Commuting - This auto move is very dangerous to us...

okay - this keeps happening to me. several times in the past few weeks in fact. i've been oh so close to getting creamed everytime.

it's the driver in the oncoming lane who wants to make a left across traffic. they do this exactly when the light turns green and they gun it across the intersection before traffic going my direction can get up to speed. see diagram.

i think this is really dangerous for us because a) we're sometimes to the right of another car and aren't in clear view b) we're invisible anyway c) we often anticipate the light and enter the intersection before other cars do - leaving us in a prime location for getting smacked by the speeding car. d) if you get hit, cars will be coming up quickly behind as well.

so, please keep in mind as you're crossing intersections. often there is no warning a driver is going to do this - they seemingly close their eyes and hit the gas and hope for the best. just don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yeah, no kidding. What makes it worse is when on top of that, they don't have a turn signal on either....

That is why I go ahead and speed up before my light turns green

Out here in Silicon Valley, almost all intersections have a green left arrow light so that left-turning cars go first before the cars going straight get their green light. So the situation described by timmhaan is not on my top pet peeve list. For me, it's the people who come out of parking lots and stick the front end of their cars waaaaaay out into the bikelane, thus forcing me into the lane next to me. And let's not forget the cars that come up behind us and make a right turn. Arrrrrgh!

Yeah, no kidding. What makes it worse is when on top of that, they don't have a turn signal on either....

if you give away your tactics beforehand "the move" will never work.... :p

when i was in pittsburgh over new years i heard this reffered to as a "pittsburgh left" i dunno if they call it that all over the burgh and i am guessing they didn't pioneer the move there but i found it funny anyway!

luckily i am usually even quicker off the line than these fools, but i sure know what you mean.

Out here in Silicon Valley, almost all intersections have a green left arrow light so that left-turning cars go first before the cars going straight get their green light.

good point. i should clarify that this particular situation occurs when there is no turn light. the car feels motivated to gun it across traffic because they may not have another good opportunity to turn. And also, he'll likely be holding up traffic behind him while he waits to turn. Everyone will be honking for him to move. it's really a crappy situation which happens all to often in this area.

This maneuver happens at nearly every red to green light transistion in the Boston area. It happens so often through traffic will usually pause or even wave the left turner through the intersection even if they don't make the move. This maneuver is dangerous for everyone involved not only cyclists.
Craig

Careful how quick you move out when the light goes green. You may be taken out by a car coming from the left who gassed it when his light went amber, but didnt quite make it in time.

I've only seen this move done ONCE in my 8 years in Vancouver.

Whats more common here (at intersections without a green left arrow) is for 3 cars to turn left through the yellow/red transition. Normally two cars will fit.. but theres always that third guy who doesn't want to wait for another cycle of the light, and guns it through after its gone red.

What really bugs me is when the two or three cars BEHIND the lead jackass try to follow him through...

I've only seen this move done ONCE in my 8 years in Vancouver.

Whats more common here (at intersections without a green left arrow) is for 3 cars to turn left through the yellow/red transition. Normally two cars will fit.. but theres always that third guy who doesn't want to wait for another cycle of the light, and guns it through after its gone red.

ah, yeah. i remember that from my days in Arizona. that one at least is a little more predicatable.

And when the light turns green is when pedestrians will be crossing the street. I've kicked my share of car doors/ fenders for morons who pull this move while I'm in the crosswalk.

Actually, I find that some crazy cyclists will go straight when the advance-turn signal is on for opposing traffic; thus, I'm still standing in the lane looking like a dumbass. I do follow behind cars when the light turns amber/red (about halfway, so if a car did plow through, the car would get hit and not me), when it's customary for the leading cars to make their turn.

When I lived in Boston and Providence I found that maneuver was the norm. It's kind of an unspoken rule of cluster-f*ck traffic back there and you're likely to get rear-ended and honked at if you're in the left turn lane and you don't do the fast psycho left.

Never seen it in the Pac NW, though. Of course, we stand in the rain on an empty street waiting for the walk signal. Go figure.

ah, yeah. i remember that from my days in Arizona. that one at least is a little more predicatable.
It (left turners running red, not the jumping green the OP talks about) is so common here that its odd when it doesn't happen. I have a video of 5 cars that were behind the left turn stop line when the light turned red all going thru!

I've only had left turners jump the green on me going straight 2-3 times. It has only happend when I am on a smaller street crossing an 7 lane arterial. Having a bright headlight (in day) and positioning self left biased in the straight lane helps prevent it. But I never would jump the green, way too dangerous as x-traffic most often than not runs the just turned red.

Al

I've never seen that particular trick, although it is really common here for people to run the yellow/red late enough that you never want to jump a green. Heck, I've done it on my bike.

Of course, I'm also never invisible. I dress to be seen from outer space.

I've seen that a lot around here. When I'm driving and am in front, and see someone inching in the left turn lane, I make it a point to (very carefully, making sure there's no pedestrian or cycle traffic in the crosswalk) get right out into the intersection on the green. It's a game of chicken. About half the time I stop, half the time the other guy winds up having to slam on his brakes, then he hangs out in the intersection while all the cars going straight get through.

As far as people turning after the red, when I was driving in the Detroit suburbs a while back, it was common for cars to continue for 4 or 5 cars after the red. I once saw a semi truck go through after 4 cars after the red.

Yeah. I hate this. I tend to stare drivers down when I'm stopped at a red though. I will also signal if I'm turning or point straight ahead if I'm unsure the driver gets what I'm going to do.

I think drivers assume that since it will take us some time to get going that it's ok to pull this kind of garbage. The problem, like the other posters pointed out, is that the drivers behind the first idiot might try to pull the same stupid trick, and are MUCH less likely to see you. If you see a car start to do this, you're better off just stopping or turning right (evasive action if it's too late to stop safely).

I see cyclists jumping lights around here all the time. This is REALLY dumb.

What really bugs me is when the two or three cars BEHIND the lead jackass try to follow him through...
I forgot about that trick from my time in New England. New England does have some messed up traffic including renaming roads every mile or less, few if any street markers, traffic rotories, and freeway shoulders becoming lanes during rush hour. Ofcourse the yankees do know how to navigate a rotary/traffic circle unlike traffic in Cleveland where there are a few circles.
Craig

That's why I feel safer at night, because they can often see from a mile away that I'm already going through before they even get to pull that move. The worst though is when some idiot driver of a bus or truck does that and gets stuck.

I see cyclists jumping lights around here all the time. This is REALLY dumb.

unless of course your a commuter riding the route everyday and you jump the light EXACTLY for the reason of not getting one of these idiots in your way...

i know my lights and i stand by the fact that the safest way through some of them is to jump the gun! of course i would never do his until i understood the lights cycle...

unless of course your a commuter riding the route everyday and you jump the light EXACTLY for the reason of not getting one of these idiots in your way...

i know my lights and i stand by the fact that the safest way through some of them is to jump the gun! of course i would never do his until i understood the lights cycle...

Lights are predictable. Drivers are not.

i heard this reffered to as a "pittsburgh left"

It is indeed the "Pittsburgh Left," an accepted traffic principle here. Cars wait patiently if they see an opposing car w/ a turn signal, and often flash their lights to let the turner know that it is OK to turn. I agree that it is dangerous -- especially when pedestrians are present, b/c a pedestrian in the crosswalk may not be seen by the left-turning driver, who must stop (hopefully) and risk being hit by on-coming traffic.

It does work well, though, where there is only one lane of traffic and a long line of cars that would be held up by a car trying to turn left (on narrow, hilly streets).

Since I pull the maneuver Tim's talking about from time to time, I also prepare for it when I'm riding so I'm not at all surprised when it does happen. If you anticipate what a driver's going to do because you're also a driver, then it makes things easier when you're riding.

I also don't consider it high on the dangerous list. It is rude as it is done mainly when perceived slow moving vehicles are in front of line, it shows when drivers perceive that a cyclist is a slow moving vehicle (which we are as far as top speed, but not in terms of acceleration)
I don't classify it as high on dangerous list IF cyclist and motorist are both starting from a stop. One can quickly see what is happening and either back off or take the risk to be very assertive and stop it.

Al

i have to say, currently, that it's my number one item to watch out for. of all the near accidents i've had, it's almost always been due to this. i have other problems too, like anyone else, but i think this one takes the cake for me. too often i have been almost turned into roadkill.

It may be scary for the oncoming cyclist when a driver pulls what I now know is called a "Pittsburgh left", but it's even scarier for that driver's passenger. I've been riding shotgun and found myself going across the intersection diagonally with opposing traffic bearing down on me, and I did NOT like it.

Of course, I'm also never invisible. I dress to be seen from outer space.

Without a telescope!

I rode with some guys that like to pull the "jump the green" trick once. No thanks. I typically take up position behind or beside the first car in line, depending on the particular situation. I don't want to be the first one out in an intersection.

when i was in pittsburgh over new years i heard this reffered to as a "pittsburgh left" i dunno if they call it that all over the burgh and i am guessing they didn't pioneer the move there but i found it funny anyway!


Max: you're spot on, when we have company visiting I always warn them about the Pittsburgh Left.
It's like a birthright around here. Go Steelers!

As annoying as they are, sometimes cars are good protection from OTHER cars. Sometimes I cross an intersection in the shadow of a moving truck, so that I know that there's no way a turning car can hurt me. Once I'm 2/3 across, I drop back behind the truck and continue as before.