murrellington

Anyone else have problems with these people not noticing you. Happens all the time where I am going straight on green and a car cuts in front of me making an unprotected left. I assume they don't see me. It might be because I ride near a college campus where kids don't pay attention. But now I slow down near green lights because I've avoided some pretty bad accidents.

RomansFiveEight

I do all the time on my motorcycle. My practice is to hover my fingers over my front brake and foot over my rear brake (obviously, on your bicycle, substitute for what's appropriate) and pay attention to wheels. Don't worry about the driver; look at their front wheel. You'll notice it rolling forward, or turning, a split second quicker than you'll notice the car moving.

sickz

standard driver behavior... if i'm unprotected and they're "waiting" on me to pass through... i do a few things...

-i proceed to zigzag across 1-2 lanes to get their attention.
-i check how much their wheels are turned...

cocked wheels are eager beavers, generally they're payin' acute attention. wheels not turned, are the red flags. beware of the aloof.

during this whole spectacle, i'm preparing to make a hard right if they turn regardless. i'll be in the crosswalk until halfway thru.

the nastiest ones to watch for, are those making left hand turns when surrounding traffic is at a dead stop. little indication of what's going on, and if you'er splitting lanes, they really don't see you. this is where you're checkin' thru car windows to check if someone's preppin' a left.

gluck, ride smart, stay aware.

p.s. practicing hard rights at 20mph w/o touching the brakes is imperative. how fast and tight you can corner is limited to when you pedal strike. there's no point in an exit path if you can't execute it when needed.

auldgeunquers

You've just made the argument for the painfully bright siezure inducing strobe blinkie.

Downside : driver has siezure at the wheel of a car in motion headed your way.

Upside : driver having had siezure loses license - at least until cleared by a doctor.

Risk and reward.

- Think I'll just keep assuming they're all out to get my invisible headlighted and High Viz wearing self with the steady and non painful headlight. What you do is up to you, eh?

sickz

it's why motos have their low beam on at all times. zigzagging w/ shiney wheels usually accomplishes the same thing. usually.

i personally enjoy riding in traffic. wading through a dynamic maze of cattle is fulfilling imo.

TenSpeedV2

I ride down by a campus as well, and I have experienced this, especially as they make the left off a side street to join your lane. They are usually looking left at the oncoming traffic, and only look right once if that. I have also noticed that pedestrians will just walk out into the street at any time if there are no cars. Doesn't matter if you are doing 28 mph in the right lane or not, they will just walk out. I have had more encounters with pedestrians than cars down by the campus to be honest.

hairnet

Pretty much. I have to ride near two schools now, a university and a trade school, so there are bone heads all over the place doing everything but paying attention to their surroundings.

sickz

dunno what's worse.... peds or moms picking up their kids from school (la cieneaga & olympic).

putt putt zones.

murrellington

I think maybe they don't expect cyclists to be going at the green? I'm sure they probably consciously see me but ignore because they are expecting cars. Never had the pedestrian encounter in streets but I can see how it would happen. There are actually bike lanes on my campus but people never pay attention there and I almost hit them all the time. Daily.

And I guess I can use a blink light in the day but I doubt it would do much for these cars.

CliffordK

Here most cars are pretty courteous. However, I always consider size to trump legal right-of-way.

murrellington

I'm also more scared of parked car doors opening than I am of speeding traffic next to me. At least I can somewhat anticipate traffic.

sickz

dblpost =\

sickz

objects moving left to right stand out when you're used to see out to vehicles become smsller to bigger.


lights are ugly.

franswa

College kids haven't produced enough brain juice to safely navigate the streets, whether by foot, bike or automobile. All that is on their tiny collective minds is making the grade and getting laid. I've altered my route these days to avoid as much of it as possible and my quality of life has increased from doing so.

RomansFiveEight

Tell us how you REALLY feel!

franswa

Missouri is the worst state in the union. Even worse than Alaska and Florida.

RomansFiveEight

Haha. Well, don't ask if you don't want the answer.

Okay; I'll bite, why?

murrellington

That's a bold statement.

franswa

Nah, MO is actually really beautiful. I have some fond(sordid) memories of my brief experience with that state.

TenSpeedV2

I shot this at the local campus this past fall. I agree with you.



To the left of my bike is the pedestrian path. To the right of my bike is a clearly marked as a non pedestrian area, with the markings happening every few hundred feet, especially at crossings. It is a dedicated bike path, yet almost every time I am on it, there are pedestrians.

Here he is, a bit further up the bike path. I guess he never saw the markings.

franswa

Yes! My experience is very similar, just ten fold. I would stop to take some pics but I might get mowed down by a kamikaze student cyclist or accordion bus in a hurry.

Scrodzilla

You should just drive your car on the bike path. When you start mowing down pedestrians, it will be nobody's fault, right?

prooftheory

Thread belongs in a & s.

TejanoTrackie 

Everyone should be forced to wear a helmet when riding a bike. Done !

Scrodzilla

And use brakes. And an acceptable gear ratio. And light wheels. And a bike having the right standover height. And the best tires for skidding. And foot retention. And a Kilo TT.

/forum