I had a very close call this morning, which I'll describe in detail below. But I'm going to start with my conclusions:

1. I did nothing illegal.
2. Had I got hurt, it would have been my fault.
3. I did not recognize the danger of the situation until much too late.
4. I could have --and should have-- avoided the dangerous situation by doing something illegal.

Okay, here's what happened. I rode from Penn Station to Fifth Ave on a CitiBiuke. I turned onto Fifth Ave at 38th St, rode on block south to the CitiBike station at 37th St but could not dock my bike; the station was down. I went back to the corner and waited for a truck to go by before getting out into the street, planning to ride three blocks south to the next CitiBike station. I was in the right lane, behind the truck that had just passed me. It was a construction truck, towing a large fork lift. As soon as I started riding, the truck stopped, so I stopped. I was a decent distance behind the truck, maybe 20 or 30 feet back. I turned around and watched traffic coming down 5th Ave, looking for an opportunity to get into the next lane to pass the truck. It's 6:30 AM, and the little traffic comes in dense waves, so I'm just waiting for a dozen or so cars and buses to go by. Just as my opportunity comes, the truck starts beeping like crazy and driving straight at me, in reverse; I hear this, but I'm looking the wrong way. I start riding, just getting into the next lane when I see the truck coming at me remarkably fast. The truck went by without hitting me; but it was frighteningly close.

What I should have done: I should have considered, when the truck stopped, that he had stopped for a reason; and that he could not see me; he probably didn't know I was there at all. My first priority should have been to get the heck away from that truck, which would have meant getting on the sidewalk. It never occurred to me to do that.

Eh. No harm done. Scared the crap out of me, though.

Glad nothing catastrophic happened, but these things are difficult t foresee unless you've had some similar experience. Ninety-nine percent of the time a stopped vehicle in front of you is just stopped. One would not expect it to be going in reverse. But that's something else for the rest of us to think about the next time we encounter a similar scenario.

Glad you got out of that.

Yeah, me too!

Let me add another observation. I'm not really sure about the following, but it's worth considering:

I'm a pretty careful (but not always legal) rider. I'm pretty vigilant about looking around and assessing what traffic around me is doing, and why. But when I got to the station and tried to lock my bike, something switched off in my head. I had completed my commute, and my vigilance was down. Then this happened.

Constant vigilance is the key phrase. I've probably encountered countless situations where had I not been paying attention and anticipating problems I would have been involved in a crash or some kind of incident.

Case in point, last week I was riding on a wider one-lane street. There was a long line of cars at a stop sign ahead. I had a bike lane. But about 50 yards before the stop sign there was another side street. I could not see the traffic going the opposite direction. As I approached that side street I noticed a larger gap in the line cars ahead of me. I thought nothing of it, but all of a sudden a left-turning SUV from the other side pulled right in front of me. Stupid me. I was totally caught off guard. I didn't even have my hand on the brake lever. I swerved hard right, and the SUV stopped dead in the bike lane. Thankfully disaster was averted, but goes to show you. Let your guard down for even a moment and disaster can strike.

A good point to consider.

Glad we didn't have to reconstruct this from an accident report.

It's more poof that you don't have to do anything wrong to get hurt, you just have to not do something right. Stuff happens, even to the skilled, careful and vigilant. What we do affects the odds, so this shouldn't be an excuse to blame fate, but a reminder to do what we can to tilt the odds in our favor.

Why would it have been your fault? Sounds like the truck driver was a reckless asshat. There's a reason why someone gets out and guides a truck backing up. I would have reported the incident to the police and the trucking company.

Wifey always says to me, when your time is up, it's up. there's nothing you can do to protect yourself from a freak accident. I beg to differ. ever hear the expression 'Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity'? the same can be said with regards to situational awareness & safety. meaning, for example, don't stand on the corner of a big intersection w your toes over the curb because there might be a freak accident whereby a car or truck skips the corner, etc etc etc

Wifey is right.

The operative phrase here is "freak accident", implying something very out of the ordinary.

Care, alertness, and good judgement definitely tilt the odds in your favor. But there is always the element of chance and there are no guaranties against the fickle finger of fate.

In the diving world, there's good science regarding protocols to prevent decompression illness, and those who follow them and dive conservatively are extremely safe. But every diver knows (or should know) that the only way to reduce the odds of DCI to zero is to not dive in the first place.

The truck was probably stopped and watching the pulse of traffic go around him (unless he was looking at the map trying to figure out why he was in the wrong spot).

When the traffic opened up, he decided to "go for it" as quickly as possible.

One thing they always say... if you can't see the mirrors, then the driver can't see you.

Anyway, it sounds like you were good, giving the truck some extra space. I suppose, if you were planning to pass it, then pulling to the left (or right) early would have been appropriate, which should have put you in the mirrors.

I'll let her know you agree w her, but I think there are steps we can take to avoid freak accidents

recently read a story about a child that was killed by a falling tree while out helping Dad put things away due to the high wind warning. freak accident that could have been prevented

rode my bike past this sign this fall


a few weeks later there was a high wind warning & this happened



I did not ride that day

if there are high wind warnings in your area, don't go out & drive in it. you might save yourself from a freak accident (such as this one) Man killed, toddler survives after falling tree crushes car in Seward Park
Man killed, toddler survives after falling tree crushes car in Seward Park | The Seattle Times

Alan, fundamentally I agree with you, but fact is, I am a cyclist. The truck driver is a truck driver. There is no way he would have suffered any legal or even professional repercussions from my death. That said, yes, he's an asshat and my death would have been his fault. But: BEEP BEEP BEEP yeah I heard it but I was focused on watching traffic and I ignored it. To my peril.

Yes, I agree on all points. I think you have read the situation exactly right. So have I, now; at the time, alas, I was half asleep. Odds are, the truck driver was also half asleep.

Once the o.p. pulled into the CityBike station and found it out of order the chain of improbable's began. It's human nature. The need for an alternative plan took up processor time that was necessary for other vital processes. I am not sure about the stress on legality, or not, of the trucks actions, or the cyclists. Jumping out of the way onto the sidewalk could not in anyway, shape or form be considered "illegal". I believe a certain number of pedal strokes have to be completed before a cyclist can be cited for "illegally riding on the sidewalk". I also don't know how easy it is to bunny hop a CityBike. It could very well be that if the truck did not miss the cyclist that it would have hit him and there isn't a whole lot that he could have done about it. A stopped bicycle is very unmaneuverable. But things turned out for the best. No need to second guess. I'm not even going to say that the o.p. should learn some kind of life lesson from this, being aware of potential hazards in the road is clearly something that someone who rides in NYC traffic is well aware of. Pax.

I'm glad you are okay. I think your analysis is just right, except I think "fault" is too strong in #2. Had you been injured, it would have been avoidable, but that is not quite the same as saying that it would have been your fault. I admire you for looking back and asking what you could have done differently though.

About freak accidents:
Just yesterday I was riding to work when a large dump truck with an unsecured load passed me. When it was maybe 30 yards ahead of me, the wind caught the underside of a sizable piece of plywood, which came flying out of the truck right at me. I slammed on my brakes, and the plywood landed about 10 yards ahead of me on the road. I can't even imagine what it would have done to me if it had hit me. I also can't figure out what I could have done differently. I never ride close behind big trucks, but I can't stop them from passing me. The driver never even stopped. I don't think he knew that he almost killed someone.

I don't get these reverse beepers anymore. With current video technology, I say make the beepers illegal and change the requirement to having a reverse video camera, and a somewhat competent operator, on vehicles that otherwise would be equipped with a beeper, and anything down to a chimp or lower at the controls.
All the beepers do, IMO, is create a bunch of noise pollution and take the onus off the operator for looking where the F--- he is going, or getting a spotter.
/rant.

the new weather radio has a freak of nature alarm

Glad you are okay. I would have not considered that the truck would back up either. THanks for reminding us that this can happen.

I hate to think of the number of times I found myself in this position (scary near-miss as a learning experience)

The OP story reminds me of this video from the UK (I've shared it a ton):


When behind a truck, I try to position myself in a way that I can see the driver in the mirror. However, this is easier said than done in traffic.

Better would have been to find out who insures it and complain to them. It's near impossible to insure a large commercial vehicle around here without a strongly enforced "no backing without a spotter" rule. I'd be surprised if it's not the same there. Virtually everywhere, a driver backing up in the roadway will be at fault for anything that happens, and insurance companies are tired of paying out for stupid, expensive (18 wheelers don't just dent fenders in 5mph wrecks, they roll cars up into a ball) mistakes when backing carelessly.

I don't know where you live, but there's no law requiring a spotter to back up a truck trailer on a city street here in NY.

This was a non-event that proves that nature is more forgiving than people here on BF. Both the OP and driver were somewhat careless, one in not being attentive while standing out in the street, and one for backing without a thorough scan of what was behind him. Yet despite 2 errors, nothing happened, the OP moved out of the way, and life went on.

We can speculate about what might have happened an whose fault it might have been, but that's just idle speculation since NOTHING happened. While we speculate, we might consider that if the OP hadn't moved, the driver might have stopped, and then too nothing would have happened.

So, IMO, this is simply a cautionary tale, reminding us to be alert out there.

Believe it or not... I count this as one of the joys of cycling. Last big scare I had... was a mere horn blast at a busy 5 lane intersection. Just enough... to remind me of my mortality. It's good to be alive.

You have to be constantly vigilant and defensive. It doesn't matter if you are legally right but dead. In your case, although technically you did nothing wrong, it sounds like you might have stopped within the truck driver's blind zone. If he had hit you, he would have been to blame, but that would be little consolation if you were seriously injured or killed.

I had a similar situation in my car one day. I had just parked along the street and pulled up about 5' behind a pickup truck that was sitting there idling. The truck had a full load, that apparently obscured the driver's vision. For some reason, he started backing up but I had already shut off my car and couldn't move. I honked my horn, but he kept backing up and hit me. I have no idea why he suddenly decided to back up but could do nothing to prevent the collision. Fortunately I wasn't hurt and the damage was relatively minor. The driver acknowledged his fault and his insurance company paid for the damage to my car. I'm just glad that I wasn't on my bike.