Bike Gremlin

Depends. I've explained here some shortcomings of human vision and attention, and how to avoid those traps when cycling:

Sorry, I didn't see you - cyclist traffic safety - Cycle Gremlin

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcours2006

They always say that, even if they did see you. It's more likely that she did see you chose to not yield anyway,hoping she'd get away with it…

Not to be argumentative or an apologist for the drivers, but see this post on a recent thread, “Being seen”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Thanks @FB for that citation. It was very interesting,in particularly the discussion of “saccades” (I wrote a college paper about saccades).My watchword when cycling is “Make yourself as visible as possible, and assume no one sees you.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by FBinNY

It's not about being seen per se, though that's also a factor, it's about being noticed,with your distance and speed properly estimated. In other words, a driver may "see" you, but not properly put you in context with the surroundings, and therefore think you're farther away or moving slower…

There are more things long those lines, but my point is that you want to add active effort at being noticed on top of passive (lights, clothes) methods.

Here's more on making yourself seen, in an article that I consider required reading for all cyclists (both pedal and motor).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Londoncyclist

When you move your head and eyes to scan a scene, your eyes are incapable of moving smoothly across it and seeing everything. Instead, you see in the image in a series of very quick jumps (called saccades) with very short pauses (called fixations) and it is only during the pauses that an image is processed

Your brain fills in the gaps with a combination of peripheral vision and an assumption that what is in the gaps must be the same as what you see during the pauses.

This might sound crazy, but your brain actually blocks the image that is being received while your eyes are moving. This is why you do not see the sort of blurred image, that you see when you look sideways out of a train window

Remember that "There but for the Grace of God go I."

alan s 

fify

kuroba

Y'know I've pondered that, maybe it was the glare? The sun was rising, but not low as there are hills. Here's a screenshot of the intersection from the car's point of view (and this just made me realize the car had a stop sign, I thought it was a yield like on the other side). I was coming from the right/south riding to the left/north (the orange arrow) on the furthest lane (we drive on the right side here). I painted where the sun position was at the time, from what I recall. Driver was crossing a 4 lane avenue (2 lanes each way) heading east.
Captura de pantalla 2017-06-05 a las 10.05.31.jpg

Steely Dan

6 years ago, i was hit by a bus that rolled through a stop sign and t-boned me (i had ROW). it was relatively low speed, but given the gargantuan mass imbalance between the bus and me on my bike, i was still punted across the pavement a pretty fair distance.

my bike was killed, but my guardian angel was on the ball that morning because i escaped with only bruises, gashes, and a couple minor fractures in my hand/wrist. my helmet did its job as well, cracking on impact when my head smacked into the pavement. i didn't even have so much as a minor concussion. i was back on the bike within 3 weeks.

it took a couple of years, but i eventually got a fair settlement from the CTA.

josephjhaney

Yes, once, in 26,000 miles. Got a nice new Kestrel frame out of it, so I'm pedaling carbon now when I had been pedaling aluminum. Ended up with a bruised rib, and that was it. I had the right of way, she pulled out from a stop side and hit the front wheel area, stopped before actually running me over, but it hurt. She was very apologetic, which went a long way. I do have the top rated bicycle lawyer in PA on my speed dial, but that day she made me feel she was very sorry, so I just took what her insurance company offered and went about my life. Maybe someday one of those "get off the road" ******** will knock me off my bike and I can own his ass, so long as I survive.

Happy pedaling, and be as safe as you can.

Joe

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Not to be argumentative or an apologist for the drivers, but see this post on a recent thread, “Being seen”…Remember that "There [BUT] for the Grace of God go I."

Quote:

Originally Posted by alan s

fify

Whew…thanks for that. What a difference a three-letter word makes.

noglider 

Yes, once, long ago. I was about 21 years old. I was riding to work and ... I woke up in the hospital, in a lot of pain. I had been hit head-on. The doctor standing over me, waking me up had witnessed it and said I flew in the air. I believe I was turning left, so maybe I cut off the oncoming car that hit me.

Every so often, I go past that intersection, and it's a little spooky, even now. It was in about 1982.

tokitap

never got hit neither, but once was really close, in the rain the car didnt see me ( or rather didnt look ) and tried to pass first on the roundabout , good i changed the breaks the day before !!
i think everything will depend if there is a lot of bikes in your city , ususally drivers get used to it and pay more attention !

ecnewell 

Several close calls, and one hit - many years ago while young and stupid. I had crossed to the other side of the road 1 block before my office and was riding the wrong way in the oncoming bike lane (just for a few hundred feet, what could happen?). A driver went to take a left off of a small side street, didn't look my way, and drove straight into me. I bounced off his hood, unharmed. We went to the LBS across the street to replace my tacoed wheel, and I went to work. A lucky day, indeed.

55murray

I got smoked once back about 2012, killed the bike but just bruises for me. Sidewalk crossing, at least as much my fault as the drivers. It was on an errand in town during the workday on a day I commuted, so I'm counting it.

Funny thing about it was I was nursing a sore ankle at the time (as we all know, you can ride easy when you can barely walk), so when I staggered away from the bike the driver thought he had hurt me badly!

Joe Minton

Just remembered the other time I was ‘brushed’ & fell (see post #19). It was 1962 and I was riding my branny-new Schwinn Paramount north on Lincoln Blvd, in Santa Monica, on my way to SMCC for classes. The traffic was heavy and I was playing tag with a bus; I’d pass him when he stopped & he’d pass me in between.

As I was passing the bus for the umpteenth time, a woman decided she could pass both of us – in the same lane. She brushed me and I fell/leaned against the side of her car, slid along its side and fell in the street when it passed. Bloodied elbows, knees & one hand.

The bus stayed stopped & the driver called the EMTs (fire department). The woman pulled to the curb and proceeded to have a heart attack. Unfortunately, she expired right there. She was DRT (cop term: Dead-Right-There). It was a terrible experience and I had driven it, mostly, from my mind. Until this morning’s recollection --.

I quickly found another, more secluded, way to get to class.

Joe