genec

No one driving should be making "casual glances" at things directly in front of them. That is a FAIL right there.

theroller

Guys Im getting scared. Some motorists are yelling at me and stuff. I start cussing back at them at traffic lights lol. But its intimidating me. And some are getting too close to me. I think most give me some space but some get too close even with my light. I feel less safe on the far right.

blamp28

GOOD!
I'm so glad to hear that you were not hurt more seriously. Please keep us posted. She was clearly in the wrong. The real shame was that the officer either had no clue or didn't care or was biased. He should be "educated". You might also get the local paper to do a write up or story to raise awareness of drivers in the area.

AlmostTrick

Of course, but we all know that's what sometimes goes on out there. I figure it's my job to make sure that when a texting driver does come up for air, I force bells and whistles to go off in their head, so they don’t just dive back in.

Jcross, that injury looks nasty. Are you expecting a complete recovery? I hope so.

Now go get her!

genec

I hear you loud and clear... the problem is the closing speed of a distracted driver to a cyclist when the motorist has only glanced and failed to notice the cyclist (who in rear profile can be nearly as narrow as a telephone pole).

If motorists fail to see and notice that things as large as stopped trash trucks, and amish buggies are "taking the lane" how in the heck do we expect them to see and register a cyclist up ahead? Taking a lane is no guarantee of visibility.

Pat

Well, 2 things here.

Individual police officers often have extremely inaccurate ideas of what the traffic laws are. The officer on the scene was obviously one of those.

Secondly, if one vehicle hits another vehicle from the rear, the overtaking vehicle is nearly always judged to be at fault.

You might want to contact a personal injury attorney to represent you. Many attorneys will give you the first consultation free or for a reduced rate. However, I believe that Georgia is a no fault state. So if the damages are below "x", your insurance company will pick up the tab.

sudo bike

This is where the mirror comes in, to make sure people are moving over properly. If not, you bail, or at least utilize that space you now have to your right. So far, I've never once had to do that, except for the one time someone tried to purposely hit me (and I wasn't even taking the lane at the time! ); everyone has always seen me and moved over.

Jcross312

Here are a few more pics. I got a souvenir from the scene. The whole mirror actually got torn off.

pallen

I agree - particularly when the speeds are that high. I take the lane on roads where the speed limit is 45 or below, but 55 is highway speeds. Many drivers are likely running 65-70. If there's a slight hill or curve, the time they have to notice you and react can be pretty short. I would do it in a group, but not alone. I generally avoid such roads and look for alternative routes if at all possible. If you absolutely have no other route, I would light up the back of my bike (and myself) like a Christmas tree. This is a case where its risky to take the lane and risky to drive to the right.

genec

Believe me I use a mirror, when commuting I also wear a bright colored vest. For this woman not to have seen him on a clear day and being the only other thing on the road says to me that she was likely distracted.

There are some high speed arterial roads I use from time to time and even with 3 wide lanes it amazes me that motorists chose to stick to the right lane... When platoons of motorists come by and I have had to take a lane (due to obstructions in the BL for instance... such as parked service trucks) I have watched in my mirror as each lead vehicle peels off and the next driver becomes aware of me as an obstruction to the lane they are in... each following car is closer and closer before they also peel off. I have often wondered what would happen if the "platoon" were longer or the last motorist is texting or something else distracting.

AlmostTrick

55+ MPH roads are typically designed with wide curves and hills that only have gentle peaks, leaving much longer sightlines than many lower speed roads. The end result leaves drivers about the same amount or more "time" to react to a cyclist.

The road the OP posted looks nice for riding to me, even with 60 MPH motorists, especially if traffic isn't heavy.

sggoodri

I ride roads like that all the time on weekends with light traffic, with no problems. But I dislike riding such roads if traffic conditions are such that drivers must often wait for oncoming traffic to clear before passing. I ride far enough into the lane to discourage same-lane passing; it's politically tiresome to have to do that in heavy two-way traffic for a long distance.

genec

And yet the OP was hit by a motorist... who apparently thought she could share the lane with the cyclist rather than moving over... if she even saw the cyclist.

DTownDave22

I'm actually somewhat surprised you still have the attitude you have at least in regards to making yourself more visible.

This part of why I don't ride in rural areas anymore:

-Lower population density, less development which ius a facor in the other factors below
-greater distances to be traveled in conjunction with
-Higher speeds
-usually one lane + narrow or no shoulder (and or plenty of rocks/gravel on shoulder)

Visibility

Also, a reason why I make an attempt to make myself more visible is because from a driver's point of view (I drive), and cyclist's point of view (I ride my bike), I realize that a cyclist is not all that visible, compared to a motor vehicle. Also, I have had my first close call with an accident with a driver making a left hand turn in front of me as I was going through an intersection. I now wear a visibility vest and use my headlight duing the day and also a taillight at times too.

Also, part of why I decided to post is because I notice that where you were apparently riding, yes there is sun in the picture, but do you notice how much of a difference there is between where there are shadows in the road and where there aren't? Especially at higher speeds, that is a factor. I don't know where you got hit, but it would seem that the shadows were likely a factor in visiblity.

Don't underestimate the factor of visiblity and controling what you can control as others have given their input here suggesting or implying as much.

KD5NRH

Yep; I nearly got left-crossed by a doofus on the phone in a Honda yesterday. Maybe I need to add something else for front visibility; any ideas?

Here's what I had at the time:

I wonder if there's an Airzound kit for it...or just a cowcatcher so his car bits won't crack the grill.

Jcross312

I'm not really gonna start doing that. I was just shaken up and not sure what to think. Now that I've given it some more thought, I'm gonna get one of those mirrors so I can watch cars behind me. Also, I admit that I did not have a bright vest on, although I was wearing a white shirt, white shoes, light colored shorts. Wasn't like I was wearing pavement camo. From now on, tho, I will be wearing one.

Jcross312

What? I haven't even said anything about not trying to make myself more visible. Where did you get that?

DTownDave22

I read these two posts in order, and bolded the parts that stuck out to me, which yours seemed like an implied response to the previous post by Doohickie






You say you didn't want to over do it by beating a dead horse, and said that the road conditions indicated there wasn't an issue with visibility, because of factors you said were favorable for visibility, namely:

-The road was flat
-Sun glare was not a problem (though you did not say one way or another anything about there being enough sunlight)

Then you said after that, that "Simply a case of a driver that wasn't paying attention"

That message to me at least, communicates that visibility was not a major factor, but rather the driver not paying attention. I believe there is a good chance visiblity may have been a considerable factor. Take no offense by my previous post. I just interpreted your posts as what I said and thought I'd recommend you consider taking a simple yet very valuable precaution of making yourself more visible.

Hope you are feeling better and heal up.

Jcross312

OK, I see what you're saying. No offense taken. Trust me, I will become more visible in the future! I wasn't trying to come across as, "I couldn't have done anything else to make myself more visible" That's not the case at all. I learn something new everyday. I thought I was visible enough not to get hit, and for the past 1,000 miles or so (the brief experience that i have) I have not been hit, until now. I was simply stating that conditions were optimal for vision. Clear skies, sun out, no other vehicles around. Just me and the motorist and empty pavement. On the other hand, I'm sure somewhere somebody's been hit while wearing yellow vest with lights flashing. I guess you just can't be too careful. I think the main lesson that I've learned is to get a mirror and monitor traffic coming behind me. I will also move out a little further in the lane to be more visible and wear a yellow vest. I guess thats the best I can do?

sudo bike

*shrug* All I can say is that in years of commuting, it's never been an issue (except for the one incident I noted). I'm not saying it's perfectly safe, and I would certainly plan away from such a route if at all possible; my point is simply that with planning and preparation, I think it's far more safe to travel firmly in the lane while watching overtaking traffic than to tempt motorists to squeeze by by hugging the line, especially on one as tight as the pictures indicate.

In theory, you'd have to bail. In practice, never been an issue, as I said.

sudo bike

Pretty much. The thing to keep in mind is that there's only so much you can do. You can be riding a unicycle while juggling with sparklers attached to the pedals and still be hit by someone not paying attention. That's not to sound too fatalistic - I think the greater the visibility, the less likely someone is not going to see you. But, at a certain point, you've just gotta accept you've done all you can. Just by being on the road we put a certain amount of faith in other road users. Do the best you can to make things easier for others to cooperate (and hence make things easier on yourself), and don't sweat it past that.

phoebeisis

A rear view mirror is a good idea,
But it does distract you from keeping your eyes on what is in front of you.
In a car going roughly the speed of everyone else you aren't too concerned with being run down from behind, so you don't spend 5 seconds watching what is happening behind you since it really isn't too much of a concern (except at redlights).
On a bike if you are watching this driver close on you at 70-80 ft/sec- you aren't watching the road.
Once again in a car it is no big deal if there is a pothole, piece of debris 100 feet up the road.On a bike that pothole can dump you.

There just isn't any free lunch when riding on a high speed road with texting drivers. I generally stay right-listen, and pray-and mainly avoid these non shouldered roads, since there isn't any way I want to mix it up with distracted idiots closing at 80 fps.
Our roads-NOLA- generally have plenty of potholes and construction debris, so you have to keep a close watch in front of you.

No good solution to texting drivers.

sudo bike

I think the trade-off is well worth it. It is worth noting though, that especially if you've never used one before, that first "novelty period" probably has you checking too often. But, in my experience, once you get used to it, you learn to "scan" like you would driving a car or flying an airplane, and it in no way effects your forward vision. Occasional, quick glances usually gets the job done. It's simply a matter of using the tool correctly, as with anything else.

phoebeisis

sudo bike- makes sense.
I think it is a good trade off .
Years ago I had s rear view mirror that I attached to my glasses. I need to sweep back thru this post an see where yours is mounted.
I only ride about 1 mile per day on a no shoulder 25 mph road. It is a suburban fairly busy street-worse at rush hour of course.
I have wide lightly lugged tires Michelin 40mm 700c and Keeenda Kozmek lite 1.95, so I can bail to the grass if I "feel" a really close pass coming.
Of course by the time you "feel" the close pass you are usually feeling the rear view mirror wapping you. We have lots of big pickups with tow type mirrors.

Yeah,I need to reconsider the mirror. When I used to commute-70's 80's- I did use the mirror. Now I ride for fun exercise, so I can choose where I ride, and I avoid the types of highways like the OP got hit on.

OP- that is a fairly nasty wound. You were lucky. The mirror was spring loaded?? But broke anyway?? Or it wasn't spring loaded? Should have looked more carefully at the picture. Maybe the mirrors on a base Cobalt aren't spring loaded? Seems kinda dangerous to cheap out on something like that.I would guess all mirrors are spring loaded now

This has been a surprisingly civil thread. I don't post here as much as I have in the past, so I forget who my usual "enemies" are. I suspect I sometimes agree with my enemies. I'll have to keep a list of them from now on, so this doesn't happen in the future.
We need another "I'm an athletic adult male scared of dogs instead of the careless drivers who will actually kill me thread" I guess.
JUST KIDDING JUST KIDDING!!

sudo bike

I could see in your case choosing to go without. A mile is probably pretty doable without. Heck, I used to for a long time without, so I know it's doable! But I'm definitely more comfortable with. It is fair to note that at first you tend to focus on it too much, though, and it's something to be aware of for sure.

(I have a glasses mirror, FWIW)