My Riding Experience with Drivers Caught on Video

[NickR]

I knew I had to be alert giving that Wilshire Blvd. is a busy corridor. I just wasn't expecting so many close calls, all within a mile of each other.

1) Older male driver, wife saw me, motion to husband but still continued merging into my lane.
2) Young driver, I'm guessing he though the other car was going to make the turn. Allowing him to clear the intersection.
3) Female driver underestimated my speed and though she could make it across.


https://youtu.be/vG7EMc1mlcQ

[beeatnik]

Dude, why are you riding on Wilshire? You have a death wish?!?

I keed.

Glad they repaved the sections from Highland to Crenshaw and through the Los Angeles Country Club aka The Gauntlet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXZYKe5twAU

[weisan]

police buzz got 'bout 3.5k...I think we might hit 5k page views for this one, what do y'all think? :D

[cinema]

my doc is around there, and my ladies office. i ride on the sidewalk getting there. sidewalk is actually great super wide. smooth. cute girls. looks like par for the course though. ride safe

[NickR]

Dude, why are you riding on Wilshire? You have a death wish?!?

I keed. [/url] hahaha, spent to much time at the Nike missile site (Mulholland Drive) had to cut the ride short. Instead of continuing to Marina Del Rey and taking Ballona Creek back to LA made the tough chose to cut through Wilshire.

Glad they repaved the sections from Highland to Crenshaw and through the Los Angeles Country Club aka The Gauntlet. Yes, what a difference.

[scho74]

you gotta take charleville in that area. smooth sailing.

[beeatnik]

Wilshire through Beverly Hills eastbound: flat, fun, fast.
Olympic through Beverly Hills eastbound: flat, fun, fast.

Westbound, Olympic during non-peak is decent. Although, you can feel cramped in the 1st lane and there's a long, false flat section.

When, bored and not in a hurry: Santa Monica Blvd. A lot of lights and tight in sections but bike lanes just outside Beverly Hills and Little Santa Monica in Beverly Hills make it generally safe.

[SoCalSteve]

I knew I had to be alert giving that Wilshire Blvd. is a busy corridor. I just wasn't expecting so many close calls, all within a mile of each other.

1) Older male driver, wife saw me, motion to husband but still continued merging into my lane.
2) Young driver, I'm guessing he though the other car was going to make the turn. Allowing him to clear the intersection.
3) Female driver underestimated my speed and though she could make it across.


https://youtu.be/vG7EMc1mlcQ

So many secondary streets you could take ( with lights ) that are so much less traveled than Wilshire. I always scratch my head when I see riders on Pico, Olympic, Wilshire, etc when there are so, so many safer options.

And, the ones that really kill me are people on hybrids, mountain bikes, whatever...riding on these busy streets without a helmet or at night without lights. I get that people want to commute or maybe it's there only means of transport...but seriously, that's just crazy dangerous!!!

[Jgrooms]

😴

[beeatnik]

So many secondary streets you could take ( with lights ) that are so much less traveled than Wilshire. I always scratch my head when I see riders on Pico, Olympic, Wilshire, etc when there are so, so many safer options.

And, the ones that really kill me are people on hybrids, mountain bikes, whatever...riding on these busy streets without a helmet or at night without lights. I get that people want to commute or maybe it's there only means of transport...but seriously, that's just crazy dangerous!!!

My buddy works in West LA and takes Olympic home. He just sent me these two pics (by chance...synchronicity!)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5822/22231790385_fe40e71f83.jpg[https://farm1.staticflickr.com/590/22218992002_02864a0439.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120831/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[Cicli]

No way I would ride there.

[ofcounsel]

Riding in OC isn't much better. I've turned more and more to MTB over the years because of the craziness on our roads. On the trails, at least we take the cars out of the equation.

[CampyorBust]

I open the video and the first thing I see is Accidentes, a little bit ironic dontcha think?

Luckily you avoided all the potential accidentes. You certainly are brave to ride there. I am not sure I would road ride in LA or OC. Maybe if I had access to the mountain roads, but I hear those are not that much better.

[joe.e]

My buddy works in West LA and takes Olympic home. He just sent me these two pics (by chance...synchronicity!)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5822/22231790385_fe40e71f83.jpg[https://farm1.staticflickr.com/590/22218992002_02864a0439.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120831/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

ballers gotta ball, but if the windows aren't tinted someone is lying to themselves :/

[malcolm]

First let me say I in no way mean anything disparaging to the OP, just thinking aloud.

I've not commuted by bike ever and I've not ridden in a congested city environment in years, but it seems to me with the fairly recent increase in folks riding with video the everyday has become an incident or near incident worth discussing. Now granted I was not there but just viewing a video and I realize it's different than real life but it seems all those near misses were easily spotted as they evolved and not too difficult to avoid. If my faulty memory is serving me it looked like any typical day that I rode in a city. People turning right across your path, turning left in front of you with no regard to the right of way, coming across intersections in your path. Everyday occurrences riding in a congested city or for that matter driving in a congested city, same thing happens in a car you just have more protection.

Good on you for being an alert safe rider and anticipating and avoiding a potentially painful incident.

[RyanH]

I ride that stretch every weekend (rode it both ways today), I don't think it's particularly worse than anywhere else. 4th Street used to be an awesome corridor until residents started complaining and cops started ticketing people for running stop signs. But even there, so many people staring at their phones at a stop sign, you wait then just go and they decide to go too without looking up...

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[avalonracing]

it looked like any typical day that I rode in a city. People turning right across your path, turning left in front of you with no regard to the right of way, coming across intersections in your path.

Or suburbs.