TrailViewMount

While sitting at a red light on 12-7-12, I noticed this high school girl waiting to go straight in the middle of the buses. An accident waiting to happen or no big deal?

MAK

Three buses abreast of each other??? Two of the three with the doors open??? No apparent drivers on the buses??? The girl is smart enough to wear a helmet but stupid enough to get between buses about to move???

No, I don't want to buy the bridge I think you're about to try to sell to me.

TrailViewMount

My thoughts exactly MAK. I'm just not a fan of taking chances. And to me this is an accident that could happen in a nano second.

LarDasse74

Where is this happening? If I had to guess I would say it was an intersection with a right turn lane, and the cyclist and the middle bus are going straight. The bus closest to the camera in this scenario would be turning right. The intentions of the furthest bus are irrelevant.

If this is the case, the cyclist is doing exactly what she should be doing.

TrailViewMount

So your vote is for no big deal correct LarDasse74? But some might say "is doing right being safe"? And never mind that the crosswalk would have provided almost zero chances of possible injury or death correct?

ThermionicScott 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

iheartbacon

Should have posted this in Advocacy & Safety, that photo would start an epic 14 page flame war and *****fest.

TrailViewMount

Funny this photo is getting a resounding 100% "this girl is crazy, I wouldn't do it, this girl has big ones" from another group of bicyclists online. So am I crazy? I just asked a question. I never gave an opinion.

Artkansas 

I can't see enough of the context to get a good opinion. She could be crazy or right where she ought to be. I'd have to see the lane markings to know.

Though personally, I tend to give school buses an extremely wide berth: talk about distracted driving. My step brother got run over by a school bus when riding his motorcycle, and he had right of way. Me, I'd have pulled over and let this yellow rolling clusterf**k pass.

Mobile 155

I don't know enough about this particular picture or if there is a right turn lane only there. But the only difference between with this pictures and what I do at an intersection with a right turn only lane is three busses being at the light at the same time as I do. Not a big chance either of those busses could beat me through the intersection. But I would worry about that sweater or jacket getting caught in the spokes.

009jim

I give safety training at work. anyone who cycles to work I instruct them never to ride beside a bus or a lorry.

Retro Grouch 

Did you take this picture personally or just re-post it from another source?

LarDasse74

I laugh every time I see a 'man' with his bike on a sidewalk while a young girl or old lady rides safely and predictably among traffic.

I am assuming you were there to witness this - did she make it through the intersection OK or was she crushed as you predicted? It may look scary to someone with no idea of how to ride a bike in traffic, but it really is not that big of a deal. I have been in similar situations. You don't get to decide which people you share the road with.

LarDasse74

He's not scared of trucks. He thinks all cyclists who use the road responsibly (like they are supposed to) are suicidal scofflaws.

FWIW, it's usually the people who cower next to the curb in fear who get smeared under the dumptruck. Take the whole lane when necessary, be seen, and live to ride another day.

mulveyr 

When I saw the caption show up in my RSS feed, I thought to myself, "I bet I know who posted this, and he's going to say something like 'I'm just asking, I'm not offering any opinion'"

And hey - I was right!

Myosmith

I don't know what country you would move to, but here there be plenty trucks on the rural pavement, especially during spring and harvest. Add to that lots of wide load farm equipment as well as the regular local and long-haul truck traffic and you better not be scared of trucks. They don't slow down or move to the center line for cyclists either. For added fun, overloaded sugarbeet trucks will occassionally send a few football size beets bouncing down the highway so you can relive your junior high dodgeball days all over again.

wolfchild

I don't see anything wrong... How can people on internet forums ( who are far removed from the actual situation in this picture), judge what is really happening in this picture. As far as we know, maybe this girl is an experienced cyclist who knows excatly what she is doing.

shelbyfv

Why are you photographing this girl? Do you have her parent's permission?

TrailViewMount

All photos are mine. I'm a professional photographer. I take photos of lots of things. And that's right Mulveyr. TrailViewMount is a contributer here just like you and everyone else. Very good conversation on a rather plain photo for sure. The opinions are all over about this one. Very nice.

DataJunkie

I'd give her a cookie for riding where she is allowed to but that would be creepy.

scaryseth

See nothing wrong here.
As mentioned, looks like she is in the lane going straight, probably in a bike lane. But the angle does not show this for sure.

prathmann

Why do you think the crosswalk would have been safer? Pedestrians (and cyclists) are hit in crosswalks by turning vehicles rather frequently. Here's a case that happened to be caught on video:
https://sfappeal.com/news/2012/02/ten...s-hits-him.php

Opinions on your picture are predictably varied since you haven't given the context - what are the lane markings and turn signal indications of the busses?, are the busses just leaving a school or still picking up students (having three side-by-side is rather uncommon otherwise)?, do all three lanes continue across the intersection or is one a right-turn-only lane, etc.?

Assuming the right-most bus is in a turn-only lane then I see no problem with the cyclist's position and would consider it to be safer than being to the right of that bus and using the crosswalk.

jon c. 

Probably no big deal.

Homebrew01

DataJunkie

Especially considering his past attempts.