Cyclists harassed by abusive driver

[White92]

I can't believe this guy!


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BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — A video posted on YouTube shows two Colorado cyclists being harassed for more than five minutes by the driver of an SUV who was honking and driving dangerously close to their bikes.

They posted the video after their Sunday afternoon ride through Boulder County.

The video has already garnered more than 70,000 views.

The video shows the two riding as far right as they possibly could without being in the dirt.

"In our case, we weren\'t holding up traffic. There was plenty of room to go around, and this weird guy behind us just kept honking his horn for 5 minutes," cyclist Dirk Friel said. "We were single file, waiving him by. Finally, you\'re like this is insane. I have to get this on film."

Pro Cyclist Mara Abbott says the cyclists were in the right, but there are better roads from which to choose.

"There are roads that don\'t have shoulders, and maybe that\'s not your best choice," Abbott said. "There are a lot of roads that are safe and safer to ride."

But Abbott says the frustration the driver was showing in the video is definitely scary.

"If you are cyclist, no matter how in the right you are, if they run you over with their car you don\'t win no matter what," Abbott said. "For a driver to use their car as a way of expressing their frustration is really dangerous. That kind of stuff happens all the time."

Colorado State Patrol is investigating.

They know who the driver is, and they\'re looking at recommending charges.

Friel says they were lucky.

"Who knows? Next time it may not end up as well for the cyclists," Friel said.

 

[TURBO2GO]

What a tool... there isn't another car in sight...

 

[EAC]

LOL, those guys got trolled..

 

[Kyras]

It was annoying enough to hear the horn on a video. I can imagine how bad it was for the bikers just out trying to enjoy a nice ride. Colorado does have it's share of haters. I've been yelled at for just driving my S2000 with the top down, there.

 

[Jetpilot3]

Asshat.

 

[HIJACKER]

So just curious, technically, the drive can never cross the double yellow line in order to pass bicyclists, correct?

(I know, we do it all the time and its not a big deal, but legally, we're not supposed to). So, if the driver is following the law, would they be doing the right thing staying behind the bikers? Granted, excessive use of the horn could be considered "disturbing the peace" (maybe)?

 

[flaminio]

The SUV driver is a jerk, and in the wrong. The cyclists were correct.

THAT SAID...

After it became clear that douchebag SUV driver was not going to pass and was going to honk forever, the cyclists should have stopped and stepped off the road. Not because they were in the wrong -- they weren't. But to a) get this douchebag out of their lives quickly and expediently; and b) to avoid a potentially deadly situation. We have no idea how wound up the SUV driver was getting. His next move might have been to accelerate and run them over, or pull a gun and go all "Easy Rider" on them.

Being safe always trumps being right.

 

[DocL]

+1. Defusing the situation would have made it a lot better for the cyclists. However, once you remove yourself from the situation it can make the aggressor more unstable.

These riders should keep a bunch of sheetrock screws in their back shirt pocket and throw them on the street in front of the car if this happens again.

 

[flaminio]

I'm also assuming that the video in question is "real" and not just a few dudes trying to grab their warhol of internet fame.

 

[Russ]

I'm also assuming that the video in question is "real" and not just a few dudes trying to grab their warhol of internet fame.

New meme: "Warholing - Purposefully staging an asshole-ish situation in order to receive 15 minutes of fame online, e.g., on a YouTube video."

 

[itrsteve]

The SUV driver is a jerk, and in the wrong. The cyclists were correct.

THAT SAID...

After it became clear that douchebag SUV driver was not going to pass and was going to honk forever, the cyclists should have stopped and stepped off the road. Not because they were in the wrong -- they weren't. But to a) get this douchebag out of their lives quickly and expediently; and b) to avoid a potentially deadly situation. We have no idea how wound up the SUV driver was getting. His next move might have been to accelerate and run them over, or pull a gun and go all "Easy Rider" on them.

Being safe always trumps being right.

Agreed, plus cycling in a rural area like that shouldn't of been enough to piss anybody off so this all-american may be a bit off his rocker.

 

[Kyras]

The SUV driver is a jerk, and in the wrong. The cyclists were correct.

THAT SAID...

After it became clear that douchebag SUV driver was not going to pass and was going to honk forever, the cyclists should have stopped and stepped off the road. Not because they were in the wrong -- they weren't. But to a) get this douchebag out of their lives quickly and expediently; and b) to avoid a potentially deadly situation. We have no idea how wound up the SUV driver was getting. His next move might have been to accelerate and run them over, or pull a gun and go all "Easy Rider" on them.

Being safe always trumps being right.

That's easy to say after looking at the video. The bikers had no idea that the guy was going to follow them so long, though. They might have thought once they got out the video camera that he'd take off.

 

[Kyras]

From the article at the end:

Resolution

Dirk ended up reporting the incident to the Colorado State Patrol after another YouTube viewer commented that he'd had similar run-ins with the same driver. According to the Denver Post, the driver was cited yesterday by the CSP for two counts of harassment, impeding the flow of traffic, and improper use of a horn. On top of that, he had reporters and TV cameras knocking at his door the past couple days.


http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/posts/2012/9/20/trainingpeaks-co-founder-video-goes-viral-raises-awareness.html

 

[KSXNSX]

Nice. Glad to see the driver got some punishment, but something greater than just a citation would have been nicer.

I'm not the biggest fan of bikes on the road, but what the driver did was just crazy and put everyone in danger.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Nice. Glad to see the driver got some punishment, but something greater than just a citation would have been nicer.

I'm not the biggest fan of bikes on the road, but what the driver did was just crazy and put everyone in danger.

Off topic but that is a cool avatar you got there.

 

[Aluminsx]

I ride my bike a lot. Not a lot compared to professional cyclist but a lot by my standards (about 100-150 mile a week). It pretty much goes without saying that every ride I go on some ass hole will either buzz me or honk their horn at me. Never had anything thrown at me but I've known folks that have. I've had incidents where I thought I was going to have to fight a couple of guys that were really belligerent (they eventually drove away). Cycling is dangerous enough without people messing with you for shits and giggles. I'm glad this driver got cited. I hope he/she learns a lesson.

 

[91 X]

the bikers did the right thing by filming this d-bag, BUT how the F#%K did they not just pull over and hope that the guy stopped for a nice chat???

 

[HIJACKER]

So just curious, technically, the drive can never cross the double yellow line in order to pass bicyclists, correct?

(I know, we do it all the time and its not a big deal, but legally, we're not supposed to). So, if the driver is following the law, would they be doing the right thing staying behind the bikers? Granted, excessive use of the horn could be considered "disturbing the peace" (maybe)?

Anyone?

 

[Aluminsx]

Anyone?

If you look at the video the driver of the truck has plenty of room to safely pass the cyclists without crossing the double yellow line.

 

[gleibig]

Maybe his horn was malfunctioning?

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SfxfjUW-HVs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[transdzn]

Anyone?

CO law, it's legal to cross the double solid line to pass a cyclist as long as it's safe to do so.

 

[passline]

Where I come from, that horn would have been down his throat after the fifth beep. We need to stop filming everything as well.....

 

[1K2GO]

1st of all, they are called cyclists, not bikers.

'Bikers' are the dudes in leather, 'cyclists' are the dudes in lycra.

I am a cyclist, I'm also a biker and a driver. I ride over 12K miles per year and I have to deal with people like this on a regular basis. I've been hit and left for dead and I've also chased drivers down and pulled them out of their cars.

There's nothing funny about these incidents, it's reached an epidemic stage. These 'cyclists' showed way more restraint than I would have. I would have definitely challenged this guy and tried to get him out of his cage to have a conversation, but thats just me. I ride angry out of self defense.

 

[Ric]

This cyclists versus drivers thing go both ways. There are azzhole cyclists out there who would blow by stop signs/red lights without even stopping.

 

[shawn110975]

I would have got into the lane and slowed down to a crawl,

then layed my bike down quickly in that lane, but jumping into the other lane so this person could not pass inless he ran me over or ran over my bike. punched the window in as he passed if he stopped then we could have a man to man talk.