Commuting - I was nearly in my first accident...

with another CYCLIST!!! Last night I was on my way home going north on a two-lane road when a bike darts out from a side street. I'm still not sure how I didn't T-bone him. He flew past a stop sign, which wasn't a big surprise since he was on the wrong side of the road! The corner was a blind one (especially when you're not on your side of the road). I assume that he didn't see any cars coming, but couldn't see me because of the reasons stated above:mad:

I guess this just proves that motorists are not the only idiots out there. BTW: In my 2 months of commuting, I have had no incidents with drivers:)

Another good reason to take up a comanding mid-lane position when crossing side-roads.

I had a close call with a cyclist tonight myself actually. I was riding up behind this guy at about 35km/h, giving him a wide berth to go around him when he (get this) cuts across my path at almost 90 degrees, not to make a right turn, but to position himself in such a way that he can ride on the wrong side of the road! Incredible! Luckily my instinct cut in at that point, gave me a very sharp left swerve before I had any time to think about it, and just avoided a crash.

At least it won't be a problem for much longer. With that sort of behaviour, that guy's going to end up as a trophy on someone's mantle piece very, very soon.

Yeah, I fear and loathe wrong-way cyclists to a much greater extent than I do cars. They pose a much more frequent and likely danger to me, personally, than regular traffic does.

The belief that bikes are *supposed* to go against traffic is so pervasive in urban areas that only a sustained and targeted educational campaign, one that begins with the parents who also believe this, has any hope of changing it.

Maybe some of these wealthy cyclists like Robin Williams and Jerry Seinfeld could spend some of their millions to get one started. Because it's a sure thing the government never will.

RichC

Originally posted by Rich Clark
The belief that bikes are *supposed* to go against traffic is so pervasive in urban areas that only a sustained and targeted educational campaign, one that begins with the parents who also believe this, has any hope of changing it.

Unfortunately, this belief tends to be fostered by "bicycle safety officers" who have never actually ridden far enough to see the sheer folly of it.

Wrong way cyclists account for 1 in 4 serious accidents in the US and think of how much time people spend actually wrong way cycling, maybe .1% of total cycling time is wrong way, yet 25% percent of accidents. Means that it is something like 250 to 1000 times as dangerous to do so!

I've never heard of a policy of going against the traffic. Sounds awfully dumb!?

I have had couple of close calls with other cyclists..I expect it is easy to think all us cyclists are clever and do no wrong, while all motorists are ogres, which of course is not true..close perhaps, but not true...

Cyclists riding after dark, with dark clothes and no lights really must be a hazard to themselves and everyone else.

This reminds me of yesterday's ride home.

I came up to a set of lights just as they were changing to green. I buzzed past a cyclist who had been sitting at the red. He jumped pretty quickly and sat on my wheel for several kilometres. I pointed out glass and other obstacles as we headed along at 35 to 40 km/h.

We came to the end of the bikeway and took different ways to get out onto the road. He ended up ahead of me so I sat on his wheel as we headed up a small hill.

All of a sudden he stood up to climb the hill and threw the bike backwards as he did. Just as well I was half a bike length behind him at the time.

Yep, I agree...cyclists on the wrong side of the road are a pet peeve of mine, right up there with throwing cigarette butts out the window.

The only accident that I've been in as a motoring ogre was when a bike ran into the side of my truck. I was coming out of a shopping center about 10:00 pm (pitch black) and turning right. A cyclist on the wrong side of the road, with no lights, and no helmet ended up on my hood. He was okay...but really cyclists need to ride defensively...especially at night. BTW...my brother and I decieded that the guy was likely doped up at the time.