...and you thought your commute was dangerous?

[indigoiis]

I cribbed this off our local cycling board.

"I somehow had the idea that New Zealand was cycling heaven, but if you
follow this link to a YouTube video of one commuter's record you will
find some scary moments that will seem familiar to Rhode Island
commuting cyclists (keep in mind: in NZ you ride and drive on the LEFT):

http://http://www.stuff.co.nz/4433431a10.html "

Wow! There was like, five cars that pulled out in front of the guy. Yikes!

[mimitabby]

boy, that was a really bad link!


(take off the first http:// and it will work, but i can't find the video

[kat_h]

Story is at http://www.stuff.co.nz/4433431a10.html

Video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8RTXrMHt2A

There's definitely some close calls in it but it's two months of riding edited down to three minutes of video. Subconsiously it makes you feel like it's all happening in one ride, which makes it seem worse.

[bmccasland]

Two thoughts come to mind
- I wanted to bang my fist on the offending auto/bus.

- I see that kind of driving in my area all the time, and not car vs bicycle, many the day when I get home and double check my car for target symbols. I swear there is one the way some folks drive.

[GLC1968]

If that's 2 months worth of riding, I can relate. When I commuted in NC, I saw a lot of similiar stuff. In fact, except for the bus (and the fact that it was on the other side of the road) it looked familiar!

My theory was that in my town, people were not used to seeing bicycles durring the morning commute. They all figured a bike would slow them down (and everyone seem to always be late!), so they took risks that they might not otherwise take just to get in front of me. It was scary...no doubt about it!

When I rode home, it was a totally different situation. In the evenings, drivers were used to seeing cyclists and they were way more respectful.

[7rider]

This line from the article struck a note with me:
"He said mothers on the school run were the worst offenders.
"I try not to go anywhere near a school at about 3pm.""
I used to ride a route that went by a big field that was used for a flea market on Sunday mornings. Good grief, don't EVER get between a flea market fan and their parking lot! Those people have blinders on. They see nothing but bargains before them. I used to ride 2 miles out of my way to avoid the flea market.

I'm surprised he didn't have vids of getting door'ed.

[RoadRaven]

Sorry to bump this, but it was interesting to see the video made it to TE!

It made it onto our national news - both loacl/national channels.

The guy was sick of explaining to his workmates how he nearly got killed by a stupid driver - almost every day. So he made this video for them

Its something we should have more often on telly - in-your-face stuff for drivers to really think about how easy it could be for stupidity to change lives forever.

I was particularly stunned by the car towing another car! Intense insanity!
I am so pleased my commute to/from work takes me through no significant intersections/round-abouts/traffic lights