Do motorists not look before they back out?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Nope. They don't. And don't expect them to. They hit large cars on a regular basis. What makes you think they will see you on your bike? That's the way I ride. Every side road I come to, I'm looking behind me in case someone is coming to make a right turn into it. (and into me) Then I'm looking up that road to make sure someone isn't coming down it and not stopping at the sign. Cars coming out of a driveway... don't even bother to assume they see you. Even if they do, they still seem to back out.

Think about this: Have you ever been riding along at a good rate of speed and see something in the road. You keep looking at it so you can avoid it and what do you do? You run it over. You will go where you are looking no matter how hard you try. Drivers in cars are the same way. If they see you or don't, the odds are they will tag you. Be your own advocate for personal safety. You have no blind spots. Anticipate and adjust. You will live longer and better.

Well said. Expect cars to do the wrong thing. Half the time, they will.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I took a rider safety class a very long time ago. At the time, they said to make eye contact. I actually find this works against me. I think I figured out why.

I did a little experiment this wknd where I made eye contact at intersections. When I made eye contact, 6 times out of 10 they made the movement (aka started rolling) like they were going to keep going. Only 4 out of the 10 kept going.

When I looked straight ahead and didn't make eye contact but was very aware of what they were doing, no one moved. I was astounded. I did it more than 10 times because after realizing they didn't move, I stopped making eye contact.

I think, at least in this area, that if you make eye contact, it's almost like you are saying "Ok I see you ....I will YIELD to you". That's the only explanation I have, is that they think you are going to yield. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this? I noticed this especially with people backing out...it's like "okay the bike sees me, they'll stop". I think people think it's easier for us to stop or maybe we are looking for a reason to stop??

[KnottedYet]

Tahoe - yep, I've noticed that phenomenon here, too.

Yesterday I was walking through a parking lot crosswalk in front of a store and a woman backed into the crosswalk. She would have hit me if I hadn't jumped out of the way. She wasn't even looking. I kind of wish I had pounded on her trunk lid...

[salsabike]

Gee...I'm a cyclist AND a driver. A really careful driver. But drivers do have blind spots. I think we all need to try to be careful no matter what wheel we're behind. Best we can do.

[NbyNW]

On our bikes we tend to have better peripheral vision and we're also using our sense of hearing to be aware of our surroundings.

Drivers are not necessarily going to keep their windows down so that they can hear other approaching vehicles, bikes, or pedestrians.

Yes, cars have blind spots, but even in the best of car designs, it can also be hard to see around things, like the car next to you when you're pulling out of a 90-degree parking spot, or the car that is parked too close to an intersection ( pet peeve). Sometimes there's a tree or some other thing obstructing a driver's view.

That said, it's still the driver's responsibility to proceed with caution in these situations, and when I am riding my bike in or near a place where a driver might not have a great view, I try to be that much more aware of what is going on around me.

In my job we often have to design plantings around sight triangles. A lot of municipal codes will specify how far back you can place anything taller than a certain height (something below a driver's eye level) from where a driveway meets a road, for example. But some things get grandfathered in, and sometimes enforcement is just lousy.

[Grog]

Eye contact + (very important) hand signal.

I have had only one driver in two years going forward despite my motioning "stop" with my extended arm and hand (think traffic cop).

Always, always expect drivers not to be looking for you.

[OakLeaf]

I don't believe that eye contact does anything, either. They'll look right at you and pull out in front of you. Waving is probably more reliable for ensuring that someone actually sees you, but waves are so subject to interpretation, I wouldn't rely on that, either.

I assume two things: (1) most of 'em don't see me, and (2) those that do, are TRYING to hit me.

Assuming that cars are NOT going to hit me is the same as giving the responsibility for my safety over to them. That's never going to keep me safe. I will make a couple of assumptions just for the sake of traffic flow. I assume that someone stopped at a red light is not going to start moving and go straight (or left, if it's a two-way street) before the light turns green. I will assume that someone is not going to turn where there is no intersection or driveway. Those are about the only times I cede the responsibility for my safety to car drivers.

[maillotpois]

Jo - I do that, too - the wave!

The other issue with the Prius is you can't HEAR the darned thing half the time because the engine shuts down. I know it's all green and everything, but combine that with the blind spots and it seems like the car's going out of its way to make life tough for cyclists. What irony.

[Thorn]

The other issue with the Prius is you can't HEAR the darned thing half the time because the engine shuts down.

Yeah, as a Prius driver, whenever I'm in low speed or approaching bikes, I'm constantly questioning if I'm on electric or gas. But, as most cyclists when they get behind the wheel of a car, I also tend to give a lot of room when passing.

For me today, it wasn't Prius' that kept backing out at me...this morning it was middle aged women with a 1950's-style flip hair do. Three out of three vehicles that tried to take me out this morning....bizarre coincidence