rumrunn6

https://www.vnews.com/Police-say-dri...tions-44393213

I think this is the approx. location
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Endi...8!2d43.3646683

sdmc530

what a real winner

bikemig 

What the article says in a very positive way about the cyclist who died is worth reading.

MinnMan

When I read the thread title, I thought it would be about somebody who went down and died while riding with their hands free - not on the bars.

work4bike

Just today I had some idiot try and pass me on a 80-degree turn thru an intersection. I cut him off, by going further into the lane, so he couldn't go around and then gave him a look, like whatcha goin' to do about it...he just rode off.

I don't know what's worse, the distracted drivers or the idiots that are trying to cut me off, because they can.


.

Leisesturm

I am not understanding. Was this another cyclist trying to pass? Why do you care? Share the road, man. You don't own it. There is a freeway on ramp with a choke point that I recently moved near. After I realized that cars would try to pass right until the last second, I've started taking the lane earlier and earlier. It's for their safety, not mine. Another cyclist, I would not care. There is more than enough space for four cyclists to go through abreast. Nine times out of ten when I see another cyclist they are half my age. The rest of the time they are 1/3 my age. Of course they are faster. Why am I trying to keep them behind me by blocking a passing maneuver?

rumrunn6

those are no fun


FFWD to 2:18 just as the little yellow traffic officer steps off frame to the upper left. at 2:44 I wave to a car behind me on my right out of sight, as I finally cross left, to continue straight

rumrunn6

yeah I could never write headlines for newspaper stories

work4bike

Ok, I'll break it down for you... First notice that I said at the end of a very short post, "distracted drivers". That should have clued you in that I was talking about people that drive cars.

As for taking the lane, I had already taken the lane, but maybe I was just a little off center, but I was clearly in the lane. Notice I said, "I cut him off by moving further into the lane". This was all done while we were making the turn, I would have let him pass if it was in the straight-away. And after the turn I always FRAP, so the cars can pass (hint, sharing the road). However, in this case I was a little delayed in yielding back the lane

I'm very good at sharing the road, but this idiot didn't want to share, he was trying to pass me, despite the fact that I was fairly close to the vehicle in front of me, so he wouldn't of gained any real estate if he zoomed pass me, because if he did, he would have had to immediately slowed down.

P.S. When I moved further into the lane, he could not pass, because immediately adjacent to the road were turning onto was a lane full of cars waiting at a red light (we turned onto a very narrow road with zero shoulder). Even if I didn't move further into the lane it was a very dangerous move he did.


.

Leisesturm

Well, you have to admit you used very conflicting and distracting wording in your story which is why I was confused. You say you 'cut him off by moving further into the lane', which is impossible since you and your bike can't weigh much more than 200lb? Unless you've got some massive cojones I'm thinking his rig outweighed yours by a couple of tons? Next, you said "he rode away" ... what am I to think? I don't get into p*ss*ng contests with cagers when they display the fact that they are idiots. But, you do you. At least I am clearer now on what happened.

work4bike

I know I'm but a mouse on the roads, but I'm a defiant mouse

livedarklions

JW Fas

That's pretty bad. Everyone knows Misippi has one S.

Trakhak

Yes, I read that post and thought, "Were they both on bikes? Both in cars? One on a bike and one in a car? If bike and car, which was which?" Luckily, he knew what he meant when he was typing, so it's OK. Reminded me of my days as a copyeditor, when I'd often have to untangle whatever preceded ". . . and vice versa."

livedarklions

In this case, I'm pretty sure the car must have had a bike on its roof to complete the confusion.

Pratt

Anent the OP, evidently the driver got into a scuffle with the cops to prevent them from seeing his phone which was accessing a fantasy sports site.
Witnesses say the driver was all over the road, crossing into the oncoming lane and over the fog line.
Happened near by.

Korina

Cudos to the article author for using "crash".

sweeks

Yes it is.
I don't want to seem to be blaming the victim, but this is a sad example of the reason I use a rear-view mirror.

work4bike

Very true, my mirror is an essential accessory on my bike. Don't leave home without it

livedarklions

From the witnesses' description, it doesn't really sound to me like a mirror would have saved the rider, but who knows? Actually, we don't know whether the rider had a mirror or not. It's perfectly ok to say it's still a good idea to protect you from rear ending that may be avoidable. Where I think this shades into "blaming the victim" is when people say "this wouldn't happen to me because"... or "if the rider had.... this wouldn't have happened " To be clear, you didn't say anything like that, so I don't think you're blaming the victim at all. I just think you're saying this illustrates that a threat can come from behind, so a mirror is a good safety device.

Sorry to harp on this, but I've been accused of not understanding what victim blaming is by a couple of people who do little else but blame victims around here, and it's nice for me to be able to agree with someone that they aren't victim blaming.