Crashed again

[lph]

OK, I sort of feel I have to get into details. I was in fact ready to brake, and veer to the right - because I expect a car someday to pull out and use the bus lane. The car would still be heading forward though, and if I brake and veer right I'd go to the right shoulder or up on the sidewalk.

But I checked today. There are a couple of driveways on the left side of the road, presumably where he came from. Or he could have come up the hill of course. There's a small road up on my right, which is where he was heading. I always check twice that no-ones coming that way either, even though they're supposed to yield.

Because he was actually *crossing* my lane it was impossible to not hit him.
But it's illegal to cross the right-of-way street I was on at all, along that stretch.

Sorry if I'm a bit sensitive about this point right now. I've stopped telling people that don't bike about crashes like this, because they immediately assume I was at fault. Because "bikers are idiots in traffic".

I'm looking for an alternative route

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sorry if I'm a bit sensitive about this point right now. I've stopped telling people that don't bike about crashes like this, because they immediately assume I was at fault. Because "bikers are idiots in traffic".

I'm looking for an alternative route

You were not at fault, the car was. But we must always look for whatever ways work to avoid having cars hit us when they are at fault. That might mean either going extremely slowly, or looking for a less hazardous route, or perhaps other choices too.
In addition, bus lanes are always a bit hazardous by their very nature.

[crumpincommuter]

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.

Hey Quint-- to kind of answer your question-- if you're not already associated with CCBA ( Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance) www.wecyclect.org, then that would be a good place to offer your voice. CCBA is making headway in making CT a more biker friendly state; but every voice is needed. The site also offers links to state and federal legislation under consideration and often links to petitions to elected officials ( what better way to let them know your vote counts).. Ok I'll step down from the soap box now--- hope this helped..

[quint41]

Hey Crump! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I was on that site a couple of weeks ago poking around, but didn't get to the part about joining the group. I'll be adding my name to the mix today!

Hey, Iph! I hope you're mending quickly. The problem with non-bikers is that they see everything from behind the windshield. They don't ever look down at that 1" wide tire and the hard asphalt just a couple of feet below them whizzing by at 25 mph. They have never had a 1" tire hit a crack in the road, or a little piece of trap rock. They've never had a dog or turkey suddenly appear in front of them and feel fear. In short, they do not have a CLUE. They think it's all riding up and down the dead-end street on their Schwinn Stingray with cards on the spokes.

If everyone rode a bike, there would be very few of these problems. Unfortunately, even $6.00 per gallon gasoline won't force these people out of their cars and onto a bike. I'd still see 99.99% of the vehicles driving to work with one occupant. TALK ABOUT YOUR SOAPBOX!! DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED!!!

[KnottedYet]

Am I the only one dorky enough to think that bike flags that stick up above car roof level are cool? I've seen folding ones, so you can fold it down when you're out of bad traffic.

I also really like the reflector paddles that make the bike look wider (stick out on the car side about 1 1/2 feet) so it is clear the bike vehicle as a whole is as wide as the person riding it, not just as wide as the bike itself.

I've been lucky so far in my commutes that I have been on quiet bike-laned side streets, but I am really thinking about getting a folding flag for my more urban errands and my new commute.

Does anyone know if flags actually make bikes more visible to cars?

[Duck on Wheels]

OMG lph! I just saw this post. Are you still feeling ok?
I hope so! That sounds very much like the accident my DH had a few years back. He was definitely NOT ok, what with 7 broken bones, a concussion and some internal bleeding. He did not get up and ride off on the rest of his commute. But he was lucky too and is back in the saddle now. So even he was lucky. Sounds like you were luckier. Whew!

I hope you at least got the drivers' name and number, in case you find some damage you didn't notice at the moment. The driver was definitely at fault here, and since there was an accident with possible personal injury, you were strictly speaking supposed to stay there and make a police report. All in all, the driver was incredibly lucky too!

[lph]

Your poor DH, Duck! If I'd suffered that kind of injury I'm not sure I'd be out biking again...

No, I'm fine. The driver looked about to suffer a heart attack, so I figured he'd learned his lesson. He's sure not going to do that exact stunt again.

And I think maybe it was a good thing to show him that bikers - even though they come from "nowhere"... - can be decent and friendly people. If I'd started kicking up a huge fuss he might have come out of it feeling put-upon and annoyed.

[Zen]

I haven't seen those flags in ages! I doubt they'd do much good in rural areas but probably would in urban riding.
Better than a flag would be a Blue Light Special type flashing strobe on an antenna (except not blue).

[Geonz]

at the hardware store I found some battery powered glo-sticks about 8 inches long... and put a red and blue one on the back of the bike. They can be steady or flashing, so I flash. Seems people automatically slow down and give me a little more room....

[crumpincommuter]

Glo- sticks a great idea!

To take it another step further..the other day I was behind a guy and immediately I thought I've got to do this myself..

This guy had taken his commuter jacket and arranged reflective stickers in the shape of a large hazard triangle. He also had ankle reflectors, handlebar drop insert blinking lights on both sides, and another 2 sets of blicking lights on either side of his saddle and someplace around the area of his rear hub... THERE WAS NO MISSING this guy and it was a gloomy, dark rainy day...

Las Vegas would be envious of the light display this guy put on..