Almost became road kill today
 

I was out on my typical noon solo ride today on a rural road and almost got run over.

There I was riding along about 1-2 feet off the white line and I heard a car approaching from the back--no big deal, happens all the time. These are 12 foot lanes with no shoulders, so I like to ride a bit off the line to indicate to drivers that they won't be able to safely pass me without crossing the double yellow line. This is is really important when there are oncoming cars--by riding out in the lane, I'm trying to tell drivers that they'll have to wait behind me until oncoming cars pass...it has always just seemed safer that way.

Of course, as this car approached from behind, there was an oncoming car. Not a single car has passed me in the last five minutes, and now, all of the sudden, it's rush hour. Anyway, the car stepped on the gas, veered over the yellow line and passed by without hitting me. As he passed, I could hear another car right behind him, and as I thought to my self, "wow, this is going to be close (because of the oncoming car)," I hear brakes lock up: the deep throaty sound of new tires grabbing, intermittently, onto the dry pavement. Not a lot I can do at this point. Then, this black truck--towing a flat, unloaded, trailer--passes me in the grass on the right. Although he's been on the brakes, he's probably still going 45 MPH on this 55MPH road (not sure what the speed limit is on the grass, though).

He missed me by about 2-3 feet. As he passed by me, time seemed to slow down, and in that split second while his hood was literally an arm's length away, I had time to think about how there was nothing I could do to get out of this guy's way--it's all up to him. Then, the millisecond passed, and he's on the brakes skidding through the grass and dirt. I thought for sure that he'd end up in the trees, but he managed to stop.

As I rode up, this manbearpig, jumped out of the truck. If you've ever seen the movie Idiocracy, you've seen this guy: basketball shorts and a gray wife beater draped over a body that considers 12oz curls to be the only necessary exercise. I ask him if he's ok, but he's just screaming at me how i don't need to be 2 feet out in the lane and that the law says I should be right on the white line...blah, blah, blah. I can tell by his beer gut that he's an expert on bicycling laws so I just ignore him, turn around and wave as a I ride past him on my way home....what was I gonna do? Stand there and argue with an amped up hillbilly while wearing Lycra? That scenario has no good endings.

The worst part about the experience for me is knowing that I had to rely on someone to dodge me--I didn't have any control over my fate at that instant: either he was going to hit me, or miss me; there was no way I could have dodged him. Today, he missed me...and my wife and kids thank him (or would, if I ever told them about this--which I won't).

I posted this story so that others could examine the situation and see how they would have reacted. I can tell you that from now on, I'm going to keep riding in the lane when it's too narrow for a car to safely pass me without going over the yellow line, but I'm going to fade as far right as possible as they pass.

I think this near fatal accident was caused because the driver of the truck couldn't see me until it was too late--possibly because the car in front of him was blocking his view. A contributing factor was that the first car to pass me made the wrong decision when he stepped on the gas to go around me; he should have slowed down and waited for the oncoming traffic to pass--instead he was reckless. The driver of the truck may have been following the first car too closely, or approaching too rapidly. Maybe he did have time to see me and thought that he could get around me, but realized too late that the oncoming traffic was now too close? I don't know. If I had been riding right on the white line and this guy had tried to squeeze between me and the oncoming traffic, he probably would have hit me with his mirror or, certainly, with the trailer he was towing.

There's a good possibility that riding out in the lane saved my life today. As I see it, the driver was presented with three choices: hit the oncoming car; hit me; or go off on the shoulder. If I had been riding on the line, he probably would have thought that he could skirt past me with no problems, and probably would have hit me. So, if that's the case, why would I now move right as cars go to pass me? Well, I'm thinking that it gives me some protection in cases where drivers make really bad decisions. Riding out in the lane is only effective you're seen, this guy didn't see me (I assume) until it was too late. Next time, I'm hoping that if I move right, it won't be a truck towing a trailer, but a compact car who can more easily squeeze between me and oncoming traffic. I'm playing the odds, I guess...I think that's all I can do.

I've been reading this and have some ideas, but but do you think you could have done to avoid this incident?

If you view it that way, you will eventually become a statistic. There's more that you can do than that.

How about a diagram. I am having reading comprehension issues today.

I suppose I could have deployed my internet tough guy force field.

We have a lot of bike law experts here in WI.

I'm very glad you are ok. Sounds like a really close call, glad it was not your time.

The worse sound you can ever hear while cycling is screeching brakes coming from behind. At that point, either you will be safe or get taken out like a bowling pin.

Too many words. How about a computer animation?

You know, the funny thing is that I've just moved here to Florida from the Bay Area, and even though I've ridden these roads nearly everyday, I bet only 200 cars have passed me on this particular road...max! It really isn't well traveled. Around SF, I rode all over the place--tens of thousands of cars probably passed me--and never had anything this bad happen. Of course I rode a lot with my teammates there, and do a lot more solo riding here.

Your bowling pin analogy is hauntingly apt...ugh!

I too am glad that you are OK. Iam not sure that I am understanding where you were on the road. Were you near the center of the road so that cars couldn't pass you? Would it be possible to ride as far to the right as possible? Even if there is no bike lane, at least you would be out of the way of on coming traffic and safer.

No. I was 1-2 feet to the left of the white line--there is no shoulder. I was basically shrinking the lane: if i'm taking up 2 feet of space on the right side of the lane, and they must give me (in theory) 3 feet, that means that i am, in effect, taking up 5 feet of space on the right hand side of the lane. If the the lane is 12 feet wide and the car is 7' wide, then they could pass (just barely)...most people recognize that to pass safely, they'll have to just go over the yellow line--that's what I want them to do. There isn't much traffic on this road, so it's not like I'm impeding traffic. The danger with riding on the white line is that people then think they have plenty of room to pass you without going over the yellow lines. For cars, that's typically fine, but for trucks, it's more likely that they'll just run you off the road or hit you with a mirror.

Huh...it turns out the guy didn't know the law after all. That's funny, it looked like he did.

I just went here: http://www.floridabicycle.org/rules/bikelaw.html and downloaded the Florida Bicycle Law Enforcement Guide, and they recommend, in lanes less than 14 feet, that the cyclist should be about 3 feet to the left of the white stripe on a road with no shoulder. They even have pictures (pp27-8) of correct and incorrect bicycle position in the lane.

Of course, the law is meaningless if you get run over.

"... so I like to ride a bit off the line to indicate to drivers that they won't be able to safely pass me without crossing the double yellow line. This is is really important when there are oncoming cars--by riding out in the lane, I'm trying to tell drivers that they'll have to wait behind me until oncoming cars pass...it has always just seemed safer that way."



I'm sure we are all seriously glad that you and the truck driver are OK.

That being said, I think you are very fortunate that this "manbearpig" in the wife beater t-shirt had enough forebearance and judgment to make a fast decision and choose to risk his property and his personal health and safety by running off the road almost into the trees in order to avoid clipping or nailing you.

However, from your narration it seems you almost might prefer to have hazarded a different outcome if only the driver was a classier guy or gal more worthy of your respect.

Seems you feel it would be better to have risked an alternative ending if only the driver was a nattily attired totally fit self-centered yuppie broker in a pristine classic convertible Jaguar or DB9 . Of course, such an egocentric individual might have hesitated just a hair too long in weighing the choice between totaling their pride and joy and maybe being decapitated in a rollover versus clipping/creaming an unknown bicyclist riding in the middle of a fairly narrow country road.

"If I had been riding right on the white line and this guy had tried to squeeze between me and the oncoming traffic, he probably would have hit me with his mirror or, certainly, with the trailer he was towing."

So, exactly why do you intentionally choose to ride on a road like this? You've accurately detailed all the probable contributing factors, but by your own admission, the most significant contributing factor was your own personal decison to engage in a somewhat risky behavior.

We all make errors in judgment. But, perhaps there are wiser behavioral alternatives than ... "I'm playing the odds, I guess...I think that's all I can do."

The fates seem to have given you a second chance. Use it wisely.

I don't know if you have other options for which road you ride, but I am very careful where I ride. I was almost hit once. I was going through an intersection and a car decided to turn right when I was in front it. The car made contact with my right leg and stopped just as it touched me. Without even breaking a sweet, I maxed out my heart rate. I now throw my bike in the car and take it where the riding is better which is about a 15 minute drive for me.

count your blessings. you are a lucky man!

:lol:

I would have called the police

Exactly. First of all, if you're going to ride in the traffic lane, ride IN the traffic lane... not 1 or 2 feet in, but in the middle... at least the inside of the right tire track. Second, when you see there is a car in the oncoming lane and the car behind you moves out to pass, throw down a SLOW hand signal (left arm out and down at 45 degrees, palm facing back). Wave it for emphasis if need be.

Also, if you don't ride with a mirror, consider getting one. It will help you to know what's coming and anticipate what action to take.

My commute has a mile or so of country two-lane with no shoulder. I've done this several times and the cars always get the idea. When it's all clear, I wave them around. When they realize I just saved them an accident (or at least a close call), I invariably get a friendly wave back.

Don't just accept the odds that close calls (or worse) will happen. Think things through, and try to think about what you can do to minimize the danger.

This is broken thinking. It would have been better for all of us if manbearpig had been paying attention to what he was doing, and exercising good decision making. This should never have happened. I'm a pilot, and we have a saying in aviation: "A superior pilot exercises superior judgement to avoid having to exercise his superior skill ." This guy exercised crappy judgement, and that's why almost killed me, and ended up in the weeds. I am, however, grateful that he didn't hit me, but it's not like the guy saved my life--he avoided killing me while dealing with the effects of his inferior judgement. Let's not lose site of who was at fault.

This is just stupid. A different driver may never been forced into that decision, because he would have made better decisions beforehand. The guy was a walking stereotype, his name was probably Floyd or Ricky Bobby..or something similar.

This road doesn't have much traffic. As I've mentioned, I bet fewer than 200 cars have passed me in the 2 months I've ridden this road nearly every day. I ride a road bike on the ROAD (I also race them on the, gasp, road), there are risks anytime you do that, you just try to minimize them. The most significant contributing factor to this near miss was the faulty decision making by the guy in the truck; it's not like I was riding on a highway

Look, you play the odds every time you get on the road--either on a bike or in a car--all you can do is exercise strategies that minimize risk.

The state should require motorists to recognize the RIGHTS of cyclists, and how they (cyclists) are expected to act--it does no good for cyclists to run red lights, stop signs, etc. Perhaps I've been unfair to manbearpig. While it's undeniable that he exercised crappy judgement, it's obvious that he has no idea of where cyclists should be riding. Part of the reason for his ignorance is due to the dearth of cyclists in my area. I think if he, and the driver that was in front of him, had known why I was riding 2 feet out in the lane, and if he had recognized my RIGHT to be there, he probably would have made better decisions. I bet that if he came over to my house tonight, he'd be a perfectly likable guy; but on the road, he saw me as some Lycra wearing fairy on a toy that was on HIS road, in his way, delaying him by precious seconds.

Everyone could exercise a little more caution (in life, not just when driving). Just be happy you're still alive. I was involved in an accident with a pickup truck a few months back where I was hit from behind as I was crossing over to the left lane. It was my first and only bike-related accident where fate wasn't in my hands, but now my hair raises a bit every time a car approaches from behind. I think long and hard before going on long-ish solo rides now.

This is the most pretentious, arrogant, "advice" I've ever heard. Geez.

+1, some people on here are more scary than the drivers of which we speak!

Get a mirror. I recently borrowed a bike and I felt totally naked without my mirror. Sure you may earn a dork point but it's worth the added security of knowing what's going on behind you!

I was on a group ride last month and one guy had a neon green shirt with large black letters, "Share the road", he was riding in the middle of the lane. His attitude seems to fit with the OP'r, way too much attitude to survive much longer. A 200lb rider vs a 4,000lb car, its not who's right or wrong, it's who's dead.

Sounds like you were doing everything right to me. You just got unlucky, and then really lucky.

It happens, be glad you're still alive. Spend $100 on a taillight if you want to, it'll make you feel better. Get this one: http://www.bikelights.com/vis180.html

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...na/vis1801.jpg

Every time you do this, you die a little on the inside.

What bothers me the most about this is that the driver had a 50/50 shot at killing you but there is nothing the police would do about it. If the guy had a gun it would be totally different even though an SUV at 45mph has significantly more killing power.