I was reminded of this situation in the thread about a cyclist getting sued by a motorist whose car was damaged in a collision. This situation happened to me, with me as the motorist, and I nearly hit the guy who tried to cross in front of me as I turned left. Motorists are NOT expected to look behind them for traffic coming up the street the wrong direction when making a left turn. If you come up behind someone like this, it'd be real easy to get run over.

I only ride facing traffic only if I absolutly have to. I get nervous when approching intersections with drivers turning right. They don't check thier right side as they exit the intersection. Sometimes they barly even stop.

It's a good illustration.

The bike lane is often responsible for these type of wrong way accidents. Inexperienced cyclists think bike lanes are two ways but they are not!

That's why the new bike lanes going in around here have a cyclist icon with a one-way arrow painted in the lane. I insisted on it.

Riding against traffic is crazy!

If your marking is not in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, it may somehow end up being a threat to safety, as someone unfamiliar with your icon misinterprets it. The Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices does listen to new ideas. Let them take a look at your idea.
https://www.ncutcd.org/

We have the same icons here in houston.

We've got a traffic engineer involved in the process. All markings are as per MUTCD. But I do appreciate your thoughts & concerns.

Now if the cagers will just understand & comply.........

tsk tsk tsk. I'm getting nervous about your safety.

Forgive me for this next question as I'm relatively new to the forums, but are people afraid to ride in traffic? It's the only way to make sure you don't get squashed or hooked sometimes. Especially when cars have to turn.

Hi,
last week where I live, a mail semi ran over a cyclist going the wrong way
at dusk with no lights. Not smart. Not breathing, either.

Forum members in general have little difficulty riding in traffic. Bike lanes can be useful in certain instances as well. However there has been much discussion of "wrong way cyclists" creating a hazard while using bike lanes. That's where this thread picks up.

A cyclist who was riding against traffic was recently killed in Portland, ME.

Update: I just noticed late's posting, above. It's the same incident.

Curious... What do you do when you encounter a cyclist heading in the CORRECT direction? Do you force him into the car lane?

Ahh I see. Well I see that every damn time I get within 3 blocks of the university. I'm so surprised that there hasn't been more injuries.
On a side note, I had a Physics professor that didn't make it to class one day because he got doored. I guess he was kind of lucky because it happened right in front of the hosptial.

i do all my getting around by bike and i see people all the time not paying attention to the rules of the road. this is people on bikes as wellk as thouse in cars. i have come to the conclustion that there are cyclists and people who ride bikes.

What's even worse in my opinion are the bums that ride up to an intersection, then kind of linger at the crosswalk for a few seconds, then dart into oncoming traffic. Makes people think that's what all bikers are like.

Yes. A lot of people are not only afraid to ride in traffic but don't realize they are allowed to do so.

I do a lot of cycling instruction with Scouts, and I find that many of the younger ones are very uncomfortable with riding on the road. Most likely because they are so used to being told to ride on the sidewalk. Most schools don't teach bike safety unless they get a special grant. I'm not sure any teach cycling laws.

The Scouts become much more comfortable riding in traffic after they know the laws and realize it's the safest way to cycle.

I had the very same experience as notfred, only I was making a U-turn (legal in CA). I had to stomp on the brakes when I found a cyclist squeezing past my grill. Wrong way cyclists really pi$$ me off! I could have really hurt the guy had I not seen movement in the corner of my eye. It was dark, yet he was wearing all black. I shouldn't be expected to look out for a cyclist that shouldn't be where he doesn't belong. I rolled down the window and screamed "Wrong way! Ride with traffic, dolt." I doubt he cared to listen.

-Shimpie

I have another wrong-way story. A few months ago, I saw a cyclist riding the wrong way on the sidewalk. Double Whammy! I thought if this guy doesn't know any better, he's asking for a death wish. Just as I passed him, a car pulling out of a small street, knocked him off his bike. The driver that hit him, was looking for oncomming traffic, not at sidewalk traffic coming from the opposite direction. He had been parked at the intersection looking for a gap in traffic and the cyclist rode right in front of the car when the driver was looking the other way. Even as a pedestrian, I don't walk in front of cars without the driver's eye contact. If the cyclist had been riding with traffic, the driver would have seen him.

-Shimpie

80% of my commute is either on worng way bike lanes, or going the wrong way down 1 way streets, or riding into oncoming traffic.
I'm much faster this way, and I've never had a problem.

A good point to bring up once in a while notfred. Nice diagram too.

yet...

(but it's only a matter of time)

Agreed

Oh my. Karma...bad karma.

-Not to worry though, your never too far from one of Beantown's 5 trauma centers.