7 ms·

Getting hit by a car within a year is an anomaly right? He brushed it off as his "only accident" like it's supposed to be more commonplace.

by zawerf 9y ago

def- 9y ago
Yeah, I might have been unclear. I've been cycling for a few years before that and that was the first time I touched a car. The driver DID look straight at me though, seemingly noticing me, so I was really confused when she started speeding up anyway.
- dspillett 9y ago
  In my experience it is not necessarily safe to assume that someone looking straight at you implies that they have noticed you. People can be quite distracted by both the environment or the insides of their own heads. Worse, some take eye contact as meaning you know they are there and are prepared to get out of the way of what-ever manoeuvre they are about to perform! Before my latest office move (it is not so close that messing around with the shed and locking up the bike at work and changing clothes if needed in bad weather add up to more than cycling saves over walking at a brisk pace) I rode to work for years, 3.5 miles each way for the most part, and while I've had a few near misses (the worst being a bus that halfway through overtaking me decided to shuffle in nearly sandwiching me between the bus and the road-side railings) I've never actually been touched by another vehicle. I'm on city roads, though small city (York, UK) rather than somewhere even more hectic than London, but here I'd say cycling to work is no less safe than walking.
- gaius 9y ago
  The driver DID look straight at me though, seemingly noticing me Probably saccadic masking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking
symmetricsaurus 9y ago
I've been biking to work for a bit more than two years now. Same distance to work and not even any close calls with cars. I do ride quite carefully though and make very sure that they see me and stop before I ride out in front of one.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  I always try and make eye contact with drivers at junctions which has worked well for me until a couple of weeks ago when someone looked straight at me then pulled out right in front of me. We didn't collide but it was very close.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
c2h5oh 9y ago
Cycled to work, weather permitting, for last 3 years. Got hit (more like nudged, but enough to cause a fall) by a car twice - nothing major only because I know how to tumble & roll. It easily could have been much worse.
lj3 9y ago
I cycled every day for 7 years all over the San Francisco Bay Area without ever once being hit by a car or getting a door prize. I didn't run red lights and I maintained situational awareness at all times. And I was one of those guys who rode in the middle of the car lane even when a bicycle lane was available.
- dominotw 9y ago
  > And I was one of those guys who rode in the middle of the car lane even when a bicycle lane was available. to avoid getting doored? Wouldn't this slow the traffic.
  - hobls 9y ago
    Traffic in SF is rarely going faster than a bicycle.
  - deathanatos 9y ago
    I do this to "take the lane"; essentially, if I'm in the middle of a lane, there is some reason why I want that lane — usually my own safety due to some other hazard, or perhaps I'm going to make an upcoming left — and I want/need drivers near me to essentially give me the same respect they'd give a car. Typically, the idea is that I would like drivers behind me to not pass me in the same lane that I'm in — that is, I'm trying to avoid having a driver do the typical half-assed job of passing by trying to squeeze their SUV in the same lane as me. (i.e., if you want to pass me, use another lane, not this one. If there isn't another lane: tough, I'll be out of your way ASAP — I don't like having a car behind me any more than a driver likes having a biker in front of them.) > Wouldn't this slow the traffic. Sometimes, yes. For me, most of the routes I take the car traffic moves at approximately the same speed or slower. If there's a huge speed difference and traffic is much faster, I'll usually avoid left turns and use a crosswalk to "turn", if I think that's safer. (Which has its own tradeoffs: one has to be very careful and ensure that drivers in the lane next to you are going to actually stop at the crosswalk before you enter it. Just because the light is red hardly means anything, and a lot of drivers will overshoot the stop line if they don't think anyone is going to be in the crosswalk when they do so.)
alistairSH 9y ago
Yes, it's an anomaly. I've been a recreational cyclist for many years, and commuted on and off for years when I lived about 12 miles from the office (close enough to walk now). I've never been hit by a car, but have had a few close calls. Almost all of those were at intersections, where I had the right of way, but a car didn't see me and decided to proceed. Basically, if you are cycling on the road (and that includes bike lanes that aren't protected/separated), you have to assume cars don't see you. Ride defensively all the time. That will minimize accidents at intersections. Nothing you can do about getting run down from behind (other than not ride a bicycle). But, that's rare.
deathanatos 9y ago
I've been biking for ~2 years, and I have had one very very close call, where I had to actually dodge a car, but I wasn't really in control of the situation. Scared the crap out of me, because I did not see him coming. I've had many other incidents where situational awareness let me see the idiot coming in advance enough that I was able to just easily avoid the collision. (The close call I had was an idiot in lane 1, which was a straight/left lane, who decided to turn right. The only right turn lane is lane 4: he cut off a lane of traffic, the bike lane, and the right-turn only lane. I had to take the right "with" him, essentially, or I would have hit him, and I could feel the traction in my back tire slipping the entire time from the huge amount of braking I was begging for.)
jandrese 9y ago
Been biking to work for 4 years now and never had a close call with a car, but I try to avoid roads as much as possible. Luckily there is a bike trail that goes roughly in the direction I need. That said, there is one section where riding with the traffic is unavoidable and I hate it. I especially hate one particular stoplight that is on a sensor and the sensor is not strong enough to pick up my bike. I should point out that I ride in the suburbs and road traffic goes much faster than what I can sustain on a bike. Most roads are 35 or 45mph and hilly/curvy, so they are terrifying to cycle on.
bbarn 9y ago
I have been doing it for ~15 years, and hit 4 times. I'd say if anything it's more common in your first year or two before you gain the experience to be able to predict driver actions by subtle signals.

Getting hit by a car within a year is an anomaly right? He brushed it off as his "only accident" like it's supposed to be more commonplace.

by zawerf 9y ago

Getting hit by a car within a year is an anomaly right? He brushed it off as his "only accident" like it's supposed to be more commonplace.

def- 9y ago

Yeah, I might have been unclear. I've been cycling for a few years before that and that was the first time I touched a car. The driver DID look straight at me though, seemingly noticing me, so I was really confused when she started speeding up anyway.

dspillett 9y ago
In my experience it is not necessarily safe to assume that someone looking straight at you implies that they have noticed you. People can be quite distracted by both the environment or the insides of their own heads. Worse, some take eye contact as meaning you know they are there and are prepared to get out of the way of what-ever manoeuvre they are about to perform! Before my latest office move (it is not so close that messing around with the shed and locking up the bike at work and changing clothes if needed in bad weather add up to more than cycling saves over walking at a brisk pace) I rode to work for years, 3.5 miles each way for the most part, and while I've had a few near misses (the worst being a bus that halfway through overtaking me decided to shuffle in nearly sandwiching me between the bus and the road-side railings) I've never actually been touched by another vehicle. I'm on city roads, though small city (York, UK) rather than somewhere even more hectic than London, but here I'd say cycling to work is no less safe than walking.
gaius 9y ago
The driver DID look straight at me though, seemingly noticing me Probably saccadic masking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccadic_masking

symmetricsaurus 9y ago

I've been biking to work for a bit more than two years now. Same distance to work and not even any close calls with cars. I do ride quite carefully though and make very sure that they see me and stop before I ride out in front of one.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
I always try and make eye contact with drivers at junctions which has worked well for me until a couple of weeks ago when someone looked straight at me then pulled out right in front of me. We didn't collide but it was very close.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

c2h5oh 9y ago

Cycled to work, weather permitting, for last 3 years. Got hit (more like nudged, but enough to cause a fall) by a car twice - nothing major only because I know how to tumble & roll. It easily could have been much worse.

lj3 9y ago

I cycled every day for 7 years all over the San Francisco Bay Area without ever once being hit by a car or getting a door prize. I didn't run red lights and I maintained situational awareness at all times. And I was one of those guys who rode in the middle of the car lane even when a bicycle lane was available.

dominotw 9y ago
> And I was one of those guys who rode in the middle of the car lane even when a bicycle lane was available. to avoid getting doored? Wouldn't this slow the traffic.
- hobls 9y ago
  Traffic in SF is rarely going faster than a bicycle.
- deathanatos 9y ago
  I do this to "take the lane"; essentially, if I'm in the middle of a lane, there is some reason why I want that lane — usually my own safety due to some other hazard, or perhaps I'm going to make an upcoming left — and I want/need drivers near me to essentially give me the same respect they'd give a car. Typically, the idea is that I would like drivers behind me to not pass me in the same lane that I'm in — that is, I'm trying to avoid having a driver do the typical half-assed job of passing by trying to squeeze their SUV in the same lane as me. (i.e., if you want to pass me, use another lane, not this one. If there isn't another lane: tough, I'll be out of your way ASAP — I don't like having a car behind me any more than a driver likes having a biker in front of them.) > Wouldn't this slow the traffic. Sometimes, yes. For me, most of the routes I take the car traffic moves at approximately the same speed or slower. If there's a huge speed difference and traffic is much faster, I'll usually avoid left turns and use a crosswalk to "turn", if I think that's safer. (Which has its own tradeoffs: one has to be very careful and ensure that drivers in the lane next to you are going to actually stop at the crosswalk before you enter it. Just because the light is red hardly means anything, and a lot of drivers will overshoot the stop line if they don't think anyone is going to be in the crosswalk when they do so.)

alistairSH 9y ago

Yes, it's an anomaly. I've been a recreational cyclist for many years, and commuted on and off for years when I lived about 12 miles from the office (close enough to walk now). I've never been hit by a car, but have had a few close calls. Almost all of those were at intersections, where I had the right of way, but a car didn't see me and decided to proceed. Basically, if you are cycling on the road (and that includes bike lanes that aren't protected/separated), you have to assume cars don't see you. Ride defensively all the time. That will minimize accidents at intersections. Nothing you can do about getting run down from behind (other than not ride a bicycle). But, that's rare.

deathanatos 9y ago

I've been biking for ~2 years, and I have had one very very close call, where I had to actually dodge a car, but I wasn't really in control of the situation. Scared the crap out of me, because I did not see him coming. I've had many other incidents where situational awareness let me see the idiot coming in advance enough that I was able to just easily avoid the collision. (The close call I had was an idiot in lane 1, which was a straight/left lane, who decided to turn right. The only right turn lane is lane 4: he cut off a lane of traffic, the bike lane, and the right-turn only lane. I had to take the right "with" him, essentially, or I would have hit him, and I could feel the traction in my back tire slipping the entire time from the huge amount of braking I was begging for.)

jandrese 9y ago

Been biking to work for 4 years now and never had a close call with a car, but I try to avoid roads as much as possible. Luckily there is a bike trail that goes roughly in the direction I need. That said, there is one section where riding with the traffic is unavoidable and I hate it. I especially hate one particular stoplight that is on a sensor and the sensor is not strong enough to pick up my bike. I should point out that I ride in the suburbs and road traffic goes much faster than what I can sustain on a bike. Most roads are 35 or 45mph and hilly/curvy, so they are terrifying to cycle on.

bbarn 9y ago

I have been doing it for ~15 years, and hit 4 times. I'd say if anything it's more common in your first year or two before you gain the experience to be able to predict driver actions by subtle signals.