Standing in my front yard this morning I saw an uncomfortably close call. There's an older (55-60ish) fitness nut that runs and cycles past my house on a near daily basis. When he bikes, he rides an older steel bike, and he keeps a fast pace. This is a residential area with a lot of stop signs. I find it a miserable place to try to get in a good fitness ride. Nonetheless this guy does it.
I have never seen him stop for a stop sign. In fact he rarely slows for them much at all. I rarely stop for a stop sign in the neighborhood, but I slow enough that if a car is coming I can stop. I have always felt like at the speed he travels he is not expecting cars to be coming and couldn't react in time if one was coming.
I saw him approaching the stop sign in front of my house. It's a T intersection. Vehicles on the perpendicular road have no stop. A jet was flying overhead at the time. He set up for the right turn by swinging wide into the oncoming lane. I am guessing he was doing 17-18 MPH. A Toyota Tacoma was approaching the intersection at a 90 degree angle. The cyclist's view of the Tacoma was obscured by my neighbors house. By the time the cyclist saw the Tacoma, he was into the intersection. The Tacoma braked. The rider did as well and I could tell from the awkwardness of his reaction he was caught off guard. He wobbled and rode all the way across the perpendicular road into that oncoming lane. Had the truck been two seconds earlier there is no doubt in my mind this would have been a crash. The cyclist doesn't wear a helmet.
Our roads are concrete and cars traveling at the speed limit make a good bit of noise. I suspect the cyclist uses his ears when approaching the intersection. I do as well, but never rely on them exclusively. What if a bike is coming? In this case I think the jet flying overhead obscured his hearing. I guess there are several safety lessons here. If you are going to roll a stop you need to be prepared to stop in the event another car is coming. Even early on a lazy Sunday morning you can't count on no other traffic being present. While your ears can give you useful information, there are obviously times they can't tell a complete story.
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