UmneyDurak

Was doing my usual ride this morning. Was just riding in the middle of the block, with some businesses on the right in a bicycle lane. A car passes me and immediately turns right in to the business driveway. Her rear bumper didn't even fully clear my front wheel. I hit the brakes hard, managed to unclip, and turn the bike so it was more or less a glancing blow. Wasn't injured and front wheel looks ok. What pissed me off was a reaction from this Indian woman. First it was "I didn't hit you", then it was her repeating over and over "I had signal on", "but I turned the signal on". Like it magically solves everything and allowes for blindly changing lanes and turning. Then it was "I thought you stopped." HOW did she came up with that piece of idiocy. I guess that is the most frustrating and infuriating part. I don't think she ever considered or realized that she did anything wrong. Damn DMV will give anyone a license.

hueyhoolihan

yeah, too bad. i guess some people just have a hard time believing that they have the potential to seriously harm or even kill somebody by turning into a parking lot. everytime i ride, there are several opportunities for me to get seriously hurt. contant vigilance, i guess, is the only answer. glad you didn't get hurt or resort to road rage. (that probably wouldn't help either in this case).

Doohickie

I think I would have laid down on the ground and said, "OHHHH MY NECK!!!! CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

hueyhoolihan

you are a bad man, very, very bad man.

UmneyDurak

and risk getting run over for real? No thank you.

bikingshearer 

^^^ . . . plus ambulance calls are 'spensive.

Doohickie

's okay.... she was at fault.

UmneyDurak

Like that means diddly squat. Besides all you need is a cop not to fond of cyclists and bam "cyclist is at fault, too fast for conditions".

Besides insurance fraud is not really my thing.

Lanceoldstrong

I am really glad you are ok.

toytech

I think it happens to all of us eventually, a little healthy paranoia helps. I had one a few weeks ago. As I was coming up to an intersection a car in the left lane suddenly turned right across both lanes right in front of me! I think my rear tire got 6" in the air stopping, and I don't think they even saw me giving them the finger, or ever saw me at all.

FrenchFit 

I was with you 'til you went a little racist. Hey, they are all out to kill you...from guys with old trucks, to old men in hats, to soccer moms on cellphones.

sojourn

So describing her as an Indian women is racist? I'm not seeing that in the post.....I'm just glad no one got hurt.

FrenchFit 

"Indian" + "...DMV will give anybody a license.."

Classic discriminatory diss, applied to old people, hispanics and asians...depending on the decade.

bigbossman 

You left a whole lot out that was in between one and the other...... like how stupid she was acting. When I read the post, I associated the comment about the stupid behavior directly with the "... Damn DMV will give anyone a license." comment.

sojourn

I guess if you look really really hard you could find a racist comment in anything someone says.....and I thought I was a cynic....geeze!

FrenchFit 

I'll give you the test; assume your listener is an Indian (MMA fighter) and see the reaction you get to those comments face to face. Or, maybe you'd simply be 'shocked' to find yourself on your rear.

If you think I'm a cynic...I say try it out yo!

VNA

A bright blinking front light will help--yes it looks very very dorky but safety is first when cycling--particularly when one went through a windshield once already!

Bad drivers come in all shape, size, age, religion, sex etc.

Motorcycles use bright front lights for a very good reason!

I am pleased that you are okay!

FrenchFit 

Fully agree, and that little front blinky seems to catch the eye of parked drivers about to open their doors as well. As uncool as it is, I've gone to front and rear blinkies on morning and evening rides, it just seems to help drivers pick you out of the background. Of course, I keep the mindset they are all out to kill me.

I also contributed to the 'Thank you for seeing me' campaign, for a little roadway karma.

UmneyDurak

lol, racist. That is some funny crap right there.

Midland

Glad your OK.I agree w/ FrenchFit's statement

himespau 

Only too bad you didn'thave something sharp sticking out of the front of your bike so that "glancing contact" would have given her paint a nice long scrape.

3alarmer 

UmneyDurak

I call shenanigans on bright lights.

Some drivers are just that clueless. First time I got hit, I was Tboned by a left turner. She didn't see my front light, or a dorky hi-viz yellow vest. This was also on a well lit street.

Then of course there was a lady who took me out with her mirror. I was making a left turn, signaled, merged to double yellow. She passed me over double yellow and clipped me with her mirror. I still remember her comment "I am so afraid of cyclists, they are everywhere" Then why the hell did you pass me over double yellow, after I signaled and merged to make a left turn?

This wasn't a hit, but still a memorable occasion. Coming back from a ride, a car started to turn left right in to me. I hit the brakes and started looking for escape route. She stopped blocking both lanes at the last minute. I followed her in to a parking lot, first thing she did when she opened her door is started screaming that she stopped. She never did understood what she did wrong, and apparently it was my fault that she ended up blocking both lanes with oncoming traffic. Gee lady maybe you should wait and let all traffic pass before initiating a turn from "suicide" lane?

I am leaving ethnicity out, so FrenchFit won't call me racist again. Although I said "she" so maybe I am sexist now?

P.S. Thanks everyone for well wishes.

freighttraininguphill

I'm glad we all agree that it is a good idea to use safety equipment to make us more visible to motorists at night. Let's take it a step further and ditch the idea that it is "dorky" or "uncool" to use safety equipment. Assuming we are all adults in this thread, there is no reason to give a shyt about being "cool". That's for teenagers, not grown men and women. Being safe is much more important than looking like a wannabe pro cyclist.

Maybe there would be fewer bike-vs-car accidents if people didn't concern themselves with looking "cool".

3alarmer 

fify