Unfortunately, nearly every runner or cyclist has been in a situation where we’ve felt purposely threatened by an angry driver. It’s an experience that makes us very aware that, in the battle between a bicycle and a giant ball of moving steel, we are always going to be the vulnerable party. There are a few things you can do to stay safe, diffuse a tense situation, and take action. 

Road rage isn’t reserved for angry drivers in cars. The sense of entitlement and defensiveness many drivers have when they’re behind the wheel extends to nearly all road users, and many seemingly focus on cyclists as special inconveniences. What is perhaps most frustrating is that many of these angry drivers base their outrage on unfounded or inaccurate beliefs about cyclists’ rights. How many times have you heard or heard of drivers telling cyclists to get on the sidewalk? That ignorance is often a contributing factor to tensions between motorists and bikes. 

Of course, we aren’t guiltless. One of the most important things we can do to stay safe is to closely follow the rules of the road. In fact, our safety often depends on knowing those rules in order to put ourselves and drivers in a good position. The key to sharing the streets safely is to have all traffic behave predictably, and that’s exactly why there are clear regulations for cars, bikes and pedestrians. 

If you do find yourself in a tense situation, there are some things you can do to stay safe and possibly even de-escalate the scene. Your riding buddies might brag about flipping over drivers or even squirting cars with their water bottles. It might feel good, but in a legal situation, those actions could be perceived as threatening or at least instigating any reaction by the driver, even if they’ve already driven close to you, swerved, or interfered with your ride. 

Whenever a situation arises that a driver is threatening a cyclist, the best thing to do is stop the altercation before it can start. If there hasn’t been an accident or contact with a car that requires a police report, leave the scene. Stop, do a U-turn, or generally ignore the driver. Try to remember any identifying information about the vehicle, including make, model, or license plate number, just in case you need to refer to it. 

If the driver leaves the car and you can’t leave, your next step should be to find and recruit witnesses. Try to get close to other people and ask them to stay and watch. You don’t need to involve them in the situation, but having others present can help keep things from getting too heated and provide a first-hand account of what actually happened in case the police show up. 

No matter what, avoid any physical altercations. At this point, you do need to call 911 and you do need to defend yourself, but staying calm and working to ignore, avoid, and stop the altercation is your best course of action. Understand your rights, the rules of the roads, and let that do the talking. 

Do you have a question about road rage and handling drivers? Call Chuck to learn more!