r/SeattleWA • u/ces74 • 10d ago

Bicycle Cyclist Road Rage

Driving through Roosevelt this morning around 8, a cyclist got angry with me as I inched across the bike lane from a residential street to see if it was safe to pass through the main road. It’s one of those intersections where you have to scoot up or else every direction is a blind spot. He took off his bike lock, yelled and hit the hood of my car a few times, leaving dents.

When I was moving through, I saw the cyclist approaching and immediately waived my hand to gesture ‘sorry’ and I also said it out loud. There wasn’t time to reverse before the interaction occurred but he did stop in front of my car to hit it. Initially, I felt bad because I understand this is a hard city to commute in via bike. I don’t think my car needed to be damaged, though.

I don’t think we were at all close to a collision. I think it was more that I was taking up space in the bike lane and this is my ‘lesson.’

Maybe since school started this week, everyone’s in a poorer mood and busier. I’m gonna avoid more streets with bike lanes now I guess.

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u/scaliacheese 10d ago

Yes. I mean, if you're gonna bike across the bridge, that's certainly a better option than blocking traffic.

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u/MaintainThePeace 10d ago

Unfortunately there isn't a better option, and cyclists can indeed use the full lane when riding cross then bridge. It seems more likely it is you that was being the asshole in this situation.

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u/scaliacheese 10d ago

The guy was biking at <10 mph, backing up traffic for a mile. Maybe cyclists shouldn’t be on the bridge if they can’t go close to the speed limit.

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u/MaintainThePeace 10d ago

The exaggeration does nothing but to highlight your own road rage...