Seriously People?!!!

Warning- this will be rant like and non running related.

I left work on Wednesday with the plan of running speed work at be gym.   It was super hot out and I didn’t want to be tempted by the lake path so I took the back roads home.     I passed a couple of cyclists which always make me shake my head- this road is hardly built for 2 lanes of traffic let alone a bike.   Blind corners and hairpin turns abound.    Anyways, when I finally get back to town I turn onto a frontage road that really is just a secondary freeway.   Seriously, the average speed is in the 60’s.

There was a large Yukon in front of me and a few cars behind me.   Up ahead I noticed a man riding his bike with a grocery bag.  This road does have pretty decent bike lanes, I’ve actually considered running it before.   The biker kept drawing my attention; he didn’t look too stable,the bags were throwing off his balance.    Then he went down, sideways, directly in the Yukon’s path.

My brain refused to process what I was seeing.  Somehow, the Yukon slammed on the brakes and swerved left, I slammed on the brakes and went right, bear in mind, we were both driving fairly fast.   The driver of that Yukon had amazing reflexes- he missed the man and oncoming traffic.    He ended up angled partly in the other lane and partly off the road.    How we all avoided a wreck is still amazing to me.

The man, who was really a kid was fine, more angry embarrassed than hurt.   A car coming the opposite way offered him a ride but he turned it down.     He picked up his groceries before getting back on his bike.    It was during all this that my faith in humanity took a little hit.

The Yukon was still blocking part of the opposite lane and you could see that oncoming traffic was stopped about 50 yards up the road waiting while the boy was picking his stuff up.   The SUV behind me started laying on the horn.  Seriously?!  You can see what is going on, get over yourself!   The horn turned out to be not enough for them and they sped out from behind me into the partially blocked lane and floored it past the kid still in the street!   The car behind them followed suit.  Are you freaking kidding me?!   You see multiple vehicles stopped, one in the wrong lane, a kid in the street and you think it’s ok to throw a temper tantrum and squeeze yourself through!?  I was so angry!

Honestly it’s taken me longer to type this than it did to get everything squared away last night.    I could come up with no good reason for the cars to behave the way they did.   Come on people, what if that was you in the street?   Or a family member?  Don’t get me wrong, I think a runner or a cyclist is doubly responsible for watching out on the roads.  It doesn’t matter who’s in the right, against a car, we lose.  That said, people driving don’t need to be asshats- get over yourselves!

Once we were all on our way, there was a stop sign about a mile ahead.  The Yukon and I ended up next to each other, he went right and I was going straight.    We had a brief conversation through open windows.   He was super pale and I wondered if I looked similar.  I told him he had amazing breaking skills.   He thanked me for stopping.  We went our separate ways.

I was so shaky due to the situation and my anger at those 2 cars that I just went home.   I really wish the kid had let someone give him a ride home.  Part of me wishes I could have hollered at those drivers, part of me knows that would have solved nothing.

Thanks for letting me rant, I needed to get that out.   Regular Slacker programming will return next post.

Share your thoughts!!  Please- am I wrong to be pissed? 

32 thoughts on “Seriously People?!!!”

  1. I’m so glad nobody was seriously hurt. You are all so lucky no one was hurt. Of course the cars behind you should have waited the couple of minutes it took for everyone, including the cyclist, to assess the situation, check that everyone was okay, and be on their way. I would be angry too. You are totally right. People can be selfish. If they had almost hit someone or been on the bike of course they’d want people to just wait a couple of minutes. Hopefully today will be a better, uneventful, day.

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  4. In this age of the internet, of products and programs that all start with “i” and “my” and so on, MY stuff is infinitely more important than anybody else’s stuff.

    So why wouldn’t they blast around you as fast as possible? Whatever they have going on means more to them than any number of things that could possibly happen to you or anybody else.

    The sad thing is that this barely pings my radar as a jerkish thing to do. I basically expect this behavior out of people.

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  5. I don’t drive often, but I slow down quite substantially when I’m passing cyclists/runners who’re on the road because of that kind of thing. Slower speeds make me feel better if I get passed by a car and I’m out running. To speed up and do that kind of thing when you probably don’t even know what happened or why no one’s started moving yet is insane and irresponsible driving.

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    1. I always make sure I slow down as well. They actually just passed a 3ft law too, if it is safe to do so, cars are supposed to swing wide around cyclists. I really wanted to do something about their need to rush, but really what could I do?

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  6. Wow! That sounds really scary. I’m so glad everyone ended up okay!

    I know this is pretty standard behavior nowadays, but UGH your account of those two impatient cars made my blood boil. Seriously, there’s something about getting behind the wheel of a car that turns ordinary human beings into selfish assholes. I just don’t get it. I even notice it in myself – I don’t drive often but whenever I do, I feel myself getting impatient and pissy and I’ll think to myself “who AM I right now? What the hell??”

    This is part of the reason I’m glad I take the bus most days. Driving is a shit show and I don’t need that stress every day.

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    1. I am so thankful that the boy was ok.

      What’s odd is that I used to be a very angry driver, It wouldn’t take much to me yell or speed. Commuting has actually made me a much calmer driver and person. I just tell myself that I can use the time to listen to music. It’s been some fun trips down memory lane over the past few years.

      There have been so many accidents lately, I just wish people would slow down!

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  11. This is so unfortunate. So glad no one was physically hurt. It’s a good reminder for us all to have patience and be considerate of others who share the road!

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  12. You are not at all wrong to be pissed. There’s not much in this world that would be worth it to me to be on time for if I could have potentially hurt someone. If I’d witnessed a near-accident like that, I would have been too shaken up to want to drive away. What jerks. I’m glad you’re ok!

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    1. I kept thinking about that all evening, what could you be in such a hurry to get to? I did consider the hospital but it’s in the opposite direction. So why couldn’t they just have waited a few moments?

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  16. I’m so glad everyone is ok!!! Amazing reflexes on your part and the part of the Yukon driver. I can’t believe sometimes how awful some people can be. Clearly something had happened and people are so impatient to get on their way that they can’t just wait another minute or two for the situation to clear up?! But, then there’s people like you and the Yukon driver who prove that there is still good in humanity. I just wish it was present in everyone too :/

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    1. Right? I still get mad when I think about how fast they squeezed past us. I’ve been a little more easy to anger when someone cuts me off in a hurry to get somewhere this past week. Why can’t people just slow down?

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