Cyclist Behavior

[DeniseGoldberg]

I've been pondering similar things as I think about a few of our TE members whose lives have been drastically altered due to a traumatic injury. So many members are experienced cyclists who were careful and cautious, yet were involved in serious accidents through no fault of their own. For the rest of us, I wonder: not if, but when?

That's why they're called accidents...

My crash was not caused by a vehicle, and as far as I know I didn't do anything to cause it either. I believe I caught my tire just right (or I suppose I should say just wrong) in a crack in the road surface. I'll never know, and I've accepted that.

I don't think we should assume that we will all be involved in serious accidents. But I do think that we should be aware of where we are, and be as aware as we can be about things (the road surface, other cyclists, pedestrians, vehicles, animals...) around us.

Don't think "not if, but when?" That kind of attitude will only serve to stop you from participating in an activity that you enjoy. Be safe, be aware, don't stop riding.

--- Denise

[sundial]

Denise, you took a nasty fall. Wow! I'm glad you are ok now. Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope I don't have an encounter like you. If so, I know where to turn for encouragement and advice.

I had a close call this weekend. I was riding in a large group on a familiar route that we have traveled many a time. During the last part of the ride we have to get on a 4 lane highway that has a shoulder [I]most[I]of the way. About a quarter of a mile before the intersection the shoulder ends and we have to ride in the lane until we can turn off the highway onto a 2 lane road back to our destination.

I was pulling a trailer with a tall bicycle flag AND a large caution sign attached to the back of the trailer. I had a rider to the left of me, 2 behind me at a distance and the others were drafting behind them. We all kept an eye on the traffic and all was going well until we saw a semi in the fast lane and a car in our lane, the slow lane.

The truck was being courteous to us but the car with 2 senior citizens wouldn't slow behind us, didn't attempt to move over in the other lane, and just drove alongside the truck, forcing us all off the road (where there is no shoulder). What bothered me the most was how we kept acknowledging to the driver,"Hey, we're here!" and they basically forced us off the road. All they had to do was slow down and switch lanes to get behind the truck. Grrrrrrrrr.

[Eden]

That's exactly the kind of situation where I feel that taking the lane is the best practice. If there had clearly not been enough space and the car driver had not felt that he would be able to squeeze by he probably wouldn't have tried it. I do understand that sometimes this leads to frustrated, irrational drivers, but safety is the main concern and you have the right to be safe. Few people are willing to intentionally run someone over, they may get angry and fume/curse etc, but many are very poor at judging when it is safe to pass. I'd prefer to raise some occasional ire than put myself at the mercy of those who are plain careless.

Accidents where a cyclist is hit from behind are pretty rare (though in this day of distracted cell phone talking/texting drivers there is some cause for concern) - the most common ones are being hit by a car pulling out of a side street or parking lot or being hit by someone passing then turning into you. Both of those type of accidents, as well as being side swiped by someone who is clueless about the width of their car can be made less of a danger by being out further in the travel lane where you are more visible and harder to squeeze by.

[sundial]

Eden, you have a valid point. I do have to say that the people that rode beside me were riding well into the slow lane. They did so intentionally so that drivers would have to be forced to either slow down or switch lanes.

It didn't work this time.