How to ride near trucks

[OakLeaf]

The same day, I rode for two miles behind a woman driving about 20 mph texting/surfing the web the whole time on a 30-40 mph road.

And those are the safer ones. Most of them are driving 60 texting in a 35.

[Susan]

Last year, a female cyclist was killed in my town exactly as it is described in the article: a truck was waiting at an intersection where the street turns slightly right, she passed it to the right - on the bike lane - and got hit by the rear wheels as the lights turned green.

On the one hand this could have been avoided by being more aware of the described blind spots, on the other hand, some bike lanes are placed very thoughtlessly. Here, it is mandatory by law to use bike lanes if they are available, which can cause major trouble if they are ill-designed.

[soprano]

When I was learning to drive, I was taught that it is poor practice to pass anyone on the right. Better to slow down and wait for them to do their thing and clear the lane. This isn't any less true for a cyclist. Riding a bike in the city, passing on the right is sometimes unavoidable, so I try to slow down and stay on high alert.

When it comes to blind spots, remember that SUVs also have larger-than-normal blind spots and turning radiuses. Not as big as a semi, but bigger than for a passenger car, and SUV drivers are frequently unaware of it. Rental trucks (such as U-Haul) are also particularly bad because the renters aren't used to driving such a large vehicle in traffic.