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