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Near miss has me scared of the road

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Near miss has me scared of the road

Old 01-17-20, 12:08 AM
  #26  
Amt0571
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Originally Posted by TheDudeIsHere
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!
He was driving with his car on the bike lane (which was over a sidewalk) , in an aggressive attitude, while shouting at me. He only stopped when he got stuck with a lamppost and a trashcan.

Not saying its OK to kick doors, but don't try to justify what that driver did.
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Old 01-17-20, 12:36 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Amt0571
He was driving with his car on the bike lane (which was over a sidewalk) , in an aggressive attitude, while shouting at me. He only stopped when he got stuck with a lamppost and a trashcan.

Not saying its OK to kick doors, but don't try to justify what that driver did.

OK, the ol' classic changing details story on the net, trick. Second time I fell for it this month.

Last edited by TheDudeIsHere; 01-17-20 at 01:24 AM.
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Old 01-17-20, 12:44 AM
  #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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Old 01-17-20, 02:07 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by TheDudeIsHere
OK, the ol' classic changing details story on the net, trick. Second time I fell for it this month.
I said on my first post he was driving on the bike lane. I just didn't write all de details. I've not changed anything, I've just added missing information.
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Old 01-17-20, 02:10 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by BengalCat
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.
That's totally true. I've done it a couple of times when I knew I could get out of there through a place that a car won't be able to follow me.

I'm not trying to justify myself. It's plain wrong,
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Old 01-17-20, 03:54 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by eduskator
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!
Why be the only one in this scenario going to jail? Break that mirror, and you might just be the one....
Drivers using their cell phones are the ones hitting cyclists, so I welcome that monitoring.
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Old 01-20-20, 08:26 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by UKFan4Sure
Why be the only one in this scenario going to jail? Break that mirror, and you might just be the one....
Drivers using their cell phones are the ones hitting cyclists, so I welcome that monitoring.
Going to jail for breaking a mirror? Man, you must have a serious criminal record
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Old 01-20-20, 01:18 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by mdcoram
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?
You cannot eliminate risk, all you can do is make yourself as visible as possible and maximize awareness of conditions around you. To these ends, I ride with flashing front and rear lights and use a helmet mirror. Recently I replaced the rear flashing light with a Varia Radar so I get additional alerts of cars coming up from behind. I generally ride close to the edge of the road unless it is unsafe to do so or when approaching intersections. In these cases I take the lane. Finally I choose to ride on roads less traveled and at off rush hour periods. Again, there is nothing you can do to minimize the risk, but you can maximize control of the factors you can influence.
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Old 01-20-20, 02:14 PM
  #34  
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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.
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Old 01-20-20, 03:35 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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Old 01-21-20, 02:00 PM
  #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.
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Old 01-21-20, 02:48 PM
  #37  
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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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Old 01-22-20, 03:36 PM
  #38  
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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.
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Old 01-22-20, 03:47 PM
  #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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Old 01-22-20, 04:14 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by TheDudeIsHere
OK, the ol' classic changing details story on the net, trick. Second time I fell for it this month.
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Old 01-22-20, 09:18 PM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Nachoman

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Old 01-22-20, 11:02 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by Cypress
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 got touched by a mirror this afternoon. The ******g kids were laughing when I caught up to them(at the light a few miles down the street).

They are so lucky I don't carry my G20 (unless I'm in bear country).
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Old 01-23-20, 09:19 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by noodle soup
I got touched by a mirror this afternoon. The ******g kids were laughing when I caught up to them(at the light a few miles down the street).

They are so lucky I don't carry my G20 (unless I'm in bear country).
It's sad how cavalier people can be with other people's lives.
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Old 01-23-20, 11:17 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by noodle soup
+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.
Good for you Sir! That's the first thing my therapist said after by vehicle hit. Get back on the bike. Just maybe modify my rides. Hospital stay, lots of broken stuff, etc. It's been easier said than done for me though. I white knuckle-it. What's helped immensely is the Garmin Varia. Highly recommend.
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Old 02-04-20, 01:18 PM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by firebird854
I use google's traffic feature, set it to "typical traffic" and plan my route on where the traffic will be when I will probably arrive in a particular location:
I assume you randomly set that Google Maps image? Since you say you don't ride in the city. I used to live in River Hills and commuted by bike to Menomonee Falls via Bradley Rd. It's wide but I find drivers in Milwaukee (maybe all of Wisconsin?) to be aggressive and bad to cyclists. I gave up commuting.

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)
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Old 02-04-20, 02:56 PM
  #46  
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+1 for the Varia Radar. Love it.
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Old 02-04-20, 05:29 PM
  #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 I’m back on the bike, commuting and working out. Waddaya gonna do?
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Old 02-04-20, 09:02 PM
  #48  
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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...
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