bhdavis1978

I was riding in to work this morning, and another cyclist nearly crashed into me. I was riding along the road in the bike lane coming up to an intersection. I had a green light, but I saw another cyclist coming towards the intersection from a cross street. The cyclist didn't slowed down to watch for traffic, but didn't come to a stop. A few cars pass me, and go through the intersection (it was still green in my direction), and then he starts off through the intersection and nearly plows into me- whiskey tango foxtrot? I had to swerve way around him and pull into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid him. Thankfully there wasn't any other traffic on the road so I was able to do that, but jeez man, pay attention! The guy was riding without a helmet and seemed to be utterly clueless. He just kept on his merry way without acknowledging the near collision that he caused.

chriswrong

That's no cyclist, that's an a-hole of the highest caliber! Glad to hear you came out of it unscathed mate. You should get one of those air horns to blare at jerks like that =p

CbadRider

A few years ago there was a news story here about a cyclist who T-boned an Amtrak train. Ran right into the side of it. The police determined it wasn't a suicide, he was just a clueless idiot.

I'm glad you weren't hurt.

Spire

Glad to hear you were OK.

Time for the old 'cyclist' vs 'guy on a bike' distinction!

lucille

Glad you weren't hurt!

What an idiot! Then you hear on the news about a cyclist killed in a traffic accident, and automatically think it was driver's fault. I really wish police would start slapping tickets for breaking rules of the road.

Spire

We could get into the discussion of police enforcement of rules and what not yet again here, but I would like to point out that just because one breaks the rules doesn't not mean that one necessarily needlessly endangers others. I think there is a distinction that needs to be drawn there.

wunderkind

Hahaha... don't let the A&S followers read this. Or it's death to you.

LesterOfPuppets

+1. That's one of the few situations when I wish I had a horn.

lucille

Because the cyclist is always right, no matter what? ;-)

josephjhaney

When a cyclist and a car collide, and it's the cyclist fault, usually the cyclist is injured or killed.

When a cyclist and a car collide, and it's the drivers fault, usually the cyclist is injured or killed.

So, as angry as the cage drivers get at cyclist for not following the "rules" (And how many cars do we see running stop signs every day?), the penalty for a cyclist making a mistake is already quite high.

This guy was clueless, sadly, he nearly hit you. Indeed he was in the wrong for running the light, glad you are ok.

Joe

lucille

I totally agree with you, the cyclist will always lose if they get in the accident. This is why I don't understand why some cyclists chose to take their chances and run red lights etc. Why would they want to put themselves in danger, knowing that if they're hit they can be injured or killed? Yes, many drivers run stop lights and red lights, and they're also taking their chances. Like with everything, we all make our choices, I will rather arrive 10 minutes later than not at all.

akohekohe

As we all know, cars have a harder time noticing bicycles on the road than they do other cars (and trucks) but the same is also true for cyclists, they also have a harder time noticing other cyclists. Add to this that they generally feel the only danger to them on the road are MVs and that they share the same part of the roadway with other cyclists, I've always maintained that they are, per vehicle, a bigger danger to us than cars. The only reason there aren't more serious bicycle-bicycle collisions is simply because there aren't that many bicycles on the road. From my own anecdotal experience I have had more close calls with bicycles on my commute than with cars and I share the road with hundreds, if not thousands, more cars than bicycles. While some believe that more bicycles results in cars being more careful around them, thus making us safer, they forget that more bicycles create more opportunities for bicycles to collide. Although a car is much larger than a bicycle, bike-bike collisions can, and do, cause serious injury and death. So my bicycle safety advocacy has two components:

1. Mandatory helmet laws - not because I think helmets increase safety but because, as the Australian experience shows, they keep cyclists, particularly inexperienced ones, off the road (and out of my way).

2. Mass transit - a well functioning mass transit system means people who can't drive a car (for whatever reason) have an alternative to bicycling, which means fewer bicycles on the road.

If these were in place the OP may not have had his close call.

EKW in DC

I disagree with you on helmets (yes, I do wear a helmet), and I also don't like your assertion that inexperienced cyclists seem to have any less right to be on the road than experienced cyclists. We were all inexperienced cyclists at some point, either as kids or when we got back into cycling at an older age after not having done it much for a while.

Emphasis should be put on encouraging and where necessary enforcing safe riding practices (lights, no salmon-ing, taking the lane, not riding on sidewalks, etc.) and not on making every cyclist everywhere wear a helmet. A cyclist riding the wrong way wearing a helmet is more likely to be hurt or killed than a cyclist riding properly but with no helmet...