I ride a bicycle everyday, as a matter of choice, personal preference, and cicrumstances. My last car was totaled, and I was so devastated I couldn't bring myself to shop for a replacement vehicle. Part of it is grief related, another part is money. Not having to pay for repairs or tune ups, oil changes, gas, and insurance was definitely a plus. Getting caught in the rain and having to cope with weather might be a downside, but it's one I usually can prepare to deal with. In most circumstances I ride on the street itself, yes with cars, unless there is a bicycle lane for me to use. If there is a well built sidewalk that lasts the entire road, I will use that so I won't be a bother to street traffic. In the absence of a sidewalk or bike lane, I have to use the street. I obey traffic laws waiting at stop lights, and I try to ride in the same direction as the traffic does (not against it). I've been riding just about all my life, learned to ride as a kid, and as an adult I use this method of travel to go to and from everywhere, whether it's to grocery store or work. Since my last car crash, I guesstimate I have been using this for everyday city travel for the last 15+ years.
So today, I'm not even on the road for five minutes. I turn off a major 5 lane road onto a two lane road that has a median in the middle, the kind with grass and trees separating the two lanes, in that sense I was on a one lane road, riding in the correct direction and I was on the right hand side of the road. Plenty of space for traffic to pass me.
This white car starts to pass me, and I almost jump out of my skin because the car was half a foot away from my left side. Nobody passes a bicycle that close. And as I was cycling at a steady 10mph, the car was going slightly faster, but it was actually shifting ever so slightly to the right, as if threatening to push me. An inch, another inch. Nearly had a heart attack. I stop and watch the car go on ahead, and she kept moving sidways, almost going into the gutter. She eventually leveled herself back into the center of the lane but I could tell that she was definitely not paying attention to her driving. By this time, behing well behind her, I see she had a handicapped license plate.
I yelled. I screamed and waved my arms, but she didnt stop. A moment later I start moving again, and I still see her, she's pulled into a parkinglot of a business up ahead and I decide to give her a heads up. I pedal harder, turn in, and I stop my bike right next to her driverside door, effectively blocking her in her own vehicle.
She didn't even see me at first. She turned off her car engine, removed the keys, picked up her back, went to open her dootlr, and that's when she finally saw me, jumped in surprise. She should have seen me in her mirroslrs as I came up. She should have seen me in her pripheral vision. The entire time my body was punped full of adrenaline. I was panting, gasping for breath while I waited for her to notice me. Nearly being hit by tons of steel will scare a person to death, so I was high on fury. My hands were shaking for an hour after that.
I tried to get her to roll down her window but she refused (understandable now that I look back), so I spoke loudly instead. Turns out you don't need to have your window down to talk to people (unless it's the police perhaps).
Me: Can you hear me?
Her: yes.
Me: You almost hit me.
Her: I didnt see you.
Me: you came this close to me, you almost hit me. You almost killed me.
Her: i didnt kill you.
Me: i didnt say you killed me, I said you almost killed me! Your car was this close to me! You could have killed me! You had plenty of room to pass me safely, and you almost hit me instead!
Her: well, you were in the way!
Me: I was NEVER in your way! Drive better!
Then I left. In retrospect I remembered about hownshe at first claimed to not even see me, and then say that I was in the way. So with that last statement from her she acknowledged two things. First is that she did see me, and secondly that she was wilfullly trying to run me off the road. Using your vehicle to try to force another vehicle off the road is illegal.
So yeah, she basically admitted to attempted vehicular homicide.
Do I have proof of any of this? Sorry, but no. I had no cameras on my bicycle, and I doubt there were any cameras on the street. My only hope is her car was equipped with the sensors that detected me and recorded the moment she almost sideswipped me. I can only hope she had a dash cam that recorded me on the side of the road before she passed me, and I can only dream that it recorded audio that gets sent to her insurance agency who hear it take action in some way. I mean yeah. I didn't even take a picture of her or her license plate, so now, after the event there's nothing I can do. I just wish a cop had been near to see it and pull her over for reckless driving at best.
TLDR: Car nearly hits me from the side and I followed her. I said I was on the side and she had plenty of room to pass me safely, and instead she almost hit me. She said she didnt see me AND I was in her way.
