Milton Keynes

IIRC, there has only been one person in recorded history to have ever been hit by a falling meteor, and she survived.

mrodgers

They probably were watching where they are going. This is how majority I've noticed take left turns these days. Any time I'm in my car first in line in the furthest left lane at a stoplight, every car turning left from cross traffic has to make moves to avoid me sitting exactly where I'm suppose to be stopped. Drivers today do not know that you can spin the steering wheel more to make a sharper turn so you don't have to cut through the first place of the left hand cross traffic lane.

genec

Thanks for proving my point.

There are a lot more cyclists killed each year... and I am sure some of them thought they could dodge anything.

AlmostTrick

This. Riding with the fear of what "might" happen not only ruins the ride, but can easily cause one to take/not take actions that end up increasing risk.

AlmostTrick

Safety technique:

When I'm sitting first in line in the left turn lane, I point my flashing headlamp at them as they start to enter the intersection to turn in front of me. It helps.

mcours2006

I just realized that when it's a situation like that guy waiting for a green I often will just cross over to the left, hit the cross button and wait for the light to change on the sidewalk. Obviously if I'm not first in line I'll wait with behind.

u235

I always look a little more more just to throw that off.

Kontact 

I've never heard a cyclist assert they could dodge anything. Bikes maneuver very slowly.

canklecat

Often true. When I was hit in 2001 the driver literally blindsided me. There's a blind spot diagonally over our left shoulder (presumably right shoulder for countries that drive on the wrong side of the road ). The driver was on a road that ran diagonally to intersect the highway my car was on. She ran a red light at highway speed. I never saw it coming.

My airbags deployed perfectly. It happened so quickly my compact car came to a complete stop. My first thought was that my transmission must have locked up. Then I noticed the deflated airbags. Then I noticed my car's engine was in my lap. I was still in shock and hadn't felt any pain yet. I looked around to check my grandkids and they seemed fine -- they were in their car seats. Then I noticed a full sized SUV off my my right about 50 yards, upside down and smoking.

Some witnesses got me and my grandkids out of our vehicle and told me what happened, confirming the other driver ran the light. Otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea what had happened. Unfortunately this predated smartphones. I was too stunned to get the names and contact info of witnesses, and the cops either failed to do so or withheld that information (small town and very wealthy enclave, the driver who ran the light was a local, the only emergency responders were locals). Made it very difficult to verify my version of events or obtain an adequate settlement. I was disabled for years with a broken neck and back.

When I was hit riding my bike last month the collision occurred at relatively low speed, 5-10 mph. I have no clear recollection of the driver turning across traffic into me. My first clear recollection is my bike's front wheel trapped under the car's bumper, falling and smacking onto the pavement.

One reason I run Google maps tracking by default on my phone is for exactly this type of scenario. If my head had hit harder I might have a concussion and no clear memory of any of the incident. But the Google tracking confirmed my recollections and supported my version of events. And unlike Strava (data can be cropped or modified), Google tracking can't be modified, only deleted. So it's more likely to be admissible as evidence, or at least more persuasive in a settlement.

I'd strongly advise cyclists to enable their smartphones to track them by default via Google maps. You never need to remember to activate it, unlike Strava and other apps. And so far it's been 100% reliable, unlike Strava and other apps. The tracking is private by default, between you and Google. You can delete the records later if you wish. And you can download the Google data file, convert it to a Strava-compatible format, and use it to log a ride in case Strava failed or you forgot to turn it on. Even with privacy concerns the potential advantages outweigh the downside for most cyclists.

canklecat

Three things:

• I see that way too often. Too many drivers have zero navigation and handling skills because the driving tests are too lax. They drive as though their compact and mid-sized vehicles are behemoth ocean vessels that need miles of room to turn, or they cut off corners on sharp diagonals, overrunning the oncoming lanes and pedestrian crosswalks. I'd welcome surveillance cameras that automatically issue citations and penalties for this.
• Any driver who does this and claims "I didn't see you" should never be permitted to drive again. Period. Call for a cab. Take the bus. Get rides from friends. Ride a bike. Walk. But never, ever drive again.
• Drivers like this should undergo mandatory psychological evaluations before being considered eligible to drive again. Besides the fact that she's outrageously incompetent, she's also borderline mentally defective. If her first response is to utter a lame, blatantly falsifiable excuse ("I didn't see you.") rather than to focus on the injuries to the cyclist, she is mentally incompetent and unqualified to operate a multi-ton death machine. That immediate shirking of compassion and personal responsibility is a sign of poor socialization and serious psychological deficiencies. (In my case when I was hit last month the driver's first words were to ask about my condition. Only afterward did she say something about driving slowly, a defensive reflex to gain the empathy of witnesses.)

I'd also dispute the notion that the cyclist is "ok". PTSD is common after painful traumatic events with lingering physical and psychological effects. It doesn't always show up immediately.

canklecat

To be realistic, there is absolutely nothing that can be done about this type of stuff without hitting drivers in the bank account. Nothing has a greater impact on humans than money. Americans place far more emphasis on personal liberty than on personal responsibility. No amount of appeals to their ideology will make any difference. But they'll respond to whatever hits them in the bank account.

Drivers education and testing should be far more rigorous. That means it will cost more.

Drivers licenses should cost more.

Mandatory minimum insurance should have far higher minimum amounts and cost more. Premiums may be reduced over time with evidence of consistently safe driving. But anyone who allows his/her insurance to lapse when not needed, then restarted just in time to renew a drivers license, inspection or other eligibility, should be paying far more than they do now, with higher minimums.

Tort reform should include the ability to recover damages for injuries beyond minimum liability coverage.

More surveillance and auto-generated citations for routine infractions such as cutting diagonally into the opposing vehicle lane. Anyone can make a mistake. If there's a pattern eventually someone will be hurt or property will be damaged.

CAT7RDR

To the OP, I know I will be hit one day. The odds are stacked against me. So many impaired drivers in Southern California are drunk, sleepy, manic, loaded, distracted, hurried, sociopathic, unlicensed/uninsured etc. . . I try my best to wear highly visible clothing, use flashing lights both front and back, obey the rules of the road, stay off high traffic roads, keep my speed down on descents, and be civil with others. Even so, I know I will be hit and likely killed or seriously injured. The alternative is to live my life in chains and give away my cherished freedom to explore and tour.

colnago62

OldTryGuy

IS a driver's license really needed to get behind the wheel of a vehicle to drive?
IS insurance really needed to drive a vehicle?
DOES relieving an individual of all of their money really stop them from operating a vehicle?

I'm thinking that it is a little difficult to operate a vehicle on public roads if one is IN JAIL or DEAD..

GrainBrain

Oh my god that's probably the scariest video I've seen so far. That lady didn't just clip the lane, she drove fully into the turn lane!! How do you miss a target area of 16+ feet!!??

"I didn't see you" she says ...

​​​​​​​I really need to buy a helmet/rear camera

Daniel4

Yes, I'm one of those who has never been in an auto collision on my bike. It's always on my conscience that it'll only be a matter of time when it will happen as there are so many stories of life-long experienced cyclists being permanently struck down.

Here's an article about a bunch of individual cycle-enthusiasts that got spooked and quit.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/06/14/for-torontos-cyclists-the-fear-is-real-and-its-holding-them-back.html

This week there's been a flurry of media attention to road safety because it's not only bike month but the two-year mark of Mayor Tory's Vision Zero and the results look as if we are on track for another record breaking year for road deaths.

trailangel

Ya, I wasn't going to say anything, but he was crying like a baby. I don't understand what the "radio" was on for.. was he listen to the radio while riding the bike.
I usually will not stop first in line at left turn lane, or any lane at an intersection for that matter. I wait back off to the side.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoAlpha

I do a few moderately risky things for fun and the only way to enjoy them and not worry my loved ones too much is to be 1. insured, 2. good at them, 3. take recommended safety measures, 4. know my limits, and 5. then to put death and injury out of mind.

There's no better way to ruin a ride than to wonder whether each overtaking MV is going to bowling-pin you or to trash a beautiful moonlit night watch on an ocean race thinking about a submerged shipping container or a white squall.

Probably my most dangerous cycling activity is winter cycle-commuting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoAlpha

As for a good day to die? Having seen quite a few deaths, the only well-timed one I remember was when my dad managed to stop breathing a few hours before my brother's birthday

I also hope that if I do buy it on the road or the ocean, no one is stupid enough to say I died doing what I loved…That said, I certainly take the original point. Stuff happens.

Since you broght up mortality, two striking quotes about mortality that I read / heard in the 70’s have stuck with me to this day:

• By Ashleigh Brilliant, a cartoonist of Pot-Shots who wrote epigrams (“Brilliant Thoughts In 17 Words Or Less”), in particular to paraphrase,” I hope it’s a nice day, the day after I die.”

• The Moody Blues from “You and Me"

What will be our last thought?
Do you think it's coming soon?
Will it be of comfort
Or the pain of a burning wound.

On a few threads on BF, I posted about how I live my ante-mortem life:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Ever contemplate your mortality on the road?

Actually, in one of my most serious contemplations of mortality, the Road served as a relief:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

My magic moment when I realized what makes cycling fun (important) to me was at a lunch with two doctors about 20 years ago. We got to talking about the vicissitudes of life, like sudden death, or trival symptoms as harbingers of a serious disease. We eventually came around to that old chestnut to live life to the fullest everyday.

As we were leaving, the surgeon, a marathon runner, said, “Well, any day with a run in it is a good day for me.” I was already an avid cyclist and cycle commuter, and that clicked with me, any day with a ride in it is a good day for me.

canklecat

True, but after they're caught the penalties get much stiffer.

And most folks I've known who drive without a license, insurance, etc., are extremely cautious because they're doing it out of desperation to get to and from work and scrape together enough dough to drive legally again. Some of my cousins have been busted driving with expired licenses, registration, inspection and no insurance. Most of them were just trying to keep their lives together, not driving dangerously. But they get spotted with expired tags and it's all downhill from there.

This is a serious problem in rural counties were people must drive to get to work. Some cops and security guards patrol parking lots of the local employers, Walmarts, etc., looking for expired tags, then wait for the driver to bust 'em rather than just ticketing the vehicle. If they catch the driver it racks up more fees for the police, courts, bail bondsmen (who are often in cahoots with sheriffs, jailers and judges in rural counties), tow truck companies (also in cahoots with the law for kickbacks).

These drivers must continue working to pay the escalating fees, so they'll probably get caught again. More fees, a never-ending cycle of poverty.

I'm more concerned about the drivers who routinely commit moving violations that endanger everyone. Most of those drivers I see are in new or nearly new vehicles, fully licensed, etc. They run stop signs, cut diagonally across intersections into oncoming traffic lanes, speed through school zones ignoring the caution lights, crowd into pedestrian crosswalks, roll right on red lights to turn right and crowd into pedestrians who are trying to cross legally to avoid jaywalking, etc. Even without cell phone distractions, self-absorbed entitled drivers are the worst offenders.

canklecat

Are you f**king kidding me? That's about the most oblivious bunch of inconsiderate BS I've read so far on this forum, and that's saying a lot. I hope to god neither of you is a parent or responsible for the care of another human being.

Unless you've been seriously injured, assaulted or attacked or in some sort of adrenaline-pumping emergency, you have no idea how you'll react. And your reaction is not a reasonable predictor or baseline for how other people respond.

When I was struck by a vehicle turning left against traffic illegally last month my shoulder was broken and completely separated. I was stunned for a minute but was able to stand up and had enough presence of mind to photograph the scene (one-handed, with my left hand because my good arm was useless), and walked to the ambulance. At the ER they were going to give me morphine for the pain. I laughed and said no thanks, a Tramadol or Tylenol with codeine is good enough. They were surprised and asked if I wasn't in a lot of pain because the shoulder injury was pretty bad. I said it'll hurt tomorrow but for the moment it wasn't bad and I needed my head to be clear.

But I know how my body and mind react to emergencies and injuries. I was a boxer. As a stupid young man I was in more fights than I care to admit. I've been hit by cars while riding my bicycles and motorcycles several times. I've been stabbed. I was an EMT, worked in ERs, ICU and other hospital units with patients who've suffered traumatic injuries and illnesses.

My pain threshold and ability to remain calm under stress are not common. And it's not self discipline. It's something you're born with or aren't. The first important lesson I had to learn as an 18 year old Navy Hospital Corpsman was empathy with patients who were in a lot of pain and discomfort and experiencing psychological trauma. Seeing big, tough Marines crying in pain after training injuries, or recovering from the influence of anesthesia after surgery, was a shock to me. I'd never seen men cry like that before. It took a young woman who was the petty officer in charge of our training to tell me I was in inconsiderate, un-empathetic a$$h0l3 to wake me up and realize I couldn't judge other people's pain and shock by my own standards.

So I'll tell you the same thing she told me. Wake up and get a clue.

Rollfast

I can crash a Dodge, did it around 1996.

Milton Keynes

She shouldn't have a blind spot right in the middle of her hood, where she hit the guy. She didn't cut the turning lane, she drove directly into the turning lane. She was on the wrong side of the yellow line and hit the cyclist, leading me to think she was busy texting or doing something else other than watching where she was going. Had there been a car instead of a bike in the turning lane she'd have run right into it head on too. Blind spot or not, she wasn't driving where she should have been.

genec

I see what you did there....

CAT7RDR

I got side swiped today by a woman driving a Toyota Camry. I was riding into LA County on Brea Canyon Road at about 12:00 Noon. Had my rear light flashing and riding on the shoulder. Her Camry contacted my left thigh but I was able to stay upright and stop. She over-corrected went into the lane in the opposite direction then swung back in front of me about 100 yards down the road.

She was apologetic. Except for a bruise, no harm done.

Genic, you are right. I never saw this one coming. Nothing I could do to avoid it. Another foot to her right and I am likely a fatality.

AlmostTrick

Did you see it coming before impact? I'm glad you weren't hurt bad.