Using Negative Experiences as Learning Opportunities - What is there to learn from this?

[Dionigi]

One issue seems to be the inconsistency of bike lanes. In this town alone the bike lane could either be on the far right of the straight and turn right lanes or it could be a smaller green lane sandwiched between the two traffic lanes. It’s confusing to both the motorist and cyclist. As for the future we should hope drivers education would address the coexsisting of multiple transport modes on our roads.

 

[harryS]

I was into motorcycle scrambles track racing when I was a teenager. I was taught by a pro on the circuit who had an interesting philosophy on street riding. "Kid, treat every vehicle you see as though it was going to run you down on purpose".

I still think about what that pro told me on the rare occasion when I ride my ebike on the street.

This is what I told my kids constantly when they were young and sat in the back seat. "Walking, riding, driving. You gotta act like those cars want to kill you." So I was telling my 6 year old grand daughter the same thing and she sez "Grandpa, I know that already". Ha ha.

 

[Johnny]

Very sorry to hear about your injury. Get well soon.

I am always very cautious when I am riding next to parked cars because I am afraid something like this may happen. You may just play it safe next time, assume the worst and stop. It may be annoying to ride that way but you get used to it.

 

[DouglasB]

Since "stupid" is incurable, I'm with those who say that they try and prepare for the worst case scenaro when they encounter cars, pedestrians, motorcycles. other cyclists or what have you. I tend to be overly cautious. So far, in over sixty years of riding, it's paid off, (except for the few times it was me that was stupid).

 

[gadgetnut]

@Alaskan, I join the others: so sorry this happened to you and hope you are back up and moving sooner than you expect.

The subject question: what is there to learn from this? Plenty.

You described the scenario so clearly I have added a cautionary tale to my memory banks. I have learned from your unfortunate experience. I will approach with greater caution and distance as I come up on any vehicle. I also appreciate the tips other members have added to this thread.

I try to put into words: I acknowledge that this new ebike acquisition has vaulted me suddenly into being much more active and perforce more interactive with the physical world than I have been in years. Of course this entails both the joys and perils that go along with risking to live instead of sitting at home.

While I choose not to focus on just the bad things that could happen, I admit that as a beginning biker I have neither an abundance of strength and coordination nor a vast experience negotiating roads and paths with cars, bikes, pedestrians, dogs and kids.

I plan to slow down a bit as I build my physical conditioning and experience levels, for greater safety of myself and others.

In terms of improving my skills, I feel that “common sense” is not enough. There are definitely specific rules and ways of the road that more experienced bikers will have learned one way or another. Lessons I haven’t yet learned, mistakes I haven't yet made.

I would consider attending a class on coaching improved urban cycling safety practices. To that end, I started searching YouTube and found some options. Here is one, for example.

Enjoy the Ride - Essential Bicycling Skills

Some will say it's contrived and hokey, I get that. But I see it as well intended and kind of funny. I don't know if the information is a bit outdated or exactly spot on, but it has a lot of helpful tips.

Thanks, Richard. Things happen. Mend well and know that your darned accident has now become your dear teacher. Navigating through the bad things to get to the good stuff and new opportunities is one of the greatest lessons you (and we) will ever learn.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

One of the things that is striking about all of the posts here is that people (mistakenly) assume that it is possible to be continuously one hundred percent vigilant. Humans do not work that way. Especially if you are riding in the states, where the combination of an obnoxious sense of entitlement on the part of motorists and generally poor bicycle infrastructure make for a toxic and dangerous brew. And the more you ride and the more you ride in traffic the reality is that you will eventually get in an accident. Hopefully you will survive the experience. I have some friends who didn't.

When I lived and worked in Seattle and commuted by bike and that resulted in two trips to the emergency room, followed by some months where I would end up taking public transit or driving to work. But I'd come back to my senses (or lack thereof) and get back on the bike (after the bike was repaired and/or replaced). And for every trip to the emergency room there were a couple of incidents where I just dealt with the bruises and abrasions and moved on.

This is a small and close-knit community on this site. I live in fear of the inevitable day that we will hear that one of our own is taken from us.

 

[tomjasz]

I live in fear of the inevitable day that we will hear that one of our own is taken from us.

I experienced this as a 12-year member of modernvespa.com. It's heart breaking. Even more so for me when it's oldsters like myself that have rediscovered adventure and are bitten by those not so concerned with consequences. Ride safe, we'd rather chat then not!

 

[Alaskan]

This is a good pamphlet on the topic. This particular situation is not covered.

 

[rexel1]

Hi Alaskan, sorry to hear of your accident. Hope you’re beginning to recover.

Unfortunately being on a bike there’s always a vulnerability. All I can say is take care but don’t let it put you off going out on the bike. It’s impossible to concentrate for the entire time you are out though.
I always treat any parked cars as likely to open their doors and one that has just stopped even more so. I’ve seen cars overtake me, stop, then do an immediate u-turn in front of me without any indicating at all.

Take care buddy.

 

[JoePah]

I sit here so frustrated, nursing a badly insured left quadriceps.

On Saturday I was out for a ride. A car passed me mid-block on a designated bike route street, stopping at a 4-way stop sign just ahead of me. Even though there were no other cars around, they remained stopped at the intersection. As I rolled up on their passenger side, braking to stop at the stop sign, all but the drivers doors opened suddenly. The passenger side back door caught me in the outer, upper thigh and bringing my forward movement to an immediate halt and knocking me to the grassy curb.

It hurt like hell but I knew nothing was broken and was only five blocks from home so after dusting off I headed home knowing things would swell up making it more difficult if I waiting too long. That night my whole thigh swelled up as tight as a basketball with any movement impossible without a cane or walker.

The swelling is going down slowly but I am stuck at home with severely limited mobility for the indefinite future.

The driver was a mom with three teenagers she was letting out of the car. She had just passed me and knew I was coming up behind her. Instead of pulling off to the side of the road to let the kids out, where there was unlimited open parking space, she had them exit the car while in the roadway stopped at a stop sign...not safe for the kids or for me.

How do you defend your self from unpredictable idiots? I am puzzling as to how I should adopt a different strategy for getting by a car that does something like this in the future...ride the sidewalk or what?

Any ideas anhyone?

Sorry for your accident.

It is fairly common to be faced with open doors, or cars pushing you off the road...

A cyclist has to be a very defensive rider.. Even then it is not enough, sometimes!

 

[Alaskan]

Life here, but my new step through build will solve leg lift issues. I have been pushing order customers towards step-through frames. For some, myself included, that allows for more riding and for more years of riding.

Thomas, I actually ride a fully suspended step-through for just that reason. I can foresee a time when swinging my leg up and over the rear rack won.t be so easy,

 

[tomjasz]

Thomas, I actually ride a fully suspended step-through for just that reason. I can foresee a time when swinging my leg up and over the rear rack won.t be so easy,

View attachment 30358

Nice, very nice! Out of my pension range but so very nice! A bit easier with a flat foot frame but I'm beginning to struggle with them.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Richard, your bike is always so clean!

 

[Credible Hulk]

I sit here so frustrated, nursing a badly insured left quadriceps.

On Saturday I was out for a ride. A car passed me mid-block on a designated bike route street, stopping at a 4-way stop sign just ahead of me. Even though there were no other cars around, they remained stopped at the intersection. As I rolled up on their passenger side, braking to stop at the stop sign, all but the drivers doors opened suddenly. The passenger side back door caught me in the outer, upper thigh and bringing my forward movement to an immediate halt and knocking me to the grassy curb.

It hurt like hell but I knew nothing was broken and was only five blocks from home so after dusting off I headed home knowing things would swell up making it more difficult if I waiting too long. That night my whole thigh swelled up as tight as a basketball with any movement impossible without a cane or walker.

The swelling is going down slowly but I am stuck at home with severely limited mobility for the indefinite future.

The driver was a mom with three teenagers she was letting out of the car. She had just passed me and knew I was coming up behind her. Instead of pulling off to the side of the road to let the kids out, where there was unlimited open parking space, she had them exit the car while in the roadway stopped at a stop sign...not safe for the kids or for me.

How do you defend your self from unpredictable idiots? I am puzzling as to how I should adopt a different strategy for getting by a car that does something like this in the future...ride the sidewalk or what?

Any ideas anhyone?

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that you were hurt. It sounds like a deep muscle bruise which can take some time to heal.

You made a mistake by riding up beside the passenger side of a stopped vehicle - particularly one which was stopped for an excessive length of time for being at a stop sign, and you weren't sure why they were stopped there or what they were planning to do. When you're on the passenger side of a car there's a good chance the driver won't see you, this was why they told their kids it was safe to get out of the car.

I have also found that some drivers resent having a cyclist ride up along the right side of their cars at stop signs and red lights, and will retaliate by trying to cut you off, opening their door or running you off the road. This can be worse with e-bikes because drivers hate it when ebikes outrun them at green lights (or anywhere else).

Bicycles and ebikes are vehicles. The rules of the road for cars also apply to smaller vehicles. Cyclists have the right to ride up the centre of a lane of traffic when needed. It's called "taking the lane". The safest thing to do at any intersection is to take the centre of your lane and stay behind the car in front. It also lets drivers both behind and in front see you better, and controls tailgaters. I always do it when approaching any intersection. When I clear the intersection I move back to the right hand side of the road. Once in a while some jerk who doesn't know the rules of the road will honk at me, but I'd rather be seen than be run over. And speaking of which, I always wear my yellow visibility vest when I ride. I never try to squeeze my ebike between cars, because when you're close to the side of a car you are in the driver's blind spot.

Another tip for visibility is to catch the driver's eye if you can. If they're looking at you, they know you're there.

I'm not trying to criticize you, because clearly that woman was in the wrong. She should have pulled out of traffic to drop her kids off, not sat there at a stop sign blocking traffic. But I will never forget what I learned in defensive driving class when I was learning to drive a car, and it applies to pedestrians, cyclists and ebike riders as well:

ALWAYS assume the other party will do something stupid, and prepare for the stupidest thing you can imagine they will do. For example when driving past a line of parked cars, glance at the drivers' side for heads, and assume at least one will open their door in your face. When approaching a car facing out of a driveway, slow down, leave space, and have your hands on the brakes because there's a good chance they'll pull out without looking.

 

[Alaskan]

Richard, your bike is always so clean!

I wipe it down in detail after almost every ride and wipe & oil the chain every third ride (100 miles). Kind of a typical OCD yachtsman, I guess. That is a photo from last week and the bike does have almost 5,000 miles on it (800 miles since chain #3). I use a small bottle of matte black model paint and a tiny brush for touching up the little nicks.

 

[Alaskan]

In pondering how I could have avoided this injury I came up with a workable strategy. This was on a designated bike route, no bike lane but large bike symbols in the middle of the road indicating shared use with bike right of way. The car was stopped at a stop sign going nowhere with no other cars around. Next time, when I find myself in this situation, I will make sure the coast is clear and pass the car on the driver's side, leaving enough margin for the door to open, instead of squeezing between the passenger side and the curb, making me vulnerable to rider carelessness.

 

[Cowlitz]

I almost hit a bike and rider. It scared me horribly. I don't know who would have been at fault. I was driving and pulling a trailer on a two lane highway. There is a tunnel with no lighting in it. The visibility is poor and it was a cloudy Winter day so the light at the end was even less. I've never seen a biker in that tunnel, nor has anybody I know. When I entered, I saw a very faint white stripe near the wall. Luckily, I slowed down a bit, but not as much as if I'd known. It was a bicycle. It had no lights, no reflector that I could see but the rider did have on a jacket with one reflective stripe on it. He looked terrified and was pinned against the wall. I was terrified as soon as I figured out what he was. I was shaken by that episode.

 

[Alaskan]

Status update - It is getting better at what feels like a glacial pace. It has been a week now and the only time I have left the house was to see a doctor. Haven't driven my car and still can't do the stationary bike in the basement as my range of motion wont allow a full rotation. What make it doubly frustrating we have had an unbroken string of sunny (but cold) days that would have had me out riding every one of them. I still can't lift my foot more than about four inches off the floor to put on pants. I put on my own socks for the first time this morning and it hurt like hell. Not linking the enforced couch potato life style. Grrrrrr.

 

[Credible Hulk]

I almost hit a bike and rider. It scared me horribly. I don't know who would have been at fault. I was driving and pulling a trailer on a two lane highway. There is a tunnel with no lighting in it. The visibility is poor and it was a cloudy Winter day so the light at the end was even less. I've never seen a biker in that tunnel, nor has anybody I know. When I entered, I saw a very faint white stripe near the wall. Luckily, I slowed down a bit, but not as much as if I'd known. It was a bicycle. It had no lights, no reflector that I could see but the rider did have on a jacket with one reflective stripe on it. He looked terrified and was pinned against the wall. I was terrified as soon as I figured out what he was. I was shaken by that episode.

As soon as I read your post I knew who was at fault, and it wasn't you! A lot of cyclists (and pedestrians) are oblivious about their visibility in the dark. They think that because their bikes have the standard two wheels/front and back reflectors that drivers will see them. They don't install lights on their bikes, and if they do they never use them. And if you're riding under a bridge, even in broad daylight, the first thing you should do is turn your lights on. When a cyclist rides under a bridge it takes their eyes a minute to adjust so they're totally blind, that could be why your cyclist was so startled. Having the bike light on reduces the blindness. Also, a lot of cops will pull a cyclist over if their bike doesn't have lights installed, and in some jurisdictions reflective tape on the front and rear forks is mandatory as well.

Another big mistake is wearing dark coloured clothing. Even on a sunny day this makes the rider harder to see. It only costs a few bucks to buy a visibility vest and you can get reflective cloth tape bands for your arms and legs at a dollar store. You can put reflective tape on the back of your helmet. I never leave the house with my ebikes unless I'm wearing my vest. I also wear my vest if I'm going out as a pedestrian when it's dark.

 

[tallpaul]

In pondering how I could have avoided this injury I came up with a workable strategy. This was on a designated bike route, no bike lane but large bike symbols in the middle of the road indicating shared use with bike right of way. The car was stopped at a stop sign going nowhere with no other cars around. Next time, when I find myself in this situation, I will make sure the coast is clear and pass the car on the driver's side, leaving enough margin for the door to open, instead of squeezing between the passenger side and the curb, making me vulnerable to rider carelessness.

Richard, I imagined myself in your situation and i would probably would have swung around to the drivers side like you mentioned above. Also this situation is why I run two pulsing L&M lights on the front.