Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I live about one block from the scene of this accident…These types of accidents have happened before in the vicinity of my neighborhood.
I have posted a few times about how I register such disasters, and others, in my head to keep myself safe:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…Over the past few months I have come to realize that
my safety aphorisms, collected over the years by personal or vicarious experience, are my way of actively aligning the stars in my favor,
to anticipate those unseen and otherwise unanticipated dangers.
FWIW, for my own information at least [include]:…
- Truck at corner in sight, don't go right [from a few local fatalities]…
Originally Posted by
Ninety5rpm
...The way most cyclists ride, the accepted norms, put us at higher risk than necessary.
Most cyclists are outraged by this video because they can see themselves doing the same thing. They don't cringe when they watch it the first time and see her riding alongside that truck. It all looks and feels normal to them. It shouldn't! Seeing a cyclist do that should make them cringe!
Only if they have the proper understanding of risk around trucks togenuinely cringe as soon as they see that cyclist, or any cyclist, ridingalongside a truck like that,
will they have the internal mechanisms to keep them from doing it themselves.
That's where we need to be headed, not crashing into each other and who knows what else for "blaming the victim".
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
…So, many of us might have made an adjustment on a hunch, or at least have been on high alert for a possible turn. It's possible the cyclist was less experienced, or misread the trucks move to the left, not knowing he was positioning for a wide right, or.....
When I first watched that video I had a similar reaction as Ninety5rpm comments…I might have possibly tried to outride that truck too, especially since the streets were so familiar.
In fact, I must confess that soon after that accident, but perhaps without a fully formed aphorism in my mind, I attempted a similar maneuver in front of an upcoming bus, knowing it was there. Indeed the bus did turn right, but I stopped short and was safe. I think my aphorism was incubating in my mind, and it became fully entrenched since that incident happened directly to me.
It is still very firm in my memory, because on that unforgettable ride I was showing a (well-known) fellow BF subscriber around town, Fortunately he was well behind me and did not follow my lead, and likely did not see it, or at least did not mention it to me. 
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 01-26-18 at 04:33 PM.