archer said:she slowed down and turned on her right-turn signal to turn at the intersection where the light
was. At the time her turn signal went on, I was a few feet behind and to her right. When I saw
this, I hit the brakes, expecting her to go ahead and turn, risking hitting me with a right hook.
Imagine my surprise when she turned her head and waved me on by, and then waited while I passed
before completing her turn.
This situation shows multiple errors by you, the traffic engineers, and maybe the driver.
If you are not familiar with John Foresters 5 rules get thee browser to www.johnforester.com and
look around. It is also on other sites that I do not remember at this time. You may also want to
read JF's Effective Cycling as well as Street Smarts. SS is on the web, do a google|whatever search.
Note that about 25% of car-bike accidents are cars turning right in bikes to their right. Kudos to
the driver for noticing this conflict. (Note: EC is not a comfortable cozy read, but it is the most
complete source on this topic available. Think about all the jerks JF has had to deal with before
dismissing his rants.)
Then, take a look at your state traffic|vehicle code. Note the rules about passing on the right, it
probable states that you do so at your own risk
If there had been a bike lane I would have launched into a rant about the stupidity of putting
cyclists to the right of potentially right turning cars. Even if a bike lane goes dashed and the
state vehicle code requires it (CA), few cars actually merge into bike lanes before turning right.
Since few drivers actually know about and obey this law and use of turn signals is very poor (CA),
being in a bike lane as you enter an intersection is asking to be hit. If your state make bike lanes
mandatory and the presence of an intersections is not justification to leave the lane then get the
law changed.
If you are in a shoulder the situation is even worse because there are no visual clues to the
conflict and the some drivers never register a bicycle on the other side of the line. Again, if your
state requires you to ride on the shoulder and does not include an exemption for intersections then
get the law changes.
Knowing this conflict exists, do not ride to the right of any car that could turn right into you. A
passing car is OK because they have just seen you. Passing on the right, riding to the right of a
car at the same speed, and sharing a right turn lane are all risky. If there is a right turn lane
stay on the left side of to the left of the right turn lane. Lots of cyclists still "filter forward"
at red lights, but they must be aware of the danger.
Quoted message said:I am speculating that she initially underestimated my speed, and thought she could make the turn
without affecting me, but once she saw that I was pretty much pacing her, she realized she needed
to wait. Even if she had gone ahead and turned, she wouldn't have hit me because I slowed down in
a hurry when I saw her turn signal go on, but it was nice that she waited for me once she realized
I would have to take evasive action to avoid her if she didn't.
You may have implied, but did not say that the lady had just passed you. If she had then she made a
major unsafe and incomplete pass.
This situation is very close to one of my pet pieves. Instead of merging behind bicycle traffic
(when there is insufficient room to merge ahead) they pull up along side or even ahead and then wait
for the cyclist to pass on the right. Whenever this happens I immediately think "Come into my lair
said the spider to the fly". If the pass is incomplete I prepare for an instant turn (see JF's
Effective Cycling). If the car, but usually a SUV, completed the pass then your only safe and legal
path is to pass the %#*%@! on their left. These drivers should be cited for an unsafe pass, improper
position for a turn, and obstructing traffic.
Quoted message said:This road has a lot of bicyclists of all types: transportational, recreational, and hard-core
roadies on it, so the drivers are pretty used to seeing us around, which helps a lot when it comes
to situations like this.
Someday someone will be able to measure this often observed phenomenon. The more cyclists there are
on the road (that actually know what they are doing) the safer cycling is for the cyclists.
Richard "Not in CO anymore" Kaiser.
