The driver of a Ford Explorer, Colorado license plate 893 EKG, might, possibly, maybe, perhaps have some kind of grudge against road cyclists. I’m going out on a limb here saying this, but, well, it wouldn’t be “Adventure” Journal if we didn’t take risks.
No, seriously, WTF? Watch this video shot recently near Longmont, Colorado, and see if your sense of righteous anger doesn’t start brewing up a good head of steam. It’s true that road cyclists can antagonize drivers, but these guys are clearly in the right, riding single file and staying hard up against the edge of the pavement. But the driver, well, you’ll see — none of that matters to him.
The irony, of course, is that “this guy was so intent of bugging us that he backed up traffic behind him and cars had to pass him on a double yellow line. It seems he was the one obstructing traffic, not us. We ended up slowing up in order to force him to pass us and go on with his day,” wrote the uploader.
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{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, those guys had amazing self control. It would have been hard not to put the nearest rock or heavy object through his windshield. What a douchebag!
893 EKG
Well, they antagonize runners too, as I’ve recently learned. Still, absolutely no excuse for this raging douche to act like that.
I’ll never understand why people get angry enough to act like that. How was his life at all impacted by those guys riding? It’s more fascinating than it is frustrating.
Sorry, but I wish merely honking incessantly were the worst thing I’ve seen or heard of.
I spent one “leisurely” Sunday several years ago driving at the edge of the highway like this guy, in which nearly half the drivers yelled obscenities at me, 10% yelled death threats, and one guy actually hit me with the horse trailer he was pulling behind his truck.
I worked with a young woman who informed me matter-of-factly that if she encountered a bicycle while she was driving with her infant in the car, that she would deliberately run them down and kill them because they were a threat and she wasn’t going to let them endanger her child.
One of the worst crimes you can commit in this country is to slow somebody down.
Hope these guys filed a complaint, and the cops actually did something. Three years ago (16 at the time) I was essentially run of the road by a guy blaring his horn and driving within inches of my rear tire, and wiped out pretty bad on the gravel, my dad sprinted to chase him and got the plate. Filed a report, but the cops did nothing. Stuff like this illustrates the need for some laws to be put in place and actually enforced. Makes me sick.
@Oliver- Totally agree.
Someone find that car and slash its tires. Total douche!
I’m so glad you guys posted this, and I hope you’ll post a follow-up if there’s any action taken against the driver. Clearly he’s putting you guys at risk, not to mention drivers of other vehicles behind him.
This was shot by Dirk Friel, a well know cyclist and former pro rider in Boulder, CO.
Too bad there is not really anything the guy honking/ harassing/ intimidating can be charged with. Good to report these incidents though because this guy will probably hurt someone eventually and it’s more likely to show intent when there is a record I past incidents like this.
I believe this is how a guy in CA got jail time… Past reports of harassing and intimidating cyclists were filed and then sure enough he ran a couple guys off the road.
If someone posts this on reddit, ‘the internet’ will take care of it.
Well seems easy enough for everyone in that area to take it upon themselves to just start laying on the horn whenever they’re in a car and see him driving…
Colorado State Patrol has an aggressive driver hotline, *CSP (*277) to report this kind of behavior:
“The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) confirmed that its hotline to report aggressive driving is available to bicyclists if they see a motorist putting a bicyclist at risk.
The phone number is Star CSP (*277) when dialed from a mobile phone. Thanks to a State Patrol partnership with mobile phone companies calls to this hotline are free.
This is not like a normal phone number; you do not need to dial an area code. Simply press the * key (usually the lowest left key on a phone pad) and then 277. This number only works on mobile phones. If you are calling from a non-mobile phone dial 303-239-4501 or any State Patrol Communication Center. In the case of an emergency dial 911.
When dialing Star CSP bicyclists should be prepared to communicate:
Vehicle license plate number – this is mandatory
Location and direction of travel
Vehicle and driver description, if possible
The aggressive driving behavior being demonstrated
The license plate number is the key. This allows the State Patrol to identify the vehicle owner’s name, driving record, and address. Without the license plate number, identifying the vehicle is impossible.”
(from Bicycle Colorado’s page at: http://bicyclecolo.org/articles/star-csp-hotline-for-bicyclists-pg731.htm)
No idea what to make of this. 893 EKG, you might seek asylum in another country. I think your butt is gonna be whooped in new media style.
Thanks to Greg Keith for providing info on how to report incidents like this in Colorado. In Nevada, where I live, the number is *647 (*NHP). Behavior, as depicted in this vid, cannot be tolerated and in my mind is nothing less than assault. We need to report drivers like this and hopefully we’ll get some of them off the road.
Thanks for posting Steve. Stay safe out there.
Wow, great self control guys. Hope there was some action on the driver.
Bizarre! Doesn’t that qualify as road rage? In WI he/she would get a ticket or two for that kind of behavior!
These Riders Definitely showed Lots of self control, but in this case – and others – a simple Finger to the car/driver could result in a 2 ton assault and battery situation and the Rider rarely come out intact!
The tape should really help convict this person of several violations… hopefully a Suspended license!
Ugh… that was so annoying I couldn’t even watch the whole thing… at some point the horn won’t work, and then he’ll have to figure other ways to be a prick (which there are oh so many). If this happened in New England, they’d be honking AND forcing you off the road.
I hope this person gets to pay a huge fine and spend some time in jail for harassment. The vehicle is being used as an object to intimidate the cyclists. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
sometimes I’m glad that I live in very ruled Germany. Well, it isn’t that car drivers don’t honk at cyclists from time to time, but if someone would catch that person for doing so the driver would get a ticket for using the horn for no reason. And hitting a cyclist would be punished as a criminal assault strictly. So here are not that much hit an run incidents as in the US. I’m thankful for that.
When I read that:
“I worked with a young woman who informed me matter-of-factly that if she encountered a bicycle while she was driving with her infant in the car, that she would deliberately run them down and kill them because they were a threat and she wasn’t going to let them endanger her child.
One of the worst crimes you can commit in this country is to slow somebody down.” I just thought
crazy behaviour in the US. Car is everything, huh?
I’m sorry, I call BS on this story. Okay, great, he was honking. He was also staying behind without encroaching. The cyclists were over as far as they could be but he still didn’t have room to pass them without either getting too close for most people’s comfort or breaking the solid yellow line. There wouldn’t have been any problem at all IF the cyclists in question had pulled off the dang road altogether for 5 seconds and let him pass. Well known or not, former pro or not, the cyclists were on a road intended for motorized vehicle traffic.
Man, this thing has gone viral.
Hey Derek: Are you trolling? There’s nothing illegal with crossing the double yellow to pass a cyclist. What if it were a woman with a baby carriage or a farm vehicle?
So, are bikes supposed to pull over every time a car approaches them?
BTW, the road is intended for bicycles, too. Take a look at the laws sometime.
Derek, correct, you’re sorry. Smile, pat yourself on the back, and troll on.
Derek, learn the law.. bikers have as much right to be on the road as a car.
Maybe the cyclist drop something, never know. Hehe
Ps, why not just stop and talk to the man instead of going forward. See wtf and go from there. This cyclist were afraid of the man. Lol
Wow. I could barely listen to the honking of that horn on my iPad never mind that jerk riding up my butt on a Sunday ride. I would have pulled out the pistol I carry in my shorts are shot him.
This is so ridiculous it’s comical. What an ass.
§ 42-4-1412. Operation of bicycles and other human-powered vehicles
Every person riding a bicycle or electrical assisted bicycle shall have all of the rights and duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle under this article, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to those provisions which by their nature can have no application. Said riders shall comply with the rules set forth in this section and section 42-4-221, and, when using streets and highways within incorporated cities and towns, shall be subject to local ordinances regulating the operation of bicycles and electrical assisted bicycles as provided in section 42-4-111.
…
Any person operating a bicycle or an electrical assisted bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic shall ride in the right-hand lane, subject to the following conditions:
If the right-hand lane then available for traffic is wide enough to be safely shared with overtaking vehicles, a bicyclist shall ride far enough to the right as judged safe by the bicyclist to facilitate the movement of such overtaking vehicles unless other conditions make it unsafe to do so
…
§ 42-4-1003. Overtaking a vehicle on the left
The following rules shall govern the overtaking and passing of vehicles proceeding in the same direction, subject to the limitations, exceptions, and special rules stated in this section and sections 42-4-1004 to 42-4-1008:
The driver of a vehicle overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left of the vehicle at a safe distance and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle
The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicyclist proceeding in the same direction shall allow the bicyclist at least a three-foot separation between the right side of the driver’s vehicle, including all mirrors or other projections, and the left side of the bicyclist at all times.
Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of the driver’s vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.
Any person who violates any provision of this section commits a class A traffic infraction.
—-
There’s the law. The bicyclists DO have a right to use the road. They do NOT have the right to impede the flow of traffic. The driver did NOT have room to overtake without committing a class A infraction. The driver DID issue an audible signal as required. The cyclists felt they gave way, the driver obviously did not — and the section above would seem to indicate the driver was correct. Of course, everyone could have been spared 2 minutes of honking if they had pulled off for 5 seconds instead of taking the time to whip out their cellphones to take video of the encounter but this is so much more dramatic.
Derek, wrong. Show me where cyclist can’t impede the flow of traffic. Your first paragraph citing CRS says bikes have all the rights of cars and the cyclist were traveling as required, “as far to the right as safely possible.” The driver is a moron and harassing these law abiding cyclists. I hope he’s fined.
Derek- they are not impeding the flow of traffic. They ARE traffic.
Nothing in what you posted states that a cyclist is required to pull of the road to allow someone to pass.
PS- In Los Angeles, what that driver did is considered a civil violation under the new Anti-harassment ordinances (something many other municipalities across the country are attempting to adopt based on its success here), and would land him in court and potentially with a civil judgement against him.
The law stated above proved everyone’s arguments here, except Derek’s. Thanks dude! I’ve always wanted to get the license plate of a rude driver (shouting, throwing things) when I’m on a wide shoulder and minding my own business, and find their address to send them a copy of the TX DPS driving manual. As someone said above, what damage was the cyclists causing this man/woman, on a country road, on a Sunday drive, when no other traffic was around them? If it wasn’t these cyclists he/she was harassing, would it have been someone else that day…in a drive-thru, or in line at the grocery store, or someone walking their dog? Hoping for karma to get that person, but I’m betting it already has.
No excuse for the honker, but, why didn’t the cyclists just stop and force the honker to move move ahead of them?
Riders single file and as far right as possible. Two minutes of honking for no reason. I guess this dude missed his morning psych medications.
I’m sitting here readingthese comments and the story and vid just came on Fox News.
The 75 year old driver was ticketed. The lead cyclist said it went on for much longer than the 2 minute video.
This is in response to John. We aren’t required to pull over. We have every right to the road as the drivers do.
No kidding they may have been afraid of the driver. Do the math 15 pound bike + 175lb (estimated) male = 190lbs vs approximately 4000 pound Ford Explorer SUV.
The driver is an ijit and I hope someone goes to the DMV or recognizes his license plate and gives him a honking hard time. Truly ridiculous the amount of harassment that bikers and cyclists receive from people in cars.
Stupid cyclists think they own the road. It’s a wonder more aren’t killed. They should all pay a minimum of $100 per month for the privilege of using public roads.