Beware the Bicycle Lane

[Reid]

Learning the hard way that the dedicated bicycle lane can be less safe than no bicycle lane at all,

This clip is posted for public safety awareness, only

(Am banged up, not broken, and the flying object is a shoe.)

edit: The flying object is the car mirror. My left shoe went off camera in yet another direction.

 

[BernieS]

Learning the hard way that the dedicated bicycle lane can be less safe than no bicycle lane at all,

This clip is posted for public safety awareness, only

(Am banged up, not broken, and the flying object is a shoe.)

That is scary as hell. Glad you're not seriously injured.

 

[vincent]

Very glad you are ok

 

[Fitzy]

Video's gone.

 

[bob armani]

Learning the hard way that the dedicated bicycle lane can be less safe than no bicycle lane at all,
(((re-upload of crash video in progress to improve quality, please come back soon)))
This clip is posted for public safety awareness, only

(Am banged up, not broken, and the flying object is a shoe.)

Reid-Video is not working on my end either. Would like to see it. Hope you are okay and you are currently back on your bike!! Those lanes can sometimes be a bit risky in my city where large commuter buses on the main drag cut in and out to let off passengers. Sometimes the drivers don't give f**k about bicycles. They just have to make sure they make their schedule on time and have that 'get out of my way attitude'.

 

[Barry S]

I've always looked at the bike lane as more evidence for my personal injury attorney should I ever get hit by some inattentive driver texting their BFF. Glad to hear you're okay, and I'd love to see the video if you ever get it working. Earlier this week a pedestrian got struck by a car in a marked crosswalk in Honolulu. Comments by the local PD in the article were that the crosswalk lines were faded and the street light was out. Hmmm, sounds like someone is helping build a defense for the driver. Hawaii is definitely pro-automobile.

 

[Reid]

 

[TForan]

Very scary ! Glad you are OK.

 

[vincent]

just saw the video and that is beyond scary, so glad you are not seriously hurt

those people need to buy you a new bike at the very least

 

[mrgold35]

I don't like riding in bike lanes like this because:
- too many vehicles drift into this lane
- not matter who is a fault, the bike rider is the one getting hurt and/or have a damage bike
- there are so much road debris being pushed into the bike lanes. I get 4X more flat from that compared to trail riding


I ride in the streets and bike lanes in the morning at 5:30am because of the lack of car. I ride slower on the sidewalks in the afternoon because the bike lanes I would share with vehicles has a speed limit of 45 mph (cars pass me doing 5-15 mph above that).

 

[Barry S]

This is exactly why I record every ride with my GeekPro. I noticed the driver do a slight weave to the right to begin setting up what truckers call a button hook turn.

 

[John from Connecticut]

Learning the hard way that the dedicated bicycle lane can be less safe than no bicycle lane at all,

This clip is posted for public safety awareness, only

(Am banged up, not broken, and the flying object is a shoe.)

edit: The flying object is the car mirror. (Little to no internet connectivity today caused a low res playback here, from which I could not see clearly, until just now, that it was the car mirror, seen by playing the clip at low speed from the YouTube page.

No right hand turn signal used on the offending car..... The driver can be heard saying " I didn't see you " yet the car has a passenger side mirror.... HELLO !!

John from CT

 

[Badgerdogmomma]

Gosh, that is horrible! Hope that everything gets taken care of the way it should. It is really easy to not notice everything bruised and broken on yourself and your bike when something like this first happens. I guess it is because of the adrenaline and the "happy I survived" feeling. Maybe fight-or-flight has something to do with it, too. I got (lightly) hit by a truck one time, limped home on my bent bike, and it was a day or two before I realized how hurt I was, and that my bike was broken, too. I just wanted to get home, thankful to be alive. That was a long time ago, before the little cameras. Great that you have what actually happened recorded. Hope all your miles are happy ones in the future!

 

[Fitzy]

Sorry this happened to you, and glad you weren't seriously injured. I ride with high-intensity flashers ALL THE TIME. This seems to work well; I notice cars AHEAD of me who wouldn't expect me to approach from the rear edging to the left when we come upon intersections to give me room to pass. I also tend to ride UBER defensively...assume everyone else is an idiot and WILL do something asinine. Lastly, wear that helmet!

 

[Chocolatehauler]

This comment will probably not set well, but I am hoping it might save someone from the same experience.
I have been riding bikes and motorcycles since High school and one lesson I have learned is what is called defensive driving.
As I watched this video the first thing I saw was the speed difference between the bike and cars. As a motorcyclist I pay attention to this especially in town were other drivers are already on over load making there way through traffic.
On my cycle it was easy to zip pass them.
So here is my point, if I am moving faster than those around me. I am more likely to be missed in a mirror check because when or if he saw me I was two cars back and not a problem. After that he is checking other things preparing to make his turn change lanes etc. Assuming that someone sees me a bike or cycle moving faster than expected is just well, not driving defensively.
Finally I am not saying the car driver is innocent. But as cyclists we often have to see a situation coming or pay the
price. To cars and trucks we are just another bug on the windshield, never saw it coming.

 

[Chocolatehauler]

Again in defense of the bike rider I didn't see a turn signal.

 

[John from Connecticut]

This comment will probably not set well, but I am hoping it might save someone from the same experience.
I have been riding bikes and motorcycles since High school and one lesson I have learned is what is called defensive driving.
As I watched this video the first thing I saw was the speed difference between the bike and cars. As a motorcyclist I pay attention to this especially in town were other drivers are already on over load making there way through traffic.
On my cycle it was easy to zip pass them.
So here is my point, if I am moving faster than those around me. I am more likely to be missed in a mirror check because when or if he saw me I was two cars back and not a problem. After that he is checking other things preparing to make his turn change lanes etc. Assuming that someone sees me a bike or cycle moving faster than expected is just well, not driving defensively.
Finally I am not saying the car driver is innocent. But as cyclists we often have to see a situation coming or pay the
price. To cars and trucks we are just another bug on the windshield, never saw it coming.

"Chocolatehauler".....I completely agree with you. Your points are well said and I'm the guy that squawked about the driver using his mirror.
As cyclists our only interest should be to always ride defensively ... If something goes, It doesn't matter what the reason,
the car or truck will always win.

John from CT

 

[Reid]

Don't worry about calling out all possible angles of this event. Chocolatehauler makes a good point, he is quite correct!

By the way, my bike has a blinding, multi-thousand lumen 10W LED hardwired headlight always on.

Had the driver glanced, for even a fraction of a second at his rearview mirror, he would have seen me approaching.

 

[mrgold35]

I ride during the day with my headlight and rear light blinking, I wear bright neon color tops, and safety gear (eye protection, padded gloves, helmet, rear view mirror, G-form knee/elbow pads). I always ride defensively because I'm the only one that is going to get hurt in an accident with a vehicle.

I figured distracted drivers have a hard time seeing a larger and louder motorcycle 2X-4X my size. What chance I have being on a ebike other than reducing/avoiding situations where the odds are not in my favor. The OP was lucky the driver was apologetic afterwards because most (male) drivers would want to blame the biker and probably ending in a hit-n-run or yelling match or worst.

 

[Al P]

This story could have had a very bad ending. Reid, I'm glad you were not seriously hurt, or worse. I do not like those skinny bike lanes. With all the technology in cars, there is too much opportunity for distracted driving and bicyclists would be the first ones not noticed. Fortunately, where I am, we do not have many bike lanes, but we do have some fairly wide shoulders to ride on. Many of today's cars have blind spot monitors that pick up vehicles pretty well, and people have wrongly become totally dependent upon them. Do they pick up bicycles just as well? Although in this case the driver was clearly at fault, I would be very leery of coming upon and speeding past a slower moving vehicle from the right side.