Too many idiots on the streets

[MadRhino]

I am used to see idiots on the street, and avoiding the crashes that they deserve. But today it was too much: three idiots in one 20 minutes ride, like they team up to get me. The first ran a stop sign and I had to lay down the bike in a swerve to avoid crashing into him. After that, no serious damage but I was riding home much slower, then a second idiot is backing up without even looking behind. I tried backing up but not fast enough, so I let the bike fall alone while I jumped out of the way and kicked his passenger door. He stopped over the front wheel: mud guard cracked. I was almost home, where one lane is closed for pavement work, and a third idiot is coming in my lane head down on his phone. A signal man from the pavement team tried to alert him but too late. I had to jump in the excavation filled with loose gravel and down went the bike again, scratched. 3 times in 20 minutes. Tonight I’m gonna dream that I am driving a 20 ton truck and crush them all.

 

[goatman]

you sure you werent slipped some hallucinogens

 

[Eastwood]

I’m glad you’re OK! That’s great you’re being aware and watching out for those idiots!

 

[markz]

Surrey guy - Maybe at the Montreal bar MR was at, someone slipped him a roofy.

MR - Yeah when shit happens like that, you know its one of those days. Best to slow down and mix up your routine.
Get camera's front and rear on your bike M.R.
soft tissue damage is never good M.R. I hope you get my hint

you sure you werent slipped some hallucinogens

 

[Eastwood]

Yeah when shit happens like that, you know its one of those days.

Yep, some days it’s like that you just can’t catch a break and then other days there’s not one single person in the way

Also let’s not forget Friday nights are not the best time to be riding bicycles on the street. People have been working all week they’re completely stressed out and they got that little bit of freedom and they start acting crazy :lol: Possibly drinking too

 

[aroundqube]

Reminds me of a book that I read in my youth ( 1950 's ) titled Hot Rod by Henry Gregor Felsen . Speed ! Danger ! Death ! - " Drive your way out ! "

 

[TrotterBob]

Time to equip your bike with a loud horn if it doesnt have one already. Stay safe out there.

 

[dogman dan]

Some days, you shoulda stayed home.

Had a day like that recently on the highway that connects my suburb with the city. But not all in one trip. Its a 4 lane road with cable divider, but zero shoulder or breakdown lane you can escape into. So that day, three different times, I found myself three wide in the two lanes. This happens on this road due to the incredibly poor design of the on and off ramps, but typically about once a year or less.

Three times in one day? I shoulda been staying home that day. Of course once you go out, gotta make it home alive somehow.

Sometimes you find that a certain spot, usually an intersection, is a hot spot for idiots. Find other ways to go, if possible.

 

[99t4]

...a second idiot is backing up without even looking behind.

NOBODY looks back when backing up anymore. Mostly they look at the camera screen.

 

[LewTwo]

...a second idiot is backing up without even looking behind.

NOBODY looks back when backing up anymore. Mostly they look at the camera screen.

We used to put real air-horns and small high pressure air tanks on motorcycles for the similar reasons.

 

[giantfan]

Time to equip your bike with a loud horn if it doesnt have one already. Stay safe out there.

Good idea! Damn good.

The small city I 'used' to live in was very bike aware but I'd never commute in it. I did my major weekly ride Sunday morning at 6 am and if I went mid-week I used a bike-way and back streets to and from it, the footpath in places. No matter what riders think and governments mandate bikes will never be safe in the traffic, it's just the reality. Then I moved to a small country town and now ride, Sunday morning, 5:30 am on the major dual carriageway, and during the week on the back roads only. As soon as I hear a car coming behind me I slow down and move off onto the grassy shoulder, 9 times out of ten they move Right over but I plan on them using the whole narrow road. Naturally I ride only wide tyres, 2"+

I can't change the wind, but I can adjust my sail.

 

[LewTwo]

Time to equip your bike with a loud horn if it doesnt have one already. Stay safe out there.

Good idea! Damn good.

The small city I 'used' to live in was very bike aware but I'd never commute in it. I did my major weekly ride Sunday morning at 6 am and if I went mid-week I used a bike-way and back streets to and from it, the footpath in places. No matter what riders think and governments mandate bikes will never be safe in the traffic, it's just the reality. Then I moved to a small country town and now ride, Sunday morning, 5:30 am on the major dual carriageway, and during the week on the back roads only. As soon as I hear a car coming behind me I slow down and move off onto the grassy shoulder, 9 times out of ten they move Right over but I plan on them using the whole narrow road. Naturally I ride only wide tyres, 2"+

I can't change the wind, but I can adjust my sail.

Something like this in a water bottle holder .... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019M3FKA

 

[dogman dan]

Smart man adjusts his sail. Good idea to be riding a bike that can leave the road when needed. I've made that dive for life into the ditch so many times.

But even so, you just have some days you should have stayed home.

No idea why this is, but I've seen it so many times driving, riding motorcycles, and working dangerous jobs. Every once in a while, it's just not your day, and not because you are inattentive either. And you can still have days you need to wake up. But why the world gangs up on you some days I have no idea.

 

[Eastwood]

Smart man adjusts his sail. Good idea to be riding a bike that can leave the road when needed. I've made that dive for life into the ditch so many times.

But even so, you just have some days you should have stayed home.

Yeah for sure, or just take that sail down if it’s too windy 8)

No idea why this is, but I've seen it so many times driving, riding motorcycles, and working dangerous jobs. Every once in a while, it's just not your day, and not because you are inattentive either. And you can still have days you need to wake up. But why the world gangs up on you some days I have no idea.

It’s very true what you’re talking about. It takes discernment to see these things. science cannot explain this but its there.

It’s actually spiritual, way to complex for our human brains to understand fully. Some people are more sensitive to these things while most of the world cannot see it.

Some days there’s a force of good in our life
then other days there’s something from the other side

Let’s just celebrate the good days! :lol: :lol:

 

[ZeroEm]

Most of my days are good. Had a bad day 8 days ago. If you don't know your having one then your not.

I learned to drive in the 1960's. Narrow roads, no shoulders. People were calm and traffic was light. Traffic is heavy now and getting worse. This is a new generation driving, they are tense and in a hurry. They play games and are taught to be first. No curtsey and think they are safe driving fast. Don't think wider roads are a solution, when traffic to to heavy something else needs to be done.

 

[Chalo]

I have developed a few customary practices to keep me safe(r) on the street.

When in doubt about a driver in cross traffic, or when they've already demonstrated erratic behavior, I stop and let the problem driver go ahead. That's even if I definitely have the right of way. There's no reward in gambling that a driver will be attentive, rational, or considerate. They can't obligate me to go in front of them, just as I can't stop them if they proceed while I'm crossing in front. So I choose not to be there.

I don't wait at lights for cross traffic that isn't there. By the time you get the light, you probably will have conflicting traffic to contend with. I stop, make sure the way is clear, then proceed before anyone shows up to turn across my path without warning, or blow through a red light without stopping.

Use less trafficked parallel routes when possible and when they don't add much distance. This is not only safer, but way more pleasant. If they're truly parallel to major arterials, they often have speed humps or other traffic calming.

Don't ride too close to the curb or to parked cars. Leave enough space for some evasive action to dodge debris or a suddenly opened car door. Drivers won't give you any more room just because you crowded yourself on the right.

Do not assume that a turn signal means a driver will actually turn. Especially don't assume that the lack of a turn signal means they won't turn. I have nearly been run over by a couple of city buses that were signaling a turn before an intersection, but didn't slow or turn. I think they were actually signaling for a bus stop after the intersection. So I don't expect them to do the right thing anymore, anywhere.

I avoid multiple crossings of a busy thoroughfare when I can stay on the "wrong" side by cutting through parking areas or short stretches of sidewalk (which is legal where I live). Better to cross the lesser street on the crosswalk than to wait for an opening to cross a fast wide street, only to do it again immediately to cross back over.

Assume that the driver who just drove past you in the same direction will immediately forget you exist, and turn across your path. Give them room to be stupid. This is especially important for e-bikers who are probably carrying more speed than regular cyclists, and thus have less time to react and a longer distance required to stop.

 

[ZeroEm]

That is what I see the most, they pass me then cut me off, turn slow or stop in front of me.

I feel invisible.

 

[LewTwo]

I feel invisible.

Well as the weather is getting a bit cooler, I just ordered a 'safety green' hoodie .... I am hoping it is bright enough to blind them

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, I started wearing a lot of yellow too. No idea if it made me visible, but dressing like a college professor that can afford a lawyer helped a LOT if they did see me. My route to work went right by NMSU.

Looking like the guy that just got his DUI, gets you zero road respect. But none of that has any effect on having one of those days. This was not the problem for MR that day. No clothing helps when its your time to die, I think.

But having superb situational awareness sure can turn your day to die into another close call. MR has that for sure. FWIW, I have ten times less close calls on my big motorcycle than I had on my e bikes. Its part of why I made the decision to go back to gas, along with the fire. But the same things that happened to him can happen to me on the motorcycle any day.

I now have the speed to find an open place on the road to ride. This can still be done where I live. Other places, not a chance. Solid steel out there, no gaps in the traffic to ride in.

 

[MadRhino]

The main problem with idiots driving cars, is they are like horses: they can’t think of more than one thing at a time. The guy who backed up on me said in apology that he did because he wanted to give the car in front of him some space to back up since he was stopped on the pedestrians crossing. I didn’t reply to that, I had picked up my bike already, and just left. This was the typical idiot, who will make a move without thinking of anything but the reason why he has to do that move. This kind is very unpredictable. Those are likely to do a sudden left turn or U-turn like they are alone on the street, or let themselves being distracted by whatever is happening inside their car, phone, or head.

I have been dealing with them all my life. Avoiding their stupid collision trajectory is a weekly occurrence in a city rider’s life. But three in a row, in a 20 minutes ride, it’s just too high a concentration of idiots. No serious damage still. I have a painful elbow and some stiff muscles, things you start feeling the morning after.

 

[ZeroEm]

I'm the fat guy on the eTrike. Have the lime visible shirt and the 6' flag. Going to cut down the flag so it's car window height. Think they ignore us more than don't see.


Yes my light connector is almost dragging the ground. Forgot to tie it up before the ride. Just plug it in when riding in the evening, no switches.

 

[giantfan]

But even so, you just have some days you should have stayed home.

No idea why this is, but I've seen it so many times driving, riding motorcycles, and working dangerous jobs.

Yeah I know that, have had it on the motorbike a few times, "not in the zone" I generally stop for 20 minutes or turn for home. I don't know what it is but my senses just tell me it's All Wrong.

 

[giantfan]

Yeah, I started wearing a lot of yellow too.

It works, I wear yellow, and sometimes white, anything but those poxy multi colors the mamil's wear

 

[Eastwood]

This was the typical idiot, who will make a move without thinking of anything but the reason why he has to do that move.

Yeah this drives me crazy. One example is when people swerve so far away from trash cans on the side of the road even though it’s not even in the dang street! then they come close to passing oncoming traffic.?. I see this in neighborhoods a lot, cars will swerve multiple feet out of the way when the trashcan is not even in the Dang road

 

[Eastwood]

I'm the fat guy on the eTrike. Have the lime visible shirt and the 6' flag. Going to cut down the flag so it's car window height. Think they ignore us more than don't see.
20211024.jpg

Yes my light connector is almost dragging the ground. Forgot to tie it up before the ride. Just plug it in when riding in the evening, no switches.

What if you put a light on the end of your flagpole? Maybe rechargeable that way you don’t have to wire it up. Like the ones you put on the back of your seat post on a regular bike.
Haha May be overkill but if you had a little light on the end of that pole bouncing around it probably be the most visible vehicle on the street lol