some prick in a pickup truck hit me with a bottle thrown from...

...the truck at 60+ mph.

I cycle commute when the weather cooperates, and was enroute home about 6:20 PM (PST) when something hit my left kidney like a baseball bat-- someone yelled WOOOHOOOO as the truck blasted past. Looks like coke or something similar, judging from the glop on the back of my jacket, which was unfortunately just a shell-- not padded or anything. I've got a hell of a bruise coloring up. I stayed on the bike-- it's a busy highway, but with nice wide shoulders, (and I ride well lighted)-- but not a good place to fall. Guess I'm lucky my head's a smaller target than my back! Man, I'm sore.

Naturally it was too dark to even see what color the truck was, let alone get a license number. Frankly, it happened so fast that the truck was well past before I even had the presence of mind to look up.

Somewhere around here there are at least two assholes who think it's fun to throw high speed objects at cyclists (the bottle was from the passenger side). I've ridden that route for several years and never had any problems. I'm afraid my vocabulary of colorful words seems awfully inadequate at the moment.

Fucking scumbags. Times like this I hope there's a hell.

~A!

Riding between Arcata (work) and Blue Lake (home). I would dearly love to know who it was.

liberal place in the universe or something? I read that somewhere one time

Even liberal paradise. And Arcata is a bit of an oasis even in Humboldt County.

although that wouldn't have helped you at night.

Merely pretending to take a picture of some asshole who is reving their motor at you is enough to control their behavior for the most part.

My local cycling org also set up a incident report hotline (http://penbiped.org/incidentreport.html) which we'd like to encourage other cycling groups to set up too. One of our members created the database program , so we can give it away.

political affiliation doesn't determine your personality

Just to let you know that, the last weekend in January, Ill be fishing the Mad River for Steelhead. Im driving a grey Toyota Tundra and it wasnt me............

Sometimes I'd like to take these pricks that think picking on people when they are defenseless is funny and just kick the fuck out of them. I'm not allowed to fight, but it would feel so GOOD. :grr:

~A!

:)

I've been dreaming about such technology for months

:eyes:

Even if he'd had it in his hands while riding when he was hit, he'd have to stop and aim, by which point the truck would be hundreds of feet away, and if he shot he'd be more likely to hit some innocent bystander than the offending truck.

...feel less ineffectual. :nuke:

:eyes:

Since we're obviously not going to test that theory out in real life let's do a little thought experiment.

You ride the same 10 mile route every day for a week (just one week, for the sake of this thought experiment, and not every single day of your life that you make that commute) carrying your shotgun in your hands, balanced on the handlebars (feel free to try that sometime, but make sure you're on private property and that the gun is not loaded). For the sake of this expirement. no police notice that you're riding your bike on on a busy highway with a loaded shotgun on your handlebars, pointing directly at traffic (I assume you're right handed and would be riding on the right hand shoulder), and stop you. Sometime during that week I'll drive by at 60mph and throw a bottle at you from behind you. Now, assuming you don't accidentally discharge your shotgun into traffic or fall off your bike when you hit a bump in the road long before I ever throw the bottle (remember, you're carrying it in your hands as you ride), let's say I do hit you with said bottle. You stop, quickly aim, and, for the sake of argument let's say you're such a crack shot there is zero chance of you hitting an innocent bystander. I'm giving you all kinds of benefit of the doubt here, for the sake of this little thought experiment.

You:
a) hit the driver (me, in this thought experiment, though I'd never be in said vehicle in real life in the first place), injuring but not killing me (or you hit a tire, causing a blowout), and the truck careens out of control causing a multi-vehicle pileup injuring or possibly killing many innocents. You get 3-5 and a fine for gross negligent discharge of a firearm causing injury, if you're lucky. You can't argue self defence because the truck was driving away and no longer an imminent threat to you.

b) hit the driver or passenger, and kill them. Congratulations, you get 25 to life, if you're lucky, because California has the death penalty on the books (see a above re: self-defence) and you just committed a revenge killing.

c) just hit the bumper of the truck. Scenario escalates, driver gets pissed off, doubles back at the next clover leaf, comes up behind you again (which you're not ready for, since you didn't even see the color of the truck when they threw the bottle and didn't know they were coming back for another run at you) and hits you from behind with the truck, injuring you worse or possibly killing you. Driver gets jail time, because this time someone gets the license plate number.

d) best case scenario I can think of - you don't hit anything at all, driver doesn't realize he was shot at, and your bullet lands safely in the dirt. You might as well have not fired at all.

e) other (your turn to speculate on possible positive outcomes to this scenario)

I'm not quite sure why I took the time to write that all out in response to your one line troll... I don't usually feed trolls. I'll hit the post button anyway.

---

Mike? I forgot to mention earlier, but I'm sorry to hear about this and I hope you're feeling better soon.

According to the rules of this message board:

"Do not publicly accuse another member of this message board of being a disruptor, troll, conservative, Republican, or FReeper."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html#civility

"one line troll" post, which it is.

"I don't usually feed trolls."

My, there's a line that could in no way be interpreted as a violation of the aforementioned DU rule.:eyes:

about the rules, it (post#24, "Care to test that theory out?" so we're clear) could also be read as an implied threat, with you inviting me to throw a bottle at you so that you could try shooting me with a shotgun.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html
Do not post messages that advocate harm or death to anyone, threaten the livelihood of anyone, or otherwise harass anyone. Do not send email, snail mail, phone, fax, or other messages to anyone if your intent is to threaten or harass, and do not encourage others to do the same. Do not take your disagreements off the message board and into the "real world," and do not do anything to try to harm or harass any member of this message board in the "real world."

My opinion of you continues to decline. I hope you're just drunk tonight and looking for a fight, for your own sake. I'm not in the mood for any more of this tangent at the moment, particularly since you refuse to address the futility of your initial "It's times like those that I want a shotgun the most" sentiment.

I'm going to alert on this post. And then I'm going to put you back on Ignore, where 90% of DU has you.

That's sad.

People in giant trucks can be such assholes!!!!

Happy it is only bruises you have and not an busted head.

...badly injured. And the bastards CHEERED!

But do you need to have your kidneys checked out?

The 4-year-old girl triplet had a bad fall last Saturday (while jumping on the bed) and because she had trouble standing up for some time (though her legs moved fine) they took her to the ER.

Determined her spine was fine, but did a urinalysis to make sure the kidneys were fine after such a blow. They were fine, no blood detected. But please watch out for yourself.

...my rib cage, so I *think* it's just a monster bruise.

...even if you can't tell them much. These assholes will kill someone, if they're not stopped.

I won't be going to the hospital, and there was no damage to the bike, so I won't need a police report for insurance. Maybe I should file a report in case anyone else comes forward-- oddly, there were other drivers on the highway, but I don't know if anyone else saw it. It was dark. Certainly no one stopped.

At least it goes on record. That way, if more of the same happens to you or other cyclists, the police can start to see a pattern. It helps.

I suppose they would want you to come down and file a report, but they may already have a description that might ring a bell to you.

Our local deputies don't need to come out at night for this, and there's NOTHING that could likely ring a bell. The impact was from nowhere and the only thing I can say for certain was that the vehicle was a light-colored pickup. It was kind of a WTF moment, and by the time I actually looked it was WAY too late to see anything. Between the impact and the startle from the sudden yelling I wasn't paying any attention at all for a second or two.

to stay on two wheels. What kind of asshole would do something like that? You could have been killed. Got a Kerry bumper sticker on the back of that bike?

This was just a case of unprovoked idiocy, I think. Somehow that makes it worse.

... idiots like these and impaired drivers scare me into driving my cage to work each day. Hopefully, he go home and found his buck-toothed girlfriend left him and stole his dog.

...have any problems-- it's a very bike friendly area and I know how to ride, so coexisting with motorists (I'm one too) is almost never a problem.

I think we've spoken before. I'm really surprised that happened to you in Arcata, because there are few more bike-friendly cities in the country. Still, there are a lot of redneck assholes in pickup trucks as well, as I'm sure you are well aware. Sorry that happened. As someone who's only mode of transportation was a bike for four years I know how you must be feeling. What a bunch of assholes.

...and the Fieldbrook exit. You're right-- I've ridden in this town for years and never had any problems.

Great DU name-- makes me wish I had a cold DTB right now....

norm, not the exception. I had my car keyed and my flag stolen (my flags have flown upside down since 8:00AM Nov. 3rd, 2004) and all of my Kerry signs stolen from my front porch. The repairs to the car came to $1375.00! Insurance paid, but what a waste! This country is sorry and going down the tube folks. I hope you made a police report, and go look for the object tomorrow in the daylight.....it may have finger prints on it. Post a sign along the highway to the effect and be sure to write a letter to the editor. Also, very important...take a picture of your bruise in the morning, and write down everything you can remember about who, what, when and where.

Thanks.

cups full of soda. Once on my bicycle, a few times on my scooter.

Some young pigs in a pickup threw a soft drink glass full of ice at a young woman on a bike.

We got their licence plate number, and went back to see if the girl was okay. Poor thing was badly shaken up that anyone would do such a pointless and malicious thing. We gave her the licence plate number and told her to call the cops. She nailed the fuckers. Pressed charges.

That felt good.

Once, after being hit by a car on my way to work, and telling the story to people, I was ASTONISHED at how many people I knew who had ALSO been hit by cars, usually while on bikes, or run off the road, etc, by vicious rednecks for fun.

Just a few weeks ago, I heard a slight "thud" against the side of my car and heard a splash. I figured I hit a puddle or something. Weird. When I got out of my car, I saw it was covered in antifreeze. Apparently the occupant of a car which was passing me in the opposite lane at the time of impact threw it at me; or maybe it was someone hiding in bushes that I never saw. I presume it was a balloon full of antifreeze. I hope the creep spilt some antifreeze on their "W04" tshirt and ruined it....

Humans -- the mean monkey.

I would definitely pursue charges if I had any way to ID the bastards.

do pursue it - see if you can locate the object, make a police report - have them photograph your bruise and jacket. They might even take a sample of the 'goop'to connect it with the object. Assholes like that don't have isolated episodes of assholeness. They've either done it before - or will again. Would be nice to have some evidence for a prosecutor.

Most of all though, take care of yourself.

to have been a deadly weapon. That's a felony. Report it to the police. Seriously. Maybe they've done it before, been reported, and the cops need one more report to start watching the area.
Have a picture taken of the bruise and include it with the report.

The next bicyclist might not be as lucky as you.

The woman was in critical condition after being hit by a frozen turkey. I believe she was driving. There are a lot of assholes out there, of all persuasions. Please be careful.

.....even if you can't provide the police with much, I have no doubt this asshole will try it again to someone else......

The next time he might hit someone in the head-- or me for that matter. I ride that road often.

You're able to report it-the next guy might be too injured to.

And chuck it at the assholes when you see them again.

Hopefully you'll make them bleed.

And besides, it would have done me any good except as a way to vent frustration. With my luck a cop would have busted me for flinging a brick beside a busy highway!

maybe you should carry something that can blow-out their tires then. Or better yet, something that'll scratch up their truck!

Man, those things fly.

They'll probably tell you it was your own damn fault for not driving an H-2 like a red-blooded Murkan is suppose to, but you never know, they might actually do their job...

Anyway, there's a chance that if you do report this, and somebody gets a plate number the next time these brain-dead turkeys heave a bottle, Some brownshoe might put 2 and 2 together...

Hope you heal quickly! Have a Doc check it out, too. You might have some deep damage.

They might have damaged the bike. Flesh heals. Tubing doesn't.

Only partly joking, I suppose. I'd REALLY be angry if they'd f*cked up my ride.

"Damn! NOT the paint job! Hey, where's my ARM? Oh, crap! just LOOK at those scratches on the Super-Record pedals!"

:D

I love, love, love my bike.

Something similar happened to me while I was on my scooter about a month and a half ago. The passenger in the truck passing me in the left lane intentionally dumped a large bottle of water on my head as they were passing.

Luckily, I wear a full face helmet and goggles, so I wasn't blinded, but it still was a shock getting drenched like that. It was right in the middle of Friday rush hour and I was surrounded by traffic, so if I dropped, it pretty much meant traction for me and death for my bike.

I recovered and rode like fucking hell to catch up with that fucker. I ride that stretch of road every day and know that I had the advantage being on the scooter. His truck wasn't going anywhere I wasn't. I'd see him at the light, no doubt.

When I caught up to them (didn't take long thanks to Chicago traffic), neither one of the pricks would look at me. They had their windows rolled up and were both looking straight ahead. So I wrote their license plate number and the name of the company that was on the truck on my hand with a pen that I had in my pocket. I made damn sure that they saw me doing it.

Unfortunately, the truck was a rental, the cops really didn't give a shit and just took a report, and the company turned out to be just a made up name. There was no listing for it and it wasn't registered with the city or state. Probably a couple of asshats trying to pass themselves off as a professional outfit. :eyes:

Be careful out there and wear protective gear!

I've been riding for years and have had numerous "accidental" near misses in traffic, sometimes truely accidental and other times the result of utter cluelessness. I've gotten real good at anticipating situations where uninformed drivers need to have me command the lane so that their tendency to pretend that I'm not on the road won't get me hurt. But this was the first deliberate attempt to cause harm. Likely it was just some yahoos out on a Friday night with more testosterone than intelligence, but it was a damned near thing.

I saw the guy reach his arm out of the cab and hold it out until he felt he got the angle right. As nothing like that had ever happened to me before (people usually either smile and wave or hit on me when I'm on my scoot ), I was watching him, but had no clue what he was going to do. I was pretty naive about the nastiness people will inflict on each other just for kicks.

You could be the parents of the truck occupants, who must struggle through every day carrying the guilt and shame of knowing what contemptible filth sprung forth from their loins.

After dropping my boss off. Heading back to my hotel, I evidently passed some punk. He didn't like that. So suddenly I had a huge pickup trying to force me off the road. If I slowed down, he did too. Same if I sped up. He was trying to force me into the rock wall on the left, and I kept ducking it.

The truck had tinted windows, so I couldn't even see the pricks, but they were definitely trying to kill me. We were up to 120 MPH at points. I finally whacked their rear and sent them into a skid while I ducked and went off an exit. So I got down off the exit and they rolled down the window and fired a shotgun at me. Way too far away to hit. Then they started backing down the freeway to get to the exit. I was long gone by the time they got there.

Seattle is the scariest place I have ever been, apart from Pennsylvania. Odd that both are blue states.

I want my own grenade launcher.

There are pyschos everywhere....you could be in the most utopian, enlightened community and there would be at least a few people that belong behind bars

One of my friends had a dog and some pyscho ran up on the curb to hit it. My friend was on his porch when this car swerved off the street and killed his dog. He was so shocked he didn't get the license plate.
Some people are just evil and malicious.

that i chose tonight to email you about arcata..... it looks like i read your post here, found out you lived in arcata, and chose to email a lighthearted note but thats not at all how it happened and now im sorry for the timing

this sucks all the way around. i really hope you and your kidney will be ok..... you could have been really hurt and im sorry for what you went through. i had a bruised kidney myself once and it wasnt pleasant for the first few days. im into alternative medicine and care a lot about peoples health so heres to your recovery/ and to karma!

best wishes

I can't believe how just plain MEAN people are getting these days.

Had a somewhat similar incident happen to me in St. Louis, though I wasn't on a bike. I was taking my brother to work one morning going up I-55 into downtown when, out by the Anheuser-Busch brewery, we saw some kid waving his arms and jumping up and down, as if he was dancing or something.

Next thing I knew, he gets some EVIL look on his face, rears back and makes like he's throwing something.

He wasn't just acting like it - suddenly something smashed into the windshield of my car on my brother's side and shattered the area. We were fortunate it didn't go all the way through, or chances are my brother would have been killed.

The St. Louis city cops were called and took a report but did nothing else. Cop who answered said "it's a new family causing trouble in this neighborhood." I posted the incident to a discussion board I take part in and it turned out after similar incidents, the city cops say the same thing.

The worst part - my insurance WOULD NOT cover repairs - they said it was less than my $500 deductible (needless to say, I got rid of them in a hurry).

I'm still shaken by this incident to this day. Why people think they can do crap like this is beyond me.