Buzzatronic

This happened to me yesterday.


Basically the bike lane ends and the road goes from 1 lane to 3 with a left turn, straight and right turn lane. I am going straight so I need to negotiate the ending bike lane with a merge into traffic so I can go straight. I look over my shoulder and signal my intentions to merge as the car in front decides it wants to turn. By the time I turn my head back around (and having missed the turn signal from the guy in front), they are slowing to turn.

Instead of plowing into the back of them, I get back into the ending bike lane and luckily they see me and don't complete their right turn.

Lesson I learned from this: If I wanna go straight here again, take the lane sooner so I can negotiate turning traffic more predictably.

Any other tips?

Double0757

Good video, excellent lesson, I love the times we live in! What cameras do you have? Double O

Buzzatronic

Contour Roam2 up front, Monoprice MHD Action cam in back.

Rootman

Where are your cameras mounted? They seem so steady.

Would of helped if the driver of the white van put his turn signal on more than just one car length before they turned too.

DX-MAN

Turn signals have become optional.

alhedges

At least here, cars aren't supposed to turn across a bike lane like that; they are supposed to merge into the bike lane, and then turn from the bike lane. Most people don't know that, though.

Buzzatronic

Front is bar mounted, rear is mounted to my pannier rack. This road is pretty smooth too.

Shinjukan

Whenever I'm in a high-traffic area, I deliberately lower my speed as I approach corners, that is on top of heightening my situational awareness in trying to anticipate those gotcha moments such as the classic right hook. I force traffic to go around me by taking more of the lane away from the shoulder. This way, in case things go bad I have a bailout space to my right.

The 2 things I'm always praying that I be protected from are: Being mowed from behind by someone, and Being clipped. My way of addressing those are rearview mirrors and high-visibility gear. But I still pray nevertheless.

chaadster

I guess I don't understand what was so pressing behind you that wouldn't have been giving priority to who and what was ahead? Seems like there was plenty of time and room and to take whichever lane ahead you wanted, especially since you know there was a stop ahead. Seems it was a bad judgement that worked out ok in the end. And I'm not throwing stones here, since we all make them, myself included.

CB HI

Not bad judgement, bad bikelane.

Astrozombie

You see Bike Lanes start and End just randomly, i'm starting to shift to the camp that says they're a bad idea, just ride in traffic like a regular vehicle. Sometimes i wonder "How the heck would I manage that? It's almost a setup for an accident"

Clarabelle

Ain't it the truth. One of my pet peeves. You'd think that little turn signal lever weighed 20 pounds.

spivonious

Glad you avoided being hit, but that was totally your fault. The white car signal his turn well before moving. Your conclusion is correct: merge into the traffic lane farther back.

chaadster

No doubt bike lanes could be better designed for us, but working with what we've got is what's at issue here, and while situational awareness is critical, I'm inclined to think that being concerned with what was behind him at that time, place, and speed was a poorly judged decision, especially if the rider knew the area somewhat and could expect slowing and reshuffling of traffic into appropriate lanes as well as turning at that location; it looked like a busy store there. In my view, I'd have been watching ahead and just moved right from the bike lane into commanding the right turn lane and, if necessary, filtering up from there into the straight-on lane to a place at the stop line or comfortably between cars. Hindsight being what it is though...the OP said a lesson was learned.

Bill Kapaun

From the video, you can't tell if the white van had just passed you, passed you several blocks ago or had never passed you.
If the latter, you simply should have slowed down, expecting they weren't aware of you.

Double0757

I researched both cams, as I'm looking to buy, and have a few questions. First, is there a big difference on the quality video between the Monoprice MHD and the Contour roam 2? I know the contour roam 2 has a laser leveler and a movable lens, does it make $100.00 difference compare to the back one?

I want the cameras(front and rear (eventually)) for security, be able to indent a plate and for occasional posting videos like you. Thanks in advance, Double O

Buzzatronic

Well signaling a turn doesn't mean they still don't have to yield to traffic in the bike lane. Rules of the road would dictate that the bike has right of way in the bike lane and the car needs to stop and wait for the bike to pass before crossing over into the bike lane for their turn.

I take some responsibility for not getting out of the disappearing bike lane sooner, but to say it's "totally" my fault I think is a little harsh.

rumrunn6

man you got lucky there. only suggestion I have would be to slow down at that point

Buzzatronic

This wasn't a "corner", they pulled into a parking lot. I was doing 14mph, the street speed limit is 25mph.

Buzzatronic

Your assumption is that I was blasting down the bike lane trying to do some speed run, I was not. I was doing 14mph with heavy traffic in the lane that I was going to be DUMPED into by a disappearing bike lane.

Also, the bike lane had not yet ended so legally I have full rights to the lane as through traffic. Giving "priority" means I am now riding in an unpredictable manner which is not smart. Maybe there are bikes behind me? Maybe there is another car behind me that is going to turn that expects me to maintain my current speed.

Buzzatronic

The rolling shutter issue on the Monoprice cam is horrible. If you are going to be on any sort of bumpy road (or a normal road at high speeds), the Monoprice camera quality goes to crap quickly. Here's an example of the rolling shutter issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbY4Z9EMiG4

Jump to about 45 seconds and watch the trees. It looks like I'm riding underwater.

Because of the poor quality of the Monoprice cam at speed or on bumps, I've missed a few license plates of drivers behaving badly (like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-2bkH6qOEM).

jerseyJim

I think this is avoidable. Its a crappy lane on a crappy road though. The only thing I think you did wrong was looking back while coming up on a car that could turn into your path. Very minor and excusable error but an error.

I ride on some roads where doing what seems like the safest thing isnt really that safe. This looks like one of those roads. I agree with your assessment. Regardless of the bike lane I would be out in the travel lane well before this spot. If some cop wants to give me a ticket for obstructing traffic thats ok. Its better than losing my teeth and breaking a collarbone or worse.

Shinjukan

It doesn't matter if it's a corner or if the vehicle is pulling into a parking lot. What I posted earlier is my approach in negotiating high traffic areas, that is, urban settings. It applies to both corners and parking lots where vehicles can dart in and out.

You should've known better that in head-to-head, you as a cyclist would lose. What good is winning the argument that you're right and the vehicle was on the wrong side of the law if you're being carted by an ambulance?

Reviewing your video again, the first thing that you should've done was to become aware of your surroundings. You were busy maintaining your speed and yet you tuned out for a second or two. If I were in your situation, I would've marked any vehicle that passed me, particularly that white minivan. I will anticipate its next move until moves farther away from me. And like what I said earlier, I would shave a couple of mph on my cruising speed in anticipation of having to slam on my brakes in panic situations. In your case, you've been compromised by your speed so whether you'll slam on your brakes or pass through that van, you'll still be cooked had it not for that van being aware of you. You should've done the same thing to that van: being aware and trying to predict its moves.

Another thing: just because the posted limit is 25mph you as a cyclist shouldn't be competing with motor vehicles in aiming for that speed.

Buzzatronic

That's fair ... one of the lessons I learned here is exactly what you're suggesting. I think I did get a little preoccupied with the bike lane ending and my need to get into traffic and that limited my awareness of everything else. Gotta get better about that.

You should've known better that in head-to-head, you as a cyclist would lose. What good is winning the argument that you're right and the vehicle was on the wrong side of the law if you're being carted by an ambulance?

Well I kinda did that. If you note where the other car is in my rear view, there is only a small gap between them for me to merge into when my lane expires. Again, I was preoccupied with getting into that gap safely rather than maneuvering the entire situation safely.

Fair enough, next time I'll drop it down to jogging pace to give myself more options and time to react.

Well when I need to merge into that flow of traffic, it's not something you can completely ignore. While I'm certainly not trying to compete with traffic speeds, I am trying to be aware that to merge into traffic effectively, it's better to be less of a hindrance to traffic behind me. Again, I became a little too preoccupied with this aspect of the situation I think where the high order bit should have been what was in front of me.

spivonious

But how many drivers check our right side mirror before turning right? I know that I never did before I started commuting by bike. Laws mean nothing when you're plastered on the side of a van.