In my opionion, it's good to see more cyclists out there who don't ride in large groups, that make it difficult for motorists to negotiate around. I have tended to take out my mountain bike on roads that may be more hazardous in terms of high speed or commercial traffic, to enable off shoulder maneuvering. Before riding in a given area, if possible, I try to get information on routes, either through a knowledgeable bike shop, experienced rider, or club. I also like to study a road by auto before venturing out on it in an area that I am unfamiliar. Defensive posturing is necessary, but not of a bailing out nature, recognizing that I am driving a vehicle, so deal with in the appropriate responsible manner. A rear-view mirror is an absolute must; I check it pretty frequently enroute. Haven't been hit since I was a kid; didn't anticipate the motorist's intention in turning. It didn't deter me from getting back out there. I try to become familiar with the demographics of a road (i.e. community), recognizing that an area frequented by more senior citizens ( I mean really up there) is potentially more hazardous.Originally posted by cfordg
I hope that was a joke. Forgive me if it was and I missed the humor.
I'm not sure where you live or what the laws are there but bicycles have a legal right to ride on the road in most of the U.S. That doesn't mean that if you choose to argue with one that ignores your rights, that you'll come out of it on top. I think it's a situation dictated by physics more than psychology.
Bikes belong on the road. People belong on bikes.
Same Roads
Same Rules
Same Rights
I'm not sure where you live or what the laws are there but bicycles have a legal right to ride on the road in most of the U.S. That doesn't mean that if you choose to argue with one that ignores your rights, that you'll come out of it on top. I think it's a situation dictated by physics more than psychology.
Bikes belong on the road. People belong on bikes.
Same Roads
Same Rules
Same Rights
I've been hit twice by motorists. The first was hit and run by a man driving a car. The second was by a man driving a pickup truck. The first was a side-swipe from behind while riding along a busy street. Other motorists stopped to help me. The second happened while I was standing with my foot on the pavement at a stop sign. A guy in an old two-wheel-drive pickup truck hit me from the rear and came to a stop with me and my bicycle half under the front of the truck. I thought he was going to drive right over me and I was about to be killed. I reached up and grabbed the grill of the truck with one hand and yelled and banged on the grill with the other hand. He backed up and looked at me through his dirty windshield dumbfounded with his mouth hanging open. No other motorists stopped to help. The pickup truck driver helped me up and drove me and my bicycle to where I worked but I never could get him to pay to repair my bicycle. I reported the accident to the police later in the day. Right after the accident I was in such a state as to not be thinking about anything other than the fact I wasn't dead. I don't carry a cell phone nor were there any pay phones close from which to call the police. In both cases I received only scrapes and bruises. The second accident happened about 10 years ago.
OK I know this is childish. ... but hey....
VOTE FOR ME FOR PRES!
here is my platform in regards to driving ::1) I would make it a law that ALL motorists should have to spend a month riding a bike on the road , obeying all traffic laws and signals, in order to get a license.
Its just too easy to get a drivers license.
2) I would also have bikers have licenses. Why? because that gives them even more rights and authority to be on the road. The purchase of a license would create revenue that would be used to make better shoulders and bike lanes in the communities where we ride!
3) now my favorite law change. I hope you like it.
Your license is a priviledge NOT a right. So I feel that your car should reflect the type of driver you are. ......hahaha.
OK
a) if you rolled an SUV over. You are not allowed to ever again own or drive an SUV. no . Unless you go to a special 1 week course on SUV driving which includes a two day seminar on directional forces on moving mass.
b) chronic speeders or anyone that caused an accident due to speeding......yep. you are no longer allowed to own anything over 6 cylinder. I think...hmmm... DIESEL 4 cylinder Volvo. for three years. or better yet. a bike.
c) anyone that gets caught not signalling or going thru a redlight , thus causing an accident.... Should be forced to drive the Oscar Meyer Weiner car for three years.
d) road ragers. oh man. anyone busted for Road Rage of any type from throwing things to all out shoot outs. Should have to spend two hours in the ring with a WWF pro wrestler. or some such punishment.
and so the list goes on..... ok . time to work again.
Good point. I don't smell particularly good after a ride and especially if I ate garlic. As far science, not the forum so I'll hold my Devinci Coded tongue
I've been brushed by a car. I have had to make right hand turns with cars screaming up from behind me only to cut me off while they make their turns. I even sensed a driver taking a run at me once. I had to bunny hop a curb to avoid being hit by that person. They caught a red light at the next intersection, so I was able to ride up and ask if they were trying to kill me. Her response was that she hated bicycle riders. Well, in a less than stellar moment, and I am sure a moment that deepened her hatred for bicyclists, I jumped off my bike and onto her car where I did about a 10 second rendition of the stomp. I've been riding road for 25 years and have rarely taken a ride where I have not been at least flipped off, but I am still living.
I bought a mountain bike last fall, rode it four times, and at forty-six ended up in the hospital with a badly damaged shoulder. I have no requisite mountain riding skill to speak of, but thought it humorous that one steep mountain trail and a washout at the bottom busted me up pretty good!
Always listen! Always watch! Never assume that somebody actually values your life. Don't get mad at the absurdities. That will only ruin your ride enjoyment.
I bought a mountain bike last fall, rode it four times, and at forty-six ended up in the hospital with a badly damaged shoulder. I have no requisite mountain riding skill to speak of, but thought it humorous that one steep mountain trail and a washout at the bottom busted me up pretty good!
Always listen! Always watch! Never assume that somebody actually values your life. Don't get mad at the absurdities. That will only ruin your ride enjoyment.
2 stories:
First the sad one: A rider was run down 2 weeks ago on Hwy 1 by a 19 year old driver in an SUV who apparently drove into the bike lane (4 ft wide bike lane) and just rolled over the bicyclist from behind. He was wearing a helmet. He is alive but in a coma with serious injuries. He is a cop at the local university, and in charge of traffic safety. Has a history of teaching bike safety to school kids.
If you think it will help, say a prayer for this guy and his family, and maybe for the 19 year old driver too.
And on a brighter note: In Nov last year I spent a couple weeks bicycle touring in Japan. I had one close call. Descending on a highway (on the left shoulder) a driver suddenly turned left in front of me, as if he hadn't seen me. I yelled, he stopped....directly in front of me. I managed to stop before contact, then rolled around the back of his car, and kept going. I had nothing positive to say, so I just kept going.
Two minutes down the road the same car pulls over a ways in front of me, the driver emerges, bows, and as I approach, apologizes, engages me in a brief conversation, and then departs.
The apology made all the difference in how I felt about the incident.
People are people, and as cyclists we are sometimes at the mercy of drivers who make stupid mistakes. Life doesn't seem fair sometimes.
First the sad one: A rider was run down 2 weeks ago on Hwy 1 by a 19 year old driver in an SUV who apparently drove into the bike lane (4 ft wide bike lane) and just rolled over the bicyclist from behind. He was wearing a helmet. He is alive but in a coma with serious injuries. He is a cop at the local university, and in charge of traffic safety. Has a history of teaching bike safety to school kids.
If you think it will help, say a prayer for this guy and his family, and maybe for the 19 year old driver too.
And on a brighter note: In Nov last year I spent a couple weeks bicycle touring in Japan. I had one close call. Descending on a highway (on the left shoulder) a driver suddenly turned left in front of me, as if he hadn't seen me. I yelled, he stopped....directly in front of me. I managed to stop before contact, then rolled around the back of his car, and kept going. I had nothing positive to say, so I just kept going.
Two minutes down the road the same car pulls over a ways in front of me, the driver emerges, bows, and as I approach, apologizes, engages me in a brief conversation, and then departs.
The apology made all the difference in how I felt about the incident.
People are people, and as cyclists we are sometimes at the mercy of drivers who make stupid mistakes. Life doesn't seem fair sometimes.
what REALLY irks me is when a car hits a bike and the rider is severely injured or killed ....and they will insert into the article:
the cyclist was not wearing her helmet at the time of the incident.
oh...hmmm... well its her fault, then, that she was hit.
the cyclist was not wearing her helmet at the time of the incident.
oh...hmmm... well its her fault, then, that she was hit.
I got hit a few years ago now and lost a bit of movement in my right leg. Unlucky got it from behind by a looser of a driver. Afterward suffered post traumic stress, not real good. Anyway sought help about it and there was one point where it all came together. Think about how many cars pass you when you are riding, alot I'm guessing then think about how many near misses you have had probably count them on one hand. So the odds blow out considerably and for me it didn't become as bigger issue as I first thought. Sure I got hit but I have been on the road since 1993 in Syndey and the bush. Ridden from Perth to Sydney, LA to Boston so getting hit provided you ride to the conditions around is not as frightening.
Chris
Hi -
I started riding seriously again about two weeks ago and in the space of 100-miles of riding I've been almost flattened on three occations by motorists that simply don't pay attention. I find this incredibly frustrating. Strong argument for fitting heat-seeking missiles to my bike but the weight would be a problem on steep hills
Ciao,
Steve (South Africa)
I started riding seriously again about two weeks ago and in the space of 100-miles of riding I've been almost flattened on three occations by motorists that simply don't pay attention. I find this incredibly frustrating. Strong argument for fitting heat-seeking missiles to my bike but the weight would be a problem on steep hills
Ciao,
Steve (South Africa)
I have only had one or two accidents whilst riding on the road. One was when I was riding down a steepish hill in an urban area and a parked car pulled out filling the road, and I ended up smashing into him writing off a £300 pair of Marzochi (sp???) forks and also seriously denting his passenger door. He was a big huge tank of a ******* and demanded my address, presumably so he could sort out insurance etc etc to get my forks replaced. Was it bollocks it was quite clear he wasn't insured and came round demanding money to replace his passenger door. We had to get the police in to deal with him. I regret giving him my address but when you have just smashed into somebody at high speed you aren't at your most alert.
The other accident I had was nowhere near as bad. Basically I was riding along on the inside and a car coming up behind me to overtake turned out too late, clipping the back wheel before driving off into the sunset. This had completely ****ed up a brand new custom built wheel, which left me seething with rage.
But what can you do eh?
Stevedvg, if you want me to test ride those heatseeking missiles I am more than willing to!
The other accident I had was nowhere near as bad. Basically I was riding along on the inside and a car coming up behind me to overtake turned out too late, clipping the back wheel before driving off into the sunset. This had completely ****ed up a brand new custom built wheel, which left me seething with rage.
But what can you do eh?
Stevedvg, if you want me to test ride those heatseeking missiles I am more than willing to!
I think the point is; having or not having a license really has nothing to do with a person's ability to operate a vehicle in a safe manner. And even if they have the ability, it doesn't mean they'll be an attentive driver. That was the idea originally but licensing is barely more than another tax and leverage against those who will obey the laws now.
That's my interpretation after working in the law enforcement field for over 20 years, anyway.
That's my interpretation after working in the law enforcement field for over 20 years, anyway.
This 22 Jan 2004 newspaper from the Orange County Register (California) will give any cyclist the willies.
http://tinyurl.com/2p5qu
http://tinyurl.com/2p5qu
This 22 Jan 2004 newspaper article from the Orange County Register (California) will give any cyclist the willies.
http://tinyurl.com/2p5qu
http://tinyurl.com/2p5qu
Hearing all your stories about motorists reminds me of why I have not been able to bike for 2 months. I was new to the sport last year. I wanted to add to the other outdoorsee stuff I do - didn't think I had entered into a dangerous sport! Sport being motorists taking you out at every opportunity!
I was merily pedlin' along on my lonesome enjoying the sunshine when whoooooooooosh .. I took off into the dirt, back onto the tarmac (head first, shoulder following quickly behind). I think it was a spectacular airborne feat with bike attached. Unfortunately, the person did not stop, the person coming the other way did; but, left in a whirl of dust. Remember .. if laying facedown on road .. lay still .. do not get UP! The ******* drove off, tried to thumb a lift no sun of a gun stopped. I mean what does a poor woman have to do?
Anyway, I am nearly mended and want to get out and train! Any good tips on staying alive in this dog eat dog world?
I was merily pedlin' along on my lonesome enjoying the sunshine when whoooooooooosh .. I took off into the dirt, back onto the tarmac (head first, shoulder following quickly behind). I think it was a spectacular airborne feat with bike attached. Unfortunately, the person did not stop, the person coming the other way did; but, left in a whirl of dust. Remember .. if laying facedown on road .. lay still .. do not get UP! The ******* drove off, tried to thumb a lift no sun of a gun stopped. I mean what does a poor woman have to do?
Anyway, I am nearly mended and want to get out and train! Any good tips on staying alive in this dog eat dog world?
