rachel120

I was at a red light, the light turned green and I crossed the intersection. Just at the other side of the intersection right turn from the cross street have a merge lane. Someone was in the merge lane going super slowly as I finished crossing.

He or she shadowed me, staying beside me the whole length of the merge lane. I am not Speedy Gonzalez so the person had plenty of time to speed up and safely get in front of me before the merge lane ended. Heck, there was time for two cars to do so.

At the end of the merge lane the person suddenly angled the nose of the car right for me. The front bumper was roughly even with my elbow, so I was slightly ahead. I braked some, terrified, since I had nowhere to go. The person then straightened the car, floored it and merged in at the very end of the lane.

Why?? Why stay even with me that whole way? Why deliberately angle towards me? I'm just glad something spooked the driver from following through on a deliberate hit.

I was scared, now I'm mad. I really think I'm going to save up for a helmet camera.

Retro Grouch 

Probably wasn't deliberately trying to hit you. The driver was probably trying to scare you by just barely missing you.

There is a word for drivers like that but we're not allowed to use it on Bike Forums.

rachel120

I wish it was that, but I've had a fair number of drivers try to scare me, it wasn't the same. The engineer who designed that intersection must have been drunk or high, so being fourth or fifth back means the driver couldn't have possibly seen me, even before he turned right. Yet he was practically sitting there in the merge when I got within visibility. And he had to creep along between 12-15 mph for easily 300 feet, no doubt ticking off the traffic behind him. I cross that intersection nearly every day, I've seen scared drivers and how little time it takes them to figure out how to merge safely in with me there. And then at the last second, as the lane was disappearing, to turn towards me?

If his bumper had been just ahead of me, I'd have slowed for a safe merge, but that close to the end it's always been safer to go and let them come in after.

He was aiming straight for me, if I hadn't braked I would have been hit. Then yeah, something spooked him to straighten and speed up. There was no reason at all to creep along that whole length.

blue192

A helmet camera was the best investment for my personal safety I ever bought. The police are happier with a video recording of an incident vs bicyclist says vs car driver says.

gilpi

Im glad youre ok! Maybe I missed something and I mean that with respect, why not just slow down and let the car go? I don't want to go toe to toe with a car, they always win.

cb400bill

Thread moved from General Cycling forum to Advocacy and Safety forum.

BobbyG

Glad you're okay. I feel more confident in traffic with my helmet cam and AirZound Airhorn. Also, I used to ride defensively as if cars couldn't see me. But a motorcyclist friend of mine said ride like they CAN see you and want to kill you. I've been much happier with fewer "incidents" since then. As Shakespear's Falstaff is often quoted in paraphrase: "Discretion is the better part of valor." That is to say, doing what you need to do to survive, even if it is to yield to those in the wrong, is a victory of sorts if it spares your life.

esskay1000

There's a good chance the driver was also watching cat videos on YouTube at the same time...... welcome to 2017

carl7

Impossible to tell what happened with just word descriptions of the incident. Depends on how you ride, passively or aggressively, how fast you move etc. Many drivers especially the inexperienced ones are confused by what a bike may or may not intend to do especially in some badly laid out intersection situations. You have to make sure your intentions are known by hand signals, gestures, or simply waiting for a safe moment. It sounds like you were holding up traffic and the driver in question just got frustrated and took their chances.

BobbyG

This reminds me of something else regarding my helmet cam. After reviewing the first few close calls it became clear that my perception of nearness or danger was high at the time, but upon review, things were not as dire as initially perceived.

And even when things seemed dangerous to me upon video review, many 3rd parties (like here on bikeforums) would argue otherwise.

But while riding in traffic, it is good to be on guard and give heed to any vehicular maneuver that seems threatening.

carl7

Yep! streetsmarts and hopefully it'll be achieved without any accidents.

I'm a step away (have to decide which one) on a video cam. I'm more concerned with what's coming up from behind than front. At least/hopefully, there will be a record of the license number on the SD card.

elocs

It's not always easy to determine intent or like the saying, "The little boys threw rocks at the frogs in jest but the frogs died in earnest." I don't have any enemies who would be out to run me over and as to the others I don't think I'm worth the paperwork and hassle they would need to go through for hitting me. With all of the distractions that drivers used to have there are now texting and cell phone calls. Heck, I've even had cyclists texting as they ride, paying no attention to where they are going.
But this is why I avoid mixing with motor vehicles as much as possible. That way I am not at the mercy of driver's decisions and distractions. But it's nice to see that there are many cyclists who are trusting and confident that drivers will obey the laws and the rules and do the right thing and make the right choices in order not to hit us while we are riding.

Cptimagine

Yesterday in the afternoon, walking across Market Street in Harrisburg, Pa. Some clown in a E class Mercedes would have hit me had I not been alert enough to leap out of it's speeding path. Shame my camera is on my bicycle, not my butt. 2017 is upon us for sure, be alert at all times.

elocs

In over 55 years of bike riding I have never been hit by a motor vehicle but a couple of years ago I got knocked over while walking because some fool decided to whip a U-turn without looking and then I was almost knocked over by a dump truck had I not grabbed the grill and hung on while other cars honked at the driver to look.
Perhaps there should be a helmet with Google Street View camera pointing in all directions including up since you could get hit by a drone these days. That way we could be protected each time we leave the house.
But I guess if we expect every driver to obey the rules and wear cameras to document it then we would probably need to do the same--a double edged sword. Bummer--it was looking so promising otherwise.

rachel120

What I do in that intersection is maintain my speed so that I'm predictable. On my left is the inside straight lane, I'm on the outside straight lane, and to my right is the disappearing merge lane that doubles as a right turn only lane for a gas station. So if I stay straight and steady people can merge and pass safely around me. I can't move right legally, nor would I want to go right and immediately back left, and I have never had an issue with cars merging in over the last two months with my straight and steady behavior.

rumrunn6

same place every day? report it to local police, maybe they will park a marked car there for a cpl days

gilpi

Riding in traffic is not what it used to be when I started road riding back in the 80's, not only traffic has increased but so has entertainment behind the wheel of a car and I feel for those that have no choice but to ride in this. I am blessed having moved to a suburb.

B. Carfree

Traffic has increased, car size has increased, distractions have increased and motorist knowledge has decreased.

Back in the '90s, California had a problem because motorists simply couldn't pass the knowledge exam to renew their licenses. They considered making the test easier, but realized it was about as easy as it could be. In the end, they simply got rid of it. Now motorists just have to pass the knowledge test once, when they are initially licensed (that group was actually passing at a fairly high rate anyway) and then it's a free ride forever no matter how much you forget or how many laws change.

rachel120

Considering the layout of the lanes, the crazy high hump in the middle of the intersection and other road factors, the only other thing that would make sense is that the driver's phone went off either right before or during his right turn and he just decided to creep along the merge lane while playing with his phone, figuring traffic behind him could merge around him. Then he saw he was out of lane, saw the guy behind was decently far back, turned the wheel to merge and only then saw I was just ahead of him and the guy behind was decently far back to be nice to me and not tailgate. Then pull back to avoid the accident and stepped on it when I braked. The huge problem with that scenario is he'd have been busted big time if a cop saw him playing with his phone, so that is extremely unlikely.

So yeah, I'm really ticked that he aimed his car to hit me and I'm incredibly thankful for whatever it was that spooked him into not completing the action.

coominya

Sounds to me like the driver was being cautious because there was a bike in their lane, I see that all the time, and then at the last minute decided the need to merge outweighed other considerations.

I-Like-To-Bike

Plus social media and the Internet have dramatically increased the outlets for Drama Queens/Kings to freely express their viewpoints.

wphamilton

Sometimes, people drive stupid. "Stupid" is usually more likely than malicious intent, unless you saw something else indicating the malice.

rachel120

He was already barely moving in the merge lane when we became visible to each other. And the whole time I was still in the middle of the intersection, when he didn't have to be cautious of a bicycle being there, he didn't move forward to merge in prior to me being beside him. For whatever reason he was just creeping forward in the merge lane and only when I got slightly ahead of him did he creep along at my speed instead of speeding up to go ahead of me, and then at the last second he turned the front of the car towards me. I don't know what spooked him into not going through with it, but I'm very glad.

How many articles have been posted in the Advocacy forum of drivers deliberately hitting cyclists? How many people have experienced being buzzed dangerously closely? How many people have stories of car doors being opened right in front of them? Being aware that some people are a danger and will hit to punish is not being a drama queen.

The simple fact that he was only doing 12-15mph the entire length of the merge lane instead of driving like everyone else does every single day and then turning towards me when I literally had nowhere to go to avoid him is a clear indication it was not stupidity.

SylvainG

My nephew told me something that happened to him a few years back. He was riding on a light curvy road (curving left) and a white pickup truck going in the opposite direction started aiming at him. My nephew reacted by moving toward the shoulder but the driver kept pointing his truck at him! He was literally about to get up on the sidewalk and feared for his life when the driver, with a big grin on his face veered back toward his lane and passed him. Some drivers are d*cks, there is no other way to put it.

sweeks

I have a sort-of opposite view. Here in Chicago when I started commuting on city streets by bike over 15 years ago it was a weekly occurrence, if not more frequent, to be honked at or yelled at by a motorist. Now that is a rare thing. Most car drivers seem to know at least the basic rights of cyclists on the road. The problem as I see it is the occasional hostile driver. I just got a camera, and I have the air horn, so I just have to be careful.
Steve