Advocacy & Safety - Wrongway cyclist and turning left

I was driving today and making a right hand turn at an intersection. Just as I am approaching the apex, a wrongway cyclist, that is also turning left, is coming right at me. I startled a little and had to alter my line and go to the outside in order to leave him room. He was going fairly fast and seemed to know what he was doing (in the sense that he was a fairly smooth rider, but he was clueless in riding the wrong way) in that he didn't panic, but if I hadn't altered my line, he would have bounced off the side of my car.

Not that it needs repeating, but people just aren't looking for someone riding a bicycle the wrong way.

Last one of these I saw was doing the same, except on the sidewalk in an area where there was onstreet parking and most of that taken. Meaning even if a driver was looking he would be at least partially hidden much of the time. It it hadn't been that I was counting cyclists (for a thread on this board) it is almost sure it would have worked out that he would have hit me.

Some people are just brain dead or they want to be awarded a Darwin Award. The other day my coworker and I were coming back from our remote office. Normally either one of us would use our bikes, but we were taking a bunch of equipment over so we had to use the minivan. We were traveling back along a road that has just spent 2 years being over-hauled and made cycling friendly with descent shoulders that are clearly marked as cycling lanes and with large arrows to help even a moron figure out what direction they should travel. The road is 2 lanes on each side + the cycling lane, and is separated from on coming traffic by a nice median as well. For those in the Buffalo area I'll mention this was Sweethome Road just a little north of SUNY at Buffalo. So we are driving down the road in the right hand lane and there is a guy riding his bike the wrong way and he is in the middle of OUR lane. To his left he should see the regular pictures of a cyclist (to him upside down) on the shoulded AND the arrow that is pointin at him. We almost wanted to his him... well not really, but come on. These are the people that cagers complain about. See we spend all this money on cycling lanes and they still need to block the road... These the the kind of cycling morons on the road give all cyclists a bad rap.

Is it realy that hard to ride with traffic. I just don't get it.

Happy riding,
André

One of the reasons I hate wrong way riders is that they're in my way.

A few times, I've come up to an intersection and made a right only to find a wrong way cyclist right in my (small, thin) path.

Broke a bike once riding straight into one. Bent wheel, fork and frame.

fear the wrong-wayers.

Did I mention that what makes it worse around turns is that you can't see it coming?

Turn the corner, and soon you'll see the coronor.

Happened up here this spring. Except it was a roller blader on the wrong side of the road coming around the corner. The cyclist died.

Did I mention that what makes it worse around turns is that you can't see it coming?

Turn the corner, and soon you'll see the coronor.

Happened up here this spring. Except it was a roller blader on the wrong side of the road coming around the corner. The cyclist died.

This raises an interesting question. Is a roller bladder considered a pedestrian? Pedestrians are supposed to travel facing traffic. Assuming a roller bladder is a pedestrian who had the right of way?

This raises an interesting question. Is a roller bladder considered a pedestrian? Pedestrians are supposed to travel facing traffic. Assuming a roller bladder is a pedestrian who had the right of way?

In some areas, skaters are legally supposed to behave like bike riders or other vehicle operators. I actually think this makes more sense, because 1. They are probably moving MUCH faster than a pedestrian, and 2. They can't easily step off the road to get out of the way of oncoming traffic like a ped can.

This morning I was in the left lane on a divided road with two lanes each way and a grassy median between. Suddenly the car in front of me swerved right to reveal two teenage girls coming against traffic against the curb of the median. I flashed my headlights and honked as I too had to move right, but they never broke stride. And when they get clipped they'll scream it's the motorist's fault, of course. :mad:

In some areas, skaters are legally supposed to behave like bike riders or other vehicle operators. I actually think this makes more sense, because 1. They are probably moving MUCH faster than a pedestrian, and 2. They can't easily step off the road to get out of the way of oncoming traffic like a ped can.

The conventional pedestrian contraflow wisdom makes sense only on shoulderless roads with few intersections or driveway cuts. The biggest problem is that motorists turning right onto a road from a driveway or side street almost never look to the right.

I've been getting a lot of wrong way bike riders lately, at times I wish for winter to get here, and send them back to sitting in their homes or cars. Just had one yesterday, I was shifting into high gear, going through one the most accident prone intersections in my area, and was scanning the area when woman on a bike going the wrong way moves out in front of me from behind a parked vehicle. I definitely left a few miles worth of rubber on the pavement, and put my lightweight bicycle's manuvering agility to the test, and all the while, she just kept on smiling at me as we passed. No harm, no foul, I guess I shouldn't be too angry.

You probably should be angry because wrong way riders are one of a cyclists worst risks (if you're a cyclist who rides on the proper side of the road).

Imagine, turning a corner and meeting face to face, someone directly in your path with no opportunity to get out of the way of a direct hit that would combine both of your forward momentums. At least if you encountered a wrong way cyclist on a straightaway, you could see it coming and get out of the way. Around the corner, less than a second to impact.

It's bad for the wrong way cyclist to do this because of the possibility of hitting a car coming around the corner, but on average, cars are a little out from the curb more than a cyclist. This gives the wrong way cyclist his room to ride. The cyclist usually turns the corner close to the curb which is where the wrong way cyclist would be to stay out of the way of the oncoming traffic.

Spring time and summer time are terrible for this because all those fair-weather, wrong-way cyclists start riding. I usually pray for rain so they stay off their bikes.

Cyclists pay for this type of behavior more than drivers because the car just gets a dent. The cyclists are hurt in these collisions. There's a greater incentive for cyclists to battle this type of riding than motorists have.

Also bad is being stuck between parked cars and a set of streetcar/tram tracks when a wrong way cyclist decides to head into your path with a car in the center lane. Not much room to maneuver at all...
one week I ran into 4 of them... I yelled out to all of them that they're going the wrong way... week later... I encounter none. Hopefully my message got through :D

...roller bladder...

hahaha:roflmao: