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06-09-11, 10:14 AM
Seriously, is there something in the stars about this year being the Year of the Right Hook? I've been clipped twice in the past week and a half.
Last week:
In the bike lane on a standard 3-lane (one each way, center R/L turns) with bike lanes on either side. I'm in the bike lane, blinkie flashing away, reflective gear, big white bucket pannier on the traffic side of my bike. Pretty tough to not see me. Kid passes me as many cars are doing, but then when his passenger mirror is even with my front wheel he decides he absolutely must stop into the gas station on my right. Plows right into me and takes me along for a ride.
Incedent was resolved, no majour injuries to self or bike, irritation level = 8/10
Yesterday:
Irritation level settled to 2/10, riding home enjoying my day. Same bike/blinkies/pannier. Bright green Tour de Cure jersey. Using crosswalk with 2 other cyclists and a pedestrian. You can see the purple line in the pic indicating my path, and the blue line indicating the automobile, with a circle at the point of impact.
Again, standing on corner with a group of people waiting for the light. Other trail users on opposite side of intersection waiting to cross. Traffic flowing steadily (right to left) from the exit ramp into that side street, so the (blue line) turning guy is irritated that he can't make a right on red. He's edging forward waiting for a gap, and I pretty much knew he'd skip the light the minute he had a chance. Sure enough, when the crossing light changed and I slowly rolled into the intersection, he took that as the perfect opportunity to make his right and clipped my front wheel (I timed it pretty well). I stayed upright and dragged as much of my bike along the side of his car as possible. Again, no damage to bike or person; vehicle sustained significant damage when he decided the best idea was to hit-skip, and instead of stopping he gunned his engine and took off. Irritation level back up to 8/10. I managed to get his passenger tail light as he bolted.
So, while I will claim partial responsibility for that second one, only in the fact that I knew what was coming and unlike other trail users I wasn't willing to yield my right of way, had I only been paying attention to the crossing light and zipped out into the intersection the situation would have played out significantly worse for me.
Is it the weather? Alignment of the stars? Something in the water? It's not like I'm riding in a zig-zag between the bike and traffic lanes, splitting lanes, and whipping through intersections against the light. Following the rules in the recent past has seemed to get me if not respect, at least just treated with the boredom of "ho-hum, just another guy on the road."
How about anyone else? Noticing drivers being more aggressive with failure to yield situations these days, or am I just having a bad streak?
205443
Last week:
In the bike lane on a standard 3-lane (one each way, center R/L turns) with bike lanes on either side. I'm in the bike lane, blinkie flashing away, reflective gear, big white bucket pannier on the traffic side of my bike. Pretty tough to not see me. Kid passes me as many cars are doing, but then when his passenger mirror is even with my front wheel he decides he absolutely must stop into the gas station on my right. Plows right into me and takes me along for a ride.
Incedent was resolved, no majour injuries to self or bike, irritation level = 8/10
Yesterday:
Irritation level settled to 2/10, riding home enjoying my day. Same bike/blinkies/pannier. Bright green Tour de Cure jersey. Using crosswalk with 2 other cyclists and a pedestrian. You can see the purple line in the pic indicating my path, and the blue line indicating the automobile, with a circle at the point of impact.
Again, standing on corner with a group of people waiting for the light. Other trail users on opposite side of intersection waiting to cross. Traffic flowing steadily (right to left) from the exit ramp into that side street, so the (blue line) turning guy is irritated that he can't make a right on red. He's edging forward waiting for a gap, and I pretty much knew he'd skip the light the minute he had a chance. Sure enough, when the crossing light changed and I slowly rolled into the intersection, he took that as the perfect opportunity to make his right and clipped my front wheel (I timed it pretty well). I stayed upright and dragged as much of my bike along the side of his car as possible. Again, no damage to bike or person; vehicle sustained significant damage when he decided the best idea was to hit-skip, and instead of stopping he gunned his engine and took off. Irritation level back up to 8/10. I managed to get his passenger tail light as he bolted.
So, while I will claim partial responsibility for that second one, only in the fact that I knew what was coming and unlike other trail users I wasn't willing to yield my right of way, had I only been paying attention to the crossing light and zipped out into the intersection the situation would have played out significantly worse for me.
Is it the weather? Alignment of the stars? Something in the water? It's not like I'm riding in a zig-zag between the bike and traffic lanes, splitting lanes, and whipping through intersections against the light. Following the rules in the recent past has seemed to get me if not respect, at least just treated with the boredom of "ho-hum, just another guy on the road."
How about anyone else? Noticing drivers being more aggressive with failure to yield situations these days, or am I just having a bad streak?
205443