Author Topic: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?  (Read 23473 times)

MidwestGal

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 115
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #50 on: May 28, 2014, 08:07:02 AM »
I've been debating on whether or not to spend the money for a camera set.  Most folks are just looking to have fun, but there's yelling and then there's revving stupidly close, or speeding up just to stop close behind a biker.  I've always wondered whether a driver who hit a bicyclist is more or less likely to stop vs. a hit-and-run.

Plus, the only sets I've really seen tested are the GoPro and the Fly6.  One is huge and bulky and the other is ridiculously expensive but the rear light+camera idea rocks.  It's really inconspicuous.

peppermint

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 203
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #51 on: May 28, 2014, 08:24:29 AM »
And as men say to women all the time, take most attention as a compliment despite that you didn't want it.  Smile, you'll look more handsome.  Are you wearing tight shorts?  Then you're asking for attention.

can't tell if serious
or pointing out how ridiculous it is that people say any of that

A little of both... I started to say to just take it as a compliment, but then realized how that would sound if said to a woman... and decided to make a point with it.  So, joking but serious if that makes sense.

Sometimes if you are a lady cyclist you get a two-for-one. I've had a dude leer, "I wish I was your bicycle seat!!!" It would've been funny except for not being funny.

plantingourpennies

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 443
  • None.
    • Money, Kittens, Happiness
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #52 on: May 28, 2014, 08:33:39 AM »
I guess it's a new experience for most men to be harassed by strangers for absolutely no reason, but it is--sadly--part of the female experience.  People are assholes.  There will never be more of an explanation than that.
I was just thinking the same.  Wait, this is a new experience for you?  Nice for you.

This.

+1 for this.  And it really sucks for those of us that are hyperreactive to noises of these sorts since it gives the offender exactly what they want - a reaction. 

But I try to remember the 99+ others that drove by respectfully every time one is an asshole.  That's really all you can do.

luigi49

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 291
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #53 on: May 28, 2014, 07:47:26 PM »
Here is a guy who wrote about sharing the road. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3HNNbQuPU&feature=youtu.be

cambridgecyclist

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 85
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #54 on: May 29, 2014, 10:59:26 AM »
I have been using visible and obvious helmet cameras for years. My experience became radically different. As long as I'm riding predictably and following the rules of the road, I'm generally left alone.

There's nothing that says you need a *working* camera to act as a deterrent. A broken one would work just as well.

hoodedfalcon

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 514
  • Location: Deep and Dirty
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #55 on: May 29, 2014, 11:05:10 AM »
Timely post on the bikelaw blog:

http://www.bikelaw.com/2014/05/29/charlotte-bicycle-accident-lawyer-on-a-horrible-morning-ride/

Quote
So let’s not have the cyclist/driver debate again. We all know it and we all know the rules and despise those who break them. I start my recreational ride at 4:45 am and finish long before many people get up. I’m not obligated to stay out of the way, but when I’m on my road bike in spandex, I choose to do so. I stop at lights and stop signs and signal when changing position. So I don’t want to talk about being in the way or have a debate about whether I should be out there in the first place.

What I want to talk about is the value of human life and how people can take it so lightly. I want to talk about the instant rage people feel when confronted with what could at most be considered an annoyance. Let’s talk about the complete intolerance of anything that stands in our way for even a fraction of a second. We don’t just see this on the road between bikes and cars; we see it in the grocery store on a busy Saturday, we see it waiting in line in the airport. People are angry and frustrated. No one is breathing. We’re all holding our breaths and trying to get to the next thing more quickly.

In most areas of our lives, this anxious rushing has little consequence other than to make our lives rushed and anxious, and maybe annoy our families. On the road, however, it can kill someone.

Wolf_Stache

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 920
  • Age: 43
  • Location: Portland
    • Flower's Fang
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #56 on: May 29, 2014, 11:35:27 AM »
I have been using visible and obvious helmet cameras for years. My experience became radically different. As long as I'm riding predictably and following the rules of the road, I'm generally left alone.

There's nothing that says you need a *working* camera to act as a deterrent. A broken one would work just as well.

That is a good point. Nothing says it has to actually be filming to be a good deterant.

Ottawa

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1033
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #57 on: May 29, 2014, 11:54:03 AM »
I've wondered about wearing a camera like that . . . it would certainly be handy to have in case of an accident.  How heavy are they, and how do they attach to the helmet?

Very light!  They can attach in a number of ways to a number of things: http://contour.com/collections/mounts

http://contour.com/
I have the Countour Roam 2. 
The Countour Roam+2 looks super cool. Mobile connectivity and Live streaming!! (kind of anti mustachian..though if you have a cheap data plan...)


GuitarStv

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 23130
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #58 on: May 29, 2014, 12:01:46 PM »
How does the mobile connectivity work if you don't have a cell phone?  :P

Ottawa

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1033

Zamboni

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3882
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #60 on: May 29, 2014, 12:27:02 PM »
Quote
I guess it's a new experience for most men to be harassed by strangers for absolutely no reason, but it is--sadly--part of the female experience.

Do you get yelled at and whistled at by people in passing cars when you are just out watering flowers standing in the front yard after work? (in work clothes, nothing racy.)  Yeah, that was once part of my day, until I decided to buy a house on a cul-de-sac in a better neighborhood.

Cycling-wise, catcalls and whistles never even phased me.  Long ago one boss even yelled "nice legs" at me once while I was pedaling away from work (what a prick!)  Honks startled me.  Once at night some jackass teenager hurled a half full fast food beverage cup at me, which hit my bike hard and scared me and made me waver but didn't cause me to crash.  Finally one morning an old guy clipped my handlebar and sent me crashing into a field of kudzu.  I was in the bike lane, so he was out of his lane.  That hurt as I was scraped up, could have been much worse if it had been woods along there instead of a field, and that was when I decided to just take the bus to work. 

Maybe someday I will try biking to work again.  At that point I will go with the visible gun or camera idea.  Both good suggestions.

William

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 194
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Nebraska
    • First Quarter Finance
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #61 on: May 29, 2014, 05:26:31 PM »
I find that since I started wearing a Contour Roam camera on my helmet...interactions have changed for the better!  I get a lot of questions from people like "Is that recording?"  "Why do you wear a camera?" "Cool!" 

These types of questions and comments from people in cars, school buses, on bikes, in stores, walking ... are a great opportunity to provide a little 'positive education'.

That's really cool, man.

skunkfunk

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1053
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Oklahoma City
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #62 on: May 29, 2014, 05:32:58 PM »
On my commute home this evening, I came across a couple of guys on foot that looked like hoodlums. I bike through some of the worst parts of the city to get to work. Anyway, one of them tried to stop me and said, "Hey, give me the bike. Yeah you, give me the bike." I'm not sure why he thought I would give him the bike. He quickly gave up, but it was still a little scary.

Gin1984

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4929
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #63 on: May 29, 2014, 05:53:58 PM »
Quote
I guess it's a new experience for most men to be harassed by strangers for absolutely no reason, but it is--sadly--part of the female experience.

Do you get yelled at and whistled at by people in passing cars when you are just out watering flowers standing in the front yard after work? (in work clothes, nothing racy.)  Yeah, that was once part of my day, until I decided to buy a house on a cul-de-sac in a better neighborhood.

Cycling-wise, catcalls and whistles never even phased me.  Long ago one boss even yelled "nice legs" at me once while I was pedaling away from work (what a prick!)  Honks startled me.  Once at night some jackass teenager hurled a half full fast food beverage cup at me, which hit my bike hard and scared me and made me waver but didn't cause me to crash.  Finally one morning an old guy clipped my handlebar and sent me crashing into a field of kudzu.  I was in the bike lane, so he was out of his lane.  That hurt as I was scraped up, could have been much worse if it had been woods along there instead of a field, and that was when I decided to just take the bus to work. 

Maybe someday I will try biking to work again.  At that point I will go with the visible gun or camera idea.  Both good suggestions.
I got yelled at walking to work, in work clothes.  But frankly, it should not matter where or what we are wearing, the behavior is disgusting.

Wolf_Stache

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 920
  • Age: 43
  • Location: Portland
    • Flower's Fang
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #64 on: May 29, 2014, 10:45:04 PM »
On my commute home this evening, I came across a couple of guys on foot that looked like hoodlums. I bike through some of the worst parts of the city to get to work. Anyway, one of them tried to stop me and said, "Hey, give me the bike. Yeah you, give me the bike." I'm not sure why he thought I would give him the bike. He quickly gave up, but it was still a little scary.

I had this exact same thing happen to me in downtown Seattle once. A guy jumped off the sidewalk screaming 'Give me the bike!' Don't know why he thought I would stop - I pedaled as hard as I could out of there.

I think the point of all these replies is there is probably no particular reason they are singling you out other than you are on a bicycle rather than in a car.

bikebum

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 562
  • Location: Nor Cal
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #65 on: May 29, 2014, 11:58:09 PM »
I got egged in the back once while running. I finished my run anyway, cuz I wasn't gonna let those bastards ruin it. I was pissed, but I might have done it too when I was a teen.

People in cars used to yell at me when I was biking. Hasn't happened for a long time now though; I think people where I live are becoming more bike friendly.

I've been asked to race by a motorcyclist and car passenger while biking. I said "Let's go!" and rode my ass off. They liked that.

Thegoblinchief

  • Guest
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #66 on: May 30, 2014, 06:56:02 AM »
If I owned a gun, I would consider open carrying when out and about, not going in stores (most stores prohibit weapons and I don't want a CCW permit).

Ashyukun

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 270
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #67 on: May 30, 2014, 09:18:04 AM »
I've been fairly fortunate... the worst I've gotten is cars trying to 'sneak' up on me (First off, even with my TuneBug Shake going at volume I can hear anything louder than a electric vehicle, and second I have a mirror on my helmet...) and honk at me and I once had a woman yell, "Nice ass!" at me as she drove by (I commute in biking shorts & jersey). Been propositioned a few times by a passing driver, but those don't really count since they were all by my wife. :P

Thinking about both the discussion of the cameras and a conversation I had with some co-workers this morning, I kind of wonder if most people assume my TuneBug strapped to the top of my helmet is actually a camera and thus behave better than they would otherwise...

LibrarIan

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 537
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #68 on: May 30, 2014, 10:46:35 AM »
I haven't been biking very long, but I've already experienced some harassment while riding - and in a wealthy, nicer area of town as well. Just a couple days ago I was stopped at a red light and the person in the next lane flipped me off for absolutely no reason. I've also been honked at, which I assume is an attempt to startle me (which isn't an easy thing to do). A few yells, but nothing serious.

train_writer

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 203
  • Location: Brussels
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #69 on: May 30, 2014, 11:48:31 AM »
Maybe I am expecting the best of people, but

- a honk could be a warning if they want to change lanes/ overtake you?

PindyStache

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 241
  • Location: Minneapolis
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #70 on: May 30, 2014, 12:00:48 PM »
Maybe I am expecting the best of people, but

- a honk could be a warning if they want to change lanes/ overtake you?

Perhaps in many parts of the world where horns are used for communication across the many types of things on the road, but in the US...? I don't know anyone who uses it this way. I actually think horns are useful for this sort of thing but it's not part of the driving culture here.

Ashyukun

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 270
Re: Biking - Unsolicited Attention from Car Passengers - Why?
« Reply #71 on: May 30, 2014, 12:02:34 PM »
Maybe I am expecting the best of people, but

- a honk could be a warning if they want to change lanes/ overtake you?

If it's a short beep of the horn, potentially so. When they either pull up slowly behind you as close as possible and then lay on the horn or hold it down as they blow past you, most likely not.