Right approach to dangerous driver behavior?

"Boyd Speerschneider" wrote in message
...
Dan Cosley wrote in :
The guy stops his truck, reaches in the glove box, and pulls out a .45
The guy aims it at us and yells "You want some of this!!!???"
ps. In all the excitement, we forgot to get the guys license plate number.

Nice job. A description would have been a start. I wonder how many people
he's shot since you all decided not to bother reporting it.

"Dan Cosley" wrote in message
...
I've been having a larger-than-usual number of unpleasant-to-
potentially-dangerous encounters with motorists recently. This
involves verbal stuff, which usually I can shrug off. However,
it also sometimes involves being cut off or squeezed off the
road, and this I find harder to just let go. I'm trying to
train myself to get license/vehicle numbers rather than just
be scared, but:

1) Is it worth getting license numbers of cars? Trucks?
2) What else (if anything) do you do about bad driver behavior?

My state (MA) has an on-line complaint form that you can fill out. Supposedly,
all complaints stay on someone's record. You might see what your state offers.

Boyd Speerschneider

wrote in part:

empty barrels make the most noise.

Which explains your little piece of fiction.

Bob Hunt

On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 15:36:28 GMT, Boyd Speerschneider
wrote:


A big white truck F150 wiht tinted windows, a redneck driving it, and Bucs,
confederate flag, and Dale Ernheart "3" stickers on the back window.

"Out of respect for the memory of Dale Earnhart, I have decided to
completely eliminate all vision to the rear of my head. If I can't
see it, it isn't happening".

x-no-archive: yes

I've been having a larger-than-usual number of unpleasant-to-
potentially-dangerous encounters with motorists recently. This
involves verbal stuff, which usually I can shrug off. However,
it also sometimes involves being cut off or squeezed off the
road, and this I find harder to just let go. I'm trying to
train myself to get license/vehicle numbers rather than just
be scared, but:

1) Is it worth getting license numbers of cars? Trucks?
2) What else (if anything) do you do about bad driver behavior?

-- Dan

I just went through some unpleasantness with a neighbor who would stand
outside and curse at me. When talking about it to a police officer, he
said, "Why didn't you call in a report for "disorderly conduct"? I didn't
know there was such a thing, but it would also seem to apply in your
situation. The officer said, "People can't just curse at you and create
dangerous situations with impunity." The Disorderly Conduct citation here
in Texas is like a traffic ticket, kind of, but the first time it costs $48.
Then, the second time, the fine goes up to $200, he told me. So, it gets
their attention quick!

I suggest you call your local police and ask them if the same possibility is
in place at your location.

Pat in TX

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 12:19:15 GMT, Zippy the Pinhead
wrote:
A big white truck F150 wiht tinted windows, a redneck driving it, and
Bucs, confederate flag, and Dale Ernheart "3" stickers on the back
window.

"Out of respect for the memory of Dale Earnhart, I have decided to
completely eliminate all vision to the rear of my head. If I can't
see it, it isn't happening".

I've not seen a "3" that filled enough glass to
substantially (let alone completely) eliminate
rear vision. It does seem a bit bandwagony,
however, to put a "3" on after the tragedy,
when you had no "3" before, although not so bad
an "in loving memory..." sticker.

Further, the side mirrors on a pickup truck give
a more than adequate view behind the truck, and
to block the rear window completely is only a
loss of convenience, not of safety or visibility.

Smaller car mirrors adjusted to compensate for
loss of rear window vision result in a terribly
large blind spot, but not so most pickup mirrors.

--
Rick "Pickup Man" Onanian

(Hunrobe) wrote in news:20030814021111.06755.00000774@mb-
m03.aol.com:

Boyd Speerschneider

wrote in part:

empty barrels make the most noise.

Which explains your little piece of fiction.

Bob Hunt

I don't know about yours, but my news reader doesn't make any noise.
If you wish to call me a liar, I suggest you do it to my face.

- Boyd S.

On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 12:59:11 +0000 (UTC), Dan Cosley
wrote:

|I've been having a larger-than-usual number of unpleasant-to-
|potentially-dangerous encounters with motorists recently. This
|involves verbal stuff, which usually I can shrug off. However,
|it also sometimes involves being cut off or squeezed off the
|road, and this I find harder to just let go. I'm trying to
|train myself to get license/vehicle numbers rather than just
|be scared, but:
|
|1) Is it worth getting license numbers of cars? Trucks?
|2) What else (if anything) do you do about bad driver behavior?

When you finish your "great" rides Do you remember the cars?

I didn't. So I got to thinking that if they were bugging me, it wasn't
them, it was me. I tried to concentrate more on the ride and over
time, I've become a bit better cyclist and that makes it easier still
to avoid running into anything I can't just dismiss and carry ongr.
It's hard sometimes, ain't saying it's not. It doesn't hurt to recall
that a lot more drivers try to be helpful than the few that make you
shake your head.

Good luck w the the attitude adj.
-c.porter.

A disposable camera couldn't hurt either.

Stergios Papadakis wrote:

Dan Cosley wrote:

I've been having a larger-than-usual number of unpleasant-to-
potentially-dangerous encounters with motorists recently. This
involves verbal stuff, which usually I can shrug off. However,
it also sometimes involves being cut off or squeezed off the
road, and this I find harder to just let go. I'm trying to
train myself to get license/vehicle numbers rather than just
be scared, but:

1) Is it worth getting license numbers of cars? Trucks?
2) What else (if anything) do you do about bad driver behavior?

-- Dan


Today, I started carrying a little notebook in
my jersey pocket on my commute. It is a "wet notes"
book, which is a coated paper that is waterproof.
You can get it at marine stores. I started carrying
it because the same car leaned on the horn and gave me
the finger for the fourth time (six-lane road, light
traffic, I was in the right half of the right lane).
I will now have a dated log of such occurences. If it
ever does get serious, which I doubt, the log will
be important.

Today, I wrote down the first license plate number, a
description of the car, and the driver's actions.
I've decided not to just shrug things off anymore,
if I can tell people what they did wrong, and why
it is wrong, I will. If you address them by their
license plate number, it has a surprising calming
effect. I bet that if you obviously write it down
as well, it will be even more effective.
Unfortunately, this state doesn't require
front license plates, so I can't always do it.

As far as having the larger-than-usual number
of encounters lately, I find that I feel that way
at times, and it is probably just the statistics
of small numbers. The events are rare anyway, only
a few times a year usually, so if I get a few in
a month I notice. It is probably just chance.

Stergios

--


Tp

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Freedom is not free; Free men are not equal; Equal men are not free.

"TomP" wrote in message
...
A disposable camera couldn't hurt either.


I carried one of those in my handlebar bag during a weekend tour a few years
ago. I had to bunnyhop an obstacle at speed (about 35mph) and the camera
flew out of the bag, hit the pavement, then slid about 40 feet before
exiting into the ditch. I retrieved it and other than a few scratches, it
survived quite well. The pictures even turned out nice!

-Buck