Oatbran
05-06-2005, 07:52 AM
I was heading east on Orchard, approaching Holly. N-bound Holly has two lanes to turn E on Orchard. The car in the lane nearest me slows and stops. I knew he wanted to turn, but saw me and stopped. I have the green light coming through the intersection. The car in the far lane to me, barely slows down and takes the turn at near full speed just as I'm passing in front of the first car wanting to turn right. If I had been 10 feet further ahead, I would have been mincemeat.
I whistled to try to get her attention, which had no effect. So I shouted a loud, "HEY!" She slowed a little, and as I passed her window she looked at me with a blank stare through her sunglasses. She had absolutely no clue that she nearly killed me. I couldn't believe it.
Luckily, I saw her approaching the intersection quite fast, and though I thought she would stop (they have a red light after all), I was ready for her not to stop and started slowing down. The other lucky thing was the whole ride I was thinking to myself, "Man, I'm going slow today. Man, my legs are tired." If I had been on pace, I might have been at that bad place where I didn't have a choice. And one more lucky thing, she stayed turned in her lane. Orchard goes to two lanes there just briefly before the right lane turns into a right turn only into a shopping center. Most people in her situation (except for running the red light thing) would have almost immediately pulled into the left lane, without performing the lane change. Maybe my whistles and shouts alerted her to the fact that I was there and she couldn't change lanes immediately. Even if they did, I still got lucky.
Three things were confirmed: 1) Morning drivers between 6:30-7:30am are very aggressive and inattentive. I have had other incidents in this time slot. (better is to leave around 6am or later ~8am, but even leaving around 7:30-7:45, there are a lot of cars on the road, but people aren't nearly as aggressive). 2) I need more bright clothing. Though I had my reflective vest on today, and my blinky lights flashing, I was also dressed all in black. Maybe I should have my bike repainted Safety Orange. 3) I need to work on my evasive maneuvers. With people cutting me off and turning right in front of me, it's best to turn with them. With people turning left in front of me without seeing me, it may be necessary to turn with them, but may be possible to turn into them to go around their back side. In today's situation, it would have been possible to veer into my lane to avoid a collision. But I would have had to have been sure that there wasn't anyone right on me from behind - situational awareness. I need to practice these maneuvers in my mind and be ready for the real thing.
Be safe out there.
I whistled to try to get her attention, which had no effect. So I shouted a loud, "HEY!" She slowed a little, and as I passed her window she looked at me with a blank stare through her sunglasses. She had absolutely no clue that she nearly killed me. I couldn't believe it.
Luckily, I saw her approaching the intersection quite fast, and though I thought she would stop (they have a red light after all), I was ready for her not to stop and started slowing down. The other lucky thing was the whole ride I was thinking to myself, "Man, I'm going slow today. Man, my legs are tired." If I had been on pace, I might have been at that bad place where I didn't have a choice. And one more lucky thing, she stayed turned in her lane. Orchard goes to two lanes there just briefly before the right lane turns into a right turn only into a shopping center. Most people in her situation (except for running the red light thing) would have almost immediately pulled into the left lane, without performing the lane change. Maybe my whistles and shouts alerted her to the fact that I was there and she couldn't change lanes immediately. Even if they did, I still got lucky.
Three things were confirmed: 1) Morning drivers between 6:30-7:30am are very aggressive and inattentive. I have had other incidents in this time slot. (better is to leave around 6am or later ~8am, but even leaving around 7:30-7:45, there are a lot of cars on the road, but people aren't nearly as aggressive). 2) I need more bright clothing. Though I had my reflective vest on today, and my blinky lights flashing, I was also dressed all in black. Maybe I should have my bike repainted Safety Orange. 3) I need to work on my evasive maneuvers. With people cutting me off and turning right in front of me, it's best to turn with them. With people turning left in front of me without seeing me, it may be necessary to turn with them, but may be possible to turn into them to go around their back side. In today's situation, it would have been possible to veer into my lane to avoid a collision. But I would have had to have been sure that there wasn't anyone right on me from behind - situational awareness. I need to practice these maneuvers in my mind and be ready for the real thing.
Be safe out there.