*Almost* killed a bicyclist this morning

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7:20 AM this morning I'm driving home from the supermarket. I'm in a red Chevy Equinox with my headlights on, as a habit I will ALWAYS drive with my headlights on in the morning even if the sun is out so motorists can see me from far away.

I'm on a 4 lane road (with median) headed East and I see a bicyclist (headed South) approaching the intersection and not slowing down. I double honk my horn to warn him..... he is still approaching and his head is not turning in my direction as I now have my horn BLARING.
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If he turned his head he would of seen me as he would be looking West and not into the bright sunlight. I jam on the brakes and he now realizes that I'm about to T-Bone him. He is riding by himself and has AirPods on listening to music. I nearly hit the bozo and he now realizes he cheated dead.

As a habit I try to drive defensive when approaching an intersection because I'm expecting people to roll the stop sign / traffic light or misjudge my speed and pull out in front of me. If I wasn't paying attention, this bozo might be in a body bag and the cops would asking me to take a blood test to see if I have any alcohol in my system.
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Good job!

In a previous life, I was an avid bicyclist and racer. I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that bicycles do not belong on most public roads.

I only had one close call, and it was an attentive driver that saved my bacon.

I was riding along the side of the road that did not have a bike path, down on the aero bars, cranking along well over 20mph. Speed limit was 35 or 40. I suddenly hear a truck horn blaring and quickly getting closer and closer. I rode into the Florida grass and sand along side the road to get off the road. The horn was that insistent and I knew I was in trouble.

A truck carrying roof trusses passes by. That would have done me in.

The trusses were carried horizontally and stuck way out on both sides.
 
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He was breaking the law and being stupid with the ear pods. Don't judge all by his actions. Like any other user group you don't notice the responsible ones.

Well done saving his bacon.

Let another bashing thread commence.
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Wow, yes, I do also try to make almost driving a game now, always trying to anticipate what the "other guy" might be thinking or not thinking.
Lucky for him that you were alert.
 
I had a somewhat similar experience. Driving down a country road two lane blacktop. A bicycle 1/4 mile in front of me and headed in my direction over on the right side of the road. 1/8 mile ahead of the bicycle, a work truck headed our way. The truck passes the bicycle and me. I pull into the center of the road straddling both lanes as I go to pass the bike.. At the last second the bicyclist decides to make a U turn right across the road without looking rearward. I don't know how I didn't hit him as I didn't even have time to brake but he just made it. I was doing about 50mph.

In retrospect I think the bicyclist was going by sound only. He could hear the relatively loud truck pass by him and not my car. He made the U turn believing there was nothing behind him. If he came through the windshield, could have ruined my day and his. Learned a lesson that day.
 
When I rode regularly, I always kept in mind cars were bigger than me and rode accordingly. Wearing ear buds was just plain stupid.
 
4000 Lbs @ 45 MPH would of been certain death if I hit this guy...

I understand that folks like to listen to music when it's their day off and enjoying a ride early in the morning to avoid the summer Florida heat, but these folks can not become complacent and ignore the rules of the road.

My last honk as the guy rode away, he gave me the middle finger. He was around 35 and probably has a wife and kids.

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I ride as far left as possible. No earbuds. I even have things called Cat Ears. They are on my helmet straps in front of my ears to buffer the wind so I can hear better. Only work below 20mph though. Anyway, I'm always scanning the road and listening for traffic.

Sucks that riders like him are out ono the road. Not all of us are irresponsible.

My other concern is the individual on their phone not paying attention coming up behind me.

Cycling is my way of staying in shape. Running isn't happening due to physical issues when I try to run.

It would be great if there was bike paths everywhere, but unfortunately where I live that isn't possible.
 
I see plenty of people on bicycles, but the majority are not bicyclists. Just like any group, I do t think it's fair to paint all with the same brush because of the poor behavior of a few. Bicyclists, motorcyclists and drivers all have their good and bad examples. (Pedestrians too)
 
This time of the year you really have to watch out for the kids on bikes. All over the place and you never know what they might do.
 
Yes. But was he wearing stylish spandex?

I don't understand the full story. Did the cyclist have a Red light or stop sign?

I would assume there are traffic controls on these stupid 4 lane roads with medians I see everywhere they shouldn't be now.

The big town down the street a bit put in 4 lanes with medians and lights everywhere. Now we have tons of traffic and cant get to stores on the other side of the road. Plus they don't maintain the median greenery, Expensive disaster.

Morons in town Management in Plaistow, NH... Or maybe it was the state. IDK.
 
Cycles have no place on a public road. 90% of the people riding them don't care at all about the laws of the road, nor do they respect other motorists because they're "better people" for riding. Bunch of stuck up idiots.

If you want to ride, find one of the bike paths us tax payers gave you with our tax money, that bicycle riders also don't contribute to (gas tax, sales tax, registration tax).
 
ARCO,

I had the green light, cyclist had the red light. He was alone and I don't assume all the folks on bicycles are dumb.

On the weekends I see them all over the place riding. One group has a dedicated ‘blocker' in a Dodge Caravan with big LED hazards bar on following them so motorists can see the group.

He was on an expensive Tour de France style bicycle with spandex, gloves, helmet, shoes, sunglasses, etc.... worn by a pro cyclist.

Again, my head is on a swivel as I approach any intersection.
 
Bicycles don't belong on anything other than residential streets. Bicycle lanes are dangerous unless there is a solid barrier or unless they are way off the road. We need to build specific bicycle paths that border all/most roads.
Two of the roads near me are heavily tree-lined and very dark. at least once a month I happen across some idiot at night who is wearing dark clothing and has no lights or reflective material on their bike.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
7:20 AM this morning I'm driving home from the supermarket. I'm in a red Chevy Equinox with my headlights on, as a habit I will ALWAYS drive with my headlights on in the morning even if the sun is out so motorists can see me from far away.

I'm on a 4 lane road (with median) headed East and I see a bicyclist (headed South) approaching the intersection and not slowing down. I double honk my horn to warn him..... he is still approaching and his head is not turning in my direction as I now have my horn BLARING.
confused2.gif


If he turned his head he would of seen me as he would be looking West and not into the bright sunlight. I jam on the brakes and he now realizes that I'm about to T-Bone him. He is riding by himself and has AirPods on listening to music. I nearly hit the bozo and he now realizes he cheated dead.

As a habit I try to drive defensive when approaching an intersection because I'm expecting people to roll the stop sign / traffic light or misjudge my speed and pull out in front of me. If I wasn't paying attention, this bozo might be in a body bag and the cops would asking me to take a blood test to see if I have any alcohol in my system.
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Phone the police and have him cited for reckless driving Follow him and stay on the phone until law enforcement arrives. If he was being unsafe then he can be cited.
 
You should have hit the dolt and let darwinism take its place!
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Way too many cyclist think that the rules of the road are not for them.
 
Originally Posted by tomcat27
Bicycles don't belong on anything other than residential streets. Bicycle lanes are dangerous unless there is a solid barrier or unless they are way off the road. We need to build specific bicycle paths that border all/most roads.
Two of the roads near me are heavily tree-lined and very dark. at least once a month I happen across some idiot at night who is wearing dark clothing and has no lights or reflective material on their bike.



There is a very narrow two lane country road that I will sometimes take on my commute to work. I try to avoid it because it's stressful. The road is so narrow there are no lines down the middle to separate the lanes. When an opposing vehicle comes, both have to slow down and hug the outer edges of the road to pass safely. The edges of the road and bordered by wooden guardrails. It's very scenic and tree covered. Bicyclists like to ride on the road. I can certainly understand the appeal to bike on the road but it's way too narrow to be safe.

I oppose my tax dollars being used to build bike paths for most roads. The roads are bad enough. Don't need tax dollars diverted to build bike paths used by a very small % of the people.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
bicycle riders also don't contribute to (gas tax, sales tax, registration tax).
Are bicycles sales not taxed?
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I would assume there are traffic controls on these stupid 4 lane roads with medians I see everywhere they shouldn't be now.

The big town down the street a bit put in 4 lanes with medians and lights everywhere. Now we have tons of traffic and cant get to stores on the other side of the road. Plus they don't maintain the median greenery, Expensive disaster.

Morons in town Management in Plaistow, NH... Or maybe it was the state. IDK.

It's the state, encouraged by the USDOT. They're doing it here, too. Eliminating places where you could turn left from a side road by putting in overlapping islands, putting red arrows where you could previously yield on green, corralling everyone into the slow, poorly functioning lights, generally making it more difficult and take longer to get anywhere. Talk about wasting fuel. And rather than making anything safer, red-light running and accidents seem to be way up. A coworker just got creamed by a red-light runner last week. He got away with a few cuts but his Civic was totaled. Somebody just got my brother, who is over 50 and never been in an accident in his whole life, about a month ago.

It's ridiculous. You've got to watch people, that's for sure.
 
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