The Escalade Driver

I have had my fair share of run-ins and less than pleasant exchanges with angry drivers. But yesterday on my ride home I had the worst confrontation yet. I was stopped at a red light about a half mile from home. The lane was a “go straight or turn right lane” and there were no cars in front of me. While I was sitting there waiting for the light to change, the driver of a Black Cadillac Escalade (at least I believe that is what it was) started honking at me…

Now, this is not the first time that I have been in this situation. The driver wants to turn right on red, but I am in the way. Some drivers seem to think that since I am on a bicycle, I am required to move off the road to let them get around me. Legally, I am required to ride as far to the right as is practicable in the right-most lane that is still going in my direction of travel. So in this situation, I am legally stopped where I am supposed to be. Now in the past when I have come to intersections where I am going to be in the first position at the light, I would stay near the right hand tire track in my lane, but being on the right side of the lane gave some drivers the impression that it would be safe and acceptable to cut in front of me and turn right, essentially performing a “right hook” while I was at a standstill. This move is not only dangerous and discourteous, it is illegal. It only took that happening a couple of times for me to start claiming the lane when I came to the first position at an intersection. This is still legal and I have found, for the most part, that it is a much safer option. It makes drivers aware that I am going to be entering the intersection like an automobile and prevents impatient drivers from performing the standing right hook maneuver…

So, back to the story…I was in my claimed lane in the first position at a red light when the driver of the Escalade starts honking at me. After the 3rd honk I turned and stared at the car, but said nothing. When the light turned green I started into the intersection and as usually happens, the driver revs their engine in an attempt to scare me. As I am going through the intersection I hear that the honking driver, instead of turning, is coming through the intersection behind me and coming up fast and close. He speeds past me passing very close and yells obscenities out his open window. As he passes me, he cuts me off and slams on the breaks…

Now, when you have an angry person who is trying to hurt you with their 2000+ pound car, if they stop the car it is not a good idea to ride past them and get in front of the vehicle, so I stoped rather than trying to ride past. Now up to this point none of this is new. I have had people cut me off and slam on the breaks and honk and yell and pass me to closely…all of that is sadly routine. However when I stop my bicycle the driver gets out of the car and come running up to me screaming. This caught me off guard. I have not had a driver get out of their vehicle before, and it was also apparent from the driver’s body language that he was ready to fight. My actions at this point weren’t really thought out, I was just reacting to the situation, and in hindsight, I would do it very differently if confronted this way again…

As the driver runs at me, I don’t back down, instead I stood my ground, I think this caught him equally off guard, and his body language changed. Instead of looking like he wanted to try and beat the crap out of me, he seemed to decide the better option would be to yell at me. As best as I can remember it, the “conversation” went something like this…

Elliot: “Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?!”
Driver: “F*ck you! What are you doing blocking the f*cking lane when I am trying to turn?!”
Elliot: “I’m going straight through the interce…”
Driver: (about 2” from my nose yelling and pointing a finger in my face) “Not blocking the whole f*ucking lane your not, you’re a bicycle, I’m in a car. I’ll run you over you faggot! You shouldn’t be in the f*cking road!”
Elliot: “You want a bet?! I’m a legal vehicle on the road, I have a copy of the laws, do you want a copy?!”
Driver: “I don’t give a f*ck about what that says, you don’t be in the road, I’ll run you down!” (The driver starts walking back to his car)
Elliot: “Dude, you are such a loser!”
Driver: “F*ck you!”

At this point the driver gets back into his car and screeches away. There were a couple of guys in a parked car who rolled down their window and told me that they were sorry for what happened because they thought that bikes had a right to the road as well. I thanked them and rode home.

Looking back I realize that I made some major mistakes in how I handled the situation. First off, I didn’t get the driver’s license plate number, so I can’t file a complaint or police report. Second, I didn’t immediately get off of my bicycle when I saw they driver get out of his car. If he had decided to attack me, I would have still been partially clipped into my pedals and would not have been able to defend myself very well. (a big rule of bicycle defense is to put the bike between you and the assailant.) Third, I tried to logically defend my rights to the road by engaging in a verbal argument with a road rage driver. In the future if I am ever in a similar situation, I will immediately get off of my bicycle and call the Police. As with most difficult situations in life, I learned some hard lessons from my mistakes. I sincerely hope that the Escalade Driver is able to get some professional help for his anger issues, and that my confrontation with him does not escalate his rage towards the next cyclist he passes on the road.
Riders, be careful out there