So Can Car Drivers See Bicyclists?

I was reading an article about a former Amazon big shot (Joy Covey) who died in a bicycle accident:
"Covey was biking on Skyline Boulevard at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when she collided
with a van that turned in front of her, Montiel said.

“The vehicle turned left directly in front of the bicycle, which was traveling downhill,” Montiel said."

And this got me to thinking about a couple near misses I had when I bicycled some many years ago–it’s as if the driver didn’t see me–even though it was broad daylight out.

Personally though as a car driver I think I always notice bicyclists.

IME some car drivers don’t see bicyclists, motorbikers, small cars, large cars, trees, trucks, buildings or the road. This is often accompanied by tiredness, being under the influence, that amnesia you get on boring and familiar routes, using their cell, changing the radio, applying makeup, telling off the kids, or swatting a wasp.

Not all the time. Bikes are pretty small and a lot of drivers aren’t looking for small things in the road, they are checking for other cars while composing a critical text message on their cellphone.

When I’m on my bike I never assume a driver has seen me unless I’ve made eye contact. There’s not much that I can do in cases where I don’t get that eye contact except hope for the best and plan how I’ll swerve into the ditch if they make the move I fear.

So do I, except for that one time I didn’t.

Very early morning, making a legal right turn on red, I was keyed in to seeing headlights, because it was still very dark, and just flat out didn’t see the cyclist on his way through the intersection. I did see him early enough to avoid pulling all the way out, but I pulled far enough that he had to swerve a bit and shoot me a dirty look.

They see bikes more than you think, they just don’t give a shit or they are actively trying to intimidate the rider.
I ride most of the same roads on my handcycle that I did with a regular bike and the difference is night and day.

I’ve spent considerable time on a motorcycle (170,000 miles or so), and the only occasions where people have violated my right-of-way were folks changing lanes without looking over their shoulder.

In England, motorcyclists call the OP’s kind of accident (left turn in front of the bike) a SMIDSY, which stands for “sorry mate, I didn’t see you.” There are a number of factors at work in that situation:

-you (as a bicyclist or motorcyclist) present a small profile when viewed from the front.

-As you approach directly toward that left-turner, your apparent size doesn’t change very much until you’re very close, so it’s hard for them to gauge your distance.

-Because your apparent size doesn’t change very much until the last second, you don’t stand out relative to the background.

-in some circumstances, your coloration may also help you blend in with the scenery behind you; a driver doing a too-quick visual scan may not notice you.

This video explains the issues for motorcyclists, and offers tips on getting noticed and avoiding SMIDSY accidents.

Things that I think help me:

-riding a fat sport-touring bike. I have a BMW R1200RT, similar to this one. It takes up more space in an observer’s field of view; it’s harder to miss in quick visual scan.

-Extra lighting. I have yellow driving lights mounted low on the forks. The unusual color (and location) catches a viewer’s eye.

-I wear a high-viz yellow riding jacket and a white helmet; this will never blend in unless everything behind me is also high-viz yellow and white.

-When approaching intersections where waiting traffic could cross my path, I slalom back and forth within my lane, producing apparent motion in the viewer’s eye, forcing him to take notice.

There are things a bicyclist can do, too. Maybe not full-time 55-watt driving lights, but a flashing white or yellow headlight might help, along with bright colors. Slalom when possible.

I can think of some instances where parallel traffic could hide a bicyclist from left-turners: a car passing you could hide you from the left turner, and as soon as he gets through the intersection, the left turner makes his move just at the moment you are entering the intersection, and SPLAT. If the left-turner notices you before you are hidden by that passer (because you wore bright colors and had a flashing headlight), then you may be saved from a collision. But just in case he doesn’t notice you, all you can do is be ready - cover the brakes so you can stop in time if at all possible, and try to keep an eye on the left-turner. Sometimes you can see through the windows of the passing vehicle, and even if you can’t, sometimes he’ll begin his turn before he disappears from your field of view - and if you can see that, you have time to hit the brakes and scrub off some speed (possibly stop) before a collision happens.

In the case of the Amazon excec, details are sketchy. All I read was that she was going downhill on Skyline Boulevard when she was struck. Skyline Blvd is a pretty twisty road, and “going downhill” on a bicycle usually involves hauling ass: nobody who had had to pedal themselves uphill wants to hit the brakes during a downhill run unless absolutely necessary. It’s entirely possible that in this particular case she contributed to the accident by going too fast for conditions (speeding, or even going just under the speed limit around blind corners).

I’ve seen this happen, but pretty rarely. The vast majority of my close encounters of the door kind have been through neglect or apathy on the part of the driver.

Hypothesis:
People who ride or have ridden bikes (or motorcycles) since obtaining their drivers license and a car, see bicyclists.
People who do not ride or have not ridden bikes (or motorcycles) since obtaining their drivers license and a car, do not.

That is, those who are familiar with the potential danger in the vulnerable position, are much more aware and cognizant of those in that position, when they are driving a car.

Look but do not see.

Many times, the drivers do see you but do not recognize you as a danger to them, so their brain does not react.

Eye contact is not a guarantee that they see you as has happened to me while riding a bicycle.

Doing something to make them focus on you & snap them out of their, ‘well it is not a car, truck or bus so I do not need to worry about it,’ that their mind has drifted into.

As has been mentioned up thread are good ideas but still not anywhere near 100%

With the cell phones now & all the ways they can distract a driver plus all the other things, surviving any length of time will require defensive driving / riding that is in the paranoid range.

Has worked for me for 52 years of motor cycle , bicycle, walking, flying, sailing, scuba diving, rock climbing, etc.

The roads are the most dangerous & require the most care. Make then actually do something physical, like wave or point & then you maybe can assume they see you & are only really trying to kill you & plan for that. At least the wreck won’t be because they did not see you …

YMMV

I like this answer. People crash cars all the time. When they crash into other cars, it’s two metal cages bumping each other and everyone involved has a very reasonable chance of staying alive and maybe even un-injured. When a car meets a bike or a motorcycle, one of the parties involved is completely vulnerable.

Now, I’m not saying that riders are completely at fault for riding or that people in cars shouldn’t be vigilant about avoiding colliding their cars with riders. But to accuse all drivers who hit riders of maliciously wanting to hit a rider, or being completely unaware of a rider’s existence because he is a rider is just not right.

A bad driver is a bad driver, a distracted driver is a distracted driver. That a rider gets killed by one instead of a tree or a mailbox is utterly tragic. But probably not on purpose.

Have you got a cite for that? I hear this claim a lot, and it sounds like a way to surreptitiously blame the driver for not respecting the rights of the cyclist.

If nothing else, a cyclist constitutes a threat to the paint and bodywork of a car; even a murderous, amoral thug doesn’t like filing an insurance claim and getting his vehicle repaired (or paying court costs, or doing hard time).

Have motorists been asked “why” after a collision, and answered “well, he didn’t seem like a threat to my well-being, so I figured I was OK to go ahead and T-bone him.”?

I think car drivers often underestimate the speed of bicycles. If you are on a bicycle doing 20 mph while the driver assumes you’re doing less than 10 mph, in just 1 second you’d be 30 ft further ahead than the driver expected.

A motorist is less likely to see a cyclist who is riding like most cyclists do. The driver is looking primarily for other cars, which inhabit specific areas, cyclists typically tend not to inhabit those areas. Shoulders, bike lanes and sidewalks are particularly dangerous because cars are not looking for bicycles there. But if a 3’ 2x4 is lying in the road, the driver will probably see it and swerve to avoid possible tire damage, and a board lying in the road presents a much smaller profile than a bicycle – by being in the road, the board gets seen. The story does not say, but very likely she was riding near the edge of the road, where most drivers are not looking for traffic.

Some of us don’t ride, but still aren’t idiots.

I certainly agree that the average cyclist/motorcycle rider is probably better at noticing two-wheelers when driving than the general public…but it’s not quite as black and white as you lay out.

It’s a shame what occured here. I have ridden that road a lot when I lived in the area - it is rural and beautiful, but has a lot of curves and no shoulder in some places. Going down some of the hills along Skyline you can easily get into the 30s and possibly the 40s MPH. I could easily see how someone pulling out of a driveway or side road would not notice a bicyclist barreling down a hill toward them, what with tree branches, low sun, or any other number of potential visual imparements, plus the small profile of the rider, and perhaps lack of bright clothing or a headlight (speculating). This sounds like an unfortunate accident.

I do the same thing when I’m driving a car. My assumption is that I’m invisible, no one will react or get out of my way, or change whatever it is they plan to do.

And them I hope I’m wrong about the cars behind me when I’m stopping at a light, because if they don’t see me I’m screwed.

Pedestrians also seem to not see bicycles. I’ve had many people look right at me as I was biking down the road headed towards them and still step out into the street. I simply don’t get it.

Ever since I nearly killed a cyclist last year, I have been hyper-vigilant about looking for them. I did actually see him coming, but foolishly, I assumed he would stop at the 4-way stop intersection. I got to the intersection first, stopped and then proceeded to make my left hand turn. He went straight through w/o stopping. I no longer assume cyclists will follow the law and have adjusted my driving accordingly.

That was you? (j/k)

I do a lot of riding and I cringe at what I see some bicyclists doing. I usually say something (but I would rather grab them by the neck and shake). Lucky we have the ARBT around here or there may be a lot more incidents (that is another story).

I feel like I should note that there are a lot of cyclists around here who totally do it right, which is why I assumed this guy would stop.