Friday, July 31, 2009

None of my Business??!!

If person #1's illegal and irresponsible behavior could cause harm to person #2, is person #1's behavior person #2's "business?"

Yesterday, I was riding down Tilden Street, NW into Rock Creek Park. From Connecticut Avenue, NW to Beach Drive, it's a pretty zippy descent. There's a bike lane on the right side of Tilden. When I descend that stretch, I often top out around 38 mph. Keep in mind, the speed limit is posted as 25 mph. When I descend, I'm generally in the wrong and breaking the law. So I was descending Tilden yesterday afternoon and was going above the speed limit and was outside the bike lane. If I'm not going under the speed limit, I believe I can travel in the automobile lane. As I'm coasting downhill, I hear the ever-familiar 'beep-beep' in the distance. The horn gets louder and I can tell the car is barreling down on me. I check my speed-o and see I'm at 37 mph. The fuck if I'm gonna move out of the way of a car that's clearly going way too fast for the conditions. But the car persists with the honking and I decide to move right and give them no reason to go bonkers. So they fly past me at what must've been 45-48 mph. At the bridge near Pierce Mill, the traffic is backed up due to a red light. The car that passed me is last in line and I roll up to the vehicle. Driver's side window is down and I see the woman is happily chatting on her phone (no hands-free device in use). I opt to interrupt her phone call to point out that I was, on the descent, already going well above the speed limit and she was driving pretty dangerously to pass me. She ignores me, so I give her a, "Hey. Hang up your stupid phone. In DC, it's illegal to be on the phone without a hands-free set." Her response, "Leave me alone. Me being on my phone is none of your business."

What?!?! To me, that's just so hard to stomach. How is it not my business to look out for my own safety and best interests? How is it not my business to point out the illegal behavior that could easily lead to my injury or death? It IS my business to protect myself. And if engaging in conversation with strangers who are behaving irresponsibly and dangerously is what I need to do to TRY to protect myself, then I'll make their business my business. Grrrrrrrr.

1 comment:

Greg said...

dude, next time just spray that stupid bitch with your water bottle (or even better, purple cytomax). Fucking hate entitled twats like that. Not to mention that going 40 mph in the bike lane is asking for trouble with all the debris and shit.