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
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.
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.
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.
[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?
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?
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.
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.
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.