Came within inches of being killed on my eBike today

[eSurfer]

I work at a school that is located in a residential neighborhood. I was going up the street arriving at my school doing about 19 or 20 MPH. The driveway into the parking lot is located on a sharp right curve, that is so sharp it's a blind curve. Stuck out my left arm to signal I was making a left turn into the school, started to make the left and, as I began my turn, felt a need to shoulder check to my left again just to make sure there was no one in that direction. At the last second before it was too late, I saw a lady in a small car accelerate and pull onto the wrong side of the street to pass me on the on the left in the blind curve. She was probably doing 35 in a residential zone on the wrong side of the street, by a school and she had a small child in the back seat.

I thank the Lord because I had some sort of inkling to look over my shoulder a second time, saw her, straightened out and hit my brakes, managed to stop and stay upright and pull just out of her way. As that was happening, I noticed her face took on a look of horror, and she barely kept her car on the road as she skidded to a stop...right where I would have been. If I hadn't seen her, I would be dead. Being broadsided on a bike by a car going 35 would have surely killed me. I screamed at her "You idiot!!" and she sped off. I have felt shaky all day now.

It's funny how going 19 or 20 in a residential area, by a school, irritates some people. That's a reasonable, safe speed when children are present, but it's too slow for some car driving morons. I wonder if they see a bicycle and don't make the connection that it's an eBike and it's going fast. Maybe the reptilian part of their brain thinks, "Stupid bicycle, all bikes are slow, must get around him." And don't realize that we are all going a reasonable speed.

 

[Mündawg]

Glad you're okay. do you wear reflective or high visibility clothing/gear?
Some drivers just don't care or have any sense for bike safety... It's a shame but it's a fact we ebikers have to live with

 

[Ykick]

Sorry to hear but simple fact of street riding "Oscar Grope" is out there and doesn't give a shit about anything which isn't a danger to THEM. And yes, there is some truth to faster eBikes being confusing to these types.

One of my favorite MSF publications - https://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/MSF-Quick-Tips-Pretend-You-Are-Invisible.pdf

For the sake of your loved ones and dependents, always ride with a camera. It won’t prevent crashes but it will memorialize events. A full on drive camera capturing front/rear is best but even a small RC camera (Mobius, RunCam) can leave some clue as to how and who hits you.

I’m loving the ARecord B40D drive/dash camera -
https://www.amazon.com/ARECORD-Recorder-G-Sensor-Internal-Upgraded/dp/B01KT5MASA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481773068&sr=8-2&keywords=arecord+b40d+dual+lens+car+dash+camera

RunCam HD does a nice job mounted on a helmet too. Much lighter weight and has it's own battery.

Good luck.

 

[The fingers]

The shopping season brings out the worst in drivers. Glad you didn't buy it. I would average 1-2 incidents a week when I was bike commuting to two jobs for a total of 34 miles a day. Always worse this time of year when it gets dark early and short car trips peak. Add the low price of gas and that translates to more idiots staring down at twittling thumbs rather than safely operating their vehicles. :wink:

 

[icerider]

In the early eighties, for three years I commuted 14 miles a day on city streets in Durham, NC which was, at the time, famous for killing bicyclists.

After two days on the thoroughfares, I realized that I would not survive a month on those streets. I bought a city map and mapped out a route (a long-cut) that was almost entirely on residential streets with MUCH lower traffic. It took about 1/3 longer but was infinitely safer.

It isn't always possible, but when it is it makes a commute a relaxing ride instead of a gut wrenching scene from TRON.

 

[2old]

Glad to hear that you survived and condolences from a fellow socal resident. Fortunately, I don't have to commute on my ebike; accordingly, I ride on the street infrequently, mostly in the woods.

 

[Ozzzz]

I ended up taking a blind corner leaning on a huge RV with nowhere to go but over the verge and down in to the river at West Yellowstone. It was probably only a lucky elbow thrust to detach at the end that saved me from going under the wheels (or over the verge, down into the rocks below). Car drivers, the world over, simply do not see slowing down as their first best option. After traversing Albuquerque on the interstate I was a nervous mess. Can imagine that sickly feeling, stay safe. That head check (drummed in for MC classes) is vital.

 

[cycleops612]

In the early eighties, for three years I commuted 14 miles a day on city streets in Durham, NC which was, at the time, famous for killing bicyclists.

After two days on the thoroughfares, I realized that I would not survive a month on those streets. I bought a city map and mapped out a route (a long-cut) that was almost entirely on residential streets with MUCH lower traffic. It took about 1/3 longer but was infinitely safer.

It isn't always possible, but when it is it makes a commute a relaxing ride instead of a gut wrenching scene from TRON.

+1

I have long been evangelical about that. You have to pay some dues to get the benefits safely. Invest some hours really thinking thru the commute route.

Thing is, u dont want the same routes as a car anyway. level circuitousoften beats more direct up hill and down dale that drivers prefer.

Many routes closed to cars are open to you.

you gain at least 10 minutes at either end over motorists in getting door to door, and probably 10 minutes during the trip in various ways, so no need to feel in a race to keep up. be happy to get out of their way.

u can switch to being a "pedestrian" any time. an intimidating intersection is easy if you just pull over and wait for the WALK to flash. If cars are gridlocked, may as well walk or scoot on a path and get around them calmly.

traffic flow is often a series of bunches of cars. tailgate a bunch til another catches up with you. drift back and follow that bunch. works well on the down hill bits of busy roads on underpowered bikes. keep up car speed on car roads for some of the trip anyway, w/o idiots trying to pass. Try and stay off the road for climbs.

I just try and keep rolling, even if pedestrian pace. an unused path beats a used road. if u think ahead, crossing first, and a brief stint on a path may allow a legit time saving no right turn e.g.

AND - tadah -what better tool the google maps street view? you can view your planned optional routes as if u were hovering over/along them.
very sorry to hear of your scare OP. It hangs over all of us. Thanks for helping us keep safety to the fore of our minds when riding.

I am always scrupulously polite and considerate of pedestrians. i dont even have a bell. i chill till i can wiggle around them somehow, often ducking on to the road to go round.

 

[ScooterMan101]

Yes , Start riding with a camera, it can be connected to the front handle bar, or the rear rack,
or
my favorite spot , although not as aero , is on the helmet. No Go-Pro they are too big, get one of the bullet/cylinder shaped cameras .
you can get a SD card just for your daily ride, if no problems just erase it each day,
What I do is turn mine of and on at different points of a ride, that way even though there is no accident, I can keep a few second clip of a certain driver like the one you encountered today. I keep that for if I need that clip in the future.

there are threads here on E.S. with some examples.
Contour's are not made anymore , so you can find then cheap enough on Craigslist. they have many good qualities for bike riders and anyone doing any activity where you wear gloves.

 

[arkmundi]

I've long thought the bicycle community should, on top of all it does for legislating safe roads, start a large cooperative insurance fund, dedicated to insuring us. Almost all accidents between driver & bicyclist are the fault of the car driver, hence the insurance fund would likely not have to pay out often. Primary benefit is that bicyclists would get a player to negotiate settlements on their behalf comparable to what auto drivers get. With a twist, of always settling with punitive measures against those drivers. And taking a percentage to advocate for safe roads. And in the case the bicyclists is killed in the accident, making sure the driver of the car is taken off the road permanently.

 

[ecycler]

Maybe the reptilian part of their brain thinks, "Stupid bicycle, all bikes are slow, must get around him." And don't realize that we are all going a reasonable speed.

This is 100% accurate. I often am going 35-40 in 30mph residential zones (to keep up with traffic) and cars will pass me at 50-55mph. Almost every time I see them slam on the brakes when they get around me. I think they aren't even looking at the gauges. They are just idiots thinking: bike = slow -> MUST PASS!

 

[amberwolf]

Yes. In my residential-area rides, the speed limit is usually 15-20MPH, and I'm riding at that limit. Sometimes it's even a school zone (which here are all 15MPH and well-signed, often with jacketed guards for crossings, and marked police cruisers in some areas with known speeder problems).

There are a lot of parked cars, too, forcing me out into the main road, even when there are bike lanes marked as "no parking any time" they'll usually be full of parked cars, as the cities don't really care, and residents certainly don't (many people have multiple cars and only one driveway space).

So what happens most often is that there will be a long line of clear space where cars could easily pass me, but don't, and I might have one (or more) behind me for a quarter or even half mile. Cars could easily pass me safely here, as they are not even directly behind me, but off to my left and back some distance. They have the entire actual lane to themselves.

Then, as soon as I have to move out in the lane to go around the parked cars, whcih most often are on both sides of the street at that point, making it even narrower, sometimes only one-car-width-narrow, the car behind me will zoom up and pass me really close, sometimes risking collision wiht the car on their left (whether parked or just opposing traffic), just so they can get around me. As soon as they are past me they typically slow right back down again, sometimes to slower than I was going (sometimes so much so that *I* must now pass *them* to continue at the posted limit).


I have less problems with this using my SB Cruiser trike than with CrazyBike2, and much less with either of them than when on a normal-looking bicycle, so it definitely has to do with what I look like than how fast I am going.

Almost all accidents between driver & bicyclist are the fault of the car driver, hence the insurance fund would likely not have to pay out often.

Since it seems many, if not most, of the crashes of bicyclists that are caused by cars are either not direct collisions (car does something that forces cyclist offroad or into other object) or are direct, but in both cases the driver just continues on, sometimes knowing what they did, sometimes not (not caring in either case), I'd guess it would have to pay out a lot more than you're estimating, to be effectively useful.

However, in a lot of those cases, there would be no witnesses, or none that would step forward, or be useful (not paying attention, didn't actually see what happened and just made assumptions, etc), so the insurance company would have to take the word of the cyclist involved, unless there happen to be cameras around.


I don't know what the total percentage of crashes (collisions or otherwise) that involve cars and bicycles are actually caused by the car driver, though, because I see an awful lot of stupid riders doing things that could get them killed if a car were there, and I would not consider it the driver's fault if it did happen, as it wouldn't be a predictable thing or something they could avoid.

(stuff like suddenly riding off the sidewalk into the street in the middle of a non-driveway-stretch of sidewalk, into traffic, with no signal or warning, having been previously just riding along on the sidewalk. Or like riding diagonally across an intersection into traffic. Running a stop sign (or other traffic control) when there is traffic already crossing the other way. Other stuff I can't think of ATM).

I see pedestrians do exactly the same things; they are less likely to be hit because they are narrower, and so easier to avoid, if the driver has time to see and avoid them).

Drivers do a lot of dumb things...but not everything is their fault.

 

[footloose]

Glad that you weren't hurt. Scary world out there on the streets.

Ever hear the song "Grandpa's Advice" about drivers?

Chorus:
"They’re all jerks,
When you’re out here on your own
Just assume that everybody else is half-asleep or stoned
They’re all jerks,
And not a one knows how to drive
So you gotta pay attention to make it home alive
I’ll give you my philosophy, I guarantee it works
Repeat it after me, kid,
They’re all jerks."

Think second chorus is same, but with substitution of
"... Just assume that every one of them is drunk or on the phone..."

I keep off roads and stay on multi-use paths as much as possible. Drivers are just too random.

Really, glad you weren't hurt.

 

[E-geezer]

It's scary, but worth knowing how little recourse we have with the police dept and in the courts when involved in a car/bike accident. This is a great site and these are worth reading. I can't tell you how many stories I have read over the years about riders getting killed by careless drivers and the drivers getting off with only a ticket. It is the best way to kill someone and get away with it.

http://www.bicyclelaw.com/legally-speaking-when-the-cop-gets-it-wrong/

http://www.bicyclelaw.com/legally-speaking-on-vulnerable-road-user-laws/

 

[eSurfer]

Glad you're okay. do you wear reflective or high visibility clothing/gear?
Some drivers just don't care or have any sense for bike safety... It's a shame but it's a fact we ebikers have to live with

No, I don't wear reflective clothing, but I have flashing lights on my bike. This lady totally saw me and didn't like being stuck behind me for even a minute.

 

[eSurfer]

It's scary, but worth knowing how little recourse we have with the police dept and in the courts when involved in a car/bike accident. This is a great site and these are worth reading. I can't tell you how many stories I have read over the years about riders getting killed by careless drivers and the drivers getting off with only a ticket. It is the best way to kill someone and get away with it.

http://www.bicyclelaw.com/legally-speaking-when-the-cop-gets-it-wrong/

http://www.bicyclelaw.com/legally-speaking-on-vulnerable-road-user-laws/

This is totally surprising to me. I thought a car driver was automatically at fault if they hit a bike.

 

[Alan B]

The car driver may be at fault, but they don't consider the severity of the accident to the cyclist. It is pretty appalling, actually.

 

[Ykick]

Car-on-bike violence really is a "low risk of serious penalty" way to commit murder. $500 is the usual fine/cost here in NYC for dead biker or pedestrian.

 

[icerider]

In the early eighties, for three years I commuted 14 miles a day on city streets in Durham, NC which was, at the time, famous for killing bicyclists.

After two days on the thoroughfares, I realized that I would not survive a month on those streets. I bought a city map and mapped out a route (a long-cut) that was almost entirely on residential streets with MUCH lower traffic. It took about 1/3 longer but was infinitely safer.

It isn't always possible, but when it is it makes a commute a relaxing ride instead of a gut wrenching scene from TRON.

I have long been evangelical about that. You have to pay some dues to get the benefits safely. Invest some hours really thinking thru the commute route.

...

AND - tadah -what better tool the google maps street view? you can view your planned optional routes as if u were hovering over/along them.
....

Now that I live in rural Arizona, my choices of road near my house are limited to one or two roads, fortunately, none of them are heavily used just because there aren't all that many people out here. But, for example, the ONLY route to the nearest town is on I-10. Once in town, I have the usual southwestern perfectly grid-like array of streets so I can stay off the main street easily and I can try EVERY one of those parallel side streets in just a couple of trips so I had never bothered with Google street view.

However, for a tour, even a short 30 mile tour, Street View is GREAT. I can preview the whole route (if somewhat slowly) and even if I don't have many choices, at least I can get off the main street going through towns. And those main streets through small southwestern towns are WORTH AVOIDING. Most of them are wide 2 or 4 lane streets posted at 35mph or higher with shop access to the left and right DIRECTLY off the street -- LOTS of folks running over the speed limit, changing lanes and turning suddenly kind of a high stakes pinball game.

 

[alfantastic]

Here in the UK, we've got the added worry of the government out to get us too

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-cyclist-flying-with-his-car-door-video-shows

 

[eSurfer]

Car-on-bike violence really is a "low risk of serious penalty" way to commit murder. $500 is the usual fine/cost here in NYC for dead biker or pedestrian.

The car driver may be at fault, but they don't consider the severity of the accident to the cyclist. It is pretty appalling, actually.

Holy cow! That's terrible. So the only recourse would be to sue the driver. Do you know of cyclists who have sued car drivers successfully?

 

[2old]

If they're sued successfully, it's probably the heirs that have done it. I stay on the sidewalk as much as possible in dangerous areas (realize this isn't feasible in most areas, but very possible where I reside as long as school isn't letting out). Also illegal, but I haven't received a ticket in 35 years of bike and ebike riding.

 

[Ykick]

Winning a civil judgement is one thing.

Collecting on that judgement is another.