Chris0516

I can certainly see why, you might think I was in Witness Protection. Considering how I 'worded' the situation. Thankfully, That is not case. The move is both financial and to be near family. We are near family hear. But the cost-of-living, is through the roof. I say 'unfortunately'. Because the new house a relative bought. Is in a location. Where, If you travel by any mode other than a car. You might as well, not exist.

Yes, I have racked up a number of bad 'interactions' with motorists'. I am a magnet for road rage around here. Because the attitude of drivers'. Is one of needing to be somewhere, yesterday. And/or implied seniority. Because of the drivers' mode of transportation.

I was out last night on a six-lane arterial coming back from Costco. After getting my relative's medication. I was in the middle lane. Because the outside lane merged right, onto the interstate. The driver in the merge lane congenially asked me why I was not on the shoulder. I had explain state traffic, specific to bikes to him. There are even signs up in the county that say 'bike(symbol) May Use Full Lane'.

15yrs. ago, when I was living in Duluth(MN) off of Lake Superior. I made the major mistake of staying in the lane to the entrance ramp to the interstate. I ended up on an interstate route that goes from Duluth where I was living. Down to Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. That really scared me. I promised never to make that kind of mistake again.

There is a consistent example near me(DC-Metro region), of the ongoing 'yesterday' attitude. It is a two-lane road going through a neighboring city center. It has on-street parking on both sides. Numerous times drivers' have tried to pass on the road in question. Causing me to have to ride in the 'door zone', unless I don't move. The speed limit is 30mph. But when I am going 20mph, there is no reason for a driver to try to squeeze by me.

Leisesturm

?? WTF? Try again. You've utterly failed to connect this little digression to serious matters under discussion.

dougmc

And he has a Strava account which has some pictures that are visible if you're logged in.

Beware ... these pictures make it clear that "facial reconstructive surgery" is not an exaggeration. It looks like his surgeons did good work, but ... I imagine he's going to be disfigured for life, and I can't tell if he lost an eye or not.

Also, the ride where he was hit is also on his Strava, so you can see exactly where he was and how fast he was going (about 20 mph, it looks like.)

Leisesturm

Chris. If you are going 20 mph in a posted 30mph there is every reason for a driver to try to squeeze by you ...

Leisesturm

Oregon is pretty generous to cyclists as states go, but only on specific marked stretches is a cyclist allowed access to the US route system! The exceptions are well noted and have wide shoulders so that bikes can be WELL clear of the roadway. Put yourself in the drivers focus? Really? I've had to change tires and pulled well off 55 mph roads and you simply cannot imagine (unless you have experienced it) what the speed differential between freeway traffic and stationary (a cyclist!) objects is. A cyclists only chance with speeds like that is to be nowhere near the travel lane! Why do they need to see you if they are going to miss you by 8 feet?

Lots of risky and/or ridiculous things are allowed. Motorcycle riding without helmets is allowed in many places. I'm not even going to pull that road up on Google. I don't want to find out there was a side road the victim could have used instead. I would no more use US-26 in my area to go east/west than I would use US-101 to go north/south. Both are allowed. Just because a thing is ... allowed. Sometimes you have to use your own common sense foresight because hindsight is a _______ (rhymes with smother).

Chris0516

Are you claiming, I can't go 20mph? On a road that is in a business district and/or, has a clear sight line of less than .25mi. and/or has small curves/hills, nope.

atbman

I hope this is an ironic comment. There is almost never a good reason for a driver to squeeze past if you're going more slowly than him/her. Squeezing implies a very close pass and no-one's time is so important that a handful of seconds is more important than someone else's life

Brocephus

You're being obtuse. Obviously you're within your rights to go 20mph (not sure where you came up with the idea he suggested otherwise), but you would also be going significantly under the posted speed limit, and a vehicle driver would have every right to "squeeze" around you, (within reason, obviously). As a cyclist, you're PART of traffic, you don't own the road and have a perpetual,universal right-of-way. If I realize I'm holding up a string of vehicles, or even a single big truck, I routinely pull over and wave them around.
I'm obviously not obligated to do this, it's just common courtesy IMO, with an added bonus (hopefully) of instilling some positive sentiment towards cyclists.

Leisesturm

It is an observation of human nature. Frail creatures of flesh such as we are not going to pass (swidt?) up the opportunity to nail the standing green light 500 yards distant if they can. Dawdling (yes) behind ANYTHING going slower is going to put most drivers in an altered state, and thousands of neurons are going to be firing off impulses dedicated to the task of successfully achieving the (suddenly) important objective of nailing that light no matter what. Make it easy for them. Rock that door zone. The risk of a dooring (suddenly) becomes less likely than a sideswipe from a Toyota Camry (s ... never mind) traveling at 35 (five over) miles per hour. Is that not obvious?

Chris0516

No, I don't own the road, and yes. As a cyclist, I am part of the traffic.. But state law says I may 'Use The Full Lane'. There are signs posted all over the county saying this.

Also, As I previously mentioned, drivers' around here. Behave like cyclists' are in their way. But also, that they had to get something done, yesterday. Sort of like, to drive in this region. You have to be qualified in, committing road rage daily.

Five years ago. I was in a merge lane. When a driver behind me. Suddenly went from the merge lane, to the outside thru lane. Then back into the merge. He did it so fast that, when he suddenly realized the merge lane was ending. He spun out into the thru lane traffic. Coming to a rest, facing the opposite direction in, the inside lane. That was on a six-lane divided arterial. All because he did not want me in front of him.

I am not going to risk, being in their blind spot. When they want squeeze by me.

Brocephus

“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.”― G.K. Chesterton

Chris0516

Quoting G.K. Chesterton in this respect. Is going entirely by the vagueness in the traffic law. Ignoring one's own safety. In MD, 'May Use Full Lane', is superseded by 'as close as practicable. There is no addendum to either. Providing further clarification. Because of that ambiguity in the law, I 'take the lane' consistently.

BobbyG

Yes, it does. I had watched the video the night before and commented on it in the morning and should have reviewed it again, except it was too disturbing.

MaxKatt

Should have been right of rumble strip.

if you have to take the lane for some reason, always go BIG and just f-ing take it. Watch yer back and get in and out as quick as you can, but unabashedly OWN it while you’re in there. It’s counterintuitive that it’s safer. Force them to see you, stand-up, ignore any horn as you do what you gotta do to get in and out and have a safe ride.

This guy dabbled in a gray zone and got burned. Vid doesn’t surprise me at all. If I rode like that I’d half expect to get nailed.

MikeyMK

Yeah, nobody wants to be held up by a cyclist.

What's more, even if he's doing 30 in a 30 zone, some drivers will see reason to get in front of him.

JoeyBike

Your life is in THEIR hands. People screw up all the time. There is no solution to fixing THEM. Would you set up a lawn chair inside the fog line of a busy highway and watch YouTube vids on your phone as traffic passes inches away. No? Why not? Would that be dangerous? Basically the same thing as biking there.

Don't play in traffic, or go for it and take your chances. <--Here are your two choices.

Lemond1985

Can't argue with that.

Actually, I learned here recently that the lawn chair would actually be safer OUTSIDE the fog line, because traffic would need to make an effort to pass said aluminum and Naugahyde outdoor furniture, and not be able to just lazily whiz right past. It's counter-intuitive, I know, but supposedly it works like a charm.

However I must admit I find your lawn chair analogy a bit flawed analytically, since a lawn chair does not have pedals. Or wheels.

rseeker

That's where I would have been.

I agree as a general principle except in this case, because if he'd taken the whole lane he'd have been hit square and would've gone under the vehicle (or maybe over it). The problem wasn't his position in the lane, it was being in a lane when drivers were blinded by the sun.

And yes, it's still the driver's fault for driving unsafely. If you can't see, you gotta slow down.

JW Fas

Your argument is based off a premise of current driving standards. If we instilled a culture that enforced better driving, this wouldn't be anywhere near as much of a worry. It's certainly easier said than done, but I think my proposed solution would work.

CliffordK

Perhaps tow a ramp-shaped trailer behind the bike?

This is CGI, but you get the picture.

And, a real stunt ramp.

Newspaper_Nick

The saddest part in this video is how self-centered the driver is. The moment he/she sees the cyclist, he/she starts crying for him/herself. I don't even think he/she tried to help the dude one bit. Just burst into tears thinking "oh what's gonna happen to me now?". This kind of attitude makes me hate mankind even more than i usually do.

Moe Zhoost

How do you know this?

Yes, you can assume the driver was probably panicked and distraught and likely unable to think or function normally: however it's a real stretch to extrapolate this assumption to a cold, uncaring, self-pitying reaction.

Yes they do. They're called recumbent trikes!

Digger Goreman

I find these discussions parallel Paulo Friere's assertions in "Pedagogy of the Oppressed": If you use the language of the oppressor culture (in this case, auto-centric), you give legitamacy to their colonization of traffic....

In Memphis, civil rights era, sanitation workers carried signs asking: "Ain't I a man?"

I often think we need that on the back of our vests/jerseys....

JoeyBike

My point of the lawnchair was to illustrate speed differential between a cyclist and a motor vehicle on a high speed roadway. The bike is basically stopped as compared to a car moving at 55-70 mph. So in fact we ARE sitting in a lawn chair on the roadway, even if not riding a recumbent.

Also, a rear-view mirror is a lot more useful than a rear facing camera, although not nearly as illustrative after the fact. I doubt that car would have hit me. I would have bailed with about 2 seconds to spare. Been there, done that.

Jim from Boston

Perhaps, @JoeyBikeAt what point do you realize that the upcoming car ain't gonna swerve out of your line of travel?