Originally Posted by
Hot Potato
I almost had a collision with a cyclist today as well. Nimrod turned left just a few feet in front of me while he was looking right at me. I locked up the rear wheel, and nearly the front wheel as well. Yeah, I was on my bike, doing about 16 mph on a bike path, nimrod wanted off the path pretty bad I guess. If this hadn't been one of the rare spots that was pavement instead of limestone, I never would have slowed down enough.
Those are always great. The first and only time I've fallen since I started riding again occurred when some jerk in a van tried a right turn into the crosswalk and I hit the curb while trying not to get hit by him.
Originally Posted by
sringlee
Driving down Second Ave. near the East 70s in New York City one evening while trying to find a parking place, I nearly creamed two cyclists who were:
-riding the wrong way up the left hand side of the street (a major thoroughfare)
-with no lights or reflectors
-with no helmets
-wearing all black
They were almost impossible to see against the visual blur of store signs, street lights, car lamps, etc. Had I been going any faster I could not have reacted fast enough and would have hit them.
Why do people do stupid things like this?
No clue. I can't imagine why warning bells wouldn't go off when trying stuff like this. It's bad enough riding against traffic in the daytime, but there's no good reason to do it at night. Especially on narrow roads where there's zero room to get out of the way if the driver doesn't see you.