Need Advice: Altercation on Hiighway - Motorcycle

[JPKII]

Hey All,

What would you do....

This morning on my commute into work I had a very pleasant, kind, courteous lady in a Yukon XL pass me on the left shoulder of the highway while I was in the left lane. This sandwiched me, on my motorcycle, between herself and a semi, with inches to spare, as she was half in my lane. I backed off and let her through at which point I noted her license plate and vehicle description. I kept my distance and followed her until my exit exchanging morning salutations as I drove past.

In harsher words this bitch tried to kill me and I really wanted to retaliate at the moment however physics is never kind in a 10:1 weight ratio competition. I kept my cool and was hoping to pass a cop along the way.

That all said; I do have her plate and a solid description of the vehicle. Would you file a complaint with the State Police? Let Karma takes its course??

A complaint with the SP seems futile and a waste of time since an officer did not witness the incident.

What other (legal) options would you consider?

 

[Sonic605hp]

To bad you weren't rocking a GoPro....you could have had her locked up. I'd submit a complaint. You should have got the semi's plate too so the driver could have corroborated your account.

 

[Serpent]

To bad you weren't rocking a GoPro....you could have had her locked up. I'd submit a complaint. You should have got the semi's plate too so the driver could have corroborated your account.

This guy knows whats up.

I recently go a curved gopro mount and some sugru moldable glue. Maybe Ill get another gopro for back facing POV.

 

[Grabber]

Were you driving in a manner that maybe she thought was slowing her down and gave her the impression you owned the road?

Were you lane splitting, driving at high speeds, etc.

Just trying to get both sides, unless this women is just out to get bikers in general.

Could be she is a C U Next Tuesday and that's that.

 

[MG0h3]

I think the time/effort/frustration won't be worth it. Since there was no damage or injury I can't see the police writing her up for anything. A little tap with the knuckle gloves usually does the trick.

edit--this was at freeway speed!?

 

[JPKII]

Were you driving in a manner that maybe she thought was slowing her down and gave her the impression you owned the road?

Were you lane splitting, driving at high speeds, etc.

Just trying to get both sides, unless this women is just out to get bikers in general.

Could be she is a C U Next Tuesday and that's that.

That's a good point because there are always 2 sides...

From what I can tell:

This occurred just after merging into traffic. I was the first vehicle up the on-ramp to merge on the highway with bus lengths behind me to the next vehicle (I accelerate up on-ramps with authority). I put on my turn signal, checked my left, noted no traffic across all three lanes with the exception of 2 semi's in the middle and right lane approximately 150' ahead of me. I believe my friend in the Yukon was several cars behind me coming up the on-ramp. As I made my final lane check before moving into the left lane I noted her entering the highway and moving fast across all three lanes just as I settled in the left lane. Next thing I knew I felt her wind draft pushing my bike as she went past on the shoulder. She couldn't have had more than 1' clearance between her driver's door and the concrete divider with oncoming traffic. Her passenger side mirror almost contacted my left shoulder. I was about at the middle of the semi when she passed me. At this point we were traveling about 75 MPH.

My theory is she was aggravated that slower traffic was blocking her going up the on-ramp and tried to do a sweep across all three lanes to get in the left lane.

 

[ZYBORG]

At this point, go-pro up for next time.

 

[JPKII]

Will do with the Go-Pro. I always dismissed those as frivolous but in light of today I see their true value.

 

[Zemedici]

I wouldn't worry about filing a complaint at this point. You did an excellent job of keeping your cool. +65000 on the GoPro. One reason why I like staying WAY out in front of traffic when riding, never know what people will do in vehicles. It seems EVERYONE nowadays is texting

 

[Grabber]

That's a good point because there are always 2 sides...

From what I can tell:

This occurred just after merging into traffic. I was the first vehicle up the on-ramp to merge on the highway with bus lengths behind me to the next vehicle (I accelerate up on-ramps with authority). I put on my turn signal, checked my left, noted no traffic across all three lanes with the exception of 2 semi's in the middle and right lane approximately 150' ahead of me. I believe my friend in the Yukon was several cars behind me coming up the on-ramp. As I made my final lane check before moving into the left lane I noted her entering the highway and moving fast across all three lanes just as I settled in the left lane. Next thing I knew I felt her wind draft pushing my bike as she went past on the shoulder. She couldn't have had more than 1' clearance between her driver's door and the concrete divider with oncoming traffic. Her passenger side mirror almost contacted my left shoulder. I was about at the middle of the semi when she passed me. At this point we were traveling about 75 MPH.

My theory is she was aggravated that slower traffic was blocking her going up the on-ramp and tried to do a sweep across all three lanes to get in the left lane.

Fair enough.

Sounds like she was an a-hole driver that felt she owned the road.

Glad you're OK man.

 

[NastyNate420]

Like stated not much you can do without video and/or a witness.
Ive had plenty of try to kill me while on my bike ...I used to carry a pocket of rocks with me....Man people in FL DGAF about motorcycles!

 

[R.D.P.]

I think things like this are why almost everyone that rides a bike uses a cam of some sort now. I would probably still call it in to the state police. I believe if you tell them you want a report filed and handle it correctly, they will at least contact her.

 

[oldmodman]

I have been riding since 1966 and have experienced several similar types of things. One was very similar. But i got lucky and had a CHP car right behind me to observe the entire thing. He pulled the driver over (a man in my case) and he just said he didn't see me. No ticket was even given. I guess it was a case of "no harm, no foul"

Motorcycles really are invisible to a whole lot of automobile drivers. Even if the drivers ride they sometimes just don't see us. We might think they are really trying to kill us, or are just incredibly inconsiderate but they actually DO NOT SEE US!

When I ride I just assume that every single car is going to try to hit me and ride accordingly.

 

[JPKII]

I have been riding since 1966 and have experienced several similar types of things. One was very similar. But i got lucky and had a CHP car right behind me to observe the entire thing. He pulled the driver over (a man in my case) and he just said he didn't see me. No ticket was even given. I guess it was a case of "no harm, no foul"

Motorcycles really are invisible to a whole lot of automobile drivers. Even if the drivers ride they sometimes just don't see us. We might think they are really trying to kill us, or are just incredibly inconsiderate but they actually DO NOT SEE US!

When I ride I just assume that every single car is going to try to hit me and ride accordingly.

I hear ya. This is my first time where I felt the driver was deliberate in their actions. I guess that's why I'm a little miffed and have taken most of the day for me to collect my thoughts. My riding strategies have always worked well for me and I've had close calls but nothing like this. She either wanted to scare me or hurt me. This was not a case of texting and driving, putting on makeup, etc. etc. She knew what she was doing the entire time and followed through as if my life didn't matter.

I guess as I talk this out more; what really gets my goat: she was intentionally trying to hurt me. I can handle and manage distracted drivers 99.9% of the time (proverbial knock-on-wood) however when someone maliciously tries to put me down... That's a different line of thinking.

 

[CobraBob]

You kept your cool and I commend you for that. Filing a police report won't do anything since you don't have a witness (including a police witness). At best she might get a phone call from the police but that's it. And even that is doubtful. The real lesson learned here is to seriously consider buying a GoPro.

 

[Blown 89]

Hit up craigslist and grab two gopros in case this happens again. It sounds like this type of thing happens to cyclists frequently. I would file a report with the police regardless.

 

[lobra97]

def a gopro, i had a lady on her phone almost run into me the other day. didn't even turn around or give two shits. whoever she was talking to was more important than me.

 

[BrunotheBoxer]

If you have any Leo friends they can provide her address. Then it's up to you.

 

[CV355]

Agreed on Gopro.

I got whacked on my motorcycle in that same situation - guy took my blinker off, cracked my radiator shroud, and his bumper struck my knee. I called the police as it was a hit-and-run and well, I wound up eating the cost of repairs myself. Hopefully the driver gets Ebola or something fun like that.

I would still call it in...

 

[Never_Enough]

Based on my experience with bs complaints phoned in like this (No, not saying OP's post is bs), she will lose her license & get points & be fined so call it in. The system is BROKEN!!!