My First Right Hook
 

I've read stories of right hooks in BF, and have had a few cars pass me only to turn right and force me to hit the brakes. I thought "Yeah, I know what a right hook is".

But today I had a REAL one. I was heading towards a green light at 20 MPH in the right lane on a four lane road intersecting with another four lane road, when a small shabby looking sub-compact pulls up beside me, slowly passing me. He's half in my lane because I'm riding about 3 feet off the curb and I'm thinking he's going to go by. With my front wheel about even with his rear quarter panel , he suddenly slows and swerves to the right and I'm heading right for the passenger door!

I clamped down on my brakes as I swerved right to avoid his door panel. I locked up both wheels and started sliding, thinking "This is it, I'm going down". The idiot suddenly realizes he hasn't gotten past me and straightens out his car, lets off on his brakes, and takes the turn so wide he almost hits the center median curb of the street he's turning into. But that buys me just enough space to let go of my brakes and regain control of my bike.

Well, at least he realized his mistake and took evasive action before he put me in the hospital. And now I know what a "right hook" really is. :twitchy:

sounds like you didn't actually go to the hospital. but wow, what a close call. congrats on surviving. I wonder what would cause such an obvious mistake on his part? drugs? alcohol? texting?

Next time don't go through an intersection with a car beside you or just in front of you. Assume that any car could spontaneously decide to take the next turn. It happens often when drivers are scanning street signs looking for a turn and don't see it until the last minute.

My money is on "plain old garden-variety stupidity". There's plenty of it.

I was nearly right hooked once when a high schooler was pulling into the parking lot. I followed him to his spot and gave him a stern talking to :innocent: But in review I think the thought process that when through the kid's (and maybe your driver's) mind was:

1. Oh look, a bike, which is essentially stationary relative to my car's speed.
2. I will speed up and pass the bike before I turn.
3. I've passed the bike.
4. I'm making my turn.

The omission, of course, is that just prior to making the turn, step 3a if you will, is "I have to slow down to make this turn" and they don't realize that when they do that, the bike is traveling the same speed or faster than the car. It's a simple case of not realizing bikes move as fast as they do; they think we all move at 5 mph.

I give your driver all the credit in the world though- he continued to monitor and noticed you there and took appropriate evasive action.

It's tough when a car is pulling into a parking lot; hard to know the car will turn. This is why I usually take the lane now. If he wants to turn, a driver either has to either clearly pass me before the turn, make the lane change, then slow down to turn, and I see his brake lights; or he has to tuck in behind me; or (and this is pretty rare actually) pass me in the second lane and execute his turn from there. Most drivers realize this is not kosher, but everyone once in a while I see it.

Dont try to brake when right hooked. If the car can take the corner, you can countersteer to take the corner with him.

Consider yourself reasonably lucky. By paying attention you clearly started to take control as best as you could. congratulations for not going down. The lucky part is that the driver swerved wide. The last few times this happend to me the drivers STOPPED completely blocking my path. They even have the audacity to look suprised when I yell at them to pay attention.

Happy riding,
André

Easier said than done. If the driver turns short and almost clips the curb, there is no way that will work. Minimizing speed before an impact is exactly the right thing to try. In this case, it bought the OP time; enough time to avoid a spill.

I got right hooked today by a pizza delivery car. Thankfully I had a premonition that he was going to take a hard right as soon as he got past me, so I was already on the brakes.

got hooked a month ago on the Mass Ave bridge into Boston by someone turning right on Beacon St. luckily I had slowed down in anticipation of an unanticipated turn, so I was able to slow down in time (and he saw me, and slowed down too). was my closest call yet though.

posted to the wrong thread. sorry.

what I consider a right hook starts when you are next to their front quarter panel. That has happened to me 3 times. I really can't explain it, it's beyond stupidity.

I got one today, not by the above definition, I saw it coming, and had time to slow/avoid. Luckily the dude had his window down when he stopped in front of my path and I gave him a nice "DUMBASS" in his earhole as I went around him.

You can, AFTER you brake to the point where you're not going any faster than the car is.

I think that is what saved me as well. As I cleared the intersection and recovered from the shock, I thought about how suddenly it had all happened, and wondered why my reaction was so lightning fast. It seemed the moment I realized what was happening, I was already squeezing the brakes. I remember riding off thinking "How did I get out of THAT one?"

I would say the center of my front wheel was just about even with the back part of his front quarter panel. And you're right, you just think "What the HELL was he thinking?!"