• One time I was biking on a residential road and slowed down to enter a roundabout, and the driver behind me laid on the horn, so I stopped my bike in the middle of the lane and turned my head to face him.

    He opened his door, so I stood up and laid my bike down.

    He stayed behind his open car door and said

    you’re lucky I don’t have my glock on me

    and I responded

    You could just hit me with your car

    And he just gently got back in his car without saying anything else (and did not, thankfully, decide to hit me with his car)

  • Praxinoscope@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    26
    ·
    edit-2
    5 days ago

    I sometimes give them a big smile and thumbs up.

    This can make them even angrier, but I also commute with a 360 camera on my helmet.

    • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      5 days ago

      I give people a thumbs down. I feel it’s a much more scathing review than a middle finger.

    • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      5 days ago

      I do this as well. If they honk to get around and we both meet at a red light, I just laugh at them and shake my head without looking at them.

  • Naz@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    5 days ago

    My go-to is to look confused because that’s genuinely the reason most of the time, ex:

    I was riding home in the bike lane minding my own business, when a black Toyota Highlander (big SUV) pulls up alongside me, windows rolled down, and a bunch of teenagers from the back yell: “Dickhead” at me.

    I looked back at them genuinely confused because they went out of their way to not only insult some random person but also to do so with their windows rolled all the way down.

    They giggled and sped off on their merry way, and my thought is, they’re probably stoned or driving under the influence.

    The suggestions about non-confrontation are fantastic, but what you’re supposed to actually do is memorize faces, vehicle details, license plates, and cross streets

    Their probations officer would probably not be too pleased to hear about a repeat DUI, but there’s no way of knowing what happens to people in such circumstances 🤷‍♂️

    • naeap@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      5 days ago

      Yeah, some people are just weird - especially in groups

      I was hiking/tramping from France through Belgium to the Netherlands, and was just walking with my backpack along a country road, when suddenly I hear someone shouting something and next thing I know, they throw an empty beer can at me, while driving by

      Don’t understand how you can get so loaded and angry about what other people do, without being actually hindered.

  • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    5 days ago

    Who the actual fuck would shout at a cyclist from their ca…

    Oh right

    Yous are fucking deranged barbarians, honestly

    That’s fucking inhuman

    • Lenny@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      5 days ago

      I had a guy in a truck with a trailer towed behind overtake me on an uphill with a sharp drop-off. He barely moved over, so this wad of metal rumbled past me super aggressively, and as he passed me he laid on the horn.

      He actively tried to intimidate me off the road, for no reason other than I was going bike speed and he didn’t like waiting another three seconds to get to a safe passing point.

      I actually pulled over and had a cry, I was so shaken by how cruel it was.

  • JillyB@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    5 days ago

    I’m not sure anyone has ever yelled at me for a car. I’ve had my bad experiences but I can’t remember yelling.

    Option 1: totally ignore them. Don’t let them affect you and you can achieve inner peace.

    Option 2: crush the white ceramic on a spark plug and carry a couple of the shards with you. When you throw this at their windshield it will instantly shatter.

    • davelA
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      5 days ago

      I’ve never seen someone shatter a windshield with a chuck of ceramic, only the other windows, which have less reinforcement.

      The other weapon of choice I’ve seen used is the u-lock.

  • pubquiz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    5 days ago

    What about when you are running a red left turn light on an 80kph divided highway and a driver sounds their horn to warn you that you’re about to (1) commit a finable traffic infraction and (2) risk your life and the lives of oncoming drivers and passengers?

    The answer is to moon the person warning you, flip them off, and cause right-of-way traffic to dangerously brake to let you proceed.

    In other words: be a cyclist douchebag. Let the down-voting begin.

    Next time I’ll just photograph the skid marks, debris field, and still-warm corpse. Bare-assed, with a defiant middle finger extended.

    Yea, fuck cars.

    • comfy
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      5 days ago

      Are you having a giggle, or are you really so negative that you assumed the cyclist must have done something wrong to get abused?