Advocacy & Safety - Be careful in Bus-lanes

Hi,

Actually, be careful EVERYWHERE...back to work after a collision with a left turning car (I was traveling 20-25 mph in a bus lane) when I was sent flying, impacting my head and left shoulder. Fortunately, I had my helmet on, and the "only" damage was a broken clavicle (since wired up) a trashed frame (never thought that Campy drop-outs would spring like that) and a chipped front wheel. Oh, and my Swiss national jersey has a hole in it.

My shoulder hurts too...<g>

Coulda been a LOT worse.

Be careful out there,
tt

Sorry to hear about your crash, Tom. It sounds alot like my collision 25 years ago, in which a left-turning motorist cut across my path, giving me a broken clavicle (non-surgical repair was successful), a concussion (today's helmets are better than the heavily-padded leather "hairnet" I wore back then), and a bent-back Reynolds 531 frame, which eventually broke a few years after being restraightened.

A few years ago a guy here in Branson was run down by a right-turning bus.

The cyclist was riding in the gutter pan, passing traffic on the right. He didn't notice the turn signal on the bus and tried to ride past it. The right turning bus knocked him off his bike and ran over it. The rider was trapped under the wheel and dragged (pushed?) for several feet before a pedestrian got the driver's attention and stopped the bus. The cyclist had a concussion, broken ribs, and much torn flesh. It's a miracle the tire only dragged him instead of rolling right over.

This accident was entirely the fault of the cyclist, and even worse, the idiot didn't learn anything from the experience. He still rides the same way.

Originally posted by Tom_The_Bikeman
...after a collision with a left turning car (I was traveling 20-25 mph in a bus lane) when I was sent flying, impacting my head and left shoulder.
Seems like some of my near-misses involved head-on, cross-turning traffic. Either they don't see you or they underestimate your speed.

Watch out when the sun is setting or rising behind you, too.

Ouch - I missed this thread.

Glad you're not too badly hurt Tom.

Richard

Well, the arrogance of bus drivers (they ARE, after all, public employees) and the dangers/annoyances caused by smoke belching buses in URBAN areas far exceeds the hassles caused by SUV's. But buses are politically correct, so there ya have it.

In Colombia, where minibuses are widespread and also taking suicide turns to the shoulder as they troll for extra riders, you are better off riding AGAINST the traffic, unless you have a sharp eye and rear view mirror.


roughstuff