Get off your damn cell phone
It’s already June and Lee and I have only been on two bike rides so far this year. We’re such slackers. But after today I may never ride my bike again. Biking can be deadly.
Lee decided we needed to just go all out and take a hilly route. On our second ride this year? Are you crazy? But I followed him up this big hill and I didn’t even have to stop and walk my bike up halfway to the top…like last time.
At the top of the hill we stopped at a red light. There was a woman in a minivan waiting for the light across the street from us. When the light turned green I started to make my way across the intersection. And the woman in the minivan started to go too. Only she was turning left. Right in to me.
Bitch did not even stop. Even though somebody going straight (ME) clearly has the right-of-way to somebody turning left (BITCH). I slammed on my brakes and Lee screamed, “Get off you cell phone.” And I think he added a few obscenities, but I was too shaken up to really remember. This moron was driving her minivan, turning a corner, and DIALING HER CELL PHONE or maybe TEXTING at the same time.
What the hell is wrong with people? I thought it was only teenagers who were stupid enough to text and drive.
Please stay off your cell phones while driving. Use a headset. And be mindful of bikers for goodness sake.
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Momilies Said,
June 5, 2009 @ 5:07 am
We had an idiot-on-a-cell-phone-while-driving moment yesterday, too. Hubby and I were heading home from work, and we were on a divided highway, the kind that has a stoplight every mile or so (annoying, but the only way to get home). We crossed the one and only overpass, and it has a ramp coming onto the highway that is double-laned, then one lane merges, then the other. There is a woman in a big-ass SUV driving on the SHOULDER next to the double lanes. She is doing fifty miles an hour, and talking on her cell phone, and driving on the shoulder like it’s a driving lane. We passed her, and watched her. One lane merged, she was still on the shoulder. The other lane merged, she’s still on the shoulder. She took the shoulder all the way to the next light, where the shoulder disappears and is replaced with the turn lane for that intersection. She’s passing cars and just driving driving driving. Thank goodness no one was trying to get into the turn lane, because she’d have just barreled right over them! At the intersection, she made a right turn, never turning her head, nothing. She then turned into the church parking lot that was there, meandered around in it for a good 20 seconds, then pulled into the shade in the drive-lane in front of the church itself and stopped. Weirdest thing I’ve EVER seen on the highway coming home.
Matthew Said,
June 5, 2009 @ 7:51 am
Did either of you get a license plate number or vehicle description? Did you call it in?
I’ve ridden nearly 1,500 miles so far this year. I keep the non-emergency number for the local police and sheriff’s department on speed dial. I call in drivers who threaten my life or is who is likely to threaten someone else’s life.
Given my two favorite places to ride are Jupiter Island and Palm Beach (islands where the wealthy live and I can only visit), police response times are really good.
At least one in three calls, I can see the person stopped on the side of the road speaking with an officer of the law. I smile and wave as I cycle by. In yo face, sukka! Very satisfying!
I doubt they get a ticket or even an official warning but at least they have to take time out of their day because they failed to be a good driver.
The other advantage of riding the islands is that I know everyone has insurance and carries more money in their wallet than I have in my 401k. If someone runs me over, I want to make sure it is someone who can make my widow rich.
Good Job on the Hill!
I wish we had some hills down here in South Florida. The highest point on my 42-mile Saturday morning ride, a bridge, is just 26 feet above sea level.
Whenever I travel out of state to ride, I have my ass handed to me on each and every hill. Aside from a few Intercoastal bridges and I-95 overpasses, the state is flat.
Our purgatory is not elevation but wind. There is always wind coming off the ocean.
I did an MS-150 that went south along the ocean. We battled a 12mph headwind for 75 miles. Our only comfort was that we’d have a tailwind going north on the way home. The next day, the wind had shifted and we did 75 miles into an 8mph headwind.
Hills would be better because at least you can coast on the way down. Then again, every once and a while, God smiles upon us and grants a tailwind.
Cheers,
Matt
Birdie Said,
June 5, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
Wow, it drives me nuts when I see someone driving while texting. I know in some states (and all military bases, I think) it is now illegal to have a phone in your hand while driving. Can’t wait for that to become a national trend.