Advocacy & Safety - (Just Barely) Hit this AM - the rights and wrongs

Here's the spot:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=corvallis&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&gl=us&ei=1pLwSoY0lJCyA62SlYQG&ved=0CA8Q8gEwAA&hq=&hnear=Corvallis,+Benton,+Oregon&ll=44.571737,-123.290473&spn=0.000833,0.001725&z=19&layer=c&cbll=44.571739,-123.290591&panoid=kDyowOeaZiszXYeAEmUKew&cbp=12,306.24,,0,5

This isn't really at all what I'd consider a bad intersection, but I've had a problem here before.

I was booking down Harrison after getting a green light onto that street. A couple of cars were behind me and I was aware of them. By this point I'm approaching the intersection and like always, I'm looking over my shoulder (and eventually right to the left of me) for turn signals or any sign the driver might be turning (Corvallis residents are not too good with turn signals I've noticed for a bit of foreshadowing).

As the car closest to me slowly started drifting towards the center part of the lane I kept going figuring I was OK. Instead, the car makes a very rapid (apparently last minute) right across the bike lane. I see this in time, lock up both brakes, scream/yell something, then slap up against their trunk.

No injuries other than the slightly out-of-wack handlebar angle of my bike. But it could have been bad if I wouldn't have seen it, or even if I had started to brake later.

I think the only thing I did right was to be very cognisent of what was going on around me and...
NOT LOSING MY TEMPER.

An earlier version of me would have let the driver and passenger have it. They were very apologetic, stopped, got out of the car to make sure I was OK. Still. It was hard for me to tell them it was OK and to not worry about it.

Had my bike been F*'d, I would have probably collected some sort of information but needless to say I was not thinking clearly. I'm glad to be in one piece but all things considered I think I handled the situation fairly well.

Learned lesson today: just because they don't have their turn signal on, and are not looking like they are planning to turn, take nothing for granted. Also, keeping a level head makes everything better.

I think from here on out I'm getting out of the bike lane in this scenario, and just getting behind the right-turning vehicle. This has caused problems for me before though, because often the driver will signal for me to go around on the right...

Glad you're alright.

I think from here on out I'm getting out of the bike lane in this scenario, and just getting behind the right-turning vehicle. This has caused problems for me before though, because often the driver will signal for me to go around on the right...

Get behind them to their left and pass on their left. Even if they stop to want you to pass on right you can still pass on left.

There is a double traffic light as if there were two lanes. Therefore the bike lane for prior to the intersection should be dotted and marked as a shared bike/car-turning-R lane. You could then move to the LH side of that lane, or even to the RH side of the straight thru lane.

There is a double traffic light as if there were two lanes. Therefore the bike lane for prior to the intersection should be dotted and marked as a shared bike/car-turning-R lane. You could then move to the LH side of that lane, or even to the RH side of the straight thru lane.

Yep agreed. Dashed lines I move on the line at least if not more. If they use turn signals I would be on the left side of them pas pas pass. Of course it could be different there than here.

This incident highlights a fundamental flaw in Oregon traffic law and a common misunderstanding of California traffic law. In California, motorists are required to merge into the (dashed) bike lane on final approach to a right turn, but many bicyclists and motorists remain unaware of this. Oregon prohibits motorists from making this very sensible move curbside, on the theory that bicyclists should operate as pedestrians. As a 5mi/8km per day walker/jogger, I face right hook peril at two intersections every monring. At those times, I would feel much safer on the bike, positioning myself farther from the curb.

When I ride solo and see a car with the right turn signal on, I always try to position myself behind it and to the left, "noisebeam" style. Things get messy and ambiguous when I ride with a club whose members often continue to the right of right-turning vehicles, and the motorists reinforce this bad habit by pulling up abreast of or even ahead of the bicyclists and then motioning for us to cross their right turn path.

An earlier version of me would have let the driver and passenger have it. They were very apologetic, stopped, got out of the car to make sure I was OK. Still. It was hard for me to tell them it was OK and to not worry about it.
Good not to lose your temper -- I've lost mine with idiot drivers, and always felt like a jerk once I'd cooled down -- but you don't have to tell them not to worry about it, either. You can accept their apology but still tell them that they screwed up badly, and to please pay attention when they're driving. They've got no real choice but to promise they will...and this is one moment when they may well internalize what they're saying, and realize that they're not the flawless driver they've always believed they were. (Because the alternative is to think of themselves as a coward who groveled to get out of trouble, even when it "wasn't their fault.")



I think from here on out I'm getting out of the bike lane in this scenario, and just getting behind the right-turning vehicle. This has caused problems for me before though, because often the driver will signal for me to go around on the right...
As others have said, pass them on the left. Smile at them to let them know you're aware they were trying to be nice, but pass on their left.