Commuting - who was at fault, me or the truck?

okay, so tuesday i had my first run in w/ a vehicle, and i actually got side swiped, but luckily we were both barely moving. here's the scenario:

I was coming up on a busy turn where its more of like a merge type area. I tried to get over immediately, and i looked in my mirror and saw a truck was turning right...so i figured i'd just do a quick dash to get in front of him to get out of his way ASAP. he started honking frantically, so i wasn't sure what he was going to do, so i slow down so he can pass....he honked more, so i start to gun it again, all of the sudden he takes off, goes around me and side swipes me. it doesn't hurt me, but my mirror does a 180, i stop and stare at him and he gives me a dirty look from his truck, not stopping to check to see if i'm okay, and I KNOW HE KNEW HE HIT ME!

what did i do wrong? this was the 2nd time a car/truck went around me and tried to squeeze by when they did not have room in a turn/merge lane rather than staying behind me, which would add about 15 seconds to their travel time and i don't know if i should handle it differently next time, and stop and make sure nobody is coming. People around here do not know how to drive w/ a bike around, and biking is very uncommon.....as there is only 1-2 roads with bike lanes, and even then, people people will use the bike lanes as turning lanes or use wide shoulders as turning lanes. I've only ridden to/from work about 5 days over the past 2 weeks and have already almost gotten sideswiped/hit about 3 times, so i don't know if the solution is moving to another city, which i'll be doing as soon as i finish nursing school anyway....because I HATE THIS CITY!

That's why you should take the lane.

EDIT: And if I had to guess by your description, I would say you're at fault because you effectively tried to pass on the right.

Sounds like a normal city.
Take the lane and block vehicles from passing in a turn.
What size truck are you talking about?
Retired truck driver, now road rider.

i wasn't really trying to pass on the right, i was trying to stay on the left and they tried to squeeze by me.

Is it possible the truck driver knew he had some kind of brake failure going on? I'm stretching here, but the way he acted would at least be consistent with that. Last winter ( almost 18 months ago ) was a bad one here, and I saw a driver downtown approach a light that had turned red, and start beeping a lot, sort of like you described. The pedestrians crossing the street at the time seemed to get the message, and waited until all cars came to a complete stop. This one, in particular, was moving side to side and came to a rest halfway into the cross-walk. Probably the driver wasn't used to driving in snow and ice, and didn't know how to stop properly. It's pretty unlikely, but maybe you live in Fairbanks and bike on snow, or this was at the bottom of a mountain and the driver's brakes were melting, or something.

Anyway, a lot of cyclists use eye-contact as a sign that a driver is aware of us; in reverse, when a car beeps frantically, I try to stay as far away from them as possible. I can't really picture the situation you described in enough detail to have anything intelligent to say, but that's the one lesson I'd take away from this story.

Is it possible the truck driver knew he had some kind of brake failure going on? I'm stretching here, but the way he acted would at least be consistent with that. Last winter ( almost 18 months ago ) was a bad one here, and I saw a driver downtown approach a light that had turned red, and start beeping a lot, sort of like you described. The pedestrians crossing the street at the time seemed to get the message, and waited until all cars came to a complete stop. This one, in particular, was moving side to side and came to a rest halfway into the cross-walk. Probably the driver wasn't used to driving in snow and ice, and didn't know how to stop properly. It's pretty unlikely, but maybe you live in Fairbanks and bike on snow, or this was at the bottom of a mountain and the driver's brakes were melting, or something.

Anyway, a lot of cyclists use eye-contact as a sign that a driver is aware of us; in reverse, when a car beeps frantically, I try to stay as far away from them as possible. I can't really picture the situation you described in enough detail to have anything intelligent to say, but that's the one lesson I'd take away from this story.

no ice, as I am in florida, also no mountains. I'm still trying to shake the nerves of "taking the lane" and I am not good at riding while looking backwards to make eye contact, but it is obviously two things I need to work on.

It is called a "right hook" where a motorist rushes to pass a cyclist and immediately turns across the cyclist path. The truck driver was at fault.

To avoid the problem, as noted above, as you approach an intersection, move to the middle of the traffic lane (stay out of the bike lane at intersections) and ignore the jerk's honking.

Next time a motorist hits you, may I suggest you write down the license plate # and report a hit and run to the police.

no ice, as I am in florida, also no mountains. I'm still trying to shake the nerves of "taking the lane" and I am not good at riding while looking backwards to make eye contact, but it is obviously two things I need to work on.

Mirror helps greatly.

http://www.messengermirror.com/

i've got a mirror, thats why i knew he was coming and tried to speed up...as i was speeding up to get out of his way he started honking at me and finally just tried to fly by. we don't really have bike lanes here, we generally have 2 straight lanes and a turn lane for left and right, or 2 lefts and 1 right, etc. and a small space(probably about 2 ft or so) between the turn lanes and main lane. i've been staying in the middle of the lane in between the right turn lane and right main lane..or at least trying to when i'm not getting ran off the road.

Sounds like you were doing everything right, or at least trying to. I know taking the lane can be scary, but it's a lot less scary than what happened to you. Screw up your courage, take the lane.

I know exactly how you feel, I dealt with an intersection/merge section exactly like this for months. Sucked. Well okay, not exactly, no one ever actually hit me.

There is lots of anticipation and timing involve when you have to move from one lane to the next when those lane you are in becomes left turn or right turns only lane. I have one stretch where the right lane will become a freeway entrance lane and car from behind is already picking speed while still in the city road so that they can get on the freeway faster. Sometime even taking the lane can be an adventure in my case.

The key is about total awarness and trying to time yourself with what car is approaching well before getting to the intersection. I'm not talking about 100ft but rather at least 200+ft of planning. Try to remember cars you do spot in your mirror can be right next to you in a blink of an eye. During that blink, you can easily lose your oppurtunity and timing to take the lane or merge over. Time your speed way ahead so that you will be between pockets of cars when you approach the section where the lane become right turn only. Then go ahead and take the lane, recheck to see if cars on the left lane wants to enter into your lane, then safely enter into the main lane.

For more good ideas on safe cycling, read:
http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

Sounds like you were acting unpredictably - speeding up, slowing down, etc. From his POV, he may have thought you were purposefully screw-ing with him.

I'd say you were both at fault. That is a possibility, afterall. (So is "nobody" is at fault).

Joint fault here. By being indecisive, you were acting unpredictably, and the truck driver was being a typical cager.

I'm still trying to shake the nerves of "taking the lane" and I am not good at riding while looking backwards to make eye contact, but it is obviously two things I need to work on.

1. Get over to CommuteOrlando.com (http://www.commuteorlando.com/). They have some excellent tips and tutorials with videos and animations for navigating the streets on a bike. From the main page, start with the articles under "On The Road" in the left sidebar and "Smart Moves" in the right sidebar. One of the best articles is called You Lead the Dance (http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2008/09/15/you-lead-the-dance/). These are excellent resources.


http://vimeo.com/9827254

Look at the encounter starting about 30 seconds in. The car appears to be approaching very quickly from behind, yet the cyclist's assertive positioning and signaling turns what at first looks like a dangerous situation into nothing at all.

2. If you don't have one, get a mirror. It's a lot easier than turning all the way around to look at traffic behind you. You can let them know you know they're there with hand signals (arm down diagonally = slow, etc.) With my mirror I can see the approaching traffic and it looks a lot more like what you see in the video above than it does like the imagined terrors that used to scare the bejeebers out of me before I had the mirror.

3. Get comfortable with signalling. Driving in traffic is interactive. The better you can communicate with other vehicles, the less likely they will get frustrated with you. If your intent is clear, they know how to handle you.

I think the biggest thing is to be confident, consistent, and therefore predictable.

I tend to agree with Psyclepath.

I can't recall a time when speeding up to get out of the way of a car traveling the same direction as I (before he started his turn) worked out in my favor. A helmet-mounted rearview mirror saves me a lot of grief, allowing me to position myself better to avoid such dangers.

I can't tell if it's pertinent in this situation, but sometimes, when my clear path (bike lane, right lane, shoulder, whatever) disappears into a right turn lane, and reappears on the other side of the intersection, I'll move up to the light on the right side of the 1st car in the lane going straight, allowing cars to turn right. Once the light turns, I'll jump thru the intersection, back to the position I was in before the path was interrupted.

I'm more assertive than that: I will get in line with the line of traffic, right in the middle of the lane. After going through the intersection and making sure all is clear, then I will drift back to the right and let traffic through.

I'm more assertive than that: I will get in line with the line of traffic, right in the middle of the lane. After going through the intersection and making sure all is clear, then I will drift back to the right and let traffic through.

That's also an option I'll exercise, it really depends on the situation at hand.

True, man.

Don't think the cager liked your "quick dash" which slowed him down.

Since I started taking the lane, no more squeezing and right hooks, not even close. I take the right lane and ride either dead in the center or in the left side of it, where the left wheels of a car would be, never to the right to make it clear I'm taking the lane on purpose. If anyone honks at me I gesture to pass me and the ignore subsequent honking. If there are cars parked on the right, which cause riding all the way to the right dangerous, it's perfectly legal in NYC to take the full line.

I'm more assertive than that: I will get in line with the line of traffic, right in the middle of the lane. After going through the intersection and making sure all is clear, then I will drift back to the right and let traffic through.

This is pretty much how I roll. Seems to really work out well. Like they say, the more predictable you are, and the more you follow the rules of the road and act like a vehicle, the safer you are. This really seems to be true in my brief experience.

Since I started taking the lane, no more squeezing and right hooks, not even close. I take the right lane and ride either dead in the center or in the left side of it, where the left wheels of a car would be, never to the right to make it clear I'm taking the lane on purpose. If anyone honks at me I gesture to pass me and the ignore subsequent honking. If there are cars parked on the right, which cause riding all the way to the right dangerous, it's perfectly legal in NYC to take the full line.

agreed. i take the lane mostly when going through intersections so i don't get right hooked. cars in nyc take it well, i haven't been honked at yet.