Yuppie

I was on my way to work and because I always take the same route, I'm pretty comfortable with my surroundings (stop signs, lights, parked cars, etc.). I was next to a car approaching a 4-way stop (I never stop at stop signs, but I'm cautious) just as a car from the right was approaching the stop. All the cars slowed, got there at the same time and I was through the gates. But the crazy lady coming from the right thought this would be a great time to roll through the stop sign and make her left turn. So we both didn't stop and she saw me a bit too late. I hit the brakes to slow down and went left thinking she would stop and honk after I went around. But she just kept on going. So I kind of impacted the car with the right side of my handlebars and body and controlled the impact enough to jump off my bike after "slowing down" so I didn't actually go down. I picked up my bike right away and gave the driver lady a rather stern stare as she mouthed the words "are you OK?". I nodded angrily and picked up my bike and rode away. But before I left, I looked at her door and noticed a huge dent from my bars. I felt bad. We both should have stopped. If that was the case, the whole thing could have been avoided. But...

Next time, hopefully there won't be a next time, I'll go right - behind the car. I was pretty shaken up and needless to say, I've been riding slower and taking less chances. But everyone says that goes away, right?

*new*guy

If you're not going to stop, you need to tag along with a car that's running parallel with you. Four way stops are a ***** since it's so hard to get noticed by the drivers at the other 3. The most dangerous spot on my commute has always been a downhill 4 way stop which has two somewhat blind entry points to the intersection. Glad you weren't hurt badly; better get your flamesuit on.

filtersweep

4-way stops dangerous? Are you kidding? Maybe if you don't "stop" (or slow down), but 9 times out of 10 I'm waved through.

The original poster maybe should have taken a lane. Also, in the US, the car to the right DOES have the right of way when two approach a stop at the same time. The original poster said he didn't stop- so presumably he got what he deserved. I'm sure I'll be roundly flamed for posting this on fixed...

iamjberube

flamesuit, yeah....at least you have brakes, so that helps a little.

kurremkarm

Sorry about getting hit but stop and use eye contact as much as possible. Those things help avoid problems.

Yuppie

Yeah. Like I said, I should have stopped. At least in this situation. Does everyone always stop at signs even when there is clearly no traffic? This was a situation I have come to many times, but the only time the car went at the same time as me. But we live and learn.

filtersweep

It sounds like there WAS traffic.

I won't pretend that I stop for all stop signs- particularly at 6am when there is no traffic around here. It is almost more dangerous during my morning commute than the busy evening commute, because I am so conditioned to there being no traffic to worry about that I stop paying attention.

absntr

Too many Chicago incidents of late...

4-way intersections are tricky. If I can see te entire intersection (aka, no buildings, open view) at least 200 feet in each direction and I see no cars, I'm going to go through that intersection, honestly.

If it's crowded, raining, it's night time, anything where distractions, visibility, etc start to pile up, then I'm stopping. As kurremkarm said, make as much eye contact as possible, I try to do it with all three other drivers - or if you're with a car, go when they go.

In those cases, I almost always assume they don't see me. I know they don't - it's always the car on the right, furthest from me that never sees me - I'm a tall slim blur, and they have part of the car blocking their peripheral vision.

3niktac

I generally never stop for stop signs. Usually I either time it so I go through with a car going the same way as me as a "blocker" or just slow down enough (not much) so that I can time a hole through which to shoot through.

C

manboy

Dude, if you rode without brakes, your sixth fixed gear sense would have made your tao coincide with the perfect path through the intersection, leaving you entirely unscathed.

Just kidding.

I'm glad you're not hurt. Watch those stop signs! When in doubt, hook right.

Sirrobinofcoxly

I’m consistently honked at by cars in T.O. when (after close inspection of the situation) ride through a light, even if there is tons of time. I guess they are just mad that they can’t run them. Suckers!

sxe fbm rider

Pretty usual, I stop if there's low visibility.. I go through if I see no cars

filtersweep

Nah, they are just mad because they don't want to deal with the pain in the ass factor if they do hit and maim you. Half the people on bikes never signal and ride unpredictably enough as it is. If they are close enough to honk, they are too close.

October

To expand on this idea a little, whenever I'm around traffic -- whether I'm riding or walking or whatever -- I tend to operate as though I'm 100% invisible. People generally behave in a predictable manner when they don't have to think about what they're doing. That is, I'm not going to interrupt the flow of traffic because drivers get unpredictable and do stupid things when they're presented with something new.

The way I see it, there are at least 3 types of road user that motorists deal with: other cars, bikes, and pedestrians. Generally speaking, they know how to deal with objects which operate as "car" or "pedestrian," but bikes are somewhere in between. So depending on the situation, I'll either bypass dealing with traffic entirely (wait for a gap in traffic, take an alternate route, etc.) or make it painfully obvious that I'm there (take the lane, use lights, signal turns, etc.) and operate as predictably as possible. There's no middle ground.

The bottom line for me: I'd rather depend on myself than someone else to keep me out of danger, but when I have to interact with many-ton vehicles, I'm not taking any chances by confusing people. If I screw up, their door gets dented. If they screw up, I'm dead.