Driving in this morning I watched a little red car – not a sporty little red car, just a little old Toyota or something – suddenly whip over from the left lane to the right in between a car and the dump truck coming up behind, with barely enough room to fit. I’ll say it: it was a bullshit maneuver. I kind of caught my breath when I saw it, figuring this guy is toast (or maybe more appropriately, jam). No one in their right mind would cut in front of a moving dump truck (or really any kind of truck) with that little space, coming up to a red light. Yes, traffic was slowing, but I’m sure the truck driver wasn’t expecting to have to brake that hard. Luckily, he was apparently alert to what was going on around him and managed not to put Mr. Asshat in a body cast. Next thing I see is Mr. Asshat sticking his head out his car window, evidently yelling something back at the semi truck driver. He had the oddest look on his face, like you’d expect to see on someone mocking someone with developmental disabilities. Hrm. I couldn’t tell if the trucker was saying anything, I didn’t hear anything.
After the light changed and I got further down the road, I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw neither the red car nor the truck so I think they turned off somewhere, the truck following the red car. I didn’t really think too much more about it until I passed the police station just a few blocks further and saw another truck pull in there and honk his horn (to get the attention of the police, I imagine). I’m guessing the first trucker radioed that he was going to confront the tool in the red car and may have asked his buddy in the other truck to call the cops. I think Mr. Asshat was about to have a very bad day.
On Twitter, @BigTamConnery commented that Twitter seems full of nutty and enraged people today. Seems like they’re on the road, too. Simmer down, y’all.
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I’m so afraid when I cross a street. I think, Susannah, be careful it could be you driving. Mr. Asshat would do very well in New York since he has many relatives here. People get hit all the time from maneuvers just like the one. you described. OOH…buckle your seat belt Dame. Wear two.
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It was a wild day on the roads here, that’s for sure. Starting to think I should wear a full motorcycle helmet when I drive, like NASCAR drivers do.
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How sexy you’d look. Imagine the attention.
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Heehee, maybe I’ll go helmet shopping this weekend. I’m thinking something in basic black.
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Ugh.
Here, most drivers are rather good at following the normal niceties and rules of the road because the laws are a lot tougher. If you are caught going through a red light (for example) you lose your right to drive for a few days to weeks.
It’s the pedestrians and bicyclists who are so nervy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen some jerk slowly stagger across a busy intersection. Who cares if the light is red for him and he can go splat or cause other cars to wreck in their avoidance of hitting him?
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Pedestrians virtually always have the right-of-way here in Oregon, even if they’re not in a crosswalk. As soon as they step one foot off the curb, you have to stop for them. Bikes are legally required to follow the same rules of the road as cars as far as stopping at lights, watching out for pedestrians, riding with traffic and so on. Of course there are scofflaw riders just as there are scofflaw drivers. Every time someone sees a bike run a stop sign, they start screaming bloody murder about it, but they probably run lights and stop signs, make illegal turns, neglect to signal, etc. Only no one seems to bat an eyelash about that. I love the people who are halfway through a turn when they turn on their turn signal. I always want to tell them, “Uh, yeah, we figured it out already.”
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I’ve heard about the anti-bike sentiment in the States. Very sad. It’s so great for personal health and the environment.
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So true. It’s better here in Portland than most other places, but even here the sight of someone on a bike seems to incite murderous attitudes in some people. I love my bike and am still trying to work out how to bike part of my commute. It’s a lot trickier at the new job than my previous job.
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*sigh* Yeah, I remember us discussing that issue. I’m so grateful to live in such a pedestrian/bike friendly city.
I do remember when I did live in the US, drivers I’d be with ( I don’t drive myself) would often comment if they saw a bicyclist. Not anything negative, but it was such a rarity that they would take notice, and seemed extra nervous. It would be like, “be careful of the bicyclist!”
If more people took to their bikes in the States, car drivers would get used to it and there wouldn’t be a fear/anger instinctive reaction.
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Not to mention if more people were on bikes there’d be less cars on the road as well 🙂 I understand New Zealand is incredibly anti-bike, too. Odd, I get so used to the US being pointed out as the worst of everything I would have thought all other countries were light-years ahead of us on this.
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Erm… ‘fewer’ cars on the road, that is.
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Aggressive road bullies who think they own the road no matter what size car or type of car they drive. It is a shame he did not see his self as the fault and the coinconcidence of what would of happen. He should of been grateful his careless act did not hurt anyone or himself. Than the nerve to say his last words to the driver for him to feel big. I wish the truck driver would of drove on and ignore the ignorant man. Beating him to a pulp or argueing with him would not change the type of person he is. Just glad no one got hurt.
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This guy was lucky he wasn’t flattened. In that tiny little car, darting in front of a huge truck, it was so stupid. People like that are everywhere, unfortunately. I still wonder if they pulled over and got into it. Haven’t seen anything in the news, so no idea.
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