Cars - pass safely or else

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Too bad these are not enforced now.

Just yesterday, 4/10/2006 at about 4:00pm on Rossville Blvd heading toward Essex, while commuting home on my bicycle, I was terrorized by a motorcyclist who thought that bicyclists should not be on Rossville Blvd--period.

He shouted, "Hey a$$hole! Get off the road!", beeping his horn madly from a couple vehicles behind me.

A person can only take so much abuse in a week's time, as he's not the only one who has 'gone territorial' on me--everyone from impatient school bus drivers, people who think just because I'm on a bike that I must've lost my drivers license from alcohol or drugs, and a little old man picking up his granddaughter from elementary school who decided that 40 MPH in a school zone is alright and bicyclist get the hell out of my way.

As I signaled and made a righthand turn on Kelso Drive, I one-fingered saluted the motorcyclist, and went on my way. But, I could hear the angry roar of his motorcycle approaching from behind, as he decided to chase me down. I braced myself for the worse. Luckily, he only wanted to 'buzz' me, missing me by about 6 inches.

Once I got home, thoughts of what can I do to mitigate these types of responses went through my head. Surely, I could resist the temptation to flip someone off. That would help. But, you just get sick and tired of this type of treatment day in and day out.

So, this morning, I decided to try a different tact. I armed myself. No, not with a hand gun, but with my digital camera. If I can, I'll try to take a picture of the terrorist and submit it along with a complaint to the local police.

But, there's got to be a better way.



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iodaniell

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