Ever almost been hit by your own fault?



Mr. Beanz

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Aug 18, 2015
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I'm a cautious rider, avoid pinch points, think ahead, and figure well before I put myself in a dangerous position, I need to look ahead and pay attention.

I also believe like driving, 90% of accidents are avoidable!

I've never been hit but have learned from a couple of near miss experiences. 2 times!

1) Ripe age of 19, went on a road ride with a buddy who got a new bike. I was riding a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed but never actually rode out on the road. So we went along our way on a major street. I did fine but we cut across a back street, lightly traveled. I saw him cross the road ahead of me heading onto another street. Seemed quiet so I started moving into the center of the lane!

SKREEEEETCH! Wow! I turn right in front of a car. Thankfully the guy didn't hit me. If he had I could only blame myself. 37 years later, I never take it for granted and always look back no matter who I am with or where I am!

2) Doing an organized ride with 10,000 other riders. Looong line of cyclists crossing over a freeway overpass. Lady with a flag waving cyclists into a left turn. I would say she shouldn't have been waving at us at this point because there was a car coming from behind us. Or she could have shouted out to cyclists that a car was approaching.

But she is waving the flag for the turn early in the ride so following the line of cyclist, I begin to turn and we are on the tandem. I did turn my head back and saw the car but by this time, I seemed to have been in my turn but had control of the bike so we would not have gotten hit. But the car slammed on the brakes and I did correct my turn to avoid any collision.

I was actually shocked the lady volunteer was waving cyclists through at that point. So after that, I learned to NEVER RELY ON ANOTHER to call your shots, always look for yourself!

Years later, a gal on the same ride was following the other cyclists and made a left turn right into the path of an oncoming truck. Lost her life! Seemed pretty familiar to the same situation we were in, l know better for sure!

Another time, waiting to cross Rt 66, speed limit 50 MPH, on my bike at a light waiting for the light to turn green. My light turns green and I just about to start off when I see a car approaching at a good rate of speed. Something just didn't seem right so I remained still. Sure enough, a driver looking the other direction blows full speed through the red light at about 50 MPH. Had I gone 5 seconds earlier, I would have been right in his path.

Green does not mean go! Volunteer waving a flag telling you to make a left turn, does not mean go! Pay attention , do not put yourself in harm's way!
 
I've been hit three times, none of which were my fault.

I consider myself a very experienced and safe rider. Whenever I hear about cyclists being killed or in bad accidents I try to review the circumstances to see what I would have done as a learning experience - I figure in most cases I wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.

That said, I made a huge mistake a couple of years ago. Was out on a country road with a few ride friends...I was off the front and I stopped to wait at the top of a small hill. After I stopped I turned around to see where they were (a bit far) so after a few seconds I pulled out across the road to wait in some shade on the other side. I pulled out right in front of an oncoming car that I hadn't seen when I turned around - I thought the road was clear as far as I could see and I didn't recheck before I pulled out because it had been only a few seconds and nothing had been coming. I think the car must have been in a small dip in the road and been invisible to me when I checked. Luckily it was still far enough away that it could slow enough to avoid me - but if I had waited another second I might not be here to tell you about it. The driver wasn't happy and rightly so. Such a stupid, dumb mistake on my part - I can't believe I did that. Lesson learned.

Everytime we pass that spot now my ride friend who saw it remembers it as the place I was almost killed.
 
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The one thing I forgot to mention. While I never had an at fault accident, I had accidents that were not my fault...BUT...I learned from those accidents not to do certain things that put myself into a position that endangered me even though it wasn't my fault. It's better to yield your right of way to someone else then to say, "it's my right of way and I'm going to take regardless!" It's better to give up your right away then to be dead right. So I learned from my accidents, fortunately without dying to learn those things!

I hope that made sense.
 
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Hey there! It's great that you've learned from your accidents and prioritize safety on the road. Stay safe and happy cycling!
 

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