Motorist Intentionally Strikes Bicyclist In Burbank

An infuriating tale from the Burbank Leader police report:

300 block of Lutge Avenue: A 50-year-old Burbank man driving a 2005 Honda Odyssey was arrested Sunday for allegedly striking a 42-year-old Burbank man riding a bike. The driver reportedly honked at the bicyclist, then slowly struck the bike and his leg, pushing him a short distance. The bicyclist was not injured, and his bike was not damaged.

This kind of bullshit intimidation is fairly common. I've never had someone actually hit me, but I've been yelled at, honked at, and had drivers accelerate past me without an inch to spare--always in situations where the law was absolutely on my side.

For instance, a few weeks ago at the intersection of Chevy Chase/Central I was stopped at a red light and held the right lane--good policy to avoid being right-hooked. Additionally, I pay attention to drivers behind me who might want to make a right hand turn on the red, and I will usually signal for them to creep past me if its safe to do so. I was going to make a right into a driveway just after the intersection. Some jerk came up behind me and started honking at me. I'm traffic! We're both at a red light! Why the honking? You can't wait eight seconds until we're across the intersection and you can safely pass me? As soon as the light turned green, this jerk rocketed past me in the middle of the intersection and nearly grazed my arm. ZZ-top bearded older white guy in a older teal Japanese sedan, license plate 4RUBYDU. Something is seriously wrong with you if a minor inconvenience makes you feel justified in creating a situation that threatens the life of a human being.

A solution to these problems, beyond being a courteous and decent human being, would be to add a network of bike lanes throughout the region to minimize traffic conflicts. Burbank has a handful of fairly useful bike lanes, but Glendale's current bike lane, all three blocks of it, doesn't exactly get me where I need to go. So for now, I travel the streets festooned with blinking lights, camera and pepper spray at the ready.