Green Just Means...

[GOTWA]

...You may go, not that you can go!

I was sitting on my bike at a red light. Big panel truck behind me so even if no one saw me, they had to see that truck. There's cars opposite me in bith the forward and turn lanes.

The lights turn green for all of us, meaning the turning cars are supposed to yield. I was just starting to ease on the throttle and off the clutch but the old guy across from me had me nervous cause he was looking straight ahead the whole time. Sure enough, as soon as the guy next to him strated go (forward) he just went ahead and turned left in front of me. Figured that was going to happen.

But then, the lady behind him went through. Follow the leader you know. And then a punk came zinging up and he went through. He was far enough back that I had started to ease out into the intersection. And the little SOB, he still goes through and then he points at me and flips me off!!! I'm getting older and find that repeating the names of my children helps calm my rage. Ten years ago and he and I woulda had a face to pavement driving lesson.

Thankfully I had the presence of mind to not just dump the clutch when the light went green. And even more thankfully, the guy in the panel truck behind me didn't either!

I know this one has probably been covered a bunch but still thought it was a good reminder to never take anything for granted out there.

[Moved On]

I thought ths was going to be a Patty's day post.

Glad you had the Luck 'o the Irish with you and held back at the light!!!

There I turned it into a Patty's day post after all ;)

Gazza

[GOTWA]

Oh man I have a ton of Irish in me and that never even occured to me! Thanks for rescuing me Gary! :laugh

[883Hugger]

Wow, nice heads up there! I still think you should have scared that punk a little.:D

[GOTWA]

Wow, nice heads up there! I still think you should have scared that punk a little.:D

I love my guns too much to risk a felony! But I'll tell you this, it's much easier to ride away from anger than drive away from it. Being on the bike kind of settles everything down after you start going again.

[PlanB]

Thanks for the reminder, GOTWA!

I have my little mantra I say when I'm riding..."You are invisible to these people...you are invisible to these people!"....and then I add at intersections, "You NEVER have the right of way unless someone gives it to you!" And as much as it frustrates me when "Dinklewads" do dumb shit that jeopardizes my safety, I also realize that physics will prove at 3,700 lb piece of steel/plastic will squash my 700+ pound of steel and flesh! I WILL lose at this battle...but that doesn't mean I can't win the war! Revenge is sweet! :D

Glad to see you played this just right, GOTWA! Other cities are known for being as bad or worse! In Phoenix, after a light turns red, I think it's customary for FIVE cars to continue the turn AFTER red!

[Confused89]

I was braking because a light just turned red and the semi next to me went. Semis can't stop on a dime. You kind of expect this in a city when everybody is going 50mph or more. But the dodge behind him went too. The light must have been red for 3 or 4 seconds. More than enough to stop a truck considering that I was already stoped when he went through the light. I have only ran one red light in my life and I am not proud of it.

[mark883]

Yeah- when I was riding out in Phoenix, I realized why everyone waits about 5 secs. after the light turns green. Sheesh! Here, green means go, but there, it means pause, then go slowly, cautiously. However, it is much warmer in Phoenix in March than Ohio.

[gunlocators]

Idiots In Cars Well thats good you saw what was happening before it was too late....

[Geek]

You have much more control than I. Granted I am only 5'4 and weigh 150. But I would have chased the punk down that flipped you off and introduced him into the theory of "Cause and Effect".

[xllent01]

Riding down a divided highway last weekend minding

my own buiness, and following a full size truck in the right
lane no less. The truck gets over to the left lane, and he is following
3 other cars. I decided to pass all 3 in the right hand lane cause
it was clear and nobody ahead. The punk all of a sudden decides
he wants my lane and decides he wants to pass all 3 cars too.:yikes

This puts me in a unwanted situation of hugging the white line
and getting on the horn, so this punk in his daddy's full size truck
relizes that i'm right next to him being forced off the road. So we
get up to the next light and stop. He rolls down the window and i
ask him if he saw or heard me next to him. He responds hell no.
I tell him he needs to look before he kills someone next time.
Meanwhile his little girl friend is sitting there laughing like nothing ever happened. This just adds fuel to the fire.

Light turns green and they roll up the window and proceed to take off
and get up to speed. Here i am trying to think of a way to get back at
them and spot the rear view mirror. So i let them get ahead a little bit
and i roll on the gas and get as close to the punk's truck as i can. As i
come up next to the truck at about 45 mph i hold out my arm and stiff arm
the mirror and to my amazement the mirror snaps right off, and dangles
by all the power wires going to it.

All in all, now he really has an excuse not to see any bikers coming up

along side him trying to pass him. :laugh

[XLFREAK]

Was taking my 12 yo son for a ride a few weeks ago when some idiot in the right lane figgered the car ahead was moving to slow. I'd been watching this guy for a mile or so (cop instincts) and finally decided to get on by him. We were even with the driver's door when started to come over. You would think he could see us or at least hear the bike since his window was down! As he moved over I hit the horn and put a Harley Davidson size 12 dent in his door panel to get his attention. He decided to move back to the right while my son flipped him off. At the next light he would have had to stop next to us, but he hung back about 50 feet. I was hoping he wanted to talk to talk to the PD about the damage to his door, because I really could have used a ticket book and a pen right then, but, alas, he preferred to slink away and mull over his lesson for the day.

Just a little forensic tip for those of you that occasionally use steel ball bearings to rectify some idiot's craptacular driving skills..........glass marbles have the same effect and leave no evidence because they tend to shatter when impacting the laminated glass of a windshield. :)

Hey.....biker first, cop second :)

[XLFREAK]

I love my guns too much to risk a felony! But I'll tell you this, it's much easier to ride away from anger than drive away from it. Being on the bike kind of settles everything down after you start going again.

I had an issue once with a kid (must have been 19 or 20) on his rice burner and his pillion half naked cheescake after he split lanes and crowded into my spot at the light. They both got the message loud and clear. I conveyed to him how rude he was and that certain bikers would have kicked the shit out of him and taken his girlfriend. He understood completely and got the message.

I was cruising through Westminster, CA (Hate that city because the residents can't drive period then add cell phones to that mess) and this bonehead in front of me literally stopped dead in traffic to let jaywalkers cross 3 lanes...It took everything inside of me to stay cool and cruise on by. Thank God I kept my distance while cruising and thank goodness I didn't get squeezed from behind. My brake work and distance I believe kept the lady behind me from making a Loco sandwich.

:bump