Crashed again

[lph]

*sigh* so I crashed again. No real harm done, except to my psyche. It's hard having to accept that biking in traffic is dangerous, no matter how well you follow the rules.

The gory details: I came down a steep hill in the empty bus lane, with a line of cars waiting in the car lane on my left. It's a right of way street, but I always hang back and keep my hands on the brakes just in case somebody feels like jumping out and using the bus lane to sneak in line.

I hadn't counted on somebody suddenly crossing from my left, to get to the small street up on my right. Apparently somebody in the car lane gave him a "friendly" gap, he couldn't see any buses and presumed the bus lane was empty.

He noticed me pretty fast when I barreled into the side of his car, though. I went up on his hood and down again the same side. Checked my bike first, of course my main concern was that she'd have a flat or be otherwise unfit to complete my commute! Bike is ok, I'm ok, poor driver is about to implode with guilt and the black stares the passers-by were giving him, so I capitulated and told him everything was fine, and that things just happen. He was completely in shock, tried to hug me and then I just rode off.

But man - it bugs me that I can do everything "right" - and still get into stuff like this! The only way I could have avoided this was by riding on the sidewalk, and when there's a completely empty bus lane that I'm allowed to use that's not a good option. I'm allowed to be in the road - at the speed I'm going I'm SUPPOSED to be in the road. But then I will get hit from time to time. We all make mistakes sometime, but "small" mistakes by a driver can mean big crashes for us. I hate having to admit that.

[quint41]

Wow! I hope you're ok! I don't know about Norway, but in the US bikes are not supposed to be on the sidewalk -- they are vehicles and you can be ticketed for riding on the sidewalk. (Not that it ever happens, but I have a neighbor who made a stink about kids riding on the sidewalk in front of her house, and the police said it is true that bikes are not supposed to ride there.) So, you are right, you can't really ride your bike anywhere safely or within the law.

Sounds like drivers in Norway need to be educated about bikes just as badly as drivers in the US.

I do wish you had gotten yourself checked by a doctor, though. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

[quint41]

Is there anything we, the members of TE, can do to try to lobby our states to make traveling safer for bicyclists?? Lobby for more bike lanes, for more signs warning drivers to share the road with bikes? To educate drivers?

How many TE members are there? Is there any way of telling how many of us are active in these forums??? Seems like a lot to me.

[mimitabby]

well, we can join clubs (like Cascade bike club) who ARE lobbying for safer streets and better laws; or we can write letters to the editor and to the mayor.
The more of us that do that, the better it will be.
but #1 ride DEFENSIVELY!

[mimitabby]

LPH

I am so sorry you crashed, I hope you are okay!

[divingbiker]

Wow, that's scary, lph! I think the cars coming out of driveways and cutting through lanes of stopped traffic are among the biggest dangers we face when commuting. I do a lot of yelling at people doing that.

[Geonz]

If you were on the sidewalk, you'd have driveways and cars not expecting you there, either.
The more I commute, the more I am sensitive to places like that... would another option have been to be a car, not a bus and use the car lane and wait with them?
But that's the biggest problem... "small" mistakes of inattention are big deals. Getting that concept through to auto culture is a real challenge. However, there's more sensitivity about drunk driving, right?
Personally I think I can have the biggest effect being out there riding - because the more people see bicycles, the more they expect to see them - and participating in teh planning process, and sometimes writing letters to editors, etc. However, dealing with "the general public" is very tricky because sometimes all that does is activate and solidify bad attitudes towards us and get some drivers thinking we need to be put in our place... which doesn't mean we should capitulate - the same story is true of any oppressed minority, after all... but well-timed, well-placed courage is teh order of the day. (Makes me want to go read the Power of One again )

[sbctwin]

Wow, just reading about your mishap created knots in my stomach. I go down a very steep hill on my commute home and it is plagued by people making right and left turns in front of me. I too, try to be as careful as possible, knowing that at anytime, I could be hit. Once I am down the hill, I have found, for my safety, I ride the sidewalk in this short stretch till I can get to a side road. Everyday there seems to be a new "challenge" that has presented itself. I am glad you were able to stand up after your collision and that your bike is ok.

[lph]

Ah well, I dunno.
Riding in the car lane isn't really an option there, in morning traffic the line there is several hundred metres long and it takes several light changes to get over the intersection. Staying back in line with the cars would take the patience of a saint, and kind of defeat the point of biking in the first place.

The sidewalk is narrow, goes up and down over driveways, and has a lot of pedestrians.

I know I'd be safer just riding slower, but if I really feel I have to brake down all the time just in case of a driver doing something strange I'd want to stop biking altogether. I think I'm going to have to look for an alternative route.

To add insult to injury - the only place I'm hurt is IN MY EAR! It's swollen with dark bruising. Couldn't it be someplace notcieable so I could get a little sympathy??

[RoadRaven]

Bad luck, lph, and great to see you still have a sense of humour

Road~ wishingyouanincreasinglyswollenearand muchsympathy ~Raven

[Jenn]

OMG, I am so glad you are ok, how scary!!

[Tri Girl]

Wow- super scary! I can't imagine how frightening it was to see that car coming and know you're going down (well, up then over then down ).
Soooo glad you're OK!!!
You have our sympathies, whether we can see your ear or not. Hugs to you. Keep on biking defensively- one way or another people will notice us and take note. I just know it'll happen one day...

[Geonz]

Patience *is* a virtue We expect it of cars when they're behind us... but yea, I'd be scouting routes, too. That one just don't feel right.

[plantluvver]

I am so glad that you were not seriously hurt.

I had a similar accident (luckily I was in a car). I was out of work for two weeks, due to torn muscles in my shoulder, thanks to my shoulder harness. (This was good, it saved my face .)

In my case I was driving in the right automobile lane. The road would narrow before the next intersection, so most traffic wouldn't want to be in that lane, because they would need to merge with other traffic. The other car was coming from the opposite direction and turned left in front of me. I was going 40 miles per hour (the allowed speed on that road.)

I think that when people see noone in that lane is moving, they assume that the other lane must be backed up also. Even if you had been a bus, I don't know if they would have noticed you.

Oh, now that I read your story again, the car didn't come from a road, it came from between two cars from a driveway or something. There is no way you could have anticipated that. However, I will bet that now you will unconsciously monitor for gaps between cars like that. Thank you for sharing your story, you may well have saved one of our lives, by alerting us to this possibility.

I hope you had taken the insurance information from the driver. When I have been in accidents, the pain often doesn't start until hours later.

Let's all hope for the day when we need to worry more about crashes between two cyclists, than with a car. (At least it will be a fair fight )

Please spend the next few days resting, you have gone through a trauma, even if you only have a lumpy ear to show for it.

Mary M.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

When we are in a free lane, passing a line of cars that is waiting and idling, we have to anticipate that somewhere along the line a car is going to either suddenly pull out of the line right in front of us to pass ahead or a car will cross the idling line through a gap and cross in front of us. Neither car is likely to see a bike coming along, as their vision will be partially blocked until they are actually half out in your lane. They are looking for buses or trucks or other cars. They may well not see a bike- you are in a blind spot.
It's up to us to anticipate this because this traffic situation comes up regularly- it is not a freak occurance. When passing a line of idling cars we have to go slow and be ready to veer or brake suddenly at a moment's notice. Maybe not the first time or the fifth time, but sooner or later a car WILL unexpectedly pull out through that line right in front of us as we are happily zooming along.