to pass them.

[et]

..... where the only other two bikes I saw for three hours were Harleys.

....

Maybe he was a recently layed off Harley Salesman.  

[KenH]

I've had problems on the Ozarks. Some people are just assholes.

[M.Brane]

 I had an asshole try to run me onto the opposite shoulder once while I was passing. This was in an area I know well so after I got past him I wicked it up, and found a spot to hide out. Followed him at a distance into town enough to see what neighborhood he lived in.

 When I went there later in different vehicle, and discovered where he lived I didn't have the heart to do anything more. Where he lived was punishment enough for him, and likely why he had such an attitude problem.

[Brent099]

I can't for the life of me understand why some people get so quickly upset at a motorcycle trying to pass them.

It just reinforces that nagging feeling they have in the back of their mind that life is passing them by.

One of my friends who spends a lot of time living abroad always notes when he gets back stateside how drivers here always seem to take being passed as some sort of personal offense.  Sensitive American ego at work, I guess.

[JIMLARCH]

 I had an asshole try to run me onto the opposite shoulder once while I was passing. This was in an area I know well so after I got past him I wicked it up, and found a spot to hide out. Followed him at a distance into town enough to see what neighborhood he lived in.

 When I went there later in different vehicle, and discovered where he lived I didn't have the heart to do anything more. Where he lived was punishment enough for him, and likely why he had such an attitude problem.

Why do I feel that if it had been the other way around and he found where you lived, that he would not have just let it pass?

[jfurf]

I wonder if it's a regional thing. I've been riding a lot in West Virginia this summer and it seems like people here (and in the North Georgia mountains) are WAY more bike-friendly than the "lowlanders" in the Atlanta area and more southern parts of Georgia.

Here in WV, as long as you can see far enough ahead, even car drivers will pass on the double yellow. No one wants to be stuck behind some old coal miner's 77 Chevy pickup, so passing seems to be accepted. Plus people here seem to always yield to the motorcyclist at stop signs, which is nice.

[atypical1]

I contemplated pulling over and grabbing a handful of gravel, then trolling along until he caught up, but I decided I was having too much fun to let that asshat back into my world.  Besides, at that point he was already a mile or so behind me.

Best decision you could have made. Water off a duck's back.

james

[JoeRider]

I really dont understand it.  

I have seen truckers swerve in gravel with bikes behind them.  


even worse:
(past post)
 Re: Who rode today?
« Reply #257 on: April 15, 2009, 12:42:58 pm »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I rode today and had an incident where a cager that changed to a left lane decided to abruptly swing right back into the right lane and PUSH me into the shoulder.

I had to gun it ,while he was pushing the rear of my bike with his front bumper, 3-4 feet, and boy did I want to incapacitate him.  

I could simply not belive he could not see me or know I wa there after riding behiond me over a mile with headligght modulators.  I think it was intentional.

I didnt stop for fear of

[jamesgino]

Anyway, one more reason to avoid lower Alabama.

I hope it's not this bad down there. I have to move there later this year!

[DosEquis00]

If someone gives me the finger it is no big deal but if someone tries to physically harm me with their vehicle this is another story and I will and have followed them so I could get my point across.

[Zerosum]

Wow.  That's more vicious and sociopathic than anything I've seen here in Baltimore.  Yeah, people are idiots, aggressive drivers, innatentive, etc.  But I've never had someone try to KILL me before.

Isn't it funny that some people have this notion that "country folk" are all nice?  No, they can be animals too.  It's just the lower population density that makes it feel safer.  I think it all boils down to socioeconomics.  A west Baltimore ghetto, a shack in southern Alabama... people in both places will tend to be nasty, feral subhumans for whom life is worth exactly Jack and Shit.

[leveredge]

I had a guy not want me to pass him last Fall. Red SUV. East of the Hudson in NYS. I was passing on a dashed centerline on a down hill and he sped up while I was out in the on coming lane. I mean he floored it! No way that was by accident.
WTH. I got the hell out of there. He backed off when he had to take the right hander at the bottom of the hill. I could hear his tires squeal! I suppose it would have been my fault if he took to the ditch?
It really upset me after I was thinking about it. Then I was riding mentally upset. Made good time when I was pissed off but that's not a good way to ride. I try to let things go while on the roads but it's not easy sometimes.

[et]

I wonder if it's a regional thing. I've been riding a lot in West Virginia this summer and it seems like people here (and in the North Georgia mountains) are WAY more bike-friendly than the "lowlanders" in the Atlanta area and more southern parts of Georgia.

Here in WV, as long as you can see far enough ahead, even car drivers will pass on the double yellow. No one wants to be stuck behind some old coal miner's 77 Chevy pickup, so passing seems to be accepted. Plus people here seem to always yield to the motorcyclist at stop signs, which is nice.

It's not a regional thing. It's more of an urban vs. rural thing. I've been all over the lower 48 states and much of Canada.
And I've noticed people drive more aggressive the closer you get to a major city. Be it NY, Atlanta, LA, Calgary, etc ....

My two worst experiences were people deliberately trying to run me over.

Northern suburbs of Philadelphia on Rt 611 near the Naval Airbase, at a stop light, at the bottom of a long hill.
In the right lane are two small dump trucks towing trailers carrying backhoes. And in the left lane are a cellphone talking woman in a top-of-the-line fullsize SUV (Suburban ? Escalade ?) and then me on my motorcycle.  When the light turns green those dump trucks could only do 15mph. The cellphone talking woman in the SUV would not go any faster even though the speed limit was 45. Apparently she didn't like me being behind her; because several times she slammed on her brakes trying to get me to rearend her. And every time she did that I could see her shaking her fist at me and/or flipping me the bird.
Eventually she did get past those dump trucks. At which point I used the right lane to pass her. Where upon she swerved her SUV towards me trying to run me off the road. (And again she gave me the bird.). About 2 miles further along the road at another stop light she swerved her SUV across two lanes and the shoulder aiming her SUV directly at me. The only way I avoiding being run over was to run the red light.
She scidded her SUV to a stop half way into the intersection just missing opposing traffic.

Hackettestown, NJ in the parking lot of a shopping mall.
A guy in a Mercedes using his Blackberry pulls out from the side just as I'm going around him. We nearly collide. We stop only inches apart. I'm positioned with my right mirror next to his driver side mirror, motorcycle still in gear, my left hand holding in the clutch, and my left foot on the ground supporting the entire weight of the motorcycle.
From underneath my helmet I yell at him. He swears at me AND grabs my right arm. The next 20 seconds or so are spent with me trying to pull away from him and him still holding my arm and swearing at me. During this struggle my right arm/elbow eventually hits him in the face giving him a bloody lip. As he touches his lip; I get enough time to ride way. But as I get a few car lengths away he proceeds to chase me with his Mercedes. Actually he wasn't chasing me so much as trying to run me over ! I escaped by riding between the only two parked cars in the whole parking lot, hopping the curb, and riding away.

[PirateT7]

what I find interesting about Brent's incident is that it wasn't the driver of the truck that he had passed - it was the one in front of him that was so angry. What, so now you can get pissed about the oder of traffic behind you, too!?

[evilted]

This is one of the big reasons I finally opted to get an Autocom:  I want to be able to dial 911 while riding.  

Pulling over and calling 10 minutes after something has happened doesn't seem to capture the interest of 911 dispatchers, I've noticed.

And speaking of goons, I doubt Alabammy has a monopoly.  I thought Mikem9 started a thread in Region 5 some months back about a north Georgia loon in a red truck, but I can't find it.  Here's a corresponding thread he started on the same at ADVrider:

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=428955&highlight=mikem9

Nope, didn't cross on the double-yellow, I waited for a good spot to legally pass.  

The scary thing was realizing how far out in the middle of nowhere I was.  It was a good 15 minutes before I saw another vehicle.  If anything had happened, those two could have come up with any story they wanted.
Anyway, one more reason to avoid lower Alabama.

[LoVel]

You should try passing the red necks where it aint legal.  They expect it in the legal areas.  You gotta pop em hard an fast or forget about it.  

I have noticed up in the rural areas of Vermont and New York people actually move over to let motorcycles pass.  Some people in the south feel it is a direct challenge to their manhood if someone manages to pass them.  Look out for the pick up trucks.  The larger and louder the truck the smaller the brain.

Nobody ever said driving in south Alabama would be easy.  They didn't just make up the crap in Easy Rider and Deliverance out of their heads. Yes I realize Easy Rider is Louisiana and Deliverance is the North East Georgia mountains but the people aren't  much different