d2create

while sitting at a stoplight?

That would really suck if you were on your bike.

Anyone else think of this? The thought came to me the other day while sitting behind a car at a light(on my bike). It wasn't a pretty thought.

LordOpie

That's one reason I always keep one foot clipped in, in an easy enough gear to move several feet quickly.

I learned this lesson from my motorcycle instructor who has had to throttle quickly up onto the sidewalk a couple times in her years of riding.

hi565

No but there would some major suing involved, oh yeah then i could get that Jamis Xenith i droll about. ooo ooo maybe some sidi shoes, hehe hehe yeessss yeesss

eubi

Hmmm. No, this has never happened to me.

I closest I got to being rear-ended was on my motorcycle in rush hour traffic. I was stopped. The car behind me seemed to be closing a bit fast, and when she hit the brakes hard enough to sound a skid, I was quickly between the two cars ahead of me. I don't think she would have hit me even if I had stayed put, but I was ready.

The lesson is to keep aware of what the traffic around you is doing and be ready for the worst.

When I'm not cycling, I drive a big, bad SUV (I know, flame me, but I have to carry a lot of people and gear around). No one wants to rear end that!

Shimpie

When making an unprotected left turn, a rear-end collision is in the back of my mind. I feel like a sitting duck while waiting for the street to clear.

BostonFixed

If you were alive, had all you limbs, could walk, and could ride a bike after being rear ended....

LordOpie

haha, you're trying to use logic with a teenager

my58vw

I have been, cell phones involved both times. Been rear ended on a bike, but not at a stop.

nklatt

Ding ding ding! This one's a winner! ;)

A fine point I'd like to add (also from motorcycle training) is to stop in one of the tire tracks. This facilitates getting quickly up next to the car in front of you. Also, between the tire tracks is where cars tend to drip the nasty stuff but there's no tire-sweeping happening to clean it up.

hi565

ever heard of kidding.

Wulfheir

i thought of that this morning as i heard the car behind me sliding on the ice. scared me, but it stopped.

Dchiefransom

I was the only one in a left turn lane once waiting for a light. The through light was green. I suddenly heard screeching tires right behind me. I scrunched up and waited to be taken out. I saw an older lady in a Cadillac in the through lane next to me sliding about halfway over the white line into the intersection. She must have missed seeing the light change yellow. I was very relieved that she hadn't been making a left turn. I was also very relieved that I didn't need an immediate "rest stop".

HereNT

I've been hit by someone right after the light turned green (I'd ran the red, there was construction on both sides of the crosstraffic). I think being hit while stopped might be a little better than at speed. Usually they're going to be slowing down at least a little for the light....

Hal Hardy

Twice in my car at the same intersection for the same reason. The intersection had a mini on ramp with a yield sign but without a get-up-to-speed-to-merge lane. It should have had a stop sign because drivers tended to watch for on coming traffic instead of the cars in front of them. I had stopped both times for a car coming that the drivers that hit me thought I had time to merge in front of and had actually done so.

To my undying humiliation, I rear ended a car at a traffic light with my bicycle. There were no mitigating circumstances, I just didn't use enough brake to stop in time. I bumped it just hard enough for the driver to notice and check me out in her mirror as I sheepishly backed it up a few feet and tried to act nonchalant.

Gus Riley

No, but I was rear ended by a little ole lady in a "Yank Tank" while stopped at a red light in Phoenix while riding my Honda Goldwing. I was unhurt but the bike sure took a beating. I was only a block from home too.

The light was still red when she hit me, she said she "thought I left..." Where? I have no idea, I was sitting in the center lane between two other lanes, with the light red, I had nowhere else to be going to.

2manybikes

I was on my BMW motorcycle at a stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill. I had to stop and wait, I was entering a major busy road. As I was waiting for a space, my bike started to move forward. I clamped on the brakes thinking I was not squeezing hard enough, because of the hill. The bike kept going with the wheels locked. For a second I thought about my friend on the back. What the heck is he doing? Then I realized some lady, looking left into the traffic was slowly pushing me into the traffic with her car. A space opened up and I shot into it just in time. She blasted out into traffic and I lost her. She turned off somewhere. Her front bumper went under my fender and was touching the tire, there was not a mark on the bike.

Raiyn

I was nearly hit by someone when I was sitting in line at a light. I let her know exactly what I thought of nearly getting hit and she had plenty of time to hear it as the light we were stopped at is a fairly long one. Her embarrassed face turned the same shade of red as her car.

khuon

I was at a stoplight in the left turn lane. Another Jeep was right behind me and there was maybe 1/2 a car-length between us. This for some reason led the driver of a slammed Honda Prelude to believe he had enough room to squeeze between us. He actually snuck his car's nose under my Jeep's rear end until his hood found the endplate of my class IV hitch and tow-hook. That left a bit of a gash. I immediately lept out of my Jeep, walked up to Mr. Riceboy and let him have it. I didn't think he could slink any lower in his seat but he did. His girlfriend (I presumed) looked a bit embarassed too. The driver behind us was laughing. I drove to the police station after that and filed a report just in case.

Map tester

About 3 years ago I was stopped at a green traffic light (cars were backed up across the intersection) in my Honda Civic. A guy rear-ended me doing about 35 mph, he never even hit the brakes, and pushed me into the car in front of me. The engineers at Honda knew their business, both the truck and engine compartment folded up, but the passenger space remained intact (good thing because my 9 year old son was in the rear seat ). Someone called the police and and gave us a ride home after getting all the infomation from the other driver.

Didn't find out until the next day that the other driver had canceled his insurance 3 months earlier! So my insurance had to pay, minus my deductable. So don't think you will come out ahead money-wise in a accident. I found out later that my insurance company tried to get the money from the driver, but he had no money, so suing him would have been pointless.

d2create

Ya, i think most of us have "rear ended at a stop" stories about our cars.

But my point was how bad this would suck if you were on your bike. I mean, damn.... some people get majorly fubared when in their car. When it happened to me in my car i was waiting to make a left across traffic but saw the woman coming in my rear view so i let off the brake before impact. My bumper was scratched and her car was totaled. But if you are on your bike you can most likely kiss your butt goodbye, especially if another car is in front of you.

darkmother

Not at a stop, but I've been rear ended by a minivan while riding. One of the scariest experiences of my life. Never thought of my rear wheel as a crumple zone before.

billh

I rear-ended a car once . . . with my bike. Can't say there was much damage. Because it was like at 2 mph. They start-stopped real quick, and me like a dummy was looking down at my pedals to get clipped in . . . doink. No harm, no foul.

My only other association to this topic is a cyclist who was riding his bike on the sidewalk with about 5 foot of grass buffer between sidewalk and street. A pickup hopped with curb and slammed into the guy headon at full speed . . . on a straight section of street. Cyclist DOA. Freak accident. This was about 7:00am on a weekday morning. I believe the drivers explanation was mechanical failure. He was not charged with any violation. So . . . the moral of the story is . . . hmmm, have to make one up quick . . . hmmm, eh-hem . . . um, the moral of the story is . . . CACA HAPPENS!!!

Map tester

In a effort to gleam some wisdom from these experiences (bike-being-rear-ended), will you please post the specifics of the crash: time of day/night (amount of light), what kind of rear lights or reflectors you had, did you try to get out of the way or was there just not time, amount of traffic, etc.

I want to believe having a *very* bright rear tail light and yellow xeron strobe might help prevent a rear ender, but more real-light data might be useful.

LordOpie

It's my most serious concern for my safety. On my motorcycle, I have body armor. None of the other sports I do exposes me to the level of risk that roading does.

However, I try to keep aware and think about it NOT AT ALL. If I did, I wouldn't ride.

max-a-mill

isn't commuting scary enough without worrying about this *****?

just be aware... it's really ALL you can do!