tjspiel

There are two possible reasons why she was in the bus/bike lane. The first is that she didn't realize it was a bus/bike lane. The street's configuration changed about 6 months ago and the paint they put down last fall didn't hold up too well. It was probably too cold. There are signs too but they're easy enough to miss. She also struck me as somebody who wasn't from around here.

The other possibility is that she knew it was a bus/bike lane but being rush hour it was less congested than the car lane and therefore more appealing. Cars making right turns are allowed in that lane so the presence of a car isn't an obvious violation.

capejohn

I'm on your side and not judging but questioning why you didn't pull in front of the SUV in the bike lane.

tjspiel

I could have, but it would have put me in the crosswalk (The SUV was stopped right behind it). Not that big of deal I suppose but it didn't seem right to make pedestrians walk around me just so the driver wouldn't have to go around me.

This might be another argument for platform pedals or maybe just a sign that I'm lazy but one of my feet was clipped in. This makes moving a little more awkward. Stupid. I know. I could have clipped out or shuffled the bike forward using one foot but again I wasn't too inclined to put myself out for this lady.

gna

I'm from around here; I still am not sure what the rules are for those lanes. Was this on Hennepin?

I have to go to a different building on Friday, and I'd have to take Hennepin / 1st, and I don't have much enthusiasm for it.

tjspiel

Yeah, it was on Hennepin. They went from one of the most bizarre bike lane arrangements in the country to this. I'm sure what happened to me doesn't make you anymore enthusiastic about using it.

I was very skeptical of it at first but aside from this incident my experiences have been mostly positive. The bus drivers know enough to look out for you.

The rules are this: The outside lanes are for buses, bikes, and cars making right turns.

The problem this creates of course is that since drivers unfamiliar with the rules see other cars in the outside lane, they assume it's OK for them to be there too, even if they're not turning. This means that there's always a few cars in the lane that aren't supposed to be there.

Traffic isn't typically moving very fast so a few cars in the bike/bus lane don't bother me too much, except apparently, if they ask me to get out of their way.

ItsJustMe

When she asked you to move 2 feet, you could have shrugged and moved 2 feet to the LEFT.

colleen c

Hey, just a thought Tjspiel. If she is a regular, there might be a chance both if you might see each other again given the fact that most of us and motorist uses a route as their daily commute. Given the fact that you have time to thought this over, what will you do or react if you two happen to "bump" into each other again?

Just wondering, because in one of my dealing with a city employee who right hooked me almost knocking me over, is now always giving me a smile whenever we saw each other.......just wondering.

tjspiel

I really need to draw a picture. To move to the left enough that she could get by it would have been more like 4 or 5 feet and would have put at the left edge of the lane and possibly across it scrunched up against another car. What complicated this whole thing was that there was an SUV illegally parked to my right and partially obstructing the lane. I didn't have a whole lane to work with.

There was enough for room for me. There would have been enough room for a car. There was probably enough room for both of us but not by a lot. What if somebody had then pulled up behind her? I would have been in this awkward spot straddling lanes.

neil

If you failed to get her plate, that was a big oversight. If you've got it, file a report with the cops. She not only caused a collision, she did so intentionally and then left the scene. Hit and run is a crime, and minimally you need to claim against her insurance for a new wheel, and possibly a new bike. I'm certain that that impact has bent your frame out of shape .

Drivers don't know how much power they control - even if in your instance there was no damage, an extra hair on the gas and it could have been serious. What she did is extremely dangerous and she needs to be brought to task for it.

unterhausen

touching the bike with the car is over the line. 911 call right then.

tjspiel

I doubt I'd run into her again, and if I did, I'm not sure I'd recognize her unless she yelled "Hey Biker!" at me. It's an interesting question though. In your case, the driver probably had no ill intent and I'm sure feels bad about what happened. In my case, she may not have started out with any ill intent, but things degenerated quickly. Today she may feel horribly guilty, may still be raging, or not giving it a second thought.

Assuming it would be possible for the two of us discuss it rationally, I would love an opportunity to explain why I didn't just move over. She may not agree that it would have compromised my safety or inconvenienced me in any meaningful way, but I would like the opportunity nonetheless.

dynodonn 

Me, the second her bumper touched my rear wheel, I would have taken down her vehicle license number, her description, and then moved out of her way. The next thing I would do would be to take down the license and vehicle description of the vehicle parked in the bike lane, and reported them both to the local law enforcement. I don't know about law enforcement authorities in the OP's locale, but our local law enforcement takes a dim view towards aggressive drivers.

EKW in DC

Apparently she couldn't be "inconvenienced" enough to be in the correct lane or wait for the light to change? Why should you inconvenience yourself at all for her?

I generally try to be accomodating like you, but given the rush of adrenalin I get from drivers who have honked at me or yelled things like "get on the sidewalk" I can only imagine the rush of anger I would have had if some ***** pulled up to and touched my rear wheel with her bumper. I think I would have lost my cool, and I am generally not confrontational at all. Chapeau to you, sir, for not immediately escalating the situation...

High Roller

A lane system that is too extraordinary for people to understand, and which relies on paint that can't survive the Minnesota winter to segregate different user classes, does not seem like a good system to me. Did your transportation department base this design on any scientific evidence of it's effectiveness, or are you all just guinea pigs in some series of sadistic experiments?

I agree with the other posters who indicated that this should be considered a hit and run. I lived south of the Cities for six years in the 1990s and left with a clear impresson that Minnesota is a great place to be a cyclist. What ever happened to "Minnesota nice"?

tjspiel

All good questions. Even bike lanes rely on paint so I don't have a real issue with it as long as the paint is clear. This is just a guess but they were reconfiguring the lanes late last fall. It had turned cold early and I think they had to do under less than ideal circumstances. Hopefully it'll get re-done and it will last.

Still, it's a confusing arrangement. It's the first time anything like it has been done in Minnesota as far as I know but I'm sure it's been done other places.

As far as "Minnesota Nice" goes, I'm 90% certain she's not a native Minnesotan. Based on her speech pattern if nothing else. Not that people here aren't capable of doing something like that, but it was as if she and I were from different planets as far as norms of behavior are concerned.

colleen c

Probably a non biking CA motorist. They think they own the road here although lots of them drive with no license, heck many don't even own the car they are driving because it is borrowed.

Here is a interesting post from a member here at BF who was harass by a taxi and she took picture of him. She did great I think. Got to love it, the power of a camera.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ent-by-SF-Taxi

supercycle62

I probably would have just moved over to let her pass me. My bikes are old and slow and so am I.

I am more inclined to not get involved with 3,000 lb. four wheeled machines. In all my years of bicycle commuting I have never had an incident like this and I ride in heavy downtown traffic everyday.

dynodonn 

You have some very patient motorists in your town. I ride in heavy downtown traffic every work day, and it isn't very long until I will meet up with that small percent of motorist that is either clueless, inconsiderate, or has some axe to grind.

supercycle62

True that the motorists are probably more patient...lol.

My main problem with inner-city commuting is taxi drivers. Sometimes I wonder how they got a driver's license in the first place. I am very very cautious when I see taxis as they are known to make unpredictable maneuvers and cut you off without warning.