Cab Cagers, Why man...why?

[kurtisminder]

Don't feel obligated to reply to this post...I just need to vent. Went for my obligatory early Sunday morning ride this morning. I just moved back to Washington DC and decided to head up the canal road and find myself somewhere near Potomac MD for breakfast. I am innately aware of the morning habits of our hoofed nemesis and keep a close eye out. (I had 13 separate instances of deer running in front of me while on my way to the international rally last month on Skyline drive at 6am.) So this morning, I am on a portion of the road that is two lane, divided, and saw an opportunity to allow this cab to pass since he had been following too closely for miles. He nearly took the bait, switched to the left lane and sped up...but remained behind, even closer, with two wheels in my lane and two in the left. As the road merged back to one lane I sped up enough to put distance between us...clearly this dude was not awake yet this morning. Shortly afterwords, I see the hind legs of a deer sticking out of the brush. I brake and slow to a ~15/20mph and scan for his friends. Guess who comes flying up behind me BLARING ON HIS HORN? You guessed it, nimrod the cabby. I pull to the side to avoid being rear ended and end up 1 foot from this deer who remains there long enough for me to point him out to the cab driver. (I am not sure if you can convey anger with pointing alone...but I made an effort.)

MmmMmm Coffee.

Good morning!

Kurtis

 

[njnomad]

This is one of those instances where you wish it was legal to pull out a weapon and shoot the stupid son-of-a-.......!





______________________

I have my PTSD under control.

 

[MOTOR31]

You could have saved yourself some needless aggravation by simply pulling to the side and stopping to let him pass as soon as he started tailgating. Let the guy go past, it's not a race and you don't get any points by staying in front of a vehicle that is following too closely. Instead of leading the dance, let the other guy go and stop tangoing with them. In that case you could enjoy your ride, watch and avoid deer and spent less time watching your rear view mirror.

The only time you are really in control of coming in contact with another vehicle is when you are behind them.

 

[Pat Carol]

I had some young lady tailgating me on a side street in Alpena, Michigan. As I rode along this girl was about 5 feet from the back of my bike. I stopped my bike in the middle of the road, put the sidestand down and dismounted my bike.
I walked up to the young lady and advised her of the way she was driving. I was very pleasant with her. She appropriately charmed me with an 'F' bomb and gave me a one fingered salutue. I laughed at her, walked behind her car and took down her plate number.
I then went and filed a complaint at the city police department. The LEO had stated that I did the right thing and they will find this young lady and they did. Well come to find out this young lady is in court ordered anger management counseling for throwing a soda bottle out of her car window and cursing out another driver. Needless to say the lady that filed the complaint is the spouse of a local policeman.

Take Care & Ride Safe
Pat Carol

 

[ted]

You could have saved yourself some needless aggravation by simply pulling to the side and stopping to let him pass as soon as he started tailgating.

Canal road is a narrow 2-laner for much of its length up to Chain Bridge, has no shoulders, and is bounded on one side by a stone wall and the other by mud/brush/etc. Chalk it up as a good lesson in how prone DC cabbies are to drive extremely aggressively (cannot tell you how many hit and runs I have heard involving DC cabs over the years).

 

[osbornk]

Maybe that is the way they drive in his native country.

 

[STEVENK]

Maybe that is the way they drive in his native country.

If you were going for humor, you failed miserably.

 

[ROLLIFAHRER]

I frequently slow down and move over for tailgaters, but many don't get the idea I want them to pass until I hit the right turn signal and the brakes and wave them past.

Regarding a previois post: tailgating and use of the horn to influence other drivers is SOP in many other countries. It's a fact many cabbies come from those countries and that they don't leave their habits at the border.

 

[GHUHN136119]

Sop

I've lived places where horns, tailgating, passing in the emergency lane, stopping to talk on a busy road, giving up right of way to allow other traffic in incorrectly and many more annoying habits, are acceptable driving traits. The fact is that driving habits in the US are getting worse and some of it is due to immigration. Although education is the key to a better future on the roads, so is a zen-like attitude.
I used to get so mad that I was a one man highway education crusader, but it is just not worth it to me any more.
I agree with the idea of calling in the tag of dangerous drivers. That trend could start a groundswell of action.

 

[Semper_Fi]

Does calling a tag in actually work?

If there was/is no formal infraction or an accident wont it be your perception versus theirs.

Rider: She is tailgating me....

Cager: Bike is not getting out of the way....

It seems like it would be a case of he said - she said

 

[kantuckid]

To give an opposite type of experience: about ten years ago my wife and I were commuting to work and came up on an old lady(about my age now!) this being a two lane rural hwy and she was actually using both lanes completely! We followed her for 10-15k and then when I got to work I called the St police and they informed me that, "if they didn't see it , it didn't happen"! I had a similar experience after coming down an I road ramp (again here in KY) very late at night and we MEET A CAR! as we come down the ramp. At the stop sign a st cop has a hitch hiker with his stuff scattered around and I walk up carefully in the night and report to him what has happened just a few seconds ago on the ramp behind us-I am told to "get away"!!! as he is obviously too busy to be bothered! Now I am not trying to make our state boys look bad, but just compare the reactions I got with this thing of "anger management" counseling...

I had some young lady tailgating me on a side street in Alpena, Michigan. As I rode along this girl was about 5 feet from the back of my bike. I stopped my bike in the middle of the road, put the sidestand down and dismounted my bike.
I walked up to the young lady and advised her of the way she was driving. I was very pleasant with her. She appropriately charmed me with an 'F' bomb and gave me a one fingered salutue. I laughed at her, walked behind her car and took down her plate number.
I then went and filed a complaint at the city police department. The LEO had stated that I did the right thing and they will find this young lady and they did. Well come to find out this young lady is in court ordered anger management counseling for throwing a soda bottle out of her car window and cursing out another driver. Needless to say the lady that filed the complaint is the spouse of a local policeman.

Take Care & Ride Safe
Pat Carol

 

[jeremell]

You could have saved yourself some needless aggravation by simply pulling to the side and stopping to let him pass as soon as he started tailgating.QUOTE]

Wow, it only took until the 3rd post for you to be blamed. You should know you can't post anything about riding technique, theory, gear, helmets, advertisements, speeding, or lane splitting without being chastised.

 

[jeremell]

Maybe that is the way they drive in his native country.

I think it's funny, thank you for having the courage to post.

 

[kurtisminder]

No worries

All opinions are welcome! Thanks for the responses/stories. The truth is that road does not allow in many places for someone to pull over...that said, when we did come upon a part of the road that would allow him to pass...I tried. (Maybe I saved HIM from hitting the deer, prolly would have taught him a lesson.)

Anyways, I am alive and riding!

KM

 

[RJM2096]

Hi Kurtis:

Cool story so often repeated. This is how I keep them off my AS*. It seems to work.

[/IMG]

 

[bubbagazoo]

Maybe that is the way they drive in his native country.

I didn't see anywhere in the original post a mention of the ethnicity of the cab driver. Maybe his native country is the USA.

Make no mistake, I often critisize the driving habits of immigrants but I do so completely within the boundary of my helmet or cage.

 

[26667]

Hey, Rob!

Where'd ya get that 'IL St Police" license frame? I'd give up my "What Would Elvis Do?" frame for one like that! Seriously.

 

[MOTOR31]

Keep in mind that if you start putting up police markings on your bike you may find one of those fine folks who like to vandalize stuff if they think a cop owns it. After seeing it happen to some friends vehicles I don't put anything on my bike to identify it with police. Remember the fine comments in many threads dealing with police? Some folks like to "get back" because they are upset about being caught. Your bike, your choice.

 

[Ridealot]

I didn't see anywhere in the original post a mention of the ethnicity of the cab driver. Maybe his native country is the USA.

Make no mistake, I often critisize the driving habits of immigrants but I do so completely within the boundary of my helmet or cage.

1- It was funny

2- When is the last time you saw a cab driver that wasn't a foreigner?