This morning I almost collided with a car turning left while rushing to drop off my child on a cargo bike and it's made me very nervous about biking with my child again. I didn't see the car trying to turn left because I got distracted by the woman walking to her car in the bike lane, the school bus turning right, and the cars on the left. I could have been going slower, I was going about 20 mph. I'm just wondering how else I could do this better.
by Gen-ki
43 Comments
Assume. Always always always assume a car will be coming at a blind intersection.
That’s it. Ride like no one out there sees you.
You could ride with a trailer flag.
You could slow down when approaching slower/stopped traffic and sit up a little, allowing yourself to be seen and to see cross traffic.
But honestly, there’s only so much you can do. At some point you have to rely on others to follow the rules.
Part of the issue was that there was a car stopped in the intersection. They didn’t leave it clear, (only allowing a very small space for cross traffic) and blocked both your view and the driver’s view. They are, at least in part, to blame for the situation.
One of the skills I’ve gained over time with bike commuting is anticipating where various blind spots are, including situations like these where sightlines are obscured
It that particular case, blind intersection and fog, slow down.
You have the right of way.
The driver should have waited to have clear view of incoming traffic.
Or you could slow down and stop just like the cars next to you. This is absolutely 0 situational awareness
Slow down. I would not take that alley of hazards at 20mph. Half that speed would be about right.
Intuition. Always have it turned on. I saw that coming from way back. Be safe out there.
This is a tricky one: busy street on a foggy morning while being in a rush. Try to be careful approaching intersections. It’s good to slow down and check on everything that is happening in the intersection. Someone could decide to turn right, left, cut across the intersection, do a U-turn, pull over and let a passenger out, etc. Especially if you see a gap in a long line of cars like this, someone from the other side might be trying to sneak through. Drivers sometimes wave each other through without knowing what’s behind them. Glad you are ok!
2nd to the last sentence hit it. Go slower. Until you’re on a segregated bike lane, slow and steady is best.
I like to stand on my pedals to see over the cars in those situations. Especially if you notice the car before the intersection is giving space for someone to turn. Good job, both of you, for stopping in time!!
Approach all intersections with your safety as the top priority, just assume you can be hit by a civilian or emergency vehicle.
Slow down and anticipate problems.
In this case you already saw the school bus that was going to partially turn ahead of you and block your way, so you were going to have to slow down to not hit it.
When passing stopped or slow-moving cars, there’s a higher risk of cross traffic, getting doored, or someone swerving into/in front of you. You want to go slower than if the cars were traveling at speed.
I can’t tell, but I assume you have good lights. Use them.
And yeah, the fog here just makes everything else more applicable.
Last time I got hit, it was foggy out too.
You should have been on the brakes crossing that gap. Sometimes I come close to a stop if I can’t see the oncoming lane in that situation. It isn’t worth the risk.
When visibility is poor, reduced speed is a good call. I would probably travel no faster than a quick jogger’s pace through that section as you’ll often have jaywalkers or cars turning through blind intersections like this one. I also switched from a black helmet to a white one to help with visibility as it’s the only thing peaking over top of the cars. Additionally, I started clipping a little white light to my helmet as well, not blinking but just a steady white light helps people track your movement if all they see is your helmet.
The other thing I noticed is that there’s a school bus that you can see is about to block your lane, yet (it appears) you didn’t brake until the BMW is within your sights? I know it all happens quickly in the moment but I would have yielded to the bus and probably slowed my bike to be in line with the blue Toyota. I wouldn’t enter the intersection if I knew I couldn’t clear it.
Anyhow, all that is to say, the BMW is turning left without being able to see, they would be at fault in this case as they’re turning left. But you’d be the one under their bumper, which sucks.
Anticipating every gap will have a left-turner is exhausting – fog on this one
I wouldn’t have been going this fast even if I were in the right lane of a 2 lane road in a car in this scenario. You just honestly have to anticipate stuff like this. Right or wrong of the car to turn in this scenario it’s going to happen all the time. When one lane is stopped you should always be slowing way down.
Do you have both front and rear lights?
Slow down when in crowded areas. That’s the safest way to navigate this sort of situation.Â
You could have been going slower? No, you should have been going slower.
I only reach these speeds like that on straight streets with plenty of space (which isnt in your video), clear visibility and no crossings. And with the wind from.behind.
You literally flying bro
Why were you riding that fast anyways, you were on pace to slam into the back corner of that school bus.
And you definitely should have clocked the SUV stopped on the opposite side, they were clearly waiting to turn. In the video you can see their lights between the cars going your direction.
If you can’t figure it out. Assess conditions. Looks foggy. You should have your front light on strobe. More visible in all conditions. Maybe brighter clothing but none of that will help in this scene because you were in the blind spot. You need to reduce speed, realize they can’t see you and act like you don’t have right away even if you do because drivers are stupid and cars kill
Learn to get comfortable with locking your brakes, sliding and still remaining in control. No matter how much you anticipate things, cars will come out of nowhere, accelerating and not looking. The best offense is a good defense.
This particular situation is not exclusive to you as a bicyclist, I’m sure you’ve seen vehicle versus vehicle collisions under the same circumstances, there are literally hundreds of videos on YouTube, this type of collision happens quite frequently, I don’t want to be a Monday morning quarterbacker but since you’re asking, due to traffic congestion and weather conditions, I myself would probably approach intersections a little slower under these conditions, I would ride defensively always assuming that this type of collision may be a possibility in stopped high congestion intersections.Â
Glad you’re ok.Â
slow down and look left and right at all intersections (which takes some fun away from riding, unfortunately). always assume a car has ran a light or stop sign, my dad taught me this for safe driving and i apply it to biking.
I’d say it’s more specific than just slowing down when there’s stopped traffic: it’s being aware of when oncoming traffic could be turning across your line, and keeping that at the top of your mind when your view of oncoming traffic is obscured. I’m currently trying to teach my daughter how to be vigilant in traffic on her own bike, and I’ve realized how many things I’ve had to learn to be alert about, and how tough it is for a new biker to learn all of them well enough to be safe.
Slow down at intersections, you’re not on the tour d France, and in such conditions, if it makes you feel better, you can maybe ring before every intersection
Sorry but 20mph there is insane. In general passing cars on the right is usually a dangerous maneuver, cars are not expecting that. Need to assume nobody can see you, and approaching any intersection you should be reducing to the speed of traffic.
Intersection + bus turning into your lane + cars braking = slow down. Also the woman was behind you at that point?
Remember, gaps are traps. Take it a bit slower when there’s a gap like that, especially when there’s side streets/driveways.
Could also put a flashing light on your helmet.
Not rushing
Leave a lot earlier or just accept that you might be late, but it’s never worth rushing and taking dangerous risks just to drop your kid off at school or get to work on time. I mean, what would *really* happen if you were 5 minutes late, or even 30? Probably nothing as bad as being dead
Slowing down doesnt get rid of all the risks, but it does give you the most important thing you can have in a situation like that: time
Anytime I’m passing car in an unprotected bike lane I slow down. That’s exactly when this kind of stuff can happen. It was also foggy and at an intersection so 20mph is *way* too fast in my opinion.
If you don’t have lights on the bike, you were invisible to this driver until the near collision. Get lights and run front/ rear on in any weather at any time of day.
In a situation like this I’m probably standing up on my pedals to see over the cars while slowing down (expecting the bus to take forever to pull out)
The only thing I can think of is pedaling slower in intersections like that
A lot of people are saying slow down, sure, but that won’t fix the issue of seeing the left turning car behind that massive SUV. When I’m coming to an intersection if visibility of the oncoming lane is blocked by giant SUVs I’ll standup on my pedals tall to see if there is oncoming traffic. Still need to go slow enough to see and react.
Speed variance increases risk. If the traffic was flowing at 20 then 20 might be appropriate. If you’re 20 different from the traffic then it increases risk. Also, always expect vehicles at intersections.
Do you have flashing lights (front and rear) for daytime biking?
Do you wear hi-viz reflective vest?
Make yourself visible.
Your passing cars such that that silver car had no line of sight to you until you were right in front of him. You’re luck he looked the right direction and saw you at all. You’re approaching a blind intersection way too fast.
20mph through this congestion and fog with your kid on the back is a wild choice. Slow down, stay alive. Being late is better than burying your child.
When long lines of cars are stopped or intersections get snarled, I assume at least one driver will get impatient and gun through intersections or suddenly switch lanes. I slow down. 20 might be legal but drivers are not looking for 20 mph when everything around them seems stopped.
Light yourself up like an airport and slow down/stop at intersections
Slow down when you approach intersections you don’t have a clear view of. Pretty simple