Safety 10 Ways to Not Get Hit By Cars [Must Read]

[thuginfc]

**** good info!!!! basicaly i ride as if im wearing an invisiible cloak and nobody can see me but i could still be hit especially with the way people drive around here

 

[reb1]

on my way to and on my way home from work, I've only got one left turn to make each trip. Unless there is NO ONE around, I make my "left turn" as if I was a pedestrian-- wait for the first light and cross, then wait for the other light and cross. I don't get off my bike and walk it across the street, but I would if I feel the need.

If a automobile strikes you while you are in the cross walk mounted on your bicycle or MB you are 100% at fault according to the law. Being a pedestrian puts you further from the view of other vehicles. It also exposes you to traffic for a longer period of time. Pedestrians get hit and killed at a much higher rate per capita than bicyclists and MB users. The number one fear amongst bicyclists is being hit from the rear. Before cell phones bicyclists being hit from the rear was below 1%. Bicyclists being hit from the rear is climbing. Very few people will admit they were talking on the cell at the time of an accident. I have less close calls with traffic when I ride the tandem. Sometimes you just need a bigger hammer.

 

[RedBaronX]

If a automobile strikes you while you are in the cross walk mounted on your bicycle or MB you are 100% at fault according to the law. Being a pedestrian puts you further from the view of other vehicles. It also exposes you to traffic for a longer period of time.

I don't cross in the crosswalk. I'm just saying that instead of trying to make a left turn, I cross with the green light and then wait for the other direction to turn green.

 

[loquin]

The above link is a good find. Also, take a look here.

 

[SimpleSimon]

If a automobile strikes you while you are in the cross walk mounted on your bicycle or MB you are 100% at fault according to the law. Being a pedestrian puts you further from the view of other vehicles. It also exposes you to traffic for a longer period of time. Pedestrians get hit and killed at a much higher rate per capita than bicyclists and MB users. The number one fear amongst bicyclists is being hit from the rear. Before cell phones bicyclists being hit from the rear was below 1%. Bicyclists being hit from the rear is climbing. Very few people will admit they were talking on the cell at the time of an accident. I have less close calls with traffic when I ride the tandem. Sometimes you just need a bigger hammer.

That depends entirely upon the jurisdiction, as regards a bicycle in a crosswalk and who is at fault.

The bicyclists being rear-ended thing is absolutely true. One thing the DA and the cops hereabouts are doing in every injury accident that I, personally, think is much needed is checking cell phone usage. They subpoena the cell phone records for the day of an accident for every party to the accident - if you were on your cell phone at the time of the accident they WILL FIND OUT. If you denied being on it in the accident report, you get charged with a felony of making a false report, along with any other offense they can nail to your hide.

 

[reb1]

If traffic allows meaning if you can safely get over it is safer to make a left turn like you would do in a motor vehicle. Intersections are where the majority of accidents happen. Look at what the article says at the beginning of this post about what is safe. He got his info second hand from a traffic engineer named Forester. As did Bicycling street smarts. And the boy scout cyclist merit badge manual.

 

[happycheapskate]

I see a lot of wrong-way cyclists. I call out to them that they are on the wrong side of the road, and they just ignore me or look at me like I'm the stupid one. I usually call the police on them and report them as drunk drivers, same as I have when I've seen cars driving on the wrong side of the road. (seriously)

 

[loquin]

Occasionally, I see one. More often than not, though, it's the sidewalk riders. (and, in AZ, riding on the sidewalk is illegal) My wife nearly nailed a high-speed spandex wearer in the sidewalk last week when she was pulling out from a shopping center, and she said that he was giving HER the stink-eye!

 

[reb1]

Wrong way cyclists are a danger to legal road users. People riding there bicycles on a sidewalk are a danger to pedestrians weather it happens to be legal or not. I do neither of these things. My wife had cracked ribs from some idiot riding on the sidewalk. A wrong way cyclist ran into our child cart and did a face plant a few years ago. Sometime later I got a call at work from a judge whom asked me what happened. I explained the situation and did not hear back from anybody after this. I imagine the man thought he could get me to pay for his missing teeth. I refuse to move further in the road for idiots approaching head on at me. I let them decide if head on collisions with automobiles are really more fun. I have been violently confronted twice on the road by people who get mad at me for not letting them go to my inside. The one pound can of pepper spray and the tire knocker usually detour them from there violent ways. When my wife was injured two blocks from our apartment the idiot who struck her was being threatening. His bicycle was not usable. Several other people who had seen or heard his loud mouth had came up and stopped him. After talking with the police in are area the sidewalk and wrong way riding all but stopped. Where it is allowed the law states that pedestrians have the right of way and you are required to make an audiable sound. In other words you are required to let the person you are approaching know that you intend to pass them and you are responsible for their safety.

 

[patriciayoung]

This is a very informative write up. Thanks for sharing your resources. Great insight!