Shaking My Confidence

[Aggie_Ama]

Thank you all!! I am tearing up thinking about it and how wonderful you all are.

I was hoping they would turn into a house along the way so I could go introduce myself to their mother!! I know those boys we raised better. Isn't it sad that once we put on our helmets people stopping seeing us as people with families who want us home safe and unharmed and humans with feelings?

My calm, polite husband went back to the river looking for "the punks". Glad he didn't find them, it takes a lot to push him to the level of anger he was at.

I plan to ride the next couple days with DH and Friday alone since he doesn't have the day off. Those little punks can't keep me down!!

[Voodoo Sally]

Man, that really stinks. I'm sorry that happened to you.

When I feel a little beaten down by the 4-wheeled haters, I try to remember this woman's story.

See Commuting forum, Thread title:
Crashed, survived, recovered, riding again!

Her courage and good attitude inspire me.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=18233

[VeloVT]

Amanda,
I'm sorry you had such a rotten thing happen and I'm glad you're OK.

I had what turned out to be a very minor accident yesterday, but could have been much worse. I totally empathize with how this kind of experience can shake your confidence.

I was on my way home from classes, about 2-3 blocks from my house, on a very busy but residential street with no bike lane. Traffic was moving slowly, and I was feeling impatient, so instead of getting in line with traffic as probably would have been safer, I was riding along faster than traffic on the curbside. Note that there IS enough room to safely do this on said street. Well, as I was passing a mini-van, my front wheel ALMOST even with the front passenger door, the van decided to make a sharp turn into a driveway , apparently without consulting his rearview mirror first (when I passed the back of the van, there was no blinker on). I was able to turn my bike a little, but didn't have enough time to turn as sharply as it was turning, so I hit the door with my arm/shoulder. And SCREAMED. They heard me screaming and stopped. As it turns out, I'm find, just a bit bruised on my arm (though I didn't realize I'd hit that hard yesterday because of the adrenaline). My bike isn't even scratched. The van seemed to get a little scratch from something, I'm not sure if it was my brake hood or just the breakaway rearview mirror hitting the body, but it was like an inch long...

Anyway I got off my bike, took a deep breath, and turned around, ready to give the driver a lecture about looking before turning... And then I saw that it was an African immigrant couple, dressed traditionally -- there's a somewhat sizeable Sudanese immigrant community not too far from where I live. It's a community that has had documented difficulty integrating due to language and economic barriers. And suddenly, my desire to lecture is gone and I just feel... a little guilty. They look to be as stunned/surprised as I am. The husband, who was driving, gets out (the van is still half-blocking the street), walks around and asks me if I'm OK. I tell him, "I'm fine, thank you very much, and I think the car's ok too!". There's a mother and her 10-year old daughter on the sidewalk, who are quite concerned (the daughter screamed as loudly as I did when I hit). They ask if I'm ok, and when I tell them yes, the mother takes my shoulder and says, "are you SURE you're REALLY ok? bike riding is dangerous!" I mumble something and then I get on my bike and ride the two blocks home. As soon as I get off my bike, I feel totally weak and shaky. The thing that bothers me most, though, is that I feel guilty about this accident. I've gone over and over the events in my head, and I cannot find an angle from which it's my fault -- it was definitely their fault. An honest mistake, for sure, but their fault. Certainly under the circumstances it would have been safer for me to get in line with traffic, but what I did was legal and usual -- they should have looked, just as they should have looked for pedestrians in the sidewalk. Nonetheless, I continue to feel like I did something wrong and stupid and represented bikers badly to all of the people who witnessed the accident. And I feel badly that the car sustained more damage than my bike (there were no dents, just a small inch-long scratch, but it was a result of me hitting it). No matter that if I had been going faster, or they had been going faster, I could have been seriously injured. I still feel badly. I didn't apologize and I wonder if I should have. I didn't offer to help pay for the scratch on their car and I feel guilty about the damage (my boyfriend tells me that I had no obligation either to apologize or offer to help, since it was their fault, and I'm sure he's right, but I still feel guilty). It's strange because all the time I see drivers do dumb things that put me in danger, and I just get mad. I don't feel badly in the least. But when I actually get put into REAL danger, I feel guilty and embarassed to be riding my bike.

Anyway sorry this was so long. Just trying to explain my empathy . Again I'm glad you're OK.

[five one]

So sorry you had such a terrible experience. Thankfully, these types of jerks are few and far between. Hope you'll get back out there soon and resolve not to let the b@stards get the better of you.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes, the van driver should have looked more carefully (or more than once) and had his signal on. But also you were passing moving traffic on the right. You were in his blind spot when he checked his mirrors just before turning. Mini-vans have big blind spots, too.
Even though it was basically his fault, cars just WILL do the wrong thing, and you can bet they'll do it on a regular basis. It's up to us to try to keep ourselves out of dangerous traffic situations where they can get us.
I always get really nervous when I start going faster than traffic and am on their right near the curb- it's a situation I try to avoid because I know eventually someone will suddenly turn right into a driveway without signaling and without seeing me, or one of them will suddenly swing a passenger door open to let someone out or something. It's always something. At that point I start coasting and make a choice to either get IN the lane with the traffic or else I slow down to their speed so I can watch for the obstacle course to unfold. Sometimes in that situation I'll even get on the sidewalk if there are clearly no pedestrians around anywhere. Whatever keeps me safe.

I'm sure glad you didn't get more badly hurt! Good thing you weren't going really fast.

[VeloVT]

Lisa, you're exactly right. I think that's why I'm still feeling badly about it. Even though the accident was technically the car's fault, nonetheless it was a situation I could have avoided.

Anyhoo. Sorry for the drift!

Be safe out there!

[HillSlugger]

I'm sorry that this happened to you. Never accept that "I know this is part of cycling". It shouldn't be a part of cycling and people acting that way shouldn't be a part of life. It's unacceptable behavior! Good on you for reporting it!

[Trek420]

Liza, I'm glad you're ok, I'm glad everyone is ok.....but this is precisely why I don't ride on the sidewalk. There are parts of my commute/errands that I know I'd feel safer there but I stay on the road or find an alternate route.

-- they should have looked, just as they should have looked for pedestrians in the sidewalk.

But you're not a pedestrian, your traffic.....on the sidewalk.

So maybe they did look. And seeing a sidewalk visually they are expecting pedestrians, walking at human speed. They are not expecting something traveling faster them so even if they see you you're just not timed the way they expect/assume.

Sometimes we see what we expect to see; objects on the sidewalk are pedestrians and go ___ fast, objects in the road are traffic and go ____ fast. If I'm on the sidewalk with my bike I've just made a decision to be a pedestrian, I get off and walk or get on the road and ride.

I can understand your not apologizing, must have been frightening, I would have been scared too.

[VeloVT]

Trek,
I think you misread my post. I wasn't riding on the sidewalk, I was riding on the road, to the right of and moving somewhat faster than traffic. I was right beside the van when it turned, and probably at that moment I was in his blind spot, but if I were a car he cut off because I was in his blind spot, that would not be an excuse sufficient to justify it.

By mentioning looking for pedestrians, I was trying, perhaps clumsily and at any rate probably unnecessarily, to draw an analogy between the driver's obligation to make sure there was no one on the sidewalk before turning to cross it, and their obligation to make sure there wasn't a bike on the road beside them before turning.

[Trek420]

I'm sorry, you're right, I miss read, you're right, you're always right, I'm wrong oh heck, do I go back and delete the whole thing...then your post doesn't make sense....

Look TE, an example of an apology, there, now it's on topic ;-)

[VeloVT]

you're always right

eek: I hope not!! I don't want to be that person.

On the other hand...
Can you tell my bf that ???

[PscyclePath]

Trek,
I think you misread my post. I wasn't riding on the sidewalk, I was riding on the road, to the right of and moving somewhat faster than traffic. I was right beside the van when it turned, and probably at that moment I was in his blind spot, but if I were a car he cut off because I was in his blind spot, that would not be an excuse sufficient to justify it.

By mentioning looking for pedestrians, I was trying, perhaps clumsily and at any rate probably unnecessarily, to draw an analogy between the driver's obligation to make sure there was no one on the sidewalk before turning to cross it, and their obligation to make sure there wasn't a bike on the road beside them before turning.

Liza:

You were the victim of the classic "Right Hook, version II" as described at "How Not to Get Hit by Cars" (An excellent site to bookmark and re-read from time to time on slow days.) The proximate cause was your "filtering" up the right hand side of the lane, and passing on the right. Motorists, especially those who already perceive themselves to be in the rightmost lane, don't look for cyclists or anyone else to be passing them there, and you put yourself in a perfect condition to be hit, or at least cut off and forced to do an emergency/quick turn to dodge them.

Rule #1: Don't pass on the right. This sort of collision is very easy to avoid... just don't pass any vehicle on the right. The traffic law in most states require overtaking vehicles, which includes cyclists, to pass on the left unless there are two or more marked lanes.

When there's a single, narrow lane, and it's not safe for cars to pass you without moving into the path of oncoming traffic, you should take the whole lane... e.g., riding farther to the left. Taking up the whole lane makes it harder for drivers to pass you to cut you off or turn into you. Don't feel bad about taking the lane: if motorists didn't threaten your life by turning in front of or into you or passing you too closely, then you wouldn't have to. If the lane you're in isn't wide enough for cars to pass you safely, then you should be taking the whole lane anyway.

If a car ahead of you is going only 10 mph, then you slow down, too, behind it. It will eventually start moving faster. If it doesn't, pass on the left when it's safe to do so.

Again remember that when you're following a slow-moving vehicle, ride behind it, not in its blind spot immediately to the right of it. Even if you're not passing a car on the right, you could still run into it if it turns right while you're right next to it. Give yourself enough room to brake or do an emergency turn if the car turns in front of you.

Maybe I'm a little sensitive to this sort of stuff right now... I just retired a good and faithful helmet last night, my pert near new Livestrong one, when I had a little encounter with a UPS truck and loose gravel/trash on a wet shoulder last night. I was fortunate, and only nursing a little road rash on the right elbow rather than a concussion or worse.

Tom
(Always wear your helmet, but ride like you don't)

[onimity]

Barb,

That's great that they found the kid! Hopefully the kid will learn a valuable lesson early on & his parents will have his neck for it...but 15?!? Can he legally be driving a vehicle without his parents in the car?

Honestly, it scares me that kids that young are allowed to operate a motor vehicle on public roads.

Anne