And now, for the first time in well over three months, an actual bicycling post:
I have posted previously about high visibility…brightly colored and/or reflective clothing, flashing lights, etc. Many cyclists disagree with my stance that it’s a good idea to be highly visible when riding in traffic. Their argument, if I understand it correctly, is that this practice advances the false but widely espoused narrative that it’s the cyclist’s burden, the cyclist’s responsibility, an impossible standard imposed on the cyclist, to make sure motorists see them. The narrative should be, their argument goes, that the burden is squarely and solely on the motorist to be attentive and alert enough (and maintain slow enough speeds) to see a cyclist on the road in any conditions, with enough time to react safely, no matter what appearance the cyclist manifests. When a cyclist is struck by a car, the questions “was the bike rider wearing bright colors/lights/reflectors?” should never be uttered…instead the questions “how fast was the car going? was the driver distracted or under the influence? why wasn’t the driver paying attention well enough?” should be the ones asked.
For a while yesterday afternoon, I was 100% with these cyclists, although I’ve calmed down now (a little). I was pedaling my heavy steel commuter bike home from work, slogging up a not-insignificant hill in the bike lane of a busy arterial. Because it was raining I had on my rainjacket, which is hi-vis yellow with reflective markings. I also had on my Lumos helmet which sports bright blinking lights front and rear. My bike also has very bright, dynamo-powered headlamp and taillamps. Needless to say I was almost annoyingly visible.
Now, I am fully aware that as a traveler going along in the bike lane (it’s just a stripe) of a busy highway with lots of driveways and intersections, one of the biggest risks I face is a motorist turning into or out of one of said driveways and intersections. As much as possible I try to make eye contact with them and confirm they are stopping before I go plodding along in front of them. If they aren’t stopping, then I stop and let them go in front of me…there is no way I’m going to win in a fight with a half-ton (or heavier) moving hunk of metal.
As I was climbing in the bike lane, I starting crossing an empty (at the time) intersection with a small side street. The arterial I was on had the right of way; the side street had a stop sign. About a quarter of the way through the intersection, a car came up to the stop sign and stopped. I was on the driver’s left, about to go left-to-right in front of the car, so I looked into the driver’s side window and made eye contact with the driver, a 30-something male. Satisfied that he had seen me and would remain stopped until I passed in front of him, I kept pedaling. But I was wrong about what he would do.
Just as my front wheel was even with the front-driverside corner of the car, he gunned the engine (he never just revved it while remaining still) and jumped out across the bike lane, starting a right turn into the arterial. This was the last thing I expected and I wasn’t ready for it. If he had done this a half-second later he would have struck my legs and likely run over me and the bike. As it was I am amazed at myself for having the reflexes to swerve and avoid being struck. While I was swerving I was shouting “Hey! HEY! HEEEEEYYYYY!!!” at the top of my lungs.
This is the part that really boils my blood. I know he heard me shouting because he let off the gas momentarily. BUT THEN HE GUNNED IT AGAIN, MISSING ME BY AN INCH AGAIN. This time I was ready and swerved left hard (luckily there were no cars in the motor lane I had to swerve into), following this maneuver with some loudly shouted expletives. (The adrenaline rush kept me from looking for his plate number.) He honked his horn back at me, took a second to say something into his rearview mirror, then floored the gas and sped off. Was he trying to intimidate me into stopping with the initial gunning of his engine? Did he assume I was stopped when he gunned it the second time? Was he intending to strike me either time? I’ll never know the answers.
One thing I do know is I will never again assume that being visible to a driver makes me safe from that driver. If a motorist sees you, you are still a target for him. Not everyone wants to avoid hitting you out on the road. So I will continue to wear my bright colors and my bright lights…but I won’t fool myself into thinking that I don’t need to assume every driver is perfectly capable and willing to hit and kill me whether he sees me or not.
Bike Newbie 