Earlier this year I fell victim to the right hook of an SUV. That red SUV passed me and then turned right in front of me. No turn signals warned me, and consequently my first road bike was totaled.
This morning I approached a red light where several cars were queued up already. I was turning right at the intersection. The third car in line also had a right turn signal on. I generally will hang back of cars if there is a chance they might pull out around the line, but the pickup truck and trailer in front of that car was taking up space, so I decided it would be safe to pass that car on the right and make my turn.
Then the light turned green. Some quick calculations told me that there was time to make the pass. In fact, I expected to be even with the front of the truck by the time I hit the intersection. That would give the car plenty of time to register that I was ahead of him and that I was not going to hinder his plan in any way.
Sure enough, I passed the car, and evened up with the front fenders of the truck. I began to turn...and so did the truck! Without signaling, he was now turning right into me! To my fortune, there was enough room and time for me to simply turn sharper and not get squished. The driver of the truck must have seen me, as he paused briefly. No harm done, we all continued on our way. The truck and the car both passed me and then I kept up as we descended Nemesis Hill.
At the next light the truck was turning left. As he stopped at the red light I looked very closely at his tail lights. The trailer he was pulling had round, red tail-lights that barely fluttered on and off. The lights on his truck were hardly better. I guess it's possible that he did have his signal on at the top of the hill. Gotta watch out for those weak signals!
Are you saying that you squeeze between the car and the parking or curb alongside the travel lane? You're creeping into their blind spots when you do that.
ReplyDeleteI'm a light watcher too (referring to your last post) and enjoy that feeling of making time out of the light because I'm more in tune with traffic dynamics than texting drivers. But I figure if I want drivers to recognize that I'm entitled to the lane, I'd better be highly visible, predictable, and follow the rules I want them to follow.
Barb,
ReplyDeleteI'm also congnizant of the drivers around me and the fact that predictability from me means less problems for everyone.
At this intersection I am not squeezing between the queued cars and parking. This is a wide enough travel lane that most cars have room to slide in on the right of the queue when turning right. My general rule is that if I wouldn't do it in a car, I won't do it on the bike.