Folding Bikes - Well that paid for itself quick! It saved my life.

Will get specific only because I know there's a couple guys here in Oki who are on this board and can visualize this.

Got a planet bike headlight yesterday. Dynamo Blaze. 1 watt. $69.

Today I go to the gym on base to yoga and I'm riding home up highway 130 to 330. I pass the base Fire Department and there's an old bus stop pull off on the left side of the road. I don't think it's used anymore.

Anyway there is an American car (Y Plate, Us Americans all have plates with a Y on them. We call them Yankee Plates). Anyway she's sitting in the bus pulloff on her cell phone. I start to pass her on the right and she folds the phone and immediately pulls out. She looked in the mirror for like 1/10th of a second and never saw me. No doubt in my mind she's gonna knock me off my bike.

Even I can see I'm not going to die unless I fall over and get run over. No clue what's behind me.

Right before she impacts me she just stands on her brakes and stops. Her door is literally touching my Cane Creek Bar End.

She rolls down her window and basically screams "OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY, ONLY THING I SAW WAS YOUR LIGHT BLINKING"

Day before I had a Topeak battery powered LED light on there and had it been there today it would have been on and the story may have been the same but I don't know. The Planet Bike light is a heck of a lot brighter.

No harm, no foul but I'm lucky as I can be. I really really hate cell phones. Even when people pull over to use them it's a distraction. She started moving as she was folding.

She was upset enough that me saying "WTF" to her wouldn't have added anything to the situation. And she was very nice and very concerned. She didn't need me to tell her she screwed up.

John

John, I'm happy that you are okay. This is one more reason why cars and cellphone just don't mix.

I wished they banned drivers from using cellphones.

I really really hate cell phones. Even when people pull over to use them it's a distraction. She started moving as she was folding.

I hate the people who use them. Too many car drivers have the view that the car is an extension of the couch at home and that they don't have to operate with a serious sense of responsibility.

Here it is illegal to drive while using a non hands free cellphone. There is evidence though that even hands free phones render a driver a worse performer than a guy who is over the drink drive limit. We have had some court cases where drivers have been given jail up to three years for causing death by dangerous driving (killing someone while driving on the phone). In one case a young woman sent ten text messages in the few minutes before she ran into a car stationary at the lights and killed the occupant. I really hate these people - I see them all the time. Once I was riding along a road and saw a large 4x4 coming towards me with a woman looking at her phone for about a hundred yards. I swear, she never looked forward for the whole stretch, and when she did it was for about a tenth of a second. She didn't even see my two finger gesture or my apoplectic expression.

Cell phones don't MAKE ****ty drivers, they just give ****ty drivers something else to be ****ty about.

The lady getting off the cell phone didn't make her not take the time to check PROPERLY for a clearing to pull into.

Don't blame the phone, blame the driver.

Cell phones don't MAKE ****ty drivers, they just give ****ty drivers something else to be ****ty about.

The lady getting off the cell phone didn't make her not take the time to check PROPERLY for a clearing to pull into.

Don't blame the phone, blame the driver.

:thumb: Brain wasn't fully engaged prior to putting car in gear;) Happens way too often, call the human factor if you will.

Aaron:)

I'm happy it turned out okay. Here is a modest proposal. If a person has two good arms and legs, no one under the age of seventy can drive a car with an automatic transmission. With minor exceptions all operators under that age would have to drive a vehicle with a clutch and gear shift transmission.
I hesitate to use the word "standard" because some drivers think an automatic transmission is the standard.

Just think, what if operators of motor vehicles had to think about what they are doing!!

I'm happy it turned out okay. Here is a modest proposal. If a person has two good arms and legs, no one under the age of seventy can drive a car with an automatic transmission. With minor exceptions all operators under that age would have to drive a vehicle with a clutch and gear shift transmission.
I hesitate to use the word "standard" because some drivers think an automatic transmission is the standard.

Just think, what if operators of motor vehicles had to think about what they are doing!!

A clutch and manual shift makes no difference. In the UK manual shifts ARE standard (in fact you are a bit soft if you have an automatic) and we STILL have people on the phone and driving. They just use the 'wrong' hand to change gear with and so have NO hands on the wheel! And van drivers are the worst offenders.

Who the heck do they find to talk to all the time? (Or maybe its just that I have less friends!)

I'd happily get medieval about this issue - never mind the silly British £60 fine and licence penalty points for talking in a phone while driving - how about we fasten them by the wrists to the back of a cart and whip the b*st*rds all the way through town? Let's be clear, these people have happily and voluntarily decided that talking to someone who isn't there is worth the risk of driving without attention and running over a cyclist, a dog, a child or anything else that comes their way.

....... Too many car drivers have the view that the car is an extension of the couch at home and that they don't have to operate with a serious sense of responsibility.
......

Agreed.

Most "drivers" I encounter are just too lazy to even slide their fingers over to the indicator stalk to signal!

I wear a mirror all the time I'm riding (that way I have a mirror on any bike I ride) & if I see a vehicle behind start to signal, I know (s)he's seen me, & hope the vehicle pulls over far enough to give me some breathing space, but if no indicator, I don't know I've been seen, & often a "driver" swerves at the last moment - probably on autopilot & half asleep.

The driving examiners need to be far, far tougher than they are currently.

John

Too right John. There should be an intelligence test for a start. Set right, that would take half of the beggars off the road. We have too many people driving who are about two standard deviations down from the mean in intelligence.

Several years ago I was on a road bike doing around 20mph and over taking cars that were in the usuall congestion at rush hour. The lanes were wide, and there were no junctions so I over took on the inside and a women driver started to shift toward me. I was not concerned as I had pently of space and in addition there was a bus pull in on my inside for around 20 metres.

The women continued heading towards me even when I moved in to the bus pull in. I had no choice but to bang on her side window to make her aware of my presence. She was on a mobile and was no concentrating at all.

I worked out the fool was distracted and was following the line of the kerb not the road !!!

When she over took me she blasted her horn just to reinforce how much of a fool she actually was, after nearly causing an accident to a cyclist not even on the road at the time.

John, I'm glad to hear you escaped yet another close call...

Better for us to be brightest & best seen as possible, esp. for those drivers with everything except safety on their minds...

Stay safe all,
K.

would it be a close phone call :D

ive thought about talking photos of car drivers on the phone, but know the police wouldnt do much about it

It's illegal here to use cell phones without handsfree kits. In fact, the law is very strict about it. You can get jailed, heavily fined and even *gasp* have your mobile confiscated.

Our current laws:


A first-timer convicted of handphone driving shall be liable to a fine of up to $1000/- ,or jailed for not more than 6 months, or both. The offender may also be disqualified from driving. In the event that the offender is not disqualified from driving, he will be given 12 demerit points. If convicted, a second-time or subsequent offender shall be liable to a maximum fine of $2000/-, or jailed for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.

The offence may also be compounded with a composition amount of up to S$230/-. The offender will also be given 12 demerit points.

The offender's handphone and SIM card may be seized to facilitate investigation. These may be forfeited by the court upon conviction.
It doesn't stop some motorists from using their phones without the handsfree, but it does reduce the instances. For that, I am thankful as a cyclist.

Good to know you are ok, John.

I run at least two strong blinkers myself. And an extra one on the helmet too.

I wished they banned drivers from using cellphones.

:roflmao2:I wish they banned cellphone users from driving.:roflmao2:

I'm happy it turned out okay. Here is a modest proposal. If a person has two good arms and legs, no one under the age of seventy can drive a car with an automatic transmission. With minor exceptions all operators under that age would have to drive a vehicle with a clutch and gear shift transmission.I hesitate to use the word "standard" because some drivers think an automatic transmission is the standard.

Just think, what if operators of motor vehicles had to think about what they are doing!!

I totally disagree with that.
I own a manual shift sports car that I bought as a weekend toy. In that context a manual car is fun and involving to drive. My other “car” is a big Toyota Hilux 4x4 and is an automatic..... I am after a Toyota Land Cruiser next, but I would never consider anything other than an auto in such a vehicle. Autos are far easier to drive (both on and off road) in auto guise.... for example, if I drive into work during rush-hour (rather than take my Brompton/train) I can face a 2 mile uphill crawl as I reach the city. With an auto it is a simple one –foot movement between brake and accelerator and no chance of stalling and having to grab the hand (parking) brake before you start rolling backwards into the cars behind. With a manual you risk stalling, rolling backwards and you end up with tried leg, certainly if you have a heavy clutch (like on my old Land Rover).

It does not make any difference what kind of gearbox is fitted to a vehicle... if a person has poor observational skills they will be just as prone to accidents regardless of what they are in control of...... how many times do you get people run into you with a supermarket trolley or suddenly stop in doorways etc. because they are totally oblivious to what is going on around them?

People using mobiles while driving is one of my pet hates... I frequently point at the offending driver and shake my head in disapproval. I also think that drivers should not smoke while driving either as hot ash in the lap can easily lead to a lack of concentration.

I am sure that those of us who have spent time riding cycles and motorcycles make far better drivers than non-cyclists or motorcyclists. When I am behind the wheel I know just how fast a motorbike can travel or just how small a gap a cyclist will try and squeeze through...... and I make allowances.

:roflmao2:I wish they banned cellphone users from driving.:roflmao2:

I wish they would just ban people from driving altogether...