We call that "salmoning" here, and it is illegal in most places. Only pedestrians can travel legally against traffic. That said, if salmoning is part of the overarching bicycle road culture in Guam and a LARGE majority of cyclists ride that way, then drivers will be used to it. Red light running is not legal in NYC but such a large number of cyclists do it that you don't even get so much as a honk from drivers as you sail past. In Oregon where I live now, red light running is not a big part of bicycle roadcraft and when I do it it really riles up the drivers that I leave behind. If your fellow cyclists are managing to navigate the roads of Guam without needing to ride against traffic then YOU become the outlier and your life will be the harder for it. It may even be a shorter life despite your "efforts" to prolong it.

H

I have used a mirror for years and hate to ride without. I have observed motorists overtaking me, sometimes at high speed. They have always passed or slowed at the last minute. I have never taken evasive maneuvers which called for riding off the road into a ditch, curb, or sidewalk full of peds. I sometimes move to the right when I know there is a vehicle behind me to make it easier to pass. Sometimes on a busy street controlled by traffic signals I will use it to avoid a group of cars by ducking into a parking lot for a minute while they pass. Better that than several minutes of close encounters with petroholics. I don't think a mirror would have prevented the incident. A vest would help the majority of motorists to see you and avoid a collision; however, the threat of distracted driving poses a risk to everyone on the road. Where's my flying bicycle :/

Maybe it could have, maybe not. However, it's worth having even if it's only 50% effective. Yes, you're supposed to monitor it every few seconds, which is a really trivial amount of effort to those of us who don't have vision problems. I value my mirror mostly for keeping me aware of my surroundings, and not having to unbalance myself or take my eye off the road by looking back over my shoulder. The mirror also keeps ME from making stupid mistakes like crossing in front of other vehicles' paths or panic-stopping in front of cars.

As far as riding in the lane...that's where you're supposed to ride, practical or not. (providing you've got all the proper and necessary visibility gear)

agreed. My mirror has prevented many right hooks. Tells me the story on whats going on behind me. Gives me another tool in the tool box.

And people wonder why I still sometimes wear my florescent orange shirt with large lettering on the back that says "Can you see me now, a$$hole?"

I don't care so much about the message the drivers are getting that might be bad, as long as they are seeing it..... :D

I own, and use, mirrors every ride. I won't make a lane change without checking my mirrors. That said, I stand by my earlier observation that a mirror would not have been of much use in the incident that was described above. And, no, you are not supposed to ride in the lane. You are supposed to ride to the side of the lane out of the path of vehicle traffic. That's the law here and most everywhere else that I know of.

H

Glad to hear you're ok.

Where is "here"? Bikes are vehicle traffic. Your laws say that bikes have to ride on the shoulder? (if shoulders are even available)

I'm a realist. The cop was a bit of a dick, but he did his job. I have no desire to waste my time whining to his superior that he could have been more sensitive. I'll just ***** about him on the net like any good American. And I don't see how this crime could be solved, no witnesses, admittedly shaky description from me, and if I left a mark on the vehicle it's just going to blend in with the others (old pickup that had seen better days).

For the poster wondering where this happened, it was eastbound on 11th, just west of Garnet. I was "in" the right lane. It had rained and I was moving in the lane as needed to avoid puddles near the curb. When i was struck i was on the left side of the right hand lane. i have deduced that he probably hit me with the drivers side front bumper which means he just drove straight into me without attempting to avoid. Who knows, drunk, dirty windshield, no headlights, texting...the list goes on.

As a safety trainer for a large trucking company my day job is to prevent accidents, and I've been thinking about what I could have done to prevent this. Obviously I have no control over the other driver, I'll let karma take care of him, but what could I have done to try and prevent this? Maybe nothing, maybe no amount of flashers, vests, mirrors, or force fields would have helped. Nothing in life is without risk, and if you spend too much time trying to mitigate it, life stops being enjoyable.

I've been meaning to get a mirror, might have helped-as a truck driver I'm pretty used to monitoring them without losing my forward focus.- call it 50/50 but it's not a huge impact on my wallet or enjoyment of my ride.

Safety vest? considering the brightness of my flasher I don't think visibility was a factor, but I'm thinking better to have too much than not enough. No telling what is going to catch their eye. Add reflective tape to this list also.

Camera? Doubt it would have worked or survived the impact. It was dark and wet, add my flasher and the oncoming headlights and I doubt there would have been any useful information gathered. Too much money and something else i have to worry about maintaining for probably no payoff.

For the poster who mentioned my helmet, definitely getting a new one. no worries there.

Only other thing i can think of is the bike and my route. Even if I had spotted him coming in my mirror, I haven't really practiced jumping up the curb at speed in a long time, or if I don't want to be bike specific and go to something more suited to jumping curbs maybe my reaction to perceived threats should be to slow down or stop and get as close to the curb as possible. As for route, I might be able to vary it, but the area i would have to travel through, although it might have slower traffic, it might expose me to nefarious activities.

Is there any excuse for the guy hitting me? Nope, i was well within my rights to be there. Could I have done more to prevent it? I'm going to say yes and take action to correct my deficiencies. Could it happen again even though I've taken action? Of course, but who knows, if I'd continued driving my car, I might have been t-boned by a dump truck. You leave the house, you take the risk. heck! you're not even safe in your own house. Don't get me started on bathtubs and power tools.

Be safe everyone.

a) drunk asshat
b) asshat without a valid license
c) asshat, N.O.S.
d) all of the above


+1k

cops lack resources (everything from bicycle training to manpower) and if you walked away, that makes the incident low priority. video is a total game-changer; it turns the cops' job of finding a hit-n-run driver from something that could take hundreds of hours of resources with low probability of a prosecution, to something that could take less than an hour and result in a high probability of prosecution.

The only thing that really needs to survive the impact is the data card, and they almost certainly will.

Get the kind of vest with the silver tape. I have one and am amazed at how much they stand out when I see them on others while driving.

Also consider this http://store.dinottelighting.com/300...tery-p111.aspx

Even then, would they capture any valuable information in such poor conditions.

Sigh, another one of these threads...

Need to get a camera or get a car =X

one never knows. there have been times when i've been surprised by getting a plate capture, and there have been times when i've been surprised to not get a plate capture. there are no guarantees. all i can say is the HERO2s do better than any of the other cameras i've used.

it also helps to mount a wide-angle light (eg red-zone-4) near the camera. this will reflect off of plates and often results in some very crisp plate captures, even at night, even with headlights pointed at the camera.

the other "trick" is to run multiple cameras. four cameras = 4x the chance of getting a plate on video.

reflective vest and reflective ankle bands make a huge difference in your visibility in the dark

Looks pretty cool. Doesn't have the resolution options as the GoPro, but it's only a third the cost. My only concern is at 30FPS, I wonder if you could capture a tag# on a moving vehicle very well.

Go to Ram mounts and look at the smaller balls. They screw in the bottom of the Kodak, then there are brackets that you could mount to the seatpost.

Oh yeah, it's one of those Kodak Play Sport cameras. HD 1080 just like the GoPro. It's actually better underwater than the GoPro.

I don't have a rack, but I have thought about designing a holder that could attach to the seat post. I kinda sketched up this claw looking, Voyage to The Bottom of the Sea flying sub thingamajig in SolidWorks. But I'm not too happy with it. I could machine away most of the material to lighten it up, but I think it's still too bulky.

I'm really surprised with the technology that they put in cellphones and laptops, that they haven't come up with a good remote lens setup like I mentioned before. I bet you can get something like that, but it's probably wicked expensive. You know something like a surveillance camera....

in direct sunlight, 60fps may come out ahead. in other conditions (less light, low speed differential) 30fps may come out ahead. there are a lot of variables, and no One Right Answer™.

IMHO, the HERO2 is the best bike camera (and impartial witness) for the money, overall.

Agreed, the other thing that improves visibility is a good Planet Bike Super Flash. My neighbors are always telling me they can see me from long distances in the mornings as they leave for work.

Believe it or not.. I have been equally impressed with the little "Spock" lights too. They sure are bright for being such a small light.

Yeah, I have the Hero2. I really like it, but I was messed up when I took it on a drift dive in Florida, and the resolution is just like opening your naked eyes underwater.

That still really bums me out.

But as far as dry land, the GoPro should catch most any image if it's within aspect range.

Oh Yeah, I see what you are talking about...I was just wanting something a little more secure than just that one screw mount. That's just tapped plastic. I'm not too sure about the strength of those threads and the vibration that they would be subject to on my bike. But I will google it and have a look..Thanks!

Wow! aren't we just a load of techno-freds! Our bikes are going to become something similar to Darth Vader..More technology than machine...twisted and evil. :eek:

i'm not an expert on underwater use (i always ride the bike on land), but there's at least one after-market lens adaptor thing for using it underwater.

Gosh, no wonder it was so hard to pedal! I saw that when I started investigating the problem. Need to get one of those...

Hey New Zealand! Have you seen any Hobbits down under mate?

Can't wait until Dec 14th...