Yesterday was my first time cycling home. As you can tell by my post history, I am a newbie to cycling. I had my wife drop me off on her way to work.
The trip between my office and the house is short (~3miles), but is along one of the busiest roads in the city. I thought I would be OK, since there are bike lanes along the right hand side of the road.
Everything started out great, I went straight to the bike shop along the route, and bugged them with questions. When I left, I got back into the bike lane and was riding down a hill at about 25 mph. A car cut me off to turn right into a dive in front of me. I had about 6-7 feet to stop. I slammed on both brakes, and turned into the direction the car was turning, then made contact with the bumper. She used no turn signal, and started to drive off after the collision. I chased her down, once I recovered (She was in a drive and couldn't go far). I was so stunned I didn't know what to say. Luckily, I kept the bike upright, and had only minor scratches.
Question is: What could I have done to prevent this from happening? I realize that she was responsible, but I still want to take every reasonable step I can to prevent this from occuring again. I was wearing bright clothing, following all the traffic laws, and maintaining what I thought was a safe speed. This occured in bright daylight.
The trip between my office and the house is short (~3miles), but is along one of the busiest roads in the city. I thought I would be OK, since there are bike lanes along the right hand side of the road.
Everything started out great, I went straight to the bike shop along the route, and bugged them with questions. When I left, I got back into the bike lane and was riding down a hill at about 25 mph. A car cut me off to turn right into a dive in front of me. I had about 6-7 feet to stop. I slammed on both brakes, and turned into the direction the car was turning, then made contact with the bumper. She used no turn signal, and started to drive off after the collision. I chased her down, once I recovered (She was in a drive and couldn't go far). I was so stunned I didn't know what to say. Luckily, I kept the bike upright, and had only minor scratches.
Question is: What could I have done to prevent this from happening? I realize that she was responsible, but I still want to take every reasonable step I can to prevent this from occuring again. I was wearing bright clothing, following all the traffic laws, and maintaining what I thought was a safe speed. This occured in bright daylight.