I got hit (right hand turner)

[fidlfreek]

Suzie thank goodness you're ok! Couple of things:

1) A few years ago I was in a car accident (other guys fault) where he turned into me. (Kinda like you on the bike)...He totalled my car, injured me bad enough to have to take a semester off college, and was SO awful (that and his terrible insurance company) that I felt I had to protect myself and hire a lawyer. I think that in any situation like this it never hurts to have an attorney. Mine saved me endless anxiety and it felt like I had a bulldog in my corner. So. If and when I get hit I will have an attorney simply because of the peace of mind it gave me.

2) I thought that at an intersection you're supposed to put your bike in a place so you never have someone turning right in front of you. At intersections (even with a bike lane) I aggressively take up the middle of the car lane so that these Texans in their huge trucks don't miss the little lady in the funny hat and shoes. It means that the cars going straight along with me have to wait, but it also means that I'm not in a position to be hit. Does this sound reasonable to anyone else? I don't remember where I heard this.....Does this sound more dangerous than the alternative?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

2) I thought that at an intersection you're supposed to put your bike in a place so you never have someone turning right in front of you. At intersections (even with a bike lane) I aggressively take up the middle of the car lane so that these Texans in their huge trucks don't miss the little lady in the funny hat and shoes. It means that the cars going straight along with me have to wait, but it also means that I'm not in a position to be hit. Does this sound reasonable to anyone else? I don't remember where I heard this.....Does this sound more dangerous than the alternative?

This is usually the safest thing to do- at an intersection where you are going straight, take the lane and act like a car to get through the dangerous part....then you can get back to the right hand side of the lane after you are through the intersection and safe.
However, this situation was a bit odd since Suzie was in a bike lane on the ride side, and the 'intersection' was apparently an exit/entrance to a store/mall or something, as far as I can tell. That would make it amore like a busy right hand driveway rather than an intersection. I suggested she get off the bike and temporarily become a pedestrian when she crosses over that entrance road rather than breeze through the trouble spot in the bike lane. It's hard to know what to advise when we can't see the actual traffic layout there.

[eclectic]

Suzi - thank goodness you are ok and no lasting harm done.
People can be jerks and react differently in different situations (not to excuse the drivers bad behaviour

As I was reading this I thought what lessons can we all learn from this.

#1 - Be VISIBLE as I think it was Grog said - light clothing and lots of reflectors and lights. Dusk and dawn are horrible times - also oftentime people are tired, in a hurry and not focused.

#2 - if at all possible look for routes that avoid busy or dangerous intersections even if it means you have to go out of your way

#3 - The read that Bleeker street girl sent is good for everyone to read because it covers a lot of scenarios. We use it in our bicycle safety classes

#4 know your rights as a cyclist according to your state laws - here a cyclist over 12 is not allowed on the sidewalks and cyclists are treated as vehicles following those rules of the road. (a fellow group rider got cited and fined for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign - he thought of fighting it but everyone said just pay it - you were wrong according to the law)

#5 - realize no matter what rights we have - cars are bigger and heavier and are going to win every time.

#6 be sure to have your bikes listed under your home-owners ins policy


Take care and How is your bike?

[Biciclista]

Suzie thank goodness you're ok! Couple of things:
hit I will have an attorney simply because of the peace of mind it gave me.

2) I thought that at an intersection you're supposed to put your bike in a place so you never have someone turning right in front of you. At intersections (even with a bike lane) I aggressively take up the middle of the car lane so that these Texans in their huge trucks don't miss the little lady in the funny hat and shoes. It means that the cars going straight along with me have to wait, but it also means that I'm not in a position to be hit. Does this sound reasonable to anyone else? I don't remember where I heard this.....Does this sound more dangerous than the alternative?

and you never know from WHERE someone is going to turn. we were going down 2nd avenue, a 1 way street, in the center of the left lane at about 18 mph on our tandem one day. Some lady in the center lane decided suddenly that she was going to turn LEFT which would have taken her directly across our path. Fortunately Raleighdon has a big loud voice and he let them know they'd better NOT turn from the center lane. they changed their mind and sped up and turned on the next block, but they could have killed us both.

YOu can never assume anything about another driver.

[OakLeaf]

YOu can never assume anything about another driver.

Actually I do. I assume that most of them don't see me, and the few who do, are trying to kill me on purpose. If they want to pleasantly surprise me, then fine.

That goes for the m/c too, although avoidance strategies are obviously quite a bit different.

[Resi]

I am glad you are ok!

Always file a report... the reason, maybe in the future the whole country will have better driving education and make drivers more aware that there are pedestrians and bikers on the road.

Take care and be careful

Resi

[fatbottomedgurl]

Same thing happened to my DH this time last year- almost dark, he was merging to the left because his lane turned into a right-turn-only, and a yahoo in a pickup passed him and moved over to turn right, knocking my husband to the pavement. No one stopped to help him as he dragged his bike out of the street. The driver walked back and chewed my husband out, saying it was all bullsh*t. Then he left. Someone called the police. By the time they showed up he was having a hard time breathing. He ended up in an ambulance and to the hospital with a broken rib and punctured lung. He ended up needing a chest tube because the lung continued to collapse through the night, and was in the hospital for five days. They never found the driver. But we did file a claim against our uninsured motorist policy and received a settlement from them.
The interesting thing is no one stopped except a homeless guy on a bike. Everyone else drove by. We joked that if it was a dog someone would have stopped, but no one likes cyclists.

[OakLeaf]

Ugh. Since I'm a motorcyclist I do keep my uninsured motorist coverage very high. I never thought about having to keep it high because of being a bicyclist. It's so expensive in some states (where they'll let just anyone drive... and have a ludicrously low minimum insurance requirement) and it would s*ck to have to buy sky-high UIM for times when you're not even on a motor vehicle. What are people supposed to do if they don't own a car or mc???!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

maybe in the future the whole country will have better driving education and make drivers more aware that there are pedestrians and bikers on the road.

As the economy continues to suffer, we all see more and more people out there walking and biking the roads. I see about twice as many bikes being used in my rural town this year up from last year....and many of them are people carrying things and doing errands, as opposed to previously my mostly seeing only 'roadies' in their TDF training outfits.
The more bicycles out there on the roads, the more car drivers start becoming aware of them. Sadly, the roads have been designed completely in favor of cars for many decades now, as though other vehicles don't even exist, and it will take a while for better designed roads and more aware drivers to take effect. Until then- ride very defensively, and assume the drivers do not see you.

[Eden]

I think its more about attitude than anything else.... When we were cycling in Spain we never had a motorist bother us - in fact they were super polite - even the semi-truck drives who had to pass us on narrow roads (they were cheering us up the mountain even..) or the guy that I accidentally slid out in front of at a four way stop once when it was raining. No one ever passed too close or became impatient, even though the roads were small. In the small towns few streets had sidewalks (pretty much only the main streets or larger modern towns), but I recall no conflicts between pedestrians and cars. They never developed the idea that cars are superior to everyone else - they accept that there will be all types of road users from weekend cycling teams, to granny or grandpa with a mule even!
Heck when there was a bicycle race the people in cars all stopped to watch... they were pointing down in the valley - bicicleta! bicicleta! (they knew we were foreigners... cycling is a huge pastime in Spain, but touring is and odd thing to them - touring pretty much = foreigner) We were wondering if we'd done something wrong and we had to go back down in the valley until we saw the front of the race....