Advocacy & Safety - Blinded by the light

This is nothing new, but since it happened to me on my bike in the same place and same time two days in a row, I thought I'd share it as a reminder.

Cycling home from work, I had forgotten that the sun was dropping behind me. I was crossing a very busy 4-lane intersection, with lots of traffic turning in and out of parking lots.
A driver turned left in front of me and I was going way to fast to stop. The only thing that saved me was several loud blasts on my whistle, and even then it seemed as if they would just keep coming until they crashed into me.

As I said, this happened in the same spot, two days in a row.

I am going to remember how and when I become totally invisible and be prepared. It's a lot easier to notice when I'm riding into the sun, than when I'm riding with the sun behind me, especially when I've been riding for an hour and I'm preoccupied with traffic.

:eek:

I often wonder just how "invisible" I am to motorists who are coming up behind me when I'm riding westbound at sunset. :(

I often wonder whether visibility is really the factor here, or whether they just had no intention of stopping. I've had this sort of thing happen at literally all hours of the day.

just remember, "motorists can never see you, and are always out to get you" be defensive out there, because no one else is going to protect you on the road :rolleyes:

on a side note, I notice a lot of people here become indecisive when they see a cyclist coming there way. (i.e. car turning out of a side street left/across traffic, I am in the right hand bike lane and going about the speed of a car, they stop look both ways then pull out a bit stop again look at me, and they will either go or wait for me to pass. or worse stop right in my way :confused: )
if you ask me motorists seem to get really confused when a cyclist is on the road.... or at least they do here in vegas.

Great safety point, Pete.

Thanks for pointing this out to everybody.