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Post Your Close Calls Here (So That We May All Learn)

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Old 03-07-13 | 10:18 AM
  #51  
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Joined: Jul 2012
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From: Toronto, ON

Bikes: '14 CAADX 105, '12 Trek 1.2c, Niji 10-spd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxj0ExkkF8s

Very close pass. This a spot where I should have taken the lane.
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Old 03-07-13 | 06:57 PM
  #52  
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Originally Posted by Dilberto
Don't EVER ride the wrong way on the sidewalk! In 2007, newbie me did just that. I was on the sidewalk outside a big strip mall, just about to cross the main entrance. A huge, lifted 4x4 was in hurry to exit the mall, just as I was starting to cross the entryway. Problem was...the woman driver was busy looking for oncoming traffic to her left, so she could quickly gun her right turn. The 4x4 was lifted so high I don't think she saw me. All I saw/heard on the corner of my left eye, was the giant chrome grille of her Monster Truck, F-350 Super-Duty approaching fast, and the sound of that Ford Triton V8 throttling to blast a quick right turn. Suddenly, I hear a young girl scream, "mommy STOP.....you're gonna hit the guy!!!" The driver's young daughter saw me just in the nick of time! If that little girl was not present - that truck would have easily rolled me dead...and she would have never known, until bystanders forced her to stop.

To this day, I "thank" that little girl....whoever she is!!!!
This exact situation happens to me at least once a week, on foot. Minus the young daughter, and usually not a monster truck, and the drivers usually yell at me...for crossing at the cross walk, at the correct time....
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Old 03-15-13 | 11:16 AM
  #53  
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From: NW

Bikes: Research dynamics coyote pro four and a raleigh rx

I have no idea of what this guy's issue was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0yiVWoETc4



Last edited by Multcomedic; 03-15-13 at 03:19 PM.
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Old 03-15-13 | 11:46 AM
  #54  
just ride
 
Joined: Mar 2012
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From: North Idaho

Bikes: '15 Scott Speedster 20

Originally Posted by SpecialJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxj0ExkkF8s

Very close pass. This a spot where I should have taken the lane.
Dude, I get passed that close by cars going 50mph all the time... it appears that you had tons of room to spare at that speed. Unless it was seriously closer, I would have shrugged it off.
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Old 03-15-13 | 11:51 AM
  #55  
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Joined: Mar 2012
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From: North Idaho

Bikes: '15 Scott Speedster 20

Originally Posted by Multcomedic
I have no idea of what this guy's issue was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0yi...e_gdata_player
HOLY MOLY -- some serious mental issues going on there
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Old 03-16-13 | 01:11 AM
  #56  
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Bikes: 2011 Jamis Hudson 4600

A hot summer night I was crusing out of Atlantic City to the next city over & was well with in the shoulder of the road. Matter of fact this shoulder is so wide that two cyclist can ride side by side.

It was then that this late 80ies 4 door yellow tank of a car. Raced past me at well over 70mph in a 50 zone. The thing look like it might have been an old Delts 88 model. Its front right fender smacked my left thigh as it past me...........I was numb for the entire ride home.

Just think had this either old as hell, or drunk as hell driver had only been a few degrees more off to the right of the road, I would have been sent flying into the bay waters to either drown or die a slower death frome blunt force trama. Just a few more inches, & this could have been my swan song.
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Old 03-19-13 | 08:33 PM
  #57  
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Joined: May 2012
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Conditioned?

Maybe its more of a statement of how long I've been commuting, but all of the videos posted so far are daily occurrences. My worst was being hit hit by a car: driver ran a red light, and admitted that he never even saw it (I assume he was texting or something). Right in front of a police station! Thankfully, I walked away with a "few" bruises but nothing broken or seriously injured. So my expectations are pretty low...

I run a few consistent routes where I've learned the typical dangers and traffic patterns. I've had drivers at crossroads look in my direction, but then just take off and cut off my path. At particular stoplights, the red lights are routinely run. Some stop signs are never obeyed. Some lights I routinely see right turns on red without looking or stopping. And other intersections, there are frequently car-car near-misses, so I hang back to avoid getting caught in the debris from a car-car accident. Pedestrian crosswalks - good luck! I always wait for both directions to stop. So much for the NJ law requiring cars to stop.

I always try to take a conservative path. Never jump the green. Avoid blazing through yellows. Usually, I stop 2-3 cars behind the line and let the cars go first, but at specific lights I head to the front to get a good view. At all crossroads, 2-way or 4-way stop, if I can't see the whites of the driver's eyes looking at me, I come to a full stop even if I don't have a stop sign. In some areas I try to mingle with the cars to avoid getting doored or backed into. I pay particular attention to when I leave relative to sunrise or sunset. Some intersections I avoid during times with bad sun glare, which may require that I adjust my departure time by 10-15 minutes or changing my route for a few weeks.

Commuting takes full concentration. I relax on my 6am Saturday morning rides.

Finally, I never yell at drivers (well, almost never ). If I yelled at every driver that did something dumb, I'd wear myself out.
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Old 03-19-13 | 10:16 PM
  #58  
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS5tJpU07cU This is the closest call I've ever had. There was an oncoming biker coming full-speed around a blind curve as far on my side of the greenway as possible. Not smart on his part.
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