Road rage incident - what do I do?

[DY4483]

I was just biking home through Adams Morgan, and at the Calvert/Adams Mill intersection, heading west, at about 8pm. The light on Calvert turned green, but the first two cars at the light had to pause while a car going the other direction was turning left onto Adams Mill. As I was passing the third car, an older white man (40 or 50ish) in a sedan with the DC license plate CU 2705, start blaring his horn for a good 5 seconds straight. Because I was moving at about the speed of traffic, I turned to him and gestured with my hand and told him "Calm down!" As we began speeding up and both going through the intersection he, pulled next to me and start yelling things, and then (right in the area where there are sharrows and no bike lane) cut me off, leaving only about 2 feet of space between the front of his car and the parked cars, rolled down the window and said "get the &$# off the road". Since I was going slow enough, he didn't make contact, but it was enough to make me gun my brakes.

I got his license plate, promptly recorded it in my phone. As I rode down Calvert I saw a cop sitting on the other side of the bridge and told him about it, he was nice enough but seemed generally uninterested, saying "since we didn't see it we don't take a report and can't give him a ticket". I understand the not being able to ticket part, but I feel like there has to be something that can be done to give this guy a warning or something. I've always heard the cops are reluctant to make reports, and the guy I was talking to was probably not supposed to leave his post to go look for the dude, but I wanted to see if others know of something that can be done.

Suggestions welcome.

[thecyclingeconomist]

Suggestions welcome.

Unless you have video, most police won't do anything. Run your video camera always; your situation is almost identical to the one that prompted me to start running my GoPro on every single ride, no matter what.

And... I'm sorry that you had to deal with this. It's infuriating and just plain scary. I have two children and a wife at home... to think that some absurd road rage could really put my life into jeopardy really makes you ride a bit differently. I'm less aggressive, and tend to take longer routes to ensure that I don't commonly encounter people that are in a rush and are stuck in long lines of traffic.

Though those are the situations that seem fun because you can cut lanes and thoroughly feel and be faster than cars, it also provokes them.

Stay safe and keep cycling! Tomorrow morning will be a whole new day!

[DY4483]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, more than anything, it just made me mad -- there was no reason for him to get angry, I in no way impeded him, and he was being a jerk. He took time out of his day to threaten me, and he was the one in a hurry. Do you have any recommedations for bike cameras? Preferably one thats not super expensive (I looked up GoPro and it was worth a substantial portion of my bike).

Thanks,

[KLizotte]

I'm so sorry to hear of your incident; it really can color your view of the world for a while. If possible, please think of all the drivers that have gone out of their way to give you priority or given you lots of space when passing; they surely out number the idiots. Similarly, think of pedestrians that have been friendly and other cyclists that have helped you out on the trail, on this forum, etc. When you realize the good truly supercedes the bad it takes the sting out of a bad interaction.

WABA tracks crashes here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/451/p/salsa/web/questionnaire/public/?questionnaire_KEY=1200

While it seems mostly focused on crashes there is harassment/assault listed. A write-up of what occurred in the text box should help clarify what happened.

[Bilsko]

I've used a Tachyon XC off and on for a couple years now and have been pleased with it - despite it being a little on the heavy side when mounted to the helmet. It'd be nice if it had rechargable batteries (ie. USB) -and maybe newer versions do - regular AAA batteries may be the price I pay for getting it so long ago.

Not nearly as good as the GoPro or Contour...but a little easier on the wallet.

[DSalovesh]

I started with a Tachyon bar cam. At $150, it seemed like a good way to get my feet wet.

I didn't like the resolution, which was only good enough to identify cars by color, make, and model, but rarely enough to read license plates. It didn't clearly show pavement lines when I was moving, and sometimes I couldn't even tell if a stoplight was green or red in the videos. And, it wasn't rechargeable so I went through a ton of expensive disposable AAA lithium batteries.

After about a year of occasional use, the battery holder started losing contact when I hit a bump.

Then I got a good deal on a Contour HD - at full retail it was $200. It has full HD, a good lens, great color, and it's rechargeable. I can usually read any license plate I pass, and in good light I've even caught names off taxi licenses.

That's also the price of the cheapest GoPro. In tests they're pretty much equal, so I've decided that $200 is about the minimum price of a usable handlebar black box camera.

[bobco85]

I purchased a Contour ROAM camera this past October due to having too many close calls. I'm not sure if drivers have responded to seeing it on my helmet, but at least it seems that I'm having less close calls (I might just be riding more alert, but I at least "feel" safer).

Do you have any recommedations for bike cameras? Preferably one thats not super expensive (I looked up GoPro and it was worth a substantial portion of my bike).

Here's a thread with some camera recommendations: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showth...ecommendations

Keep in mind that you can always go with an older model of a camera (that's what I did) since the newer models don't really add much other than more bells and whistles.

[DSalovesh]

I'm not sure if drivers have responded to seeing it on my helmet, but at least it seems that I'm having less close calls (I might just be riding more alert, but I at least "feel" safer).

A big change for me was thinking about what I'd want people to see if they were watching my video unedited and without explanation. (E.g., if I was in a coma or worse.)

When the video is running I disobey fewer lights, and only when I feel the video would illustrate that doing so didn't lead to a crash or inconvenience for anybody. When running video I don't yell when I'm wronged, even though neither of my cameras pick up clear sound. When I'm recording I often just think of my bike as a camera platform, so I try to point it at the problem (while staying out of trouble, of course). Just gesturing to the camera and notifying a person that I have them on video has ended many conflicts.

[Dickie]

A big change for me was thinking about what I'd want people to see if they were watching my video unedited and without explanation. (E.g., if I was in a coma or worse.)

When the video is running I disobey fewer lights, and only when I feel the video would illustrate that doing so didn't lead to a crash or inconvenience for anybody. When running video I don't yell when I'm wronged, even though neither of my cameras pick up clear sound. When I'm recording I often just think of my bike as a camera platform, so I try to point it at the problem (while staying out of trouble, of course). Just gesturing to the camera and notifying a person that I have them on video has ended many conflicts.

Some really good points here and another reason why I am considering a camera myself. Besides it's obvious use for evidence, it will also make me more accountable for my own actions.

[baiskeli]

it will also make me more accountable for my own actions.

Not if you "burn the negative."