B. Carfree

Ah, Joey, I so wish you could afford to live here. You'd be back on your bike for joy riding again instead of taking out your frustrations being such a negative Nellie.

As to why they called back, this is the PNW. Laid back is our central theme, so terrorizing people unnecessarily is actually frowned on by employers. I once had a rig pull across my path on a roadway in order to get from one of his company's yards to another. Since I had to apply my brakes anyway, I pulled in to ask the truck driver why he had cut me off. He was terribly embarrassed, apologized and even resorted to flattery by saying he didn't realize I was going that fast. That's a fairly typical roadside contretemps around here.

KraneXL

Delivery trucks: FedEx, UPS and the like.

JoeyBike

Thankfully, you were still alive to forgive him. It's the "I didn't know how fast he was going, I didn't see him" crowd that kills most of us, not the road ragers. And I do appreciate your concern for my "loss". There are plenty of trails, paths, greenways, and bike lanes in NOLA area now. All I gave up was country roads and unnecessary trips on NOLA streets. I still ride for fun now and then on Rail-Trails and such. That's enough. Long bike tours X-country? Never again. It was crazy enough before cell phones.

Not sarcasm! I am appreciative.

dolomoto

The cab/tractor number is important as is a rough driver description and time and location. It can be more difficult to track down a trailer number. If it's a regional or national company, you'll likely have more luck contacting the corporate safety office rather than the local office.

rumrunn6

wife's cousins' husband has been working in the trucking biz for many years, mostly from the dispatch point of view. they have to deal with accidents & deaths all the time. it's gruesome & he complains about management & drivers. based on limited conversations with him, I think trucking companies do care about hearing about their drivers. we never know if someone has a "history". meaning a call to a company might help them weed out a problematic driver. calling to followup is an interesting idea. I hope you're not disappointed, but be prepared in case you are

Chris0516

I don't let vehicles straddle the line.

Maelochs

I am interested in the technique you use for forcing a 3000+-pound vehicle to move laterally across the roadway while still riding your bike.

Chris0516

Anything from 500-50,000pds.


Now, No motorist wants' to have a head-on collision with another vehicle. At the same time.


I don't put up with a motorist passing too close(3ft. in MD: 2ft. in VA). So, If they still insist on passing. I make in known with my lane position. That the motorist will have to cross the double-yellow(two-lane road) or get in the inside lane(four-lane road), to pass. If they choose to cross the double-yellow on a two-lane. They will have to do it when, I feel it is safe i.e. no passing in business district, oncoming traffic, or on a curve. Regardless of the sight line. Because I have seen vehicles' try to do that. That is irresponsible on the part of the motorist. Why, That is aggressive driving on the part of the passing motorist.

Maelochs

Dude, be real. I have been riding on the road for five decades. I spent about two decades riding in urban traffic daily when the city was rated the most deadly in the nation. I know how to ride in heavy and aggressive traffic.

Sometimes cars will try to pass whether you try to take the lane or not. And no, they don't want to hit another car head-on. On several occasions I have had cars cut sharply across my path forcing me to brake hard, because they tried to pass and had to cut over to avoid a head-on----because hitting a bike is much less of a problem for them. Some drivers will wait patiently. Some will wait impatiently. Some will pass really close, some will pull into oncoming traffic to force past. And some will cut it too close and opt to hit a cyclist with their right front fender rather than go head-on into a car.

If you really think you can control cars by taking a lane, power to you. And may you never learn the folly of this thought by getting hit. I have been hit, more than once. I know that I can ride in the right tire track, the left tire track, or right up against the center line and some idiots will still try to pass anyway---and will choose to hit me rather than hit oncoming traffic. I know because I have tasted fenders, hoods, and windshields.

I know that if a driver Cooperates, i can take the lane and keep a car behind me. And if a driver chooses to risk his life and mine----some will pass regardless. And if the driver then realizes he is about to die in a head-on collision, that driver will pull sharply right--whether I am there or not---to avoid a head-on.

Nowadays I ride a lot of narrow, winding roads, and I frequently have to block traffic. I didn't ride last night---too cold--but I rode the night before, and some idiot in a truck passed me on a corner even though i was dead center in the lane. He had to cut over to avoid the car I saw, which he didn't see while he was looking at me and cursing me for being in his way. Because I saw the car ahead and saw the truck pushing past, I was ready to give room. If I had blindly and foolishly assumed that the car wouldn't try to pass into head-on traffic, he would have hit me.

Instead, the truck and the car did a lot of loud, angry, frightened horn exchanges and I pedaled on, having once again seen how while most drivers will be courteous, some cannot see pas the end of the hood and think that everything they see through the windshield is a TV show on a screen, not reality seen through a window.

I have ridden that stretch countless times, and almost always car will wait. But I am ready in case they don't.

If you have never been in this situation, I'd say you lack experience and ought to ride more. Or maybe this has happened to you and you filter it out because it doesn't fit your "I rule the road" paradigm.

I can assure you you are correct. Drivers to Not want to hit another car head-on. I can assure you with equal certainty, when the options are driving head-on into a car or sideswiping a cyclist, the cyclist loses every time. Drivers don't even think---they instinctively jerk the wheel right to avoid the oncoming car, Sorry if you happened to be in the way.

But hey ... you think whatever makes you feel safe. I sincerely hope neither of us gets hit no matter what.

EDIT Please see https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/1163518-david-smith-trouble-again-6.html#post20750290 Post #142
Interesting sidelight.

Chris0516

I am being REAL. I am also asserting my right to be on the road. I have also biked on the road for several decades. I ride in an urban/suburban region all the time. So I am ALWAYS riding in heavy aggressive traffic.

Sure, Hitting a bike is easier than passing a bike safely. If that is how you prefer to look at it.

It is NOT FOLLY. It is 'vehicular cycling'.

Don't give a motorist the opportunity for a head-on collision. Especially in a business district, and roads with blind corners. I found this link: https://cyclingsavvy.org/what-cyclis...-about-trucks/

Rule #2 regarding trucks is this, "If a truck passes you, slow down and let it get ahead of you ASAP. If you are approaching an intersection, merge to the left and ride near the center line to avoid the moving blind spot."

That is my point. Don't assume they are going to be nice about passing you. Take the phrase, 'There is a time and a place for everything'. That is the same with passing a motorist, or a cyclist. I have had vehicles behind me. That couldn't resist the urge to cross the double-yellow, regardless of the risk. But I let them know. That I wasn't going to let them pass me in a given area. Because, Unless they were a homicidal maniac. I knew they would hit the brakes. Because of a person's natural 'self-preservation' instinct.

Those types, I just think of as, 'part of the scenery'.

As am I.

I have been in that situation many times. With the number of motorists' that honk at each other around here. Someone should make an album of only vehicle horns, and see if it makes the Bill board Hot 100.

It is that very driver mentality. That I use to my advantage. If I don't feel it is safe for them to cross the double-yellow safely. I let them know it, with my lane position. Because, I don't want them to suddenly get back in the lane to avoid an on-coming vehicle. At the same time. I refuse to ride in the gutter. Because, That is an invitation to being run over and killed. By ending up in a vehicle's blind spot.

I road the edge of the road once, years ago. I was hit by a car traveling the same direction. That was on a six-lane road. No more gutter riding for me

Leisesturm

I don't know everywhere and everything, but when a road has three lanes in each direction ... well it wouldn't be my thinking that it has a speed limit less than ~35mph? My father was a slowpoke driver and he always felt like the presence of multiple lanes meant that faster traffic could just pass him in the other lanes. He paid a number of moving violation citations for this mistaken belief. There is a minimum speed traffic must maintain, even in the 'slow lane' and bicycles cannot maintain it for long, if at all. Anyway, that the takeaway from getting hit doing the correct thing should be to adopt a different (incorrect) choice of behavior going forward ... typical. Sadly. In NYC where I spent the first 50 of my 60 years on this planet, the drivers are so aggressive and territorial that only professional (delivery) cyclists challenge them directly, and mainly in the way that a Matador handles a Bull. By using superior nimbleness and initial acceleration to zig where a car has zagged, etc. Otherwise the great mass of vehicular cyclists ride FRAP. If riding FRAP was a fault we all would know it without a doubt, because per capita AND by sheer critical mass, NYC has more cyclists than anywhere else in this country and the vast majority ride for many years without significant accident or injury. I was one and I have done some truly heart stopping things because I could, and the sheer number of red lights I've toasted to a fare the well. OMG. It isn't necessary to ride like a terrified gutter rat to survive in traffic and just because someone does NOT ride in the gutter doesn't mean they won't be hurt if they don't know when to cede the moral high ground and take cover in the gutter or worse, the <gasp> d-d-door zone. Actually, even better than bailing out into the gutter because truly, ye know not the day nor the hour ... no, better than feeling the hot breath of impending disaster on the fine hairs on the back of your neck to trigger your self preservation instincts... far better to be already safe (relatively) and out of mind of the mindless. That this even needs to be argued ... smh.

SHBR

Taking the lane.

Not taking the lane.

Either way, I could lose.

rumrunn6

I think I've seen your twin side-by-side vids very nice. I hope you use a mirror?

SHBR

^Yep^ saw both of these idiots roll up fast in my mirror, and couldn't do much about it.

Nothing prevents this kind of stupidity, the cops sure don't care, and won't even look at the (2nd) video.

I guess its the same everywhere, "If I didn't see it myself, it didn't happen".

KraneXL

You were actually on the wrong side in the one with the hillbilly music, so you might want to take that one off.

SHBR

The bike lane was closed, and there was no where else to go.

The driver clearly crossed over a double white line before it was safe to do so.

I found it rather amusing, and thus I added the music.

Western style driving at its finest!

jon c. 

I was driving home today on a narrow road behind a dump truck and another pick-up. Dump truck was only doing about 35 on the 45 mph road and the guy in front of me went around him. Dump truck driver wasn't happy as it was a tight squeeze, so he moved out into the center of the lane to make sure I didn't do the same thing. (Which I had no intent of doing in any case. ) Lane positioning works for a lot of road users.

Chris0516

That depends on, not only where you have ridden. But also your road position, the behavior of drivers in the region/locality, and the time of day.
Care to extrapolate on that? I grin because I can 'take the lane'.

Chris0516

1. Your 'taking the lane' video shows you in the right tire track, then in the BIKE LANE. You are not TAKING THE LANE.
2. Your 'not taking the lane' video. Also shows you in the BIKE LANE. This video is a perfect example of why I stay out of the bike lane.

SHBR

The point should be clear, it doesn't matter where you ride, if a motorist wants to hit you, they can.

Full stop.

KraneXL

You are required to stay in the bike lane when its available. The exceptions follow the same rules as any road hazard.

SHBR

^ That rule is not black and white, especially if there are hazards in the bike lane, or visibility concerns.^

Its quite rare to be ticketed for it, except during the G20.

BikingTech

Perhaps I have to count my blessing or whatever because I get nothing but respect from the big rigs here. I live in farm country and have a 7 mile commute to work. 18 wheelers pass me all the time with some giving a quick honk if they are pulling a wide load. Shoulder widths range from 1' to 10' on my route.

Lemond1985

That exasperated, caterwauling sound you made when the car cut you off instantly reminded me of Alex from A Clockwork Orange, though your voice is deeper.




Those look like some mean streets. If ever there was a place where dual cameras were needed, it would be there. What with all the mopeds, confused traffic patterns, and terrible road design. I bet you get some pretty good footage with that setup.

Chris0516

That is a pathetic attitude. You might as well, not be riding on the road, AT ALL.