cars LATELY

[Cadence230]

With Doof's post and my encounters in the last couple of weeks have hastened me to post this topic of drivers pulling out in front of bike riders. In the last two weeks I have had four extremely close(within a couple of feet) of cars bumpers and doors and one t-bone. Brake lock-ups. Every time, except for one of the encounters, where the driver did'nt even see me a ran a sign, the driver looked at me, hesitated, made eye contact then went anyway. All of these happened when I had the right of way and signalled if turning. Is it the time of year? The reason for the time of year theory do driver's depth and speed perceptions change because of the angle of the sun? Like is said all four incidents happened in the last two weeks and to my recollection in the past year I have had no such encounters. What's everyone else's thoughts on this. My mom feels it is the economy..."People have alot on their minds." Theories? Statistics? Mike

[Tailwinds]

The woman who hit me had soccer on her mind, apparently. She was looking the other way for her kids in the ball fields. :butt:

[JeffreyG]

The guy who crunched me and my Lemond actually thought that bicycles always had to stop for cars. I spent a week in the hospital and lost my favorite bike, and all he got was a failure to yeild ticket.

[coylifut]

The guy who crunched me and my Lemond actually thought that bicycles always had to stop for cars. I spent a week in the hospital and lost my favorite bike, and all he got was a failure to yeild ticket.

did the person who hit you spend thier formative years in the US?

[malcolm]

Is the driver replacing your beautiful kirk?

[flydhest]

I have not noticed any seasonal upswing. I commute by bike all year 'round and the pattern I see tends to be an upswing of bad driving in September when schools get back in and people come back from vacation. The only collision I've had from bad driving was luckily at 0 mph. I came to a stop as a Ford F-250 decided to do a tire peeling U-turn on a city street during rush hour. He jammed the brakes and I ended up a couple inches away, to avoid falling, I put my hand on his hood.

[ti_boi]

It's so bad out there, that I try....try....try...to ride in those off peak hours.

Man, it is depressing. Bush is spending $1B to upgrade bike facilities. We need wider paths and more of them....also better laws to protect bikers.

It makes sense, more bikes on the road is better for our independance on foreign oil and it combats heart disease and obesity. Making for a stronger country. I for one would like to see the penalty for hitting a cyclist include mandatory prison time. Sorry, but it is my feeling that the crime is that serious.

[Ginger]

Ooo an F250 would make itty bitty Fly pieces. Glad you missed that one.

I do find an issue with drivers and evening sun this time of year.

But I notice the most upswing in near misses in the fall/spring when kids get high school cars and then start driving to school/work in the morning.

[Tom]

My near misses in the past two weeks were the ex-mayor in a Taurus registered to the state at 6:15am and some pudgy lump in his gray Audi at 5:55am. Funny but at the same 4-way stop a half a mile from my house where they didn't comprehend what that red sign means.

I keep riding through that intersection every day. I guess that makes three of us.

[chrisroph]

It's that time of the year. The kids are back in school; the days are getting shorter and colder;and vacations are over. Be carefulout there, there are a lot of people driving while asleep at the wheel.

[ti_boi]

I came to this sport early and then took up motorcycling, where I was 'trained' after years of riding....the training included the 'death spots' which include INTERSECTIONS. Yes, if you approach every intersection with the statistical awareness that this is where cyclists die....you will learn to respect that area. The turn-in-to-you from the opposing lane in the #1 Killer.

I am a relatively new dad. I sold the motorcycle (a 1978 Triumph Bonneville). I now ride exclusively non-powered bikes so that I might extend my life to see my daughter become a woman and someday meet her children. I also love the ride! :D

Awareness of the danger of our biking passion is always in my mind.

[andy mac]

what about all the new in car distractions?

ipods
dvd players
PS2's
cell phones
blackberrys

soon cars will be online - that's going to get really scary.

[ti_boi]

Agreed! The in-car stuff is insane.
Drive a safe car and be aware of the idiots.

As far as riding goes. It is risky activity and should be treated as such.
Scan at all times. Be hyper-aware and ready to stop. Carry good insurance. Side arms optional :p

[Cadence230]

Here in Southern MO there have been 2 hiway patrolmen killed while working in the last six months. One while writing a ticket and the other poor fella while working an accident scene. In both cases the killer drivers "said" they were looking for something on the floor of their vehicles. After the funeral of the second officer, whom was killed about 3 wks ago , on the evening news, a HP Sgt. was absolutely livid about the ME-ME society we live in. Then a couple days later on the news the local news guy covering the disregarding behaviors of drivers(MO has a law that was passed this year stating you must yeild to an emergency vehicle on the side of the road and pass only in the far lane and only if safe to do so)doing a ride along was watching drivers pass the HP while he was driving and bad mouthing the offending drivers. Then yesterday morning some moron south of here passed a disabled students' bus on a blind turn, had a head-on with a garbage truck, then the garbage truck veered into the disabled bus and killed the driver of the bus. Luckily there was no one else killed on the bus. That morning another sgt from HP was talking about how selfish the driver was to pass at a place. He said it was a..."selfish act that he was doing... the driver was doing what he had to do to get to where he needed to go with a total disregard for others on the road." It was great to hear these guys go off! Sorry to vent but I really am getting sick of people putting others' lives at risk to save a second or two. Maybe if manslaughter charges were higher people would see and react with consequences in mind. Also I just saw Bowling for Columbine the other night and it really underscored the disconnectedness I feel our culture suffers from...ME-ME. PHEW! Much better. Thanks, Mike

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . than just a seasonal change. Yes, the increase of distractions of cell phones and other in-car non-driving activities play a role. But I'v also noticed the past 6 months or so that EVERYONE seem to be more on edge--and I think it has to do with the national mood recently. There are more things than ever that worry people and have them distracted and irritable ALL the time . . .

--Economy . . . rising taxes, sprialling price of energy, inflation, erosion of earning power and our "American" way of life, decline of unions, big industry laying off people to send jobs overseas, taking advantage of others, and general lack of economic stabilitiy for almost everyone. We will have a story tomorrow in my paper about inflation being 1.9% in September. Granted, that's mostly because of Hurricane Katrina, but that's also an annual inflaction rate of 22.8 percent if it keeps up.

--War in Iraq, civil rights, race, the way the country is going in general as far as personal rights and/or our personal ability to control our lives. It seems there are more and more things that are out of our control, and there are more and more ways people are worried about special interest groups and government in general reaching into our lives, our pocketsbooks, our familes, and even our bedrooms.

--An awakening awareness after seeing what has happened to people with Katrina how close to the edge many of us live, either vulnerable to natural diaster, or one paycheck away from the wolf being at the door.

--Cadence is also right. People are more selfish in general than ever. How many times have you seen motorists pass you on the crest of a hill or a blind turn--even with a double yellow line--because they obviously couldn't wait 10-15 seconds till you get over the hill or around the turn?

I think people are just overall more selfish, worried and distracted for all these reasons and many more these past few months. And when they get that way they get irritable and subconsciously look for ways to assert their control over something--ANYTHING. That could be a situation, some aspect of their finances, or that #@%$& fitness freak blocking their way riding around in his multi-colored underwear. They feel like society has bullied them, and they want to hit back, and we are convenient, inferior, smaller targets.

BBDave

[Cadence230]

Well damn put dave. cheers! mike

[andy mac]

do they teach physics anymore in high school?

i have had a ton of kids/teens walk in front of me lately even though they are watching me. it seems they don't understand that something in motion...

[Tom]

It's nothing recent. People are just stupid. Always have been. Won't ever get smarter, either.

[bluesea]

Its like sharks in the ocean. They are always out there. One could swing by 2' behing you, and you'd never know it.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Are you going to behave yourself, or do I have to hacksaw your seat rails again? ;)

BBDave

[Cadence230]

Sharks.

[Ozz]

Last night as I was going home, I crossed the street (walking to car) parallel to a 3 lane one way street. Just as I got across the street some idiot turned left from the center lane thru the crosswalk. Unfortunately for him, the guy in the left lane was going straight and took off his rear bumper.....

***??? Who turns from a center lane??? And, he had to pass the guy who ran into him??? :crap:

I'm just glad was wasn't 5 seconds slower crossing the street or I would have been in the middle of it...

The process of who is granted the privilege of driving really needs to be reexamined..

[Dekonick]

[QUOTE=ti_boi]I came to this sport early and then took up motorcycling, where I was 'trained' after years of riding....the training included the 'death spots' which include INTERSECTIONS. Yes, if you approach every intersection with the statistical awareness that this is where cyclists die....you will learn to respect that area. The turn-in-to-you from the opposing lane in the #1 Killer.

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!

The last cyclist fatality I ran as a paramedic supervisor was a tractor trailer turning - the truck made a left turn and hit a cyclist who had right of way - may have had the right of way...but it ended up in a grave. Looked like a serious cyclist too - nice gear, appeared to be a commuter bike (univega with veloce 'ponents - and a nice lighting system)

Bummed me out for a week or so...

It was the middle of the day too!

Side note - why can't they add a path to all interstates as they build them??? It would be nice to use I-70 to go from Balt to the west coast...

Be careful out there!

[bluesea]

[QUOTE=ti_boi]

Side note - why can't they add a path to all interstates as they build them??? It would be nice to use I-70 to go from Balt to the west coast...

Be careful out there!

Ever notice all of the long black rubber skid marks that lead off the road?

[Saxon]

The turn-in-to-you from the opposing lane in the #1 Killer.

That's what happened to me in April. The driver saw me just fine, tried to beat me out through the intersection and cut me off (and down). :butt: :butt: :butt:

[PanTerra]

The turn-in-to-you from the opposing lane in the #1 Killer.

That's what happened to me in April. The driver saw me just fine, tried to beat me out through the intersection and cut me off (and down). :butt: :butt: :butt:

Make sure you check your formatting tags.

[toaster]

The only difference between "them" and us is we look at the world through a cyclist's lens. We know what it's like to drive a car AND ride bikes on the shoulders of highways.

We get to experience what they feel when somebody else is taking up more than their share of space and is oblivious of our bikes approaching them in a bike lane. Others who may be jogging three abreast, rollerbladers with iPods, moms pushing strollers taking up the entire bike path, wrong way users, cyclists changing a flat in the center of a path, etc.

Part of motorists problems is they try to do too much and drive. Reading, drinking coffee, finding directions, talking on the cell, changing music, make-up, and anything else. We all do it.

Then, we do make a mistake driving our minds quickly find a justification thinking the other was to blame because they were driving too fast, or too slow, or didn't yield or pay attention to our intentions.

The only answer is to slow down. Not necessarily the speed, but to plan ahead and give others more room. Allow more space as you follow other vehicles and look all ways before proceeding through intersections and at stop signs.

It frustrates me to be on my bike on a little traveled back road and to be passed by several vehicles all tailgating each other and then after they pass to not see another vehicle on the road for 5-10 minutes.

The best solution is roads that illustrate our needs, and by that I mean roads that are striped, signed, and are wide enough to accommodate all users. Only then when it's literally written in black and white on the road surface will drivers start to pay attention. The only danger in that is that drivers will believe cyclists can only travel on these types of roads that are so designated and will seek to assert themselves everywhere else.

[Vancouverdave]

Cadence 230, I have the plan to protect folks who work on the road. Let's start with arming construction site flaggers. I'm not kidding in the least. For visibility's sake, give them sawed-off shotguns or fully automatic assault rifles--with emergency orange stocks, so that approaching motorists can more easily see the "equalizer." I think that just might prevent a few dead highway maintainance workers.