# Yet another bike vs car rant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 30, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590 "2010-07-30T15:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/21 "2010-07-30T17:38:03Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > > [@Necros](#): > > > > Most of the issues I have with cars are out of aggression (pickup trucks almost exclusively), not obliviousness. > > I was once driving with my ex-boyfriend in his huge SUV when he decided he didn’t like how the cyclist up ahead was driving. He drove by as close to the cyclist as he possibly could without hitting him. I was in the passenger seat and the side mirror passed inches away from the cyclists head. > > I screamed at him, something like “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?” and he said he was teaching the guy a lesson to not be so far out on the road. A few years ago there was a letter to the editor in which a driver was involved in an accident. He had drifted over the yellow line and hit another car. The driver said it was a cyclist’s fault because the cyclist wasn’t all the way to the right in the bike lane. Apparently he was on the left side of the bike lane (still within it), so the car moved over to give him a little room and ended up hitting an oncoming car. 20 second of patience on the part of the driver and everyone would have come away happy. Cyclists around here will often need to “crowd” the left side of the bike lane simply because of all the crap that ends up next to the curb in the bike lane. I don’t know if many drivers realize this but instead think cyclists are invading their territory. Mix that in with drivers that think they need to teach cyclists who has more momentum and it makes for bad situations ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/22 "2010-07-30T17:47:35Z")
What’s almost as bad is when the driver \*starts \*the right-turn-cut-you-off manuever–and then stops dead when they me coming up on their right hand-side. I’m usually ready for them to cut me off, but when they stop half-way through the turn, it’s impossible to go around them on the left. I’ve had one nasty collision this way. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/23 "2010-07-30T18:35:20Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > > > Bikes here obey no traffic rules and drive wherever they please, however they please (mostly on the sidewalks); I get a little torqued when I see bike riders talking about how hard done-by they are. As a group, you’re making your own beds. > > This post is total crap, and I live in the same place as you do. There are just as many shit-tastic car drivers around here as there are bike drivers. The difference is that when a car driver is shit and they slam into a bike, the bike rider winds up hospitalized. > > God this pisses me off - I can’t even ride a bike - I don’t know how, but even I can recognize that a person making a more environmental choice doesn’t _DESERVE_ to get clipped by a car because they dare to be on the same street as your precious vehicle. > > GRRRRR! Oh, I’m not saying the car drivers are any good - they’re total crap around here, too. Just that the bikes are no better, and in different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/24 "2010-07-30T18:40:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Bikes here obey no traffic rules and drive wherever they please, however they please (mostly on the sidewalks); I get a little torqued when I see bike riders talking about how hard done-by they are. As a group, you’re making your own beds. Please don’t paint me with your enormous brush. I obey traffic rules include the law that makes it illegal to ride on the sidewalk. ETA: And if you are implying that law abiding cyclists such as myself deserve whatever death that comes at us from inattentive/oblivious/dsitracted drivers because some other cyclists suck, then I doubt very much the language I have in response would even be permitted in the pit. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/25 "2010-07-30T18:45:20Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Oh, I’m not saying the car drivers are any good - they’re total crap around here, too. Just that the bikes are no better, and in different ways. I won’t generalize all bike riders, but I can tell you for the most part bike messengers, of which there are many around my way, have no respect for anyone: cars, pedestrians, traffic laws, even other riders. ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/26 "2010-07-30T18:54:54Z")
[quote=“cmosdes, post:21, topic:548590”] [QUOTE=FloatyGimpy;12746074Cyclists around here will often need to “crowd” the left side of the bike lane simply because of all the crap that ends up next to the curb in the bike lane. I don’t know if many drivers realize this but instead think cyclists are invading their territory. Mix that in with drivers that think they need to teach cyclists who has more momentum and it makes for bad situations[/QUOTE] Bicycling in the Twin Cities I really have nothing to complain about – I probably get honked or shouted at no more than once a month. Occasionally it’s for this very issue. I keep to the left of the bicycle lane because I dislike getting doored by a motorist in a parked car. I wear brightly colored bicycling clothes so that when my widow sues the motorist who hits me, he can’t claim he didn’t see me. Didn’t see the fat guy in the hi-viz yellow jersey? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/27 "2010-07-30T19:14:37Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > Not enough anger for the pit, but I had to vent somewhere. > > Yesterday I was heading west and stopped in the bike line on my bike. The car directly next to me is blue and the second car in line is white. The light changes and we all proceed through the intersection. There is a second light 75 yards from the first light and by the time we reach the second light the blue car is way ahead of me but the white car is just overtaking me. As we reach the intersection, I’m about even with her back quarter panel and she proceeds to turn right, right in front of me. I was fully prepared for this, so I stopped in plenty of time and yelled at her. She was startled by my yell, but she just continued on her merry way. > > I realize bikes can seemingly “come out of nowhere” when you are getting ready to make a right turn. Bikes can cover hundreds of yards during a cycle of a light so when you get ready to make that right turn all of a sudden there is someone there coming along at 20mph that you never even saw before. The driver is still responsible for checking, but at least I can understand why that might be missed. > > In this case, though, there is no such excuse. None. I was clearly in front and just to the right of her at the first light. It was 5:00 in the afternoon, sun high in the sky so despite the fact we were heading west the sun was not a factor. She had to pass me to get ahead of me to cut me off. If she couldn’t see a cyclist under those circumstances I shudder to think what would happen under less than ideal conditions. The only way I would give the driver any credit in this scenario is if you were in her blind spot. If you really were even with her rear quarter panel, it’s entirely possible she really didn’t see you if her left mirror wasn’t adjusted to cover the blind spot properly. (which I’m discovering most aren’t) I’m curious if you drive regularly, too. I’ve been doing my own informal, totally unscientific observations when I hear about bike-car close calls lately, and have started noticing a trend toward not just bike vs car, but whether the biker is a regular driver. It seems that if the biker also drives regularly, they do things a little differently than if they don’t. It does seem like she really should have been aware of you, though, even if you were in her blind spot at that moment - she would have just passed you! Where else would you have been? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/28 "2010-07-30T19:46:17Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I won’t generalize all bike riders, but I can tell you for the most part bike messengers, of which there are many around my way, have no respect for anyone: cars, pedestrians, traffic laws, even other riders. Yah - this I have noticed in pretty well every city I’ve been in. I suppose they’re rewarded for being efficient, but it can be pretty scary sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/29 "2010-07-30T20:02:19Z")
I reckon very few car/bike accidents are the result of road rage. When the fault lies on the driver it’s almost always because the driver was unaware of the bike. Which doesn’t make anything right, it’s just what happened. Bikes are small, quiet and tend to be in places cars and motorcycles are not, such as to the right side of the road. If you’re aware of your vulnerability there’s not much excuse for it getting the better of you. Don’t ride like you’re invisible. Ride like they’re trying to kill you and you should be safe enough. In a bike/car accident you may be right, but you’ll still get creamed. Frankly, even if you drive a car under the assumption others are paying attention to what you’re doing you’re stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590/30 "2010-07-31T00:13:44Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > Not enough anger for the pit, but I had to vent somewhere. > > Yesterday I was heading west and stopped in the bike line on my bike. The car directly next to me is blue and the second car in line is white. The light changes and we all proceed through the intersection. There is a second light 75 yards from the first light and by the time we reach the second light the blue car is way ahead of me but the white car is just overtaking me. As we reach the intersection, I’m about even with her back quarter panel and she proceeds to turn right, right in front of me. I was fully prepared for this, so I stopped in plenty of time and yelled at her. She was startled by my yell, but she just continued on her merry way. Was she on a cell by any chance? In my experience drivers who start behind one car and are way behind a few hundred yards later are distracted by something - though there are plenty of people in the Bay Area who drive like they are talking on a cell just as a matter of talent. Any driver with a modicum of brains and ability should have noted that you were on the right, and looked for you whether or not you were in the blind spot. Glad you made it through. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-bike-vs-car-rant/548590.md?page=1)