Why car drivers get mad

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Oh yeah! The suddenly-opening-door-phobia. Cause I was almost taken out by one. Another gal did get taken out by one. Its amazing about those doors. You would think the car door would get tweaked. Fat chance. I wish it did but not. The gal did an end-over and landed on her head. Split the bell helmet into two but otherwise okay. Not for the helmet nor the bike.

She was very lucky. Many "doored" cyclists wind up dead, either landing on their head and breaking their necks or being thrown in front of a moving vehicle in the lane to their left and being run over.
Never ride within 3 feet of a parked car on your right. If necessary get right into the vehicle lane while navigating the congested stretch of road...you can move right again once the road opens up.

[divingbiker]

Never[/B] ride within 3 feet of a parked car on your right. If necessary get right into the vehicle lane while navigating the congested stretch of road...you can move right again once the road opens up.

If I followed this, I could not commute to work by bike. There is no route to downtown DC that allows me to ride on a street wide enough for me to be 3 feet from parked cars and still allow cars to pass. I just try to be very vigilant observing brake lights, people sitting in cars, etc and move into the road (after signaling) when it seems that a car door might open. Other than that, I take my chances and hope for the best.

We all have to do what works in our own situation--I've no doubt that downtown DC is quite different than rural New York.

[PinkBike]

Robyn, your comment that Warner wasnt even paved made me laugh - and cry! There's solid housing now all the way to Hunt Highway. There are no bike lanes, or there'll be a great bike lane that will just end. Poof, disappearing bike lane. And the City of Tempe are the biggest hypocrites - they say they are "bike friendly" - what a crock! Mill Avenue is one lane now and the bike lane is on the left of the cars - that door alley this thread has been talking about. This place just plain svcks for bicycling, but there are a lot of us enthusiasts who just make the best of it.

Tucson - now that's a GREAT CITY for bicycling, they really know how to do it right!!

And you're right about the season - October thru April. I still ride all summer. I passed a bank sign that said it was 114 and I thought I was late for work but realized that was the temp not the time.

I guess wherever you are you just make the most of it. What else can you do? Besides count the time til retirement!!!!

[Aint Doody]

Sorta long--I just got back from the Florida Panhandle--Navarre Beach to be exact--and had only 2 frightening experiences. (I also got to meet & ride w/Bad Juju--but that's another story.) To get from Navarre Beach to the area where there are more miles to ride, one must cross a high, 2-laned bridge with no shoulder. There is a pedestrian walk on the bridge. Anyway I've found over the years that the best thing to do on that bridge is to stay to the right when there is no oncoming traffic. When there was oncoming traffic, I took the lane to prevent the "squeeze play." Mostly people were understanding and coureous. Shoot, I was looking out for them as well as myself. But on 2 occasions when I was heading over the bridge back to Navarre Beach SUV's with Lousiana tags on them honked and tried to run me off the bridge. I mean, there was nowhere for me to go but over the edge!

The first one pulled into the very first condo complex after the bridge. I saw them and hurried to catch them to tell them what they did was not only dangerous but against FL law (3 ft law). Unfortunately by the time I got there, they'd headed up the elevator. Musta had a cold beer waiting--or maybe had been drinking the cold beer and needed the bathroom. Didn't catch the 2nd one.

We were discussing this in my family, and my BIL pointed out that it's the idea that some drivers think they're more important than anybody else on the road. I have one brother who is approaching obesity and thought that I should have walked my bike over in the pedestrian lane that was totally separated from the rest of traffic. (He thinks I shouldn't slow down any traffic even for a moment.) I guess I could have--long bridge. There's another shorter bridge on the same little stretch of road that has a sign that says "Walk bicycles over bridge." I did that there--had to lift it over the guard rail and squeeze past the fishermen.

Anyway the comment that maybe bicycles need to be licensed isn't such a bad idea. That way we could be sure that cyclists would have to pass a test to prove that we understand the traffic laws. And then the comments about "not paying for the roads" would be false. Enforcing that would be difficult, and who should have to have a license at what age would be confusing. I also cringe to think about more government control, but the idea of more people hopefully being aware of safety issues and just why sometimes bicycles take a lane might outweigh the negatives.

[Tuckervill]

I pay for roads through my property taxes and sales taxes, not license fees. So whether or not I use them, I pay. They belong to everyone, not just drivers.

Karen

[Zen]

I have one brother who is approaching obesity and thought that I should have walked my bike over in the pedestrian lane that was totally separated from the rest of traffic. (He thinks I shouldn't slow down any traffic even for a moment.) I guess I could have--long bridge. There's another shorter bridge on the same little stretch of road that has a sign that says "Walk bicycles over bridge." I did that there--had to lift it over the guard rail and squeeze past the fishermen.

Does bodyweight affect the thought process? I haven't heard that news.
I lived in Fort Lauderdale for a few years. The Intercoastal Waterway there is full of drawbridges and there is a sign at the beginning of each that tells cyclists they must walk their bikes over the bridge. Some do, some don't. Just like doping in the Tour, lawbreakers give good people a bad name.