What is Road Rage? Part 1

http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadright...g-_-roadrights


July 23rd, 2009

What is Road Rage?


This is the first of a two-part section on Road Rage. In this first
part Bob Mionske explains road rage from a legal perspective - what it
is, legally as well as psychologically, and how it affects cyclists.
In Part II, next week, Bob explains how to handle it.

In When Tempers Flare

, I began a discussion of road rage with a real-life road rage
incident that occurred just south of Portland, Oregon in February of
this year. In that incident, a cyclist alleged that his riding group
was buzzed by a driver, who then threatened to run him down. The
cyclist reported that he responded to that threat by slapping the side-
view mirror of the SUV. According to the cyclist

, the SUV driver then backed up, aimed for the cyclist, and floored
it, striking the cyclist and knocking him down. Miraculously, the
cyclist survived the encounter with only minor injuries.

There was more to the story, however, than I reported; here’s what
happened in the aftermath of the assault on the cyclist’s life. The
cyclist called law enforcement and reported the hit and run; the other
cyclists who witnessed the incident corroborated his story. The
responding Sheriff’s Deputy said there are two sides to every story,
but nevertheless went in search of the driver, and found him. The
cyclist was expecting justice, but what happened next shocked him—the
Sheriff’s Department told him the driver was willing to “drop the
whole thing” and “let bygones be bygones” if the cyclist would let it
drop at his end. The driver was alleging that the cyclist had damaged
his mirror when he slapped it. Well, the cyclist was not willing to
let it drop, so he insisted that the Deputy file charges against the
driver. One week later, the cyclist received an even greater shock
when he received a citation for Criminal Mischief, a misdemeanor with
a base fine of $5,000. The Sheriff’s Department refused to confirm or
deny whether the driver had also been cited for his role in the
incident.

I had barely written about this when another incident made the news,
this time in New York. In June of this year, Manhattan cyclist Ray
Bengen attempted to squeeze by an SUV that was illegally stopped in
the bike lane. As Bengen was passing, the SUV began to move; fearing
that the driver was unaware of his presence next to the SUV, Bengen
slapped the side of the SUV. Bengen described what happened next:

"The driver then went berserk. Talk about road rage. He threw open his
door, forcing me and my bike to the ground giving me some awful
bruising down my leg. As I was now on the ground yelling at him that
he’s in a bike lane and was just about to run me over, he started to
scream at me ‘Don’t even think about it, don’t even think about it.’
I’m still not sure what he meant by that. With me lying on the ground
quite shaken, he suddenly stopped his assault and did something very
unexpected. He moved away from me, picked up my bike where it was
nearly underneath his truck. He then stood it up on its kickstand, and
got back in the truck and drove away left into 20th street."

The incident was investigated by a Detective from the 10th Precinct,
and Bengen’s account was corroborated by an eyewitness, who took
photographs of the attack as it was occurring. As reported in
Streetsblog

, within a month, the Manhattan D.A.’s office had concluded its
investigation and filed charges—against the cyclist for Criminal
Mischief, and the driver for Assault.

These two incidents, occurring a few months apart, and on opposite
ends of the country, nevertheless both resulted in criminal charges
against the cyclist for their roles in the violence. When you
retaliate against a driver, you run the risk of being perceived as a
mutual combatant—or worse, as the instigator—by the police, and
ultimately, by a jury.

Both of these incidents were classic encounters with road rage. In
When Tempers Flare, I observed that

Anybody who rides has likely had some sort of negative encounter with
a motorist—a blast from the horn, a shout to get off the road, a
thrown object, or a menacing swerve of the vehicle.

Most of these incidents never progress to the level of epic road rage
violence; nevertheless, the surest way to prevent them from escalating
to epic road rage is to begin by understanding what road rage is, and
from that understanding, developing a strategy to counter road rage.

What is Road Rage?
When road rage erupts, it always begins with an expression of anger,
and therefore, these incidents raise questions: Why? What causes the
anger

, and how does it lead to road rage

? One source of the conflict between motorists and cyclists stems from
the competition over the use of the limited resource of space on the
road. Another source of the anger is the inescapable feeling of
restriction that drivers experience. In his article “Bike Rage

,” Charles Montgomery writes:

"The driving experience primes car drivers for meltdowns. They are
conditioned by popular culture to see cars as symbols of freedom, yet
city driving is a slow-motion trap that subjects drivers to constant
restrictions on their movement. Drivers are thwarted from enjoying the
promise of motion by traffic lights, by congestion – and yes, by
cyclists – and they suffer the natural but impossible desire to escape
and move forward. All this while being strapped to their seats!"

In fact, there are a number of factors influencing driver anger; road
rage psychologist Dr. Leon James

has identified fifteen sources of driver anger, including:
• Restriction: “Being prevented from moving forward when you expect to
arouses frustration, and along with it anxiety and an intense desire
to escape the restriction. This anxiety prompts drivers to perform
risky or aggressive maneuvers to get away or get ahead.”

• Regulation: Regulation of driving “feels like an imposition and
arouses a rebellious streak in many, which then prompts them to
disregard whatever regulations seem wrong or inconvenient.”

• Lack of personal control: The “lack of personal control over traffic
events is frustrating and often leads to venting anger on whoever is
around.”

• Being put in danger: “Hair-raising close calls and hostile
incidents” result in “physiological stress, along with many negative
emotions — fear, resentment, rage, a sense of helplessness, and a
depressed mood.”

• Venting: Vented anger “is felt as an energizing rush. This seductive
feeling is short-lived, and is accompanied by a stream of anger-
inspiring thoughts that impair judgment and tempt us into rash and
dangerous actions.”

• Unpredictability: “Streets and highways create an environment of
drama, danger, and uncertainty.”

These feelings, simmering beneath the surface, threaten to boil over
in anger as soon as somebody to blame can be found. And then along
rolls a cyclist, taking up road space, slowing people down, wearing
funny clothes, not paying taxes, and not even obeying the law! Never
mind that some of these stereotypes may not even be true; the cyclist
makes a convenient scapegoat to blame.

Everybody feels anger on the road at times. But anger alone isn’t road
rage; it’s when we act on that anger that it is transformed into road
rage. What we call epic “road rage” begins when the person feeling the
anger gives himself or herself permission to vent. Often, we
mistakenly believe that venting will let some of the pressure off.
Instead, the opposite happens. When we vent our anger, our anger
continues to build, until it explodes in rage.

However, as Dr. James explains, road rage isn’t just limited to the
epic road rage we’re all familiar with. Instead, there are three
distinct types of anti-social behavior that he classifies as road
rage:

• Passive-Aggressive road rage: “A passive form of resistance that is
expressed by ignoring others or refusing to respond appropriately. The
intent of passive-aggressive road rage is to be obstructionist and
oppositional.” This obstructionist intent can be seen in the driver
who adamantly observes the speed limit in the “fast lane,” despite the
speeding drivers immediately behind who are signaling their desire to
go faster by tailgating and flashing their lights.

• Verbal road rage: “The habit of constantly complaining about the
traffic, keeping up a stream of mental or spoken attacks against all
drivers, passengers, law enforcement officials, road workers,
pedestrians, speed limits, and road signs. Undoubtedly the most common
form of road rage, the purpose of verbal road rage is to denounce,
ridicule, condemn, or castigate a rule, an engineer, or another
driver.”

• Epic road rage: “The habit of fantasizing comic-book roles and
extreme punitive measures against another driver, such as chasing,
beating up, ramming, dragging, shooting, and killing, sometimes to the
point of acting on it.” This is what most of us think of when we hear
the words “road rage.”

As we saw in the incident in which with the SUV driver ran down the
cyclist, the encounter began with the driver venting his anger at the
cyclists on the road. But as we also saw, after venting his anger, the
driver continued on his way down the road. It would have ended there,
but something happened to further transform the driver’s vented anger
into road rage: the cyclist chose to engage with the driver, motioning
for the driver to come back. The cyclist had signaled his desire to
continue the conflict, and the driver readily accepted the invitation—
and that ended badly, and could’ve been even worse.

What should the cyclist have done instead?

Next week, I’ll explain how to deal with road rage, and how to do your
best to keep the law on your side, and your hide intact when
encountering dangerous drivers.

Comments

As an avid cyclist, I understand how cyclists need to be careful of
irate motorists. However, I also think we need to be mindful of
reasons we make people irate. I often see cyclist running red lights
and forcing vehicles to stop, running stop signs etc. Also, riding two
and three abreast and prohibiting traffic flow.

Although no cyclist should fear traffic and I see how they become
targets for menacing drivers, some cyclists are quite insensitive to
traffic.

Posted by: parker14629 July 28th, 2009 at 7:05 pm

So the reason for road rage is because the cyclist isn’t following
traffic laws?

Please! that is a cop out. Motorists routinely break traffic laws… if
you don’t believe me, just go to any highway and start going with the
flow of traffic, you will find that people are driving 10 miles above
the speed limit and its not isolated (at least around where I live in
nj)

isn’t this again expecting the cyclist to adhere to a higher standard
than the motorist?

now Im not advocating against the following of traffic laws but there
are problems with safety and following the laws to the letter…

for example:

I get to an intersection, where I want to turn right and go 2 blocks
and make a left into a parking lot… the road that I am turning onto is
a 4 lane road (2 for each way).

if I were driving a car, I would make the right get into the left lane
and put my blinker on and make the left turn.

If I were to do that on a bike, Im afraid that I would be hit from
behind and blamed for it…

so what are my options?

walk the bike across the intersection as a pedestrian and go against
traffic for 2 blocks.

or

go right and when I get two blocks down, turn onto the shoulder and
run across the street with the bike when there is a break in traffic.

either one of these is against traffic laws but is arguably safer than
“driving” the bike.

Posted by: e0richt July 29th, 2009 at 12:33 am

“However, I also think we need to be mindful of reasons we make people
irate.”

“So the reason for road rage is because the cyclist isn’t following
traffic laws?”

I think both of these posts are indicative of issues in the cycling
community. I think the first person meant to indicate how cyclists
contribute to conflicts, while the second post seems incredibly
defensive and takes the first to an extreme, though an underlying
meaning I take from it also seems reasonable, namely: cyclists need to
understand how we intereact with other users on the road and do what
we can to make sure we aren’t “part of the problem”.

Running a stop sign or stoplight can actually get a cyclist out of the
way of cars faster than waiting to observe the law. Cycling in an
alert fashion, waving cars to pass you when it is clear, and being
generally courteous are all good things and promote safety, too.
Riding three abreast, chatting with other cyclists and generally
acting like you don’t care that you are going half of the speed limit
means that you are not only not being a safe cyclist by not paying
attention, you are probably also contributing to the ire of the
drivers around you.

Posted by: Velo Bear July 29th, 2009 at 10:18 am

We already have multiple strikes against us — slower on average than a
car (except for rush hour, of course, lol), less ‘protected’, seen as
overgrown children being a nuisance by bringing a toy into the road,
etc. Scofflaw riding doesn’t help us as much as some think. Fueling a
driver’s ‘righteous indignation’ by running reds/stops/etc. just
paints a target on our backs for a few.

Blame isn’t the answer, either; no, neither group is angelic, but both
believe they are justified, and are in direct opposition to each
other.

Find a way to remove this sense of justification, brought about, btw,
by the sense of entitlement, and you will take major steps to the
compromise we all need.

Posted by: bigpedaler50 July 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pm

The first cycle incident was not accurately presented in this article
for both incidences described here were of defensive actions. If you
read the first cyclist’s blog, the SUV was blasting his horn as he was
coming up on the group and the bicyclist wave him by (with all fingers
as he pointed out). It was then the SUV backed up after passing and
had the confrontation.

Both episodes highlight that even if the bicyclist is doing all the
right things to bicycle legally and safely as possible without
engaging the driver, there is a good possibility that the driver will
exhibit road rage and be confrontational.

THAT is the most scary for me especially knowing that there is a high
liklihood that law enforcement and the justice system will not be
helping me after the fact.

Mark

Posted by: markhappyguy July 29th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

markhappyguy,

I’m not sure which part of our depiction of this real-life incident
you felt was not accurately presented. The cyclist reported in his
blog that the driver blared his horn as he buzzed the group, and that
after the driver had passed the group, he (the cyclist) motioned the
driver back. We reported the same thing in this article’s predecessor,
When Tempers Flare.

From a legal perspective, the cyclists were in the right, and the
driver was in the wrong, as the driver passed the group. From the
perspective of Dr. James, the psychologist who studies road rage, the
cyclist made an error when he motioned to the driver to return. And
from both a legal perspective and a psychological perspective, the
cyclist compounded that error when he slapped the driver’s mirror
(hard enough, apparently, to allegedly damage it to the point that
criminal mischief charges were applicable, and were filed. And note
that the act of slapping the mirror in response to the driver’s words
was not a “defensive action”– it was a criminal act, which is why
charges were filed.). In other words, this was a case study of how
cyclists who are doing “all the right things” may nevertheless be
seduced into becoming engaged in an escalating battle of road rage.

And that’s what these two articles (When Tempers Flare, What is Road
Rage?) and the third article in this series (to be appearing soon) are
about– (1) understanding the psychology of road rage, (2) protecting
yourself from becoming embroiled in a road rage incident by using your
understanding of the psychology of road rage, (3) understanding how to
protect yourself legally, by keeping yourself on the right side of the
law, and (4) understanding what your legal options are for bringing a
road rager to justice.

Posted by: Rick Bernardi

July 29th, 2009 at 7:38 pm

Rick, So what you are saying that the cyclist’s error was for him to
motion the driver to come back?

Personally I would not do such a thing but what makes this an error?
Are you referring to a legal error? or psychological error (whatever
that means)?

So what you are saying we should not engage in any sort of dialog with
drivers who act in such a manner? Or should I just wait for the next
article to find out?

Posted by: markhappyguy July 30th, 2009 at 11:07 am

markhappyguy,

Dr. James’ research indicates that road rage incidents begin when one
of the parties gives him/herself “permission” to vent anger. When
somebody chooses to engage in conflict with the road rager, they are
inviting their antagonist to escalate. This locks the two of them
together in a spiral of escalation that threatens to explode into
violence the moment one of them loses control.

So from the perspective of the psychology of road rage, yes, it was an
error to motion for the driver to return. Note that it was not a legal
error– the cyclist can certainly motion for the driver to return. The
cyclist can even (legally) express his feelings about the buzz with
only one of his fingers. But choosing to invite the road rager to
continue the conflict is an error from the perspective of preventing
incidents from escalating into what Dr. James calls “epic road rage.”

The next article (posting today, I believe) will discuss appropriate
strategies for dealing with road rage.

Posted by: Rick Bernardi

July 30th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

I ride everyday that I can get out. I try to avoid the Peak traffic
times when motorists are at their worst .. going to and returning from
work.. I think perhaps they are ****ed that we are out riding and they
are working… well such is the life of a freelance musician…I dont have
the means for the Beamer, but at least my bike is worth way more than
my car..so to keep it accident free just avoid engaging any discourse
or behavior that may incite a working grunt… get on with your ride

Posted by: Fire Dragon July 31st, 2009 at 12:48 am

Whenever I sense I’m holding someone up, even for a few moments, I
briefly give a wave “sorry”. I ignore every comment from a vehicle
including at lights.
I don’t think there are many police who ride bikes or have any
sympathy for those who do. I think the police will favor the motorist
in most cases of altercations.
Once a driver of a car full of angry teens tried to crush a friend
into some parked cars. We were in heavy traffic and several motorists
actually stopped. A couple offered to find the car and get the license
number. We stopped a policeman who heard our side of the story and one
other motorist’s. He just told us to ride home.
We are on our own out there. We should be diplomatic. It won’t always
work, but it usually does.

Posted by: UpHillBill July 31st, 2009 at 7:10 am

I learned my lesson about bike/driver interaction many years ago. I
was riding on an empty country country road, when I was buzzed
dangerously closed by three guys in a pick up who simultaneously
shouted unintelligible obscenities at me. I returned the gestures with
the one finger salute.

They roared far enough ahead of me to give themselves time to get out
of the truck and wait for me, three abreast. One appeared to have a
club or something in his hands.

I was fortunate on two counts. First, there was no traffic at all.
Second, they chose an opportune spot (for me) to stop - at the bottom
of a steep hill.

As I approached them at somewhere near 40 mph, I swerved around them
and missed a scary encounter. They jumped back in their truck and
appeared to chase after me. I breathed a sigh of relief as they roared
passed me and kept on going.

Ever since, I have resisted all temptations to react to driver
stupididty. it’s not always easy.

Posted by: Jimmy1920 July 31st, 2009 at 8:14 am

Do we really care about the psychology behind someone’s bad behavior
on the road? I sure as hell don’t. When two vehicles encounter each
other, be it two cars, two bikes, or one of each, it is up to each
operator to take care of the other one. If the driver of a car is too
ignorant to understand he is endangering my life by his actions, I
will most assuredly let him know about that. I am not concerned about
how his day has been going up to that point, or what’s on his mind.
Right there, right then, he has an obligation to be a good citizen, as
do I. His road rage shouldn’t be my problem, and I really don’t care
what caused it.

Posted by: MFD32 July 31st, 2009 at 8:33 am

Ablang wrote:
http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadright...g-_-roadrights


July 23rd, 2009

What is Road Rage?


This is the first of a two-part section on Road Rage. In this first
part Bob Mionske explains road rage from a legal perspective - what it
is, legally as well as psychologically, and how it affects cyclists.
In Part II, next week, Bob explains how to handle it.

In When Tempers Flare

, I began a discussion of road rage with a real-life road rage
incident that occurred just south of Portland, Oregon in February of
this year. In that incident, a cyclist alleged that his riding group
was buzzed by a driver, who then threatened to run him down. The
cyclist reported that he responded to that threat by slapping the side-
view mirror of the SUV. According to the cyclist

, the SUV driver then backed up, aimed for the cyclist, and floored
it, striking the cyclist and knocking him down. Miraculously, the
cyclist survived the encounter with only minor injuries.

There was more to the story, however, than I reported; here’s what
happened in the aftermath of the assault on the cyclist’s life. The
cyclist called law enforcement and reported the hit and run; the other
cyclists who witnessed the incident corroborated his story. The
responding Sheriff’s Deputy said there are two sides to every story,
but nevertheless went in search of the driver, and found him. The
cyclist was expecting justice, but what happened next shocked him—the
Sheriff’s Department told him the driver was willing to “drop the
whole thing” and “let bygones be bygones” if the cyclist would let it
drop at his end. The driver was alleging that the cyclist had damaged
his mirror when he slapped it. Well, the cyclist was not willing to
let it drop, so he insisted that the Deputy file charges against the
driver. One week later, the cyclist received an even greater shock
when he received a citation for Criminal Mischief, a misdemeanor with
a base fine of $5,000. The Sheriff’s Department refused to confirm or
deny whether the driver had also been cited for his role in the
incident.

I had barely written about this when another incident made the news,
this time in New York. In June of this year, Manhattan cyclist Ray
Bengen attempted to squeeze by an SUV that was illegally stopped in
the bike lane. As Bengen was passing, the SUV began to move; fearing
that the driver was unaware of his presence next to the SUV, Bengen
slapped the side of the SUV. Bengen described what happened next:

"The driver then went berserk. Talk about road rage. He threw open his
door, forcing me and my bike to the ground giving me some awful
bruising down my leg. As I was now on the ground yelling at him that
he’s in a bike lane and was just about to run me over, he started to
scream at me ‘Don’t even think about it, don’t even think about it.’
I’m still not sure what he meant by that. With me lying on the ground
quite shaken, he suddenly stopped his assault and did something very
unexpected. He moved away from me, picked up my bike where it was
nearly underneath his truck. He then stood it up on its kickstand, and
got back in the truck and drove away left into 20th street."

The incident was investigated by a Detective from the 10th Precinct,
and Bengen’s account was corroborated by an eyewitness, who took
photographs of the attack as it was occurring. As reported in
Streetsblog

, within a month, the Manhattan D.A.’s office had concluded its
investigation and filed charges—against the cyclist for Criminal
Mischief, and the driver for Assault.

These two incidents, occurring a few months apart, and on opposite
ends of the country, nevertheless both resulted in criminal charges
against the cyclist for their roles in the violence. When you
retaliate against a driver, you run the risk of being perceived as a
mutual combatant—or worse, as the instigator—by the police, and
ultimately, by a jury.

Both of these incidents were classic encounters with road rage. In
When Tempers Flare, I observed that

Anybody who rides has likely had some sort of negative encounter with
a motorist—a blast from the horn, a shout to get off the road, a
thrown object, or a menacing swerve of the vehicle.

Most of these incidents never progress to the level of epic road rage
violence; nevertheless, the surest way to prevent them from escalating
to epic road rage is to begin by understanding what road rage is, and
from that understanding, developing a strategy to counter road rage.

What is Road Rage?
When road rage erupts, it always begins with an expression of anger,
and therefore, these incidents raise questions: Why? What causes the
anger

, and how does it lead to road rage

? One source of the conflict between motorists and cyclists stems from
the competition over the use of the limited resource of space on the
road. Another source of the anger is the inescapable feeling of
restriction that drivers experience. In his article “Bike Rage

,” Charles Montgomery writes:

"The driving experience primes car drivers for meltdowns. They are
conditioned by popular culture to see cars as symbols of freedom, yet
city driving is a slow-motion trap that subjects drivers to constant
restrictions on their movement. Drivers are thwarted from enjoying the
promise of motion by traffic lights, by congestion – and yes, by
cyclists – and they suffer the natural but impossible desire to escape
and move forward. All this while being strapped to their seats!"

In fact, there are a number of factors influencing driver anger; road
rage psychologist Dr. Leon James

has identified fifteen sources of driver anger, including:
• Restriction: “Being prevented from moving forward when you expect to
arouses frustration, and along with it anxiety and an intense desire
to escape the restriction. This anxiety prompts drivers to perform
risky or aggressive maneuvers to get away or get ahead.”

• Regulation: Regulation of driving “feels like an imposition and
arouses a rebellious streak in many, which then prompts them to
disregard whatever regulations seem wrong or inconvenient.”

• Lack of personal control: The “lack of personal control over traffic
events is frustrating and often leads to venting anger on whoever is
around.”

• Being put in danger: “Hair-raising close calls and hostile
incidents” result in “physiological stress, along with many negative
emotions — fear, resentment, rage, a sense of helplessness, and a
depressed mood.”

• Venting: Vented anger “is felt as an energizing rush. This seductive
feeling is short-lived, and is accompanied by a stream of anger-
inspiring thoughts that impair judgment and tempt us into rash and
dangerous actions.”

• Unpredictability: “Streets and highways create an environment of
drama, danger, and uncertainty.”

These feelings, simmering beneath the surface, threaten to boil over
in anger as soon as somebody to blame can be found. And then along
rolls a cyclist, taking up road space, slowing people down, wearing
funny clothes, not paying taxes, and not even obeying the law! Never
mind that some of these stereotypes may not even be true; the cyclist
makes a convenient scapegoat to blame.

Everybody feels anger on the road at times. But anger alone isn’t road
rage; it’s when we act on that anger that it is transformed into road
rage. What we call epic “road rage” begins when the person feeling the
anger gives himself or herself permission to vent. Often, we
mistakenly believe that venting will let some of the pressure off.
Instead, the opposite happens. When we vent our anger, our anger
continues to build, until it explodes in rage.

However, as Dr. James explains, road rage isn’t just limited to the
epic road rage we’re all familiar with. Instead, there are three
distinct types of anti-social behavior that he classifies as road
rage:

• Passive-Aggressive road rage: “A passive form of resistance that is
expressed by ignoring others or refusing to respond appropriately. The
intent of passive-aggressive road rage is to be obstructionist and
oppositional.” This obstructionist intent can be seen in the driver
who adamantly observes the speed limit in the “fast lane,” despite the
speeding drivers immediately behind who are signaling their desire to
go faster by tailgating and flashing their lights.

• Verbal road rage: “The habit of constantly complaining about the
traffic, keeping up a stream of mental or spoken attacks against all
drivers, passengers, law enforcement officials, road workers,
pedestrians, speed limits, and road signs. Undoubtedly the most common
form of road rage, the purpose of verbal road rage is to denounce,
ridicule, condemn, or castigate a rule, an engineer, or another
driver.”

• Epic road rage: “The habit of fantasizing comic-book roles and
extreme punitive measures against another driver, such as chasing,
beating up, ramming, dragging, shooting, and killing, sometimes to the
point of acting on it.” This is what most of us think of when we hear
the words “road rage.”

As we saw in the incident in which with the SUV driver ran down the
cyclist, the encounter began with the driver venting his anger at the
cyclists on the road. But as we also saw, after venting his anger, the
driver continued on his way down the road. It would have ended there,
but something happened to further transform the driver’s vented anger
into road rage: the cyclist chose to engage with the driver, motioning
for the driver to come back. The cyclist had signaled his desire to
continue the conflict, and the driver readily accepted the invitation—
and that ended badly, and could’ve been even worse.

What should the cyclist have done instead?

Next week, I’ll explain how to deal with road rage, and how to do your
best to keep the law on your side, and your hide intact when
encountering dangerous drivers.

Comments

As an avid cyclist, I understand how cyclists need to be careful of
irate motorists. However, I also think we need to be mindful of
reasons we make people irate. I often see cyclist running red lights
and forcing vehicles to stop, running stop signs etc. Also, riding two
and three abreast and prohibiting traffic flow.

Although no cyclist should fear traffic and I see how they become
targets for menacing drivers, some cyclists are quite insensitive to
traffic.

Posted by: parker14629 July 28th, 2009 at 7:05 pm

So the reason for road rage is because the cyclist isn’t following
traffic laws?

Please! that is a cop out. Motorists routinely break traffic laws… if
you don’t believe me, just go to any highway and start going with the
flow of traffic, you will find that people are driving 10 miles above
the speed limit and its not isolated (at least around where I live in
nj)

isn’t this again expecting the cyclist to adhere to a higher standard
than the motorist?

now Im not advocating against the following of traffic laws but there
are problems with safety and following the laws to the letter…

for example:

I get to an intersection, where I want to turn right and go 2 blocks
and make a left into a parking lot… the road that I am turning onto is
a 4 lane road (2 for each way).

if I were driving a car, I would make the right get into the left lane
and put my blinker on and make the left turn.

If I were to do that on a bike, Im afraid that I would be hit from
behind and blamed for it…

so what are my options?

walk the bike across the intersection as a pedestrian and go against
traffic for 2 blocks.

or

go right and when I get two blocks down, turn onto the shoulder and
run across the street with the bike when there is a break in traffic.

either one of these is against traffic laws but is arguably safer than
“driving” the bike.

Posted by: e0richt July 29th, 2009 at 12:33 am

“However, I also think we need to be mindful of reasons we make people
irate.”

“So the reason for road rage is because the cyclist isn’t following
traffic laws?”

I think both of these posts are indicative of issues in the cycling
community. I think the first person meant to indicate how cyclists
contribute to conflicts, while the second post seems incredibly
defensive and takes the first to an extreme, though an underlying
meaning I take from it also seems reasonable, namely: cyclists need to
understand how we intereact with other users on the road and do what
we can to make sure we aren’t “part of the problem”.

Running a stop sign or stoplight can actually get a cyclist out of the
way of cars faster than waiting to observe the law. Cycling in an
alert fashion, waving cars to pass you when it is clear, and being
generally courteous are all good things and promote safety, too.
Riding three abreast, chatting with other cyclists and generally
acting like you don’t care that you are going half of the speed limit
means that you are not only not being a safe cyclist by not paying
attention, you are probably also contributing to the ire of the
drivers around you.

Posted by: Velo Bear July 29th, 2009 at 10:18 am

We already have multiple strikes against us — slower on average than a
car (except for rush hour, of course, lol), less ‘protected’, seen as
overgrown children being a nuisance by bringing a toy into the road,
etc. Scofflaw riding doesn’t help us as much as some think. Fueling a
driver’s ‘righteous indignation’ by running reds/stops/etc. just
paints a target on our backs for a few.

Blame isn’t the answer, either; no, neither group is angelic, but both
believe they are justified, and are in direct opposition to each
other.

Find a way to remove this sense of justification, brought about, btw,
by the sense of entitlement, and you will take major steps to the
compromise we all need.

Posted by: bigpedaler50 July 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pm

The first cycle incident was not accurately presented in this article
for both incidences described here were of defensive actions. If you
read the first cyclist’s blog, the SUV was blasting his horn as he was
coming up on the group and the bicyclist wave him by (with all fingers
as he pointed out). It was then the SUV backed up after passing and
had the confrontation.

Both episodes highlight that even if the bicyclist is doing all the
right things to bicycle legally and safely as possible without
engaging the driver, there is a good possibility that the driver will
exhibit road rage and be confrontational.

THAT is the most scary for me especially knowing that there is a high
liklihood that law enforcement and the justice system will not be
helping me after the fact.

Mark

Posted by: markhappyguy July 29th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

markhappyguy,

I’m not sure which part of our depiction of this real-life incident
you felt was not accurately presented. The cyclist reported in his
blog that the driver blared his horn as he buzzed the group, and that
after the driver had passed the group, he (the cyclist) motioned the
driver back. We reported the same thing in this article’s predecessor,
When Tempers Flare.

From a legal perspective, the cyclists were in the right, and the
driver was in the wrong, as the driver passed the group. From the
perspective of Dr. James, the psychologist who studies road rage, the
cyclist made an error when he motioned to the driver to return. And
from both a legal perspective and a psychological perspective, the
cyclist compounded that error when he slapped the driver’s mirror
(hard enough, apparently, to allegedly damage it to the point that
criminal mischief charges were applicable, and were filed. And note
that the act of slapping the mirror in response to the driver’s words
was not a “defensive action”– it was a criminal act, which is why
charges were filed.). In other words, this was a case study of how
cyclists who are doing “all the right things” may nevertheless be
seduced into becoming engaged in an escalating battle of road rage.

And that’s what these two articles (When Tempers Flare, What is Road
Rage?) and the third article in this series (to be appearing soon) are
about– (1) understanding the psychology of road rage, (2) protecting
yourself from becoming embroiled in a road rage incident by using your
understanding of the psychology of road rage, (3) understanding how to
protect yourself legally, by keeping yourself on the right side of the
law, and (4) understanding what your legal options are for bringing a
road rager to justice.

Posted by: Rick Bernardi

July 29th, 2009 at 7:38 pm

Rick, So what you are saying that the cyclist’s error was for him to
motion the driver to come back?

Personally I would not do such a thing but what makes this an error?
Are you referring to a legal error? or psychological error (whatever
that means)?

So what you are saying we should not engage in any sort of dialog with
drivers who act in such a manner? Or should I just wait for the next
article to find out?

Posted by: markhappyguy July 30th, 2009 at 11:07 am

markhappyguy,

Dr. James’ research indicates that road rage incidents begin when one
of the parties gives him/herself “permission” to vent anger. When
somebody chooses to engage in conflict with the road rager, they are
inviting their antagonist to escalate. This locks the two of them
together in a spiral of escalation that threatens to explode into
violence the moment one of them loses control.

So from the perspective of the psychology of road rage, yes, it was an
error to motion for the driver to return. Note that it was not a legal
error– the cyclist can certainly motion for the driver to return. The
cyclist can even (legally) express his feelings about the buzz with
only one of his fingers. But choosing to invite the road rager to
continue the conflict is an error from the perspective of preventing
incidents from escalating into what Dr. James calls “epic road rage.”

The next article (posting today, I believe) will discuss appropriate
strategies for dealing with road rage.

Posted by: Rick Bernardi

July 30th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

I ride everyday that I can get out. I try to avoid the Peak traffic
times when motorists are at their worst .. going to and returning from
work.. I think perhaps they are ****ed that we are out riding and they
are working… well such is the life of a freelance musician…I dont have
the means for the Beamer, but at least my bike is worth way more than
my car..so to keep it accident free just avoid engaging any discourse
or behavior that may incite a working grunt… get on with your ride

Posted by: Fire Dragon July 31st, 2009 at 12:48 am

Whenever I sense I’m holding someone up, even for a few moments, I
briefly give a wave “sorry”. I ignore every comment from a vehicle
including at lights.
I don’t think there are many police who ride bikes or have any
sympathy for those who do. I think the police will favor the motorist
in most cases of altercations.
Once a driver of a car full of angry teens tried to crush a friend
into some parked cars. We were in heavy traffic and several motorists
actually stopped. A couple offered to find the car and get the license
number. We stopped a policeman who heard our side of the story and one
other motorist’s. He just told us to ride home.
We are on our own out there. We should be diplomatic. It won’t always
work, but it usually does.

Posted by: UpHillBill July 31st, 2009 at 7:10 am

I learned my lesson about bike/driver interaction many years ago. I
was riding on an empty country country road, when I was buzzed
dangerously closed by three guys in a pick up who simultaneously
shouted unintelligible obscenities at me. I returned the gestures with
the one finger salute.

They roared far enough ahead of me to give themselves time to get out
of the truck and wait for me, three abreast. One appeared to have a
club or something in his hands.

I was fortunate on two counts. First, there was no traffic at all.
Second, they chose an opportune spot (for me) to stop - at the bottom
of a steep hill.

As I approached them at somewhere near 40 mph, I swerved around them
and missed a scary encounter. They jumped back in their truck and
appeared to chase after me. I breathed a sigh of relief as they roared
passed me and kept on going.

Ever since, I have resisted all temptations to react to driver
stupididty. it’s not always easy.

Posted by: Jimmy1920 July 31st, 2009 at 8:14 am

Do we really care about the psychology behind someone’s bad behavior
on the road? I sure as hell don’t. When two vehicles encounter each
other, be it two cars, two bikes, or one of each, it is up to each
operator to take care of the other one. If the driver of a car is too
ignorant to understand he is endangering my life by his actions, I
will most assuredly let him know about that. I am not concerned about
how his day has been going up to that point, or what’s on his mind.
Right there, right then, he has an obligation to be a good citizen, as
do I. His road rage shouldn’t be my problem, and I really don’t care
what caused it.

Posted by: MFD32 July 31st, 2009 at 8:33 am


*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike
lane and forced me to bail. This is why I ride wrong way, to survive.
Last year a drunk almost took me out in the country, and again I was
riding wrong way and had to bail into a drainage ditch.
I may be disobeying the rules that the 'pro' posers tell me to ride by,
but then I would have been dead and not still riding.
Bill Baka

In article ,
Bill writes:

*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike

The city's not so bad; traffic movements are generally
quite predictable once one becomes familiar with, and
understanding of them.

For example, city buses do, after all, have regular stops
where they have to heave-to, curbside. And city bus drivers
have schedules to which they must adhere. At the same time,
bus passengers need their buses to show up on time, so they
can get to work on time. I suspect your particular bus didn't
"wander" into "your" lane, the driver was just dutifully pulling
over to pick up a bunch of riders at a designated bus stop.

City riding demands a more cooperative (with fellow traffic)
approach.

lane and forced me to bail. This is why I ride wrong way, to survive.
Last year a drunk almost took me out in the country, and again I was
riding wrong way and had to bail into a drainage ditch.

Another advantage of city riding is: psycho drivers who'll
bully riders don't have the "nobody's lookin'" advantage
they might have out in the boondocks.

I may be disobeying the rules that the 'pro' posers tell me to ride by,
but then I would have been dead and not still riding.

Personally, I prefer to avoid riding into drainage ditches.
In fact that's something I've never done. Where I live,
that would be deadlier than traffic. The drainage ditches
in Richmond BC are full of murky, stagnant standing water,
much deeper than you are tall. Not even Swamp Thing could
survive in those ditches.

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On Aug 1, 8:01*am, Bill wrote:


*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike
lane and forced me to bail.

An adult has to learn to ride in the city, just like a kid has to
learn to balance on two wheels.

It takes a little courage to learn either skill - but only a _little_
courage. In both cases, those that don't have the courage scare
themselves with terrible injuries that _might_ occur if they do things
wrong. Of course, they exaggerate both the magnitude and the
likelihood of those injuries.

But the timid six-year-olds who are afraid to learn to balance are
less annoying than the timid adults afraid to ride in a city. Those
timid kids don't work to make others share their fear. Unlike traffic-
terrified adults, the kids know they are being wimps. They're
appropriately embarrassed, and they keep quiet about it.

- Frank Krygowski

Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
Bill writes:
*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike

The city's not so bad; traffic movements are generally
quite predictable once one becomes familiar with, and
understanding of them.

I live in a small city, only about 30,000 tops and the bus drivers are
the best hicks money can buy. The city bus driver was looking at
oncoming traffic and I was not large enough or fast enough for him to
notice. Worse, this was going over a bridge and my bail was onto a
sidewalk with some crash rash. If I was being 'legal' I would have been
bus flattened. He was just oblivious to his job and needed to be
replaced. That was when they first got new buses. Now they are getting
better, but I cross that bridge on the sidewalk.

For example, city buses do, after all, have regular stops
where they have to heave-to, curbside. And city bus drivers
have schedules to which they must adhere. At the same time,
bus passengers need their buses to show up on time, so they
can get to work on time. I suspect your particular bus didn't
"wander" into "your" lane, the driver was just dutifully pulling
over to pick up a bunch of riders at a designated bus stop.

City riding demands a more cooperative (with fellow traffic)
approach.

lane and forced me to bail. This is why I ride wrong way, to survive.
Last year a drunk almost took me out in the country, and again I was
riding wrong way and had to bail into a drainage ditch.

Another advantage of city riding is: psycho drivers who'll
bully riders don't have the "nobody's lookin'" advantage
they might have out in the boondocks.

I want to go into the boondocks to explore and see if I can find the
remains of old ghost towns. I don't commute and only go through the city
when I go to visit a friend about 5 miles and 2 bridges away. The speed
limit on most roads is 25 so a stop light is not a problem to mix into
traffic.

I may be disobeying the rules that the 'pro' posers tell me to ride by,
but then I would have been dead and not still riding.

Personally, I prefer to avoid riding into drainage ditches.
In fact that's something I've never done. Where I live,
that would be deadlier than traffic. The drainage ditches
in Richmond BC are full of murky, stagnant standing water,
much deeper than you are tall. Not even Swamp Thing could
survive in those ditches.

Ours are only about 6 inches deep but I did find a half a horse in one
in the country. Nasty smelling and had to have been hit by something
large. Never saw the other half but did not want to fall into the water
downstream.

Bill Baka

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 8:01 am, Bill wrote:

*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike
lane and forced me to bail.

An adult has to learn to ride in the city, just like a kid has to
learn to balance on two wheels.

It takes a little courage to learn either skill - but only a _little_
courage. In both cases, those that don't have the courage scare
themselves with terrible injuries that _might_ occur if they do things
wrong. Of course, they exaggerate both the magnitude and the
likelihood of those injuries.

But the timid six-year-olds who are afraid to learn to balance are
less annoying than the timid adults afraid to ride in a city. Those
timid kids don't work to make others share their fear. Unlike traffic-
terrified adults, the kids know they are being wimps. They're
appropriately embarrassed, and they keep quiet about it.

- Frank Krygowski

Please ride in my little hick towns like you want for about a month and
then I won't have to listen to you tell me how to survive. That is about
a 95% guarantee around here.
I ride for *my* survival, not your rules for a bigger city.

Bill Baka

On Aug 1, 12:38*pm, Bill wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 8:01 am, Bill wrote:

*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike
lane and forced me to bail.

An adult has to learn to ride in the city, just like a kid has to
learn to balance on two wheels.

It takes a little courage to learn either skill - but only a _little_
courage. *In both cases, those that don't have the courage scare
themselves with terrible injuries that _might_ occur if they do things
wrong. *Of course, they exaggerate both the magnitude and the
likelihood of those injuries.

But the timid six-year-olds who are afraid to learn to balance are
less annoying than the timid adults afraid to ride in a city. *Those
timid kids don't work to make others share their fear. *Unlike traffic-
terrified adults, the kids know they are being wimps. *They're
appropriately embarrassed, and they keep quiet about it.

- Frank Krygowski

Please ride in my little hick towns like you want for about a month and
then I won't have to listen to you tell me how to survive. That is about
a 95% guarantee around here.
I ride for *my* survival, not your rules for a bigger city.

It's funny. When I tell people that riding in a city is safe, they
assume I ride only in a small town. When I tell people that riding in
a small town is safe, they assume I ride only in a big city.

I ride in them all, Bill. I've ridden in cities whose populations
exceeded 2.5 million, and I've just returned from a bike tour that
passed through dozens of small towns, down to populations under 1000.
You can learn to handle them all if you've got little bit of
initiative, a bit of intelligence and a little bit of courage.

Bicycling is not very dangerous. It does us no good to pretend it is.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 12:38 pm, Bill wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 8:01 am, Bill wrote:
*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city*
I have almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike
lane and forced me to bail.
An adult has to learn to ride in the city, just like a kid has to
learn to balance on two wheels.
It takes a little courage to learn either skill - but only a _little_
courage. In both cases, those that don't have the courage scare
themselves with terrible injuries that _might_ occur if they do things
wrong. Of course, they exaggerate both the magnitude and the
likelihood of those injuries.
But the timid six-year-olds who are afraid to learn to balance are
less annoying than the timid adults afraid to ride in a city. Those
timid kids don't work to make others share their fear. Unlike traffic-
terrified adults, the kids know they are being wimps. They're
appropriately embarrassed, and they keep quiet about it.
- Frank Krygowski
Please ride in my little hick towns like you want for about a month and
then I won't have to listen to you tell me how to survive. That is about
a 95% guarantee around here.
I ride for *my* survival, not your rules for a bigger city.

It's funny. When I tell people that riding in a city is safe, they
assume I ride only in a small town. When I tell people that riding in
a small town is safe, they assume I ride only in a big city.

I ride in them all, Bill. I've ridden in cities whose populations
exceeded 2.5 million, and I've just returned from a bike tour that
passed through dozens of small towns, down to populations under 1000.
You can learn to handle them all if you've got little bit of
initiative, a bit of intelligence and a little bit of courage.

Courage I have and you know it from my real and not made up exploits.
My 55 MPH downhill blast a few months back was an experiment in
aerodynamics or putting my legs back on the rack and it gained me 8 to
10 MPH between semis on the highway on a steep grade.
A guy on a Vincent motorcycle did it before I was born in about 1947 to
meet the claim that a Vincent could do 150 MPH. With his feet down he
could not get much over barely 140.
It works but it exceeded even my adrenaline limit.

Bicycling is not very dangerous. It does us no good to pretend it is.

It isn't very dangerous to normal riders. I dumped it 3 days ago trying
to get to a berry patch when the dirt turned to talcum powder and I fell
over sideways at about 3 MPH and hurt my sides laughing.
I had been doing a careful 10 MPH when poof, big cloud of dust and a
sideways position in it all. The only near casualty was my cell phone
which was in my pocket cushioned between my leg and a drip rag I keep to
get the sweat out of my eyes. It was only 2.5 miles so I did not take a
water bottle to rinse with. Silly to me, but funny anyway.
On the road I assume the cage/truck/bus drivers could care less.
Hence, I live to irritate the stick up their ass crowd.
I do nothing to be suicidal, just to have fun and maybe a bit of
adrenaline to make the ride less boring. Pedaling 30 or 40 miles on a
flat road is not exciting so I stop to explore abandoned buildings and
factories looking for any kind of a keeper tidbit, old coin or even old
tool. I don't try to train for racing at 60 nearing 61 but it keeps me
in great shape physically and emotionally.

- Frank Krygowski
My reason for being, and also to keep up with my grandkids, and a new
great grandkid who is now one year old.
Bill Baka

On Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:49:20 -0700, Bill wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 12:38 pm, Bill wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 8:01 am, Bill wrote:
*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city* I have
almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike lane
and forced me to bail.
An adult has to learn to ride in the city, just like a kid has to
learn to balance on two wheels.
It takes a little courage to learn either skill - but only a _little_
courage. In both cases, those that don't have the courage scare
themselves with terrible injuries that _might_ occur if they do
things wrong. Of course, they exaggerate both the magnitude and the
likelihood of those injuries.
But the timid six-year-olds who are afraid to learn to balance are
less annoying than the timid adults afraid to ride in a city. Those
timid kids don't work to make others share their fear. Unlike
traffic- terrified adults, the kids know they are being wimps.
They're appropriately embarrassed, and they keep quiet about it. -
Frank Krygowski
Please ride in my little hick towns like you want for about a month
and then I won't have to listen to you tell me how to survive. That is
about a 95% guarantee around here.
I ride for *my* survival, not your rules for a bigger city.

It's funny. When I tell people that riding in a city is safe, they
assume I ride only in a small town. When I tell people that riding in
a small town is safe, they assume I ride only in a big city.

I ride in them all, Bill. I've ridden in cities whose populations
exceeded 2.5 million, and I've just returned from a bike tour that
passed through dozens of small towns, down to populations under 1000.
You can learn to handle them all if you've got little bit of
initiative, a bit of intelligence and a little bit of courage.

Courage I have and you know it from my real and not made up exploits.

How does anyone here know that your "exploits" are real? We have no
proof, and you have given no reason to think that you are to be trusted
or believed. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I think you're full of ****.

My 55 MPH downhill blast a few months back was an experiment in
aerodynamics or putting my legs back on the rack and it gained me 8 to
10 MPH between semis on the highway on a steep grade. A guy on a Vincent
motorcycle did it before I was born in about 1947 to meet the claim that
a Vincent could do 150 MPH. With his feet down he could not get much
over barely 140.
It works but it exceeded even my adrenaline limit.

Horse****. Utter and unadulterated.

Quit spreading lies, Bill. We all know you're a compulsive liar.


--
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
Need help? -- http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/ubuntu.jpg
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Get a job! -- http://brandybuck.site40.net/pics/republican.jpg

Dan C wrote:
On Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:49:20 -0700, Bill wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 12:38 pm, Bill wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 1, 8:01 am, Bill wrote:
*This is why I ride in the country and not in the city* I have
almost been run over by a city bus that wandered into *MY* bike lane
and forced me to bail.
An adult has to learn to ride in the city, just like a kid has to
learn to balance on two wheels.
It takes a little courage to learn either skill - but only a _little_
courage. In both cases, those that don't have the courage scare
themselves with terrible injuries that _might_ occur if they do
things wrong. Of course, they exaggerate both the magnitude and the
likelihood of those injuries.
But the timid six-year-olds who are afraid to learn to balance are
less annoying than the timid adults afraid to ride in a city. Those
timid kids don't work to make others share their fear. Unlike
traffic- terrified adults, the kids know they are being wimps.
They're appropriately embarrassed, and they keep quiet about it. -
Frank Krygowski
Please ride in my little hick towns like you want for about a month
and then I won't have to listen to you tell me how to survive. That is
about a 95% guarantee around here.
I ride for *my* survival, not your rules for a bigger city.
It's funny. When I tell people that riding in a city is safe, they
assume I ride only in a small town. When I tell people that riding in
a small town is safe, they assume I ride only in a big city.

I ride in them all, Bill. I've ridden in cities whose populations
exceeded 2.5 million, and I've just returned from a bike tour that
passed through dozens of small towns, down to populations under 1000.
You can learn to handle them all if you've got little bit of
initiative, a bit of intelligence and a little bit of courage.
Courage I have and you know it from my real and not made up exploits.

How does anyone here know that your "exploits" are real? We have no
proof, and you have given no reason to think that you are to be trusted
or believed. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I think you're full of ****.

I have invited you more than once to put up or shut up. Ride some of my
downhills at 55 MPH so I can watch you wet your sissy pants. That is
assuming I can tolerate you long enough not to kill you myself first.

My 55 MPH downhill blast a few months back was an experiment in
aerodynamics or putting my legs back on the rack and it gained me 8 to
10 MPH between semis on the highway on a steep grade. A guy on a Vincent
motorcycle did it before I was born in about 1947 to meet the claim that
a Vincent could do 150 MPH. With his feet down he could not get much
over barely 140.
It works but it exceeded even my adrenaline limit.

Horse****. Utter and unadulterated.

Quit spreading lies, Bill. We all know you're a compulsive liar.


We know you are a compulsive ****ing idiot. That tale of the Vincent
test rider was legendary in the post war 1940's. He stripped down to his
underwear and put his legs straight out behind him so he could prove a
Vincent would do 150 MPH. Use your own God damned big mouth initiative
and ****ing google it. Vincent 150 MPH and 1940's should do it.

Bill Baka