Originally Posted by Sandwarrior
I am just wondering how many of the posters in the is thread ride the streets, and how many of you are conscious of being hit from behind? I would call that a survival instinct and not a phobia, defensive riding even. I have ridden the streets, and I have been hit from behind. I don't ride the streets anymore (well main thorough fares anyway). I guess I am a very sick puppy
I do commute to work, but luckily have a MUP for most of the trip. In my opinion, my fear is based on the driver attitudes in Aurora and my inability to maintain 20+ Mph on the streets. The drivers I have encountered here are simply rude. They suffer from what I call the "me first" attitude. I have been run off the road, stuff thrown at me, verbally abused, intimidated and all of this while I was riding "VC" on my DF. Cagers DO need to be better educated, but what is wrong with trying to make the road cycling experience safer (i.e. BLs)? Am I out in left field here? It seems to me that Mr. Forrester is advocating an academy to train cyclists how to "properly" ride the streets. If we don't graduated from his school we are not allowed to ride a bicycle at all.
Seems to me, that the best way to avoid a rear-end collision is to have a mirror, that is properly aimed, and to know how to use it. If you see the car coming up behind you, you have two options, one is to try and get the drivers attention, to get them to slow down, move over, whatever. The second option is to bail, that could involve turning into a driveway or another street, to remove yourself from the situation.
I also think that mirrors help with being buzzed, it's not the closeness, but that your not aware of the vehicle until it is late in the situation. You can avoid nearly all instances of buzzing by riding slightly more from the curb, then you would like to be passed by, you then have the option of moving right, into that space, if someone is about to pass too close. The real key, is that you know that they are there, you can avoid them, in most cases.