wphamilton

A lot of it is exactly that, conditioning. Some is adaptive learned response I think, where we've learned reactions and behaviors that lessen the perceived risk. And I think with experience we gain a more realistic, complete picture of our cycling environment. It all adds up over time to a totally different idea of what a "close call" really is.

Dave Cutter

We seem to be in agreement. I think your post(s) hit the nail on the head.

I know our highways system takes a lot of lives. And a few hundred of the many thousands loss... are cyclists. And whereas I wouldn't wish an accident on anyone.... they will happen. I am at an age where I haven't felt invulnerable... or exempt from mishaps.... for decades. So I accept that any day could also be a really bad... or even last day. Which makes it even more important to me to enjoy those miles I do get to ride. This won't last forever.

aaronrob222

Speaking of adaptive learning, I just started regularly commuting again after a few years break from riding in a different city (Atlanta to NYC). I couldn't believe how scary the first week felt. But I was thinking about it; I went from a young, casual SS rider going 2-3 miles tops in a relatively traffic-calm area of Atlanta to commuting 5 miles in NYC. I went onto the hood of a taxi on my third trip here after making an incredibly stupid left turn. So, older, wiser, etc. I ride like a grampa now and have the safety vest to match.

Ironically, most of my actual accidents have occurred on low or no-speed cycling and especially on the SIDEWALK going into the bike enclosure at work or going into my apartment. Grates, ice, weird metal protrusions of all types. Lesson: DISMOUNT!

Tombaatar

Almost got hit by a cop last week. I was going straight, he was taking a left. Even slowed down to give me a go to hell look as he did it. HPD.

mcours2006

Of course it would have been your fault for being there in the first place, and probably have gotten a ticket for something...existing.

noglider 

Welcome to my home town. If you'd like, I can take a ride with you and show you some tips and tricks. Sometimes, riding here is hair-raising. Sometimes not at all, once you know what and where the risks are.

And a huge fraction of bike injuries are falling off the bike without colliding into a person or vehicle, so don't feel bad. But do protect against falling.

reppans

I must be off my rocker, but that's one of my favorite places to ride. Except for empty residential roads, I hate being in rural/suburban areas where there's no shoulders, speed limits are up (course everyone is at least 10 over), all your risks are from behind (feel like a sitting duck), and the drivers can mess with you with total impunity (easy to chase a car down in the city).

RubeRad

BiKE LiVES MATTER

Randombiker9

The other day a car driver. (Was going straight) I was turning right and I signanled make eye contact and he didn't stop (Like most drivers do). So I had to stop quickly. (Afterwards I noticed he was using his mobile.). other times close calls have been close passes.

So drivers should stop being on there mobile whilst driving (It's illegal) and also your not concentrating and focusing on the road.
Also drivers should stop doing close passes. I personally think it's more annoying when a HGV close passes you compared to a car driver.

sknhgy 

I had to take the lane this morning on a 4-lane, 40mph roadway. Some jerk passed me so close I could feel the wind. He was no more than a foot away going full speed.

acidfast7

Interesting videos posted here. It seems that most of your guys have more wide-open spaces and thus have a problem with faster passing traffic. I'm more worried about autos using the bike lane, people walking out and motorcyles in the bike lane.

However, these are much more slow moving so it's easier to predict and prepare. However, it seems that I can't ever let my guard down as the it's much more urban here than before.

Also, that's why I switched to flat bars from the drops and the couple of extra inches of uprightness are very useful for seeing over cars and such.

autonomy

Nope, lights don't do jack for people taking turns. They take a quick look and then start driving. There's one particular side road on my commute where this happens every single damn time, fortunately the cars are always going slow due to the 24/7 traffic jam on the main road. No amount of flashing lights gets their attention, it's kind of scary, so I try to predict their behavior.

Had an interesting experience with a turning cyclist who had to brake for me (I was on the main trail) and then apologized to his kid behind who almost ran into him: "Sorry, I didn't see that bike". It was 9 am in daylight and I was wearing a bright orange shirt. If another cyclist didn't notice me, then forget about drivers.

KD5NRH

12 Gauge Security Control System - HV005
12 Gauge Flame Thrower - Dragons Breath - 3 Units Per Package - G12-013

Mount that to your front fork as a one-time super-flasher.

SHBR

Close calls are a fact of life here.

Close right side pass.

Post crash.

Zombie scooter.

My personal favorite.

acidfast7

I love riding in China and found Chengdu pretty good for it. I'd like to find time to return and cycle down to Tibet from Chengdu.

SHBR

Meh, its a mixed bag.

Some of the roads are fantastic, the people that you have to share them with, not so much.

Like my wife says, China is modern hardware, running on obsolete software.

acidfast7

I agree. I really liked those separated bike/scooter lanes on the big avenues. I need a holiday over DEC-JAN and might head back again.

autonomy

Well, here's a close call from this morning from my commute. Eggheads like this give the rest of us a bad name and a tougher time on the roads.

furiousferret

I just got a rear camera (Fly6) and many of the 'close calls' aren't really all that close. Rarely do I actually get a close one.

Last week I was going down a street and passing a blind corner. Behind me I heard a vehicle coming up with the engine purring at a high rpm. I knew they wouldn't see me in time at the speed they were going so I went off the road. About a second later that car whizzed by hugging the corner and it was close enough the wind almost took me down. They were probably going 90 in a 35. That was the closest call I ever had in 10 years, and my instinct told me to bail out, something I have never done. It was also an extreme anomaly.

My golden rule is guess all the common variables a driver can do and avoid those points you may intersect. Assuming a car would run a light has saved me at least 3 times.

Colnago Mixte

It's amazing, the sort of "sixth sense" for avoiding danger you develop after enough time spent riding various in traffic situations. Saved my ass many a time, but I do wish I had captured a few of these incidents on video, for posterity of course.

rumrunn6

had one last night. rode a regular MUP. it was dark approx 7pm. there are several road crossings most with flashing lights & courteous drivers who stop even when they don't have to. came to one large 4 lane crossing. there were cars coming from my left so I stopped & pressed the button for the crossing signal. even tho the 1st car in a long line of moving cars had a green light it stopped for me. I don't like it when cars stop when they don't have to but thinking it was safe I started across the 4 lanes. as I passed the first lane I kept my eye on the next lane in this direction cuz what I feared might happen, happened. someone behind him, seeing the green light (& not me), decided to pass the stopped car (by using the next lane over). of course I stopped before crossing into that lane. that 2nd car stopped when they saw me. so ... being that I was in the street & they all had a green light, I backed up to the trail again. they all stayed there not moving for a cpl seconds & then they realized they STILL had the green light (& right of way) & they all drove off. since I pushed the button when I first stopped, shortly after they all passed, I got MY green signal to cross. it was wrong for that 1st guy to stop & it was wrong for me to cross against the signal. my bar mounted camera was off. if I had it on my helmet & on at the time, it would be interesting to review

SHBR

Multi-user paths are a new idea in Shanghai.

Well designed paths tend to have very few crossings, usually around lakes or along rivers.

Traffic patterns here tend to be the opposite of road traffic, there is more congestion at night, compared to daytime.

rumrunn6

oh man! I love those videos! how is it done? where can I get mine?

PatrickGSR94

Any decent video editing software can do that. Place 2 video clips one above the other in the timeline. Make each clip 50% size and line them up side-by-side. Some software like Davinci Resolve (pro-level free software) can automatically sync multiple camera clips by using the audio or other markers.

SHBR

I run Linux Mint, and Openshot, from a usb stick, not perfect, but totally free, open source and can run on most hardware.

I believe there are online tutorials. I figured it out mostly by trail and error, needs lots of time to render if you have older hardware.