First Accident Avoided - Front/Rear Camera

[hoboin]

While riding on the road in Northern Virginia on a road i use every day, a driver decided to not fully stop and turn left into me. Because i know this road well and know the semi blind turn, i have been waiting for someone to do something like this for awhile and i was luckily prepared.

My thinking, when riding on the road, is to hug the ride side a little to let people turning left (from my left) will more easily see me, and i go more to the center after the turn starts to let someone like this car know that i am in the road. I saw him basically think that i was going to be too slow, as in not a fast car, and he just YOLO'ed and went for it. Driver was in his 80's.

This was a Sunday morning about 10am.
Bike is an Ariel Rider Rideal, 750w motor
Camera is Blueskysea DV988, which is front/back 1080 camera.

 

[fooferdoggie]

well I see you should have slowed and pretended he did not see you. if you know that intersection is like that pretend your invisible.

 

[Brockrock]

While riding on the road in Northern Virginia on a road i use every day, a driver decided to not fully stop and turn left into me. Because i know this road well and know the semi blind turn, i have been waiting for someone to do something like this for awhile and i was luckily prepared.

My thinking, when riding on the road, is to hug the ride side a little to let people turning left (from my left) will more easily see me, and i go more to the center after the turn starts to let someone like this car know that i am in the road. I saw him basically think that i was going to be too slow, as in not a fast car, and he just YOLO'ed and went for it. Driver was in his 80's.

This was a Sunday morning about 10am.
Bike is an Ariel Rider Rideal, 750w motor
Camera is Blueskysea DV988, which is front/back 1080 camera.

Good job and good reflexes. I too have noticed that with my eBike, most folks simply see a bike and rider and disregard the fact that I may be approaching faster than a typical bike. It’s a certain paradigm they are in when it comes to two wheel vehicles that are not full motorcycles…. Or, they may not see you at all, and because you may be going faster than you would be on a traditional bike, this can be dangerous too.. Either way, stay safe out there!

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

In these days of shortened daylight coupled with gray cloud cover, consider running front and rear lights on every ride you make. I equipped my own Haibike with a dyno hub lighting system, front and rear; that are lit as soon as that front wheel starts turning. Think of it as the equivilant to modern cars daytime running lights.

I believe that is the best lifesaver and collision avoidance thing we can do; even better than those dayglo chartreuse jackets that alot of riders wear......

 

[Rider777]

I agree with doggie above: “you should have slowed” and assume the most defensive actions possible. Very easy in this case and it wouldn’t have “cost” you maybe 2 seconds of extra time. Not bad considering the alternative: It rhymes with pie

 

[Rickman1]

Agree with having front and rear lights. I have them on both of my ebikes. Flashing during daylight. Lowlight I have the front on solid and rear flashing.

 

[hoboin]

Thanks all for the comments. I always run daytime running front and rear lights that came with the bike, i also use a small strobing light connected to my left mirror. I also have a small light connected to the back of my bike helmet.

But yes i agree more lights are needed. I started a thread about getting the bike to have lights and turn signals like a motorycle. I just think it would be way more safer, to have brighter lights even during the daytime. I think maybe if i had a larger motorcycle like light one he MIGHT have seen me better, but i think it was more he decided i was too slow and just went for it. I feel like my speed was OK, a little too fast but i'm on a road that is 25 miles an hour and i feel like i had enough time to react. But that is one reason i wanted to post the video hear, to see how some people think my riding is since i am new to electric biking and biking on the road. I have about 3000 total miles this year on electric bikes, about 1000 on non busy residential roads, rarely going on roads more than 25 miles an hour.

That kind of brings me to something i was wondering, if speed is better or worse.. as in its safer and better to ride on the road than the sidewalk, but now i'm battling with these giant cars all the time but it does seem safer than being on sidewalks.

 

[hoboin]

One person is saying i was riding too defensively and another comment in the video said i was not riding defensively so i am a bit confused. I started more on the right side but went to the middle to be seen more. In general, i try to ride middle right, trying not to pass the middle of the lane, and only going in the middle of the lane when there is a car parked and the door could open to hit me, or going center like in this situation to let people approaching from the opposite lane (coming straight at me and turning left, going towards where this white car turned from). Those are the people i am more worried about hitting me, not this guy. This guy i could CLEARLY see him, i could see him do a rolling stop and not completely stop at a stop sign. I think i did a good job of noticing that and avoiding that. Not sure if slowing down from less than 20ish to 15ish around a semi busy turn is the smartest move but this is the reason i am posting the video hear. I have very little biking experience on roads so i want to know what to do in most situations.

 

[Brockrock]

@hoboin - As I mentioned in Post 3 above, I think this is a clear case of the driver seeing a 'bicycle' approaching, and from their perspective, they were unable to judge its speed, but in their mind, it was simply a bicycle. As such, the driver decided to run the stop sign (let's call it what it was) and enter the intersection what they thought was a safe distance in front of the bike in order to make it no factor during their commute. Had a collision resulted, a proper and thorough investigation would have included the legality of your vehicle, and assuming that it was fully legal for roadway operation based on local laws ( including its speed at the time of operation), then you would have had the Right of Way. As such, the very likely conclusion would have been that the driver's failing to stop at the Stop Sign was this collision's primary contributing factor. That said, I do suggest keeping in mind that most drivers see a bicycle, not a typically faster eBike, and I always take this into account in situations like this.

 

[dodgeman]

I’ve also at times had the perception people are not used to bikes moving along that fast. You didn’t hit the car so obviously you did the right thing. You did kind of zoom past it. I don’t know if this was because you could safely do that or it was to scare the driver a little.

Most places say bikes aren’t suppose to ride on sidewalks.

 

[Dave Rocks]

This has happened to me a half dozen times. It's because the vehicle driver sees a bicycle form a distance and does not know
it's an Ebike. Two seconds later they are turning in front of you. Best to slow down and let the car turn. You will lose challenging space with a vehicle.

 

[Gordon71]

Looked like pretty easy to go around the guy and worse case you could have made a right turn.

 

[Taylor57]

Looks like the car ran the stop sign and you were fine with your bob and weave move. jmho!!

 

[GoinGrey]

I agree with others, drivers don't realize how fast you are coming when they see a bicycle. I have had so many of those close calls. Stay safe.

 

[hoboin]

Thanks for all the replies, its really helpful. This is my first year electric cycling and i am obviously trying to stay alive, that is why i shared the video. Also i wanted to share the video quality of the camera that i use. Lastly, i just want to clarify that i felt very safe in the situation in regards to my reaction to him. He did blow the stop sign, but i was watching him the whole time and i was waiting for him to stop or go, right after the incident i did not feel scared or unsafe.

 

[Mulezen]

I’m not so sure ebike speed differs much from analog. As many here can attest we are an ancient bunch in less than aero positions. Civilians hear the 28 mph motor and assume that’s what we operate at with a throttle. While I can get to 28 mph on the flat I can’t sustain it and don’t generally do it because of air resistance and effort required. Lights front and back and even on the helmet are the best solution.