PedalUma
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Petaluma, CA
Remember ‘Pulp Fiction’? Why didn’t Bruce Willis’ character choose a dinged-up foil drip-pan as his weapon of choice? Read on and you will see why.
If you were approached by a high-rolling gambler with diamond cufflinks and offered a substantial sum provided you can just get someone, anyone, punch your car within the next ten-minutes; How would you drive? What tactics would you strategically employ given that the 1:1,000,000,000 odds are stacked against you? No one gets their car punched! It is unheard of, you would have to try really, really hard, to act like an idiot to accomplish that $1250 pay out.
This actually happened this week at the pictured intersection in Petaluma California, although I am not sure of the high-roller part, yet there must be some unseen motivational factor at play in this situation. This particular SUV driver saw a bike ahead doing 20, while approaching a red light. She raced her engine swerving around and in front of the bike, then slammed on the brakes. The bike was at the intersection and now ahead of the SUV at the light in within three seconds. As the SUV waited for cross traffic to clear to make a right, the driver then laid into horn for several long seconds threatening assault. Guess what? At that moment the driver’s skill set at getting her SUV punched by a total stranger worked! And the driver took home the slick fat cat gambler’s payoff, stunned with her mouth agape.
Most drivers don’t know that their SUVs are essentially made out of painted lasagna trays. I did not know this simple fact until quite recently. Modern automobiles are that easy to dent, vulnerable, prone, and fragile. Bringing down a fist at the curved part of a front fender does not hurt a pedestrian in a crosswalk or cyclist one bit yet causes about $1250 in repairs to the offender. What could this driver tell her insurance company? Assault with menacing lasagna tray? I incidentally saw that same SUV parked in front of a house yesterday. The dent is huge. Maybe I’ll send a Bike Coalition “Share the Road” sticker to that address in the mail. Hopefully, that driver got the big payoff from the mystery diamond cufflinks gambler and is enjoying life by successfully beating the over one-in-a-billion odds against getting her SUV punched.
Executive Summery: If you want to be menacing to society don’t try it with a foil drip pan.
If you were approached by a high-rolling gambler with diamond cufflinks and offered a substantial sum provided you can just get someone, anyone, punch your car within the next ten-minutes; How would you drive? What tactics would you strategically employ given that the 1:1,000,000,000 odds are stacked against you? No one gets their car punched! It is unheard of, you would have to try really, really hard, to act like an idiot to accomplish that $1250 pay out.
This actually happened this week at the pictured intersection in Petaluma California, although I am not sure of the high-roller part, yet there must be some unseen motivational factor at play in this situation. This particular SUV driver saw a bike ahead doing 20, while approaching a red light. She raced her engine swerving around and in front of the bike, then slammed on the brakes. The bike was at the intersection and now ahead of the SUV at the light in within three seconds. As the SUV waited for cross traffic to clear to make a right, the driver then laid into horn for several long seconds threatening assault. Guess what? At that moment the driver’s skill set at getting her SUV punched by a total stranger worked! And the driver took home the slick fat cat gambler’s payoff, stunned with her mouth agape.
Most drivers don’t know that their SUVs are essentially made out of painted lasagna trays. I did not know this simple fact until quite recently. Modern automobiles are that easy to dent, vulnerable, prone, and fragile. Bringing down a fist at the curved part of a front fender does not hurt a pedestrian in a crosswalk or cyclist one bit yet causes about $1250 in repairs to the offender. What could this driver tell her insurance company? Assault with menacing lasagna tray? I incidentally saw that same SUV parked in front of a house yesterday. The dent is huge. Maybe I’ll send a Bike Coalition “Share the Road” sticker to that address in the mail. Hopefully, that driver got the big payoff from the mystery diamond cufflinks gambler and is enjoying life by successfully beating the over one-in-a-billion odds against getting her SUV punched.
Executive Summery: If you want to be menacing to society don’t try it with a foil drip pan.
