Near miss has me scared of the road
#26
Senior Member
So you had some guy on your wheel for 100 yards and that was enough to kick his door and leave a dent?
I've had drivers follow me for some distance before and it was because they were making a right turn and/or they didn't want to cut me off or take a chance of taking me down trying to race me to the intersection.
So you kicked the door, left a dent and the driver drove away with a smile and you Scott free? That driver must have been a very sweet person because if it were me, I'd wait at the next stop for the cyclist to arrive then I'd kick in his spokes. Let him call the police, he'll answer for the damage to my door!
I don't advise kicking and denting doors!
I've had drivers follow me for some distance before and it was because they were making a right turn and/or they didn't want to cut me off or take a chance of taking me down trying to race me to the intersection.
So you kicked the door, left a dent and the driver drove away with a smile and you Scott free? That driver must have been a very sweet person because if it were me, I'd wait at the next stop for the cyclist to arrive then I'd kick in his spokes. Let him call the police, he'll answer for the damage to my door!
I don't advise kicking and denting doors!
Not saying its OK to kick doors, but don't try to justify what that driver did.
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#28
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To some of the confrontational bikers that get aggressive when done wrong by a car. Don't ever, and I mean ever, get in a fight or escalate a situation with a driver and their car. Never. You can never win and possibly loose with dire consequences. Who is right or wrong regarding what caused the incident is secondary. When it comes to who deserves what deserves got nothing to do with it regarding what action to take.
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#29
Senior Member
#30
Senior Member
To some of the confrontational bikers that get aggressive when done wrong by a car. Don't ever, and I mean ever, get in a fight or escalate a situation with a driver and their car. Never. You can never win and possibly loose with dire consequences. Who is right or wrong regarding what caused the incident is secondary. When it comes to who deserves what deserves got nothing to do with it regarding what action to take.
I'm not trying to justify myself. It's plain wrong,
#31
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I can tell you, if a car would pass me by that close, and I'd be able to catch it up at a stop or a red light, I would break his mirror, and have no remorse. Some areas needs to be avoided as much as possible... Not sure if it's your case or not. My advice: Get yourself a camera & record your rides. Send it to the police if/when such incidents occur.
Where I live, we have a regulation of 1.5 meters (5ft) between cyclists and drivers, and almost nobody respects it. Law enforcement does not really check that unfortunately. They're too busy doing radar in speeding traps or checking for drivers using their cellphones. Guess it pays more!
Where I live, we have a regulation of 1.5 meters (5ft) between cyclists and drivers, and almost nobody respects it. Law enforcement does not really check that unfortunately. They're too busy doing radar in speeding traps or checking for drivers using their cellphones. Guess it pays more!
Drivers using their cell phones are the ones hitting cyclists, so I welcome that monitoring.
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#33
Senior Member
Maybe a half mile into a ride the other day a passenger side mirror ever so slightly grazed my left arm doing about 40 mph. No injuries at all but for the rest of the ride I grimaced in fear each time I heard a car approaching. Not sure I want to ride on the street again. Any safety tips or techniques out there that could help?
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#34
Senior Member
Near miss
I've had a truck mirror graze my handlebar mirror in city traffic. The most disturbing is when I'm in city traffic and a pedestrian on the sidewalk looking at me screams or has a look of horror on their face after a car has just come up behin me and apparently has barely missed hitting me when I didn't even know it was there until it had passed me.
Last edited by yukiinu; 01-20-20 at 02:19 PM.
#35
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If there's not enough space to safely pass I always take the lane - otherwise some driver with low spatial awareness WILL try to pass. I'd rather have them annoyed and honking or yelling than require an ambulance ride to the ER. I don't even care if I get ticketed - again, I'd rather deal with a ticket than a life altering injury. That's just money as I can either just pay it or pay an attorney contest it in court. I can't buy a new spine or brain.
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#36
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Returning to the road after a few years, I try not to ride certain sections alone. Safety in numbers. One day though, there was a fair amount of traffic, 65mph 2 lane highway. Not much shoulder. Large UHaul rental truck passed a bit closer than I cared for, but that was NOT the problem. It was the tow dolly behind him as he cut back in wayyyyy too close. I've had a camera every ride since then.
#37
Senior Member
I use a Garmin rear radar warning system and strobing light linked to my Garmin Edge 520. Lets me know when cars are approaching from behind and how rapidly they are closing in. This, coupled with a rear view mirror helps me try to avoid these situations even if it means pulling off the road to a safer location.
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#38
Steel80's
A couple or 3 years back, a contractor's truck mirror bumped my tricep, and folded in. I'm sure it was intentional, the truck swerved on the country road I was on, no other traffic, broad daylight. Even if I'd seen it coming sooner, going in the ditch was my only out. At the time I was more mad than scared.
It was later the same season, though, on another nearby road that I did have a good scare- I was going pretty quick coming up on a one-lane bridge over a creek, with guardrails. An oncoming car going way too fast appeared, hit the brakes hard and too late, started fishtailing as we crossed paths on the bridge. Luckily I didn't get sideswiped and squished into a guardrail.
In both those cases there really wasn't anything I could have done. I always say, it's the one you don't see that gets you. If you don't have confidence and can't accept the risk, it's time to cool it.
It was later the same season, though, on another nearby road that I did have a good scare- I was going pretty quick coming up on a one-lane bridge over a creek, with guardrails. An oncoming car going way too fast appeared, hit the brakes hard and too late, started fishtailing as we crossed paths on the bridge. Luckily I didn't get sideswiped and squished into a guardrail.
In both those cases there really wasn't anything I could have done. I always say, it's the one you don't see that gets you. If you don't have confidence and can't accept the risk, it's time to cool it.
#39
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It can be frustrating if not infuriating to have someone deliberately cause harm or jeopardize our safety as cyclists. I find it hard to contain my anger sometimes , but what brings me to my sense is knowing how much worse it will get if I react in any way. I just try to focus on keeping myself alive. I know this sounds PollyAnne-ish but it is the truth , anyone who compromises another's safety is most certainly going to react to any criticism in retribution , and then no one wins and the big looser is the one on the bicycle! Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress
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#42
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I was almost shot in high school. After that whole mess, I kept going back to school because I understand that the majority of days I spent at school, I was not shot at. I see the road the same way... The majority of drivers leave me alone, so i won't let one jerk ruin my hobby.
I do my best to be "invisible" to traffic. I know that may not sit well with a lot of guys, but being hyper "in the lane" and causing traffic to get antsy in their pantsy over you isn't helping the tension between drivers and cyclists. I'd rather ride as far to the right as is safe and make it look like I'm "trying" to be as out of the way as is possible. Cyclists are THE most-hated road user by a significant margin, so I do my best to be "humble" on the roads. I wave and smile when a driver throws me a bone, even if that bone goes against right of way or endangers other drivers. Can't look a gift horse in the mouth, even if the gift is dangerous and sucks.
That being said, the day Glock releases a cycling kit, I'll be the first to buy it.
I do my best to be "invisible" to traffic. I know that may not sit well with a lot of guys, but being hyper "in the lane" and causing traffic to get antsy in their pantsy over you isn't helping the tension between drivers and cyclists. I'd rather ride as far to the right as is safe and make it look like I'm "trying" to be as out of the way as is possible. Cyclists are THE most-hated road user by a significant margin, so I do my best to be "humble" on the roads. I wave and smile when a driver throws me a bone, even if that bone goes against right of way or endangers other drivers. Can't look a gift horse in the mouth, even if the gift is dangerous and sucks.
That being said, the day Glock releases a cycling kit, I'll be the first to buy it.
They are so lucky I don't carry my G20 (unless I'm in bear country).
#44
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+1
I've been road cycling for 40 years(with 100k miles in the last 8 years alone). In 2014 I was struck by a truck(13 broken bones, punctured/collapsed lung, torn intestines) and spent nearly 6 weeks in the hospital). The day that my doctors gave me the green light to ride again, I rode home from his office.
One really bad experience isn't going to change the way I feel about road cycling.
I've been road cycling for 40 years(with 100k miles in the last 8 years alone). In 2014 I was struck by a truck(13 broken bones, punctured/collapsed lung, torn intestines) and spent nearly 6 weeks in the hospital). The day that my doctors gave me the green light to ride again, I rode home from his office.
One really bad experience isn't going to change the way I feel about road cycling.
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#45
Member
After moving to Colorado's Front Range, I find the drivers out here to be an order of magnitude towards cyclists better than in the Midwest. I'm in the anxious spectrum of cyclists like a few others here who've given up road riding but the driver's here are good enough that I've taken up road riding again.
So back to the OP - moving to Colorado is the answer? (j/k)
#47
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I was knocked off the bike from behind in a hit and run last week. It was witnessed, but no tag number. Mild concussion, nerve damage in both elbows, and painful soft tissue injuries, incl. spectacular bruise on my ass where I was hit, but Im back on the bike, commuting and working out. Waddaya gonna do?
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#48
Junior Member
Where I live has a lot of retirees (Yikes, I'm one of them!!) and what I find is many of them have no spatial awareness of their cars, so they don't realize their side mirror is about to clip you. And they also have a morbid fear of ever crossing the center line, so they won't give you space. Call me silly or superstitious, but when someone is kind to me when I'm on the bike, I give 'em 2X the love -- I wave, smile or nod.
Making sure I keep a positive balance in the karma department...
Making sure I keep a positive balance in the karma department...