Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Advocacy & Safety
Reload this Page >

Preventing the left turn pass scenario?

Notices
Advocacy & Safety Cyclists should expect and demand safe accommodation on every public road, just as do all other users. Discuss your bicycle advocacy and safety concerns here.

Preventing the left turn pass scenario?

Old 04-27-22, 01:52 PM
  #1  
burnthesheep
Newbie racer
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 3,406

Bikes: Propel, red is faster

Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1575 Post(s)
Liked 1,568 Times in 973 Posts
Preventing the left turn pass scenario?

Always trying to learn. The Varia told me a person saw me and was slowing behind me as I was owning the lane on a 2-lane road and hand signalling universal style for a left turn. The clown thought this was a sign to pass me and exactly as I go to turn left into the drive, they go to pass me. The radar and seeing it prevented incident, but what are we to do here?

I couldn't have been any more in the lane of travel.

School bus stop arm with spikes on it?
burnthesheep is offline  
Likes For burnthesheep:
Old 04-27-22, 02:35 PM
  #2  
N2deep
Full Member
 
N2deep's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 201
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Liked 88 Times in 57 Posts
Originally Posted by burnthesheep
Always trying to learn. The Varia told me a person saw me and was slowing behind me as I was owning the lane on a 2-lane road and hand signalling universal style for a left turn. The clown thought this was a sign to pass me and exactly as I go to turn left into the drive, they go to pass me. The radar and seeing it prevented incident, but what are we to do here?

I couldn't have been any more in the lane of travel.

School bus stop arm with spikes on it?
The only action that makes sense is to record these events and to report them to the police and to ride defensibly. Starting an altercation in today's litigious world is sheer stupidity and beating their stupid head like a bass drum is only going to hurt your hands. Get cameras, more lights and have fun.

Regards
N2deep is offline  
Old 04-27-22, 02:40 PM
  #3  
rumrunn6
Senior Member
 
rumrunn6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Posts: 29,527

Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0

Mentioned: 112 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5218 Post(s)
Liked 3,564 Times in 2,331 Posts
wow, you almost bought the farm, except for the device! amazing testimony!

was it residential? just 2 lanes, 1 going ea. way? are the lanes divided with painted lines? how many lanes away from the target driveway were you? you were in one lane & had to cross a lane? can you draw us a picture? sorry I'm tired & can't immediately grasp the scenario. glad you're OK!
rumrunn6 is offline  
Old 04-27-22, 05:12 PM
  #4  
njkayaker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Far beyond the pale horizon.
Posts: 14,240
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4221 Post(s)
Liked 1,321 Times in 916 Posts
Originally Posted by burnthesheep
Always trying to learn. The Varia told me a person saw me and was slowing behind me as I was owning the lane on a 2-lane road and hand signalling universal style for a left turn. The clown thought this was a sign to pass me and exactly as I go to turn left into the drive, they go to pass me. The radar and seeing it prevented incident, but what are we to do here?
So, they weren't really slowing down. If the radar prevented the incident, you weren't looking carefully enough.

I might have moved to the left side of the lane (rather than make the turn from the middle).

A motionless stretched-out arm isn't a common indication of "pass me" (hopefully, you weren't moving your arm around).

Originally Posted by rumrunn6
wow, you almost bought the farm, except for the device! amazing testimony!
Not really (and I think the radar is fine).

Last edited by njkayaker; 04-27-22 at 05:16 PM.
njkayaker is offline  
Old 04-27-22, 06:36 PM
  #5  
flangehead
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 903

Bikes: 2017 Co-op ADV 1.1; ~1991 Novara Arriba; 1990 Fuji Palisade; mid-90's Moots Tandem; 1985 Performance Superbe

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 385 Post(s)
Liked 562 Times in 328 Posts
I monitor the situation behind me with a mirror, and Just before I execute the turn I glance over my left shoulder.

Recently I had a motorist pass me on the left. I stopped.

Rule 1 is no one gets hurt around me.
flangehead is offline  
Likes For flangehead:
Old 04-27-22, 06:55 PM
  #6  
burnthesheep
Newbie racer
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 3,406

Bikes: Propel, red is faster

Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1575 Post(s)
Liked 1,568 Times in 973 Posts
Originally Posted by njkayaker
So, they weren't really slowing down. If the radar prevented the incident, you weren't looking carefully enough.

I might have moved to the left side of the lane (rather than make the turn from the middle).

A motionless stretched-out arm isn't a common indication of "pass me" (hopefully, you weren't moving your arm around).


Not really (and I think the radar is fine).
Nobody can read. Go reread it. I also saw the car with my eyes because I looked.

Also it slowed and then decided to go round.
burnthesheep is offline  
Old 04-27-22, 07:21 PM
  #7  
njkayaker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Far beyond the pale horizon.
Posts: 14,240
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4221 Post(s)
Liked 1,321 Times in 916 Posts
Originally Posted by burnthesheep
Nobody can read. Go reread it. I also saw the car with my eyes because I looked.

Also it slowed and then decided to go round.

It's more confusing than it should be. There's an emphasis on what the radar saw and an obscure reference to you seeing it.

If you almost got hit, it didn't slow down anywhere near enough. That is, it should have been nearly stopped or far away before you made the turn.

​​​​​​=====================

There really isn't anyway to prevent it.

​​​​​​Your description is nowhere near enough for people to know what happened and if there was anything you could have done to reduce the risk.

The radar is irrelevant detail but you mention it repeatedly.




​​​​​​

Last edited by njkayaker; 04-28-22 at 04:12 AM.
njkayaker is offline  
Old 04-27-22, 08:00 PM
  #8  
jon c. 
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 4,812
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1591 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,015 Times in 570 Posts
I'll often move into the opposing lane and allow the car to pass on the right as I'm turning. But I'm mostly riding in a rural area. Certainly not appropriate in all situations.
jon c. is offline  
Old 04-28-22, 04:41 AM
  #9  
Paul Barnard
For The Fun of It
 
Paul Barnard's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisissippi Coast
Posts: 5,843

Bikes: Lynskey GR300, Lynskey Backroad, Litespeed T6, Lynskey MT29, Burley Duet

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2131 Post(s)
Liked 1,639 Times in 822 Posts
You can't prevent it. It sounds like you did what you could to discourage it. There will always be "that guy."
Paul Barnard is offline  
Likes For Paul Barnard:
Old 04-28-22, 06:19 AM
  #10  
Bald Paul
Senior Member
 
Bald Paul's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 1,680
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 806 Post(s)
Liked 1,612 Times in 764 Posts
The Varia is a great unit. I have one myself, and won't ride without it.

However, you have to realize that it will detect an oncoming vehicle, but it has no way of knowing if the driver of the vehicle is paying attention, drunk, full of road rage, or just hates cyclists. You did everything correctly, yet you were unfortunate enough to have to interact on the road with an idiot. You were fortunate enough to come out unscathed.

I added two GoPro cameras to my bike, one on the handlebars recording forward, one on the seatpost recording rearward. They won't prevent an incident from happening, but they will be used as evidence should it occur.
Bald Paul is offline  
Likes For Bald Paul:
Old 04-28-22, 07:41 AM
  #11  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Originally Posted by Paul Barnard
You can't prevent it. It sounds like you did what you could to discourage it. There will always be "that guy."
Or "those guys" who can't seem to understand hand signals. Seems like there's a lot of them out there.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Likes For Milton Keynes:
Old 04-28-22, 09:12 AM
  #12  
Paul Barnard
For The Fun of It
 
Paul Barnard's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisissippi Coast
Posts: 5,843

Bikes: Lynskey GR300, Lynskey Backroad, Litespeed T6, Lynskey MT29, Burley Duet

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2131 Post(s)
Liked 1,639 Times in 822 Posts
I should have mentioned this in my previous post. While you can't prevent it people from passing left, you can avoid becoming a victim of it, by employing the tools and the situational awareness that you did, so good on you for that!
Paul Barnard is offline  
Likes For Paul Barnard:
Old 04-28-22, 10:33 AM
  #13  
Iride01 
I'm good to go!
 
Iride01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 14,809

Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020

Mentioned: 50 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6100 Post(s)
Liked 4,732 Times in 3,262 Posts
I worry about the same thing. Hand signals are supposed to be taught and can be a question on the written test here and for every state I've ever checked. However a large percentage of the population here are taught to drive by their parents, older sibling or other family member. So they don't get any instructions much other than on the aspect of actually driving the car.

When I am coming back up the street that turns into my neighborhood, this is where I'm worried the most about it. Usually as I near the turn I'll get as far left in my lane as I can. And if none is coming the other way, I sometimes even get in the opposing traffic lane for the last 50 to 100 feet so as to prevent the car from trying to pass on my left just before I begin my left turn.

Though that itself has some other issues. But visibility is good for other traffic ahead and for traffic coming out of the neighborhood. So it's a case of YMMV.

Last edited by Iride01; 04-28-22 at 10:38 AM.
Iride01 is online now  
Likes For Iride01:
Old 04-29-22, 09:01 AM
  #14  
Daniel4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,497

Bikes: Sekine 1979 ten speed racer

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1477 Post(s)
Liked 637 Times in 436 Posts
There's very little you can do except to anticipate bad moves from any bad driver. So keep checking your mirrors and turn your head and check your blind spot and move into position when it's all clear or when the next car behind you is still very far away or it has plenty of time to know of your intentions.
Daniel4 is offline  
Old 04-29-22, 09:49 AM
  #15  
GhostRider62
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2021
Posts: 4,083
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2332 Post(s)
Liked 2,094 Times in 1,311 Posts
Stuff happens. I try to do clockwise training routes to minimize left turns. But, it sounds like you make left turns just the way I do on normal speed country roads. That driver would have had a piece of my mind. What an idiot. Unfortunately, not so rare.
GhostRider62 is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.