SactoDoug

Here is a SUV driver that started out good by stopping, but for some reason he didn't want to wait until I completed my left turn before he started his. He stopped short of turning me into a hood ornament.

Titmawz

Damn Doug you TROLL ! for the sake of buddha save the bandwidth !

GeoBigJon

Could have unseated ya pretty easy, good thing they stopped.

mtalinm

you got upset over that? move to Boston and you'll have some real problems with drivers.

just today I had a cop call me a m******* (sans 'm') for complaining that he was blocking the entire MUP with his patrol car. I also had a shouting match with a woman in an SUV who kept honking and slamming on her brakes because the car in front of her was stopping to let a woman and her baby cross the street.

you Californians need to grow some backbone :-)

prathmann

Don't really see the issue. A vehicle turning left onto a side street and another one coming out of the side street and turning right should never be in each other's way since you each had your own lane to occupy. It would only cause problems if you were planning on cutting the corner on your left turn or the SUV was going to swing very wide on their right turn.

MijnWraak

The "SUV" was turning left, not right.

steve0257

That's common, even wen I'm driving a car. For some reason a lot of drivers time their pullout as if you were gong straight instead of turning. Even when you're using the turn signals.

osephjey

yeah.. the other day I was riding down a pretty mild street although it's 40 mph speed limit. this lady pulls into the other lane full speed to get around me. the oncoming traffic had to move over to not get hit head on. at the stop sign (50 or so feet) ahead I was looking into their car at them shaking my head. of course they made no eye contact. I almost said something to the effect of "thanks for endangering everyone else for your 10 second savings", but decided it wasn't work it. as they pulled away she screamed out her window something like "you're riding on the wrong side of the road". I've read stories like this on here before, and knew it would happen to me someday, it was just a matter of time. I just laughed it off and called her an ignorant b**** to myself and proceeded to have a wonderful 25 miler.

rex_kramer

Troll successfully fed.

waynesworld

Did you signal?

SactoDoug

Twice. The first time when I took the lane and just before I started the turn. I was in the oncoming lane making the turn when the guy started pulling out.

If there is anything I could have done differently, I'm all ears.

escarpment

grow a pair

escarpment

it just looks like the guy didnt see you. dont take it the wrong way. I have to take video of my daily commute, I ride my road bike from north chicago to the heart of the city, and cars are nooot friendly. Taxies give you like 1 foot of space and will constantly cut over and not signal, Cars and Pedestrians are constantly where they are not supposed to be. People yell and flick off all the time.

just dont ever take it personally, the last thing you want is to be riding around jaded.

Grim

What camera are you using?

SactoDoug

The Drift 170 Stealth. I like it because it comes with a remote and has a good menu system. I also like the 127 deg view angle option rather than being stuck with the 170-180 fish eye view that most other cameras have.

SactoDoug

I'm not jaded at all. I do what I feel I need to do to keep from getting run over. I wave to drivers that are nice and do my best to stay out of their way.

I know my commute is not as bad as many other people's commute. So what? There will always be someone that has it worse than you do. The worst commute in America is nothing compared to trying to ride in India or China.

I think that posting videos of close calls helps to show people what can happen and might give people ideas of how to avoid them in their own riding. I learn from watching other people's videos of what to do and what not to do.

bluefoxicy

I was behind an SUV at a light, light turns green, he goes, I follow, and truck coming the other way turns and nearly rolls over me. The look on his face was priceless when he saw me and dodged out of it.

This happens to me in my Mazda3 too. If I'm occluded by being behind a car (this happens on interesting hills; flat ground on a bicycle or motorcycle, though), the next driver will fill in the occluded space with whatever he sees. So if the car behind mine is oddly far back, but mine's invisible, they fill in the space with a wide open space. This would be impossible to notice, except then they see the left turn signal on the car behind mine, and try to turn through me and damn near hit my car. This is the only time anyone ever notices your turn signals, btw.

On a bike it's even worse, since I'm way smaller. I was taught in driver's ed to give 8-10 feet to the next car, but it's always more like 3-4 feet... everyone does this. I think I now understand why: compacting traffic is nice and all, but if you stay back 8 feet you're going to be visible despite a bulky, huge SUV in front of you. On a bike, moving to the far left side of the lane helps; but make sure you're deep enough in to obstruct traffic, lest they go around you (on the right!) and leave you stranded in the middle of moving traffic on green

There are strange visibility considerations when driving a vehicle smaller than other vehicles around you. Cars vs SUVs, bikes vs cars.

travelmama

I do that on my bike a lot. It is not a big deal.

SactoDoug

I had a real close call this morning. I thought I was either going to go over a hood or into the driver's door window.

Please excuse the cursing. I did not have my presence of mind for a few seconds.

colleen c

Suddenly this Thread spark some interest!

Yikes, I'm glad you did not become hood ornament for that car.

mtalinm

yikes that was close. glad you are safe. maybe try an AirZound if this happens a lot? i get motorists' attention that way.

AdamDZ

Meh... You Californians are really spoiled In NYC that wouldn't even warrant any mentioning in an elevator. By our standards that driver gave you tons of space. Now imagine there were tens of cars around that intersection and everybody was trying to run you over while yelling at you and talking on a cell (so called multitasking...) and throw in about 50 pedestrians jaywalking in all directions ignoring you completely, while you're dodging a number Police cars, taxis and UPS trucks parked in that bike lane, avoiding bunch of cyclists riding the wrong way against you and person on a wheelchair with a dog on a leash, now, that would warrant a brief conversation by the water cooler...

Grim

Took delivery of a Flip Mino this week because of stuff like this. I hope it is as clear as your Drift 170.

I had been thinking about a camera for a long while and the ***** that ran all up on me on 6/30 finally got me over being a cheap ass and I spent the money. I was beating on the side of her mini van and tried to knock the mirror off it so it wouldn't clip my bars and send me into the curb. She didnt even stop. I was so shook up I didnt have the presence of mind to get the tag. My buddy has one of these and said he liked it. Caught it for $119 delivered and got the Tripod that has a way to strap it to a bike for $10.50. seems solid. Have not had a chance to use it. We are in the middle of a major heat wave mid 100 heat indexes so I have been driving.

SactoDoug

I am glad you have a camera. I hope it works out for you.

I encourage everyone that commutes in traffic to get a camera. If anything ever happens to me, there will be at least one witness to what happened and that witness is attached to my helmet. It sees everything that I see and is as unbiased a witness as you can have. It will even win a debate against a law enforcement officer over what really happened.

Trust me, don't depend on a police report. The officer writing it may leave out critical details or even add statements to the report that work against you. The officer will interview you, and the other guy. The other guy will likely lie about everything. The the officer will write the report as to what they think happened. The police report becomes the official record that cannot be countered by any eye witness except a video recording. That is why there is a very negative feeling in the law enforcement community about private citizens with cameras but that is a completely different subject.

colleen c

Agreed, it will be so cool to let them lie through the gap of their teeth and then to see the surprise on their face when they discover they were taped on video.

Lately there's been lots of cases here in the Bay Area where video has influence the outcomes. Like those SF officer in the Tenderloin to the Bart police. Most of it was useable evidence. I hope this will be a wakeup call for motorist when they see that more cyclist now have camera.