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Near miss right in front of me.

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Near miss right in front of me.

Old 02-08-21, 10:38 AM
  #1  
Notso_fastLane
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Near miss right in front of me.

I was at a t-intersection, turning left (I was on the through direction). The car coming from the left had a stop sign. He stopped, but was focussed on me in my velomobile. I paused in the left turn lane, because there was a car coming the opposite direction (I would have been turning in front of the through traffic).

The car at the stop sign started to go (turning left away from me) and nearly got t-boned by the oncoming car. He never even looked to his left to see the other car coming. The car that ran the stop then sped off. I'm not sure there was any point sticking around, but he could have offered an apology.

If they would have collided, there's a good chance the car would have been pushed right into me.

I was thinking if there was anything I could do differently, but I was literally following the rules of the road as if I was in a car (I even have turn signals on the velo) and I really think this was just a case if inattentive driving that was out of anyone else's control.

People are terrible drivers.

Last edited by Notso_fastLane; 02-08-21 at 10:46 AM.
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Old 02-08-21, 11:01 AM
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traffic/

lucky day.shame its nearly the norm these days-urban drivers not stopping for stop signs or red lights.pays to always expect the unexpected.
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Old 02-08-21, 11:02 AM
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I’m sorry to hear about your close call. People are terrible drivers. I see people not look alll the time.

I am intrigued by you saying you have turn signals. Any pictures? I am a sucker for lights. I tried searching through your posts but I could not seem to find any.

thanks!
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Old 02-08-21, 10:07 PM
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You sir are what is called an attractive nuisance, so it would be your fault. I love velos

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Old 02-09-21, 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by Vismund B
I’m sorry to hear about your close call. People are terrible drivers. I see people not look alll the time.

I am intrigued by you saying you have turn signals. Any pictures? I am a sucker for lights. I tried searching through your posts but I could not seem to find any.

thanks!
This shows the brand/system used on my Strada:
https://en.velomobiel.nl/quest/technische_gegevens.php
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Old 02-09-21, 08:53 AM
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There have been a few times where I thought I was going to witness a bad accident that I would not be involved in. I hate that helpless feeling and the thought that something awful is going to happen. Fortunately, none ever occurred.

And one time I was able to prevent one. It was a hot summer day and I was driving, stopped at a light. An obviously disoriented woman (possibly the heat) began to cross traffic too late to finish before the light change. And in fact she was crossing from left to right just in front of my car as the light went to yellow. There was no car in the lane to my right, but I checked my mirror and a car was coming up to the intersection in that lane at a high rate of speed, obviously counting on the light changing to green before he reached it.

The woman was about to step past my car and into the path of the speeding car. Neither must have seen the other because of my car. The woman was a step or two away from disaster so I honked hard. It startled the woman momentarily and the car blew past her at a speed that would have been fatal.

Even though that happened in the car, I think I see more near misses and more bad driving while I'm biking. Maybe because being on a bike makes you more vulnerable that driving a car, so you are more aware of other vehicles in traffic, or maybe it's because like me, you're on a bike more than in a car (at least until a change in my employment at the end of 2020).

Last edited by BobbyG; 02-13-21 at 04:14 PM.
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Old 02-13-21, 11:49 AM
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Once, on a dirt road portion of the Cross Vermont Trail, I was passing a driveway as a truck was starting to leave. As I passed directly across the entrance to the drive, I could hear him lock up his brakes. Clearly he was so used to no traffic that I took him by surprise.
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Old 02-15-21, 02:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Pratt
Once, on a dirt road portion of the Cross Vermont Trail, I was passing a driveway as a truck was starting to leave. As I passed directly across the entrance to the drive, I could hear him lock up his brakes. Clearly he was so used to no traffic that I took him by surprise.
Yeah, it's 'funny' how even though you're literally the only one on the road, a driver will often look right past/through as if you're not there, simply because they aren't expecting anything.
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Old 02-15-21, 08:06 PM
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I was almost shot once.
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Old 02-21-21, 11:57 AM
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Originally Posted by cubewheels
You're saying you're partly to blame for the near-miss?

This is why I am a bit of a snob on the road. I ride in heavy traffic all the time and dealing with plenty of intersections.

Lots of friendly cyclists out there who gives a bell and a greeting, but I don't bother looking. Sorry, but safety first. It's definitely in the wrong place to greet someone in a busy road near intersections.

Bells and horns are safety devices to alert others of your presence. However, too many people think they are an extension of their emotions.
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Old 02-21-21, 03:32 PM
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Report it in
https://bikemaps.org/
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Old 02-22-21, 05:48 PM
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i was at a 4 way intersection that had stop signs on the by road ... i was going through the intersection when a car pulled up to my left at the stop sign ... the guy honked and waved at me so i waved back ... he then pulled out from the stop sign and got T boned by a car heading the opposite way as me ... totaled both cars ... and scared the crud outta me ... turned out the guy who pulled out used to be my neighbor ... he walked away but other guy went to hospital ............. it aint safe to be friendly
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Old 03-02-21, 08:00 AM
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Motorcycle greeting story:

Back in the late 70's I was riding east on Stevens Creek Blvd in the late afternoon towards the stop light at Keily Blvd. It was red, and cars were lined up deep for maybe 50 yards.

I was riding hard, a teenager, giving my all on a slight downgrade there, basically flat, right side of the road.

A motorcycle came up from behind me and came even on my left and paced me. No idea what the speed was.

There's another person on the back of the motorbike. Both helmeted.

Guy driving the bike looks at me and gives thumbs up. I smile then look ahead and see the stopped cars. I point at them ahead with concern.

​​​​​​My route will take me past the cars on the right.

Just before I go by the stopped car at the end of the line, the motorcyclist had passed me ( I feathered the brakes and coasted) and rear-ended a van or station wagon.

I saw the motorcycle endo and the riders hit the back of the car with their helmets as I rode past!

I was horrified.

To this day I feel bad about this because I kept riding. After all the light turned green ahead and I wanted to catch it. I have no idea why I was riding, maybe to test my drivetrain ( a word I didn't know then).

They smacked hard, and can you imagine the person on the back of the motorbike?!
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