Thursday, September 16, 2010

Three in One Ride!

Hello (3) fans!

I have not been keeping up on my daily posts lately.  For that, I apologize.  Since there has been little for me to complain about lately, and my rides have been pretty smooth, I have trouble coming up with daily topics.  So let's just say I'm shooting for at least once-a-week posts.

Today, however, was action packed!

My first "idiot on the road" incident occurred around 5:45pm.  The place, is Charles St. and Centre St.
Apparently, this guy doesn't care to use a blinker, which means inexperiences cyclists would most likely feel the pain from his bad driving practices.

Let's watch, shall we?:

My next "who cares about checking our mirror and blind-spots for cyclists?" incident takes place at Charles and Chase St.  As you will see, I was staying the in the middle of the right-lane behind a cab.  All the cars are stopped at a red light.  Since there were fewer cars in the right lane, some dude, no more than 5 cars from the front of the middle lane, decided he needed to get over to the right for no reason (he wasn't turning right, I checked).

I guess he just hates being in 5th place.  You'll notice in the video that I begin to "drift," which is due to me hitting my back brakes abruptly that I skidded:


Last but not least, I witnessed a great example of an over gratuitous, space respecting, driver.  These are people who, when passing a cyclist, feel the need to go completely into the the opposite side of the road, as if that makes things any safer (it doesn't).  I forget if it's state or city law now or not but (edit: the bill passed!), unfortunately, after the recent deaths a few cyclists, cars must pass cyclists at a min of 3 feet, this is a good thing.  Law or not, it's not necessary to pass a cyclist with such an exaggerated distance like many people do.  If you have trouble, or feel nervous, with passing a cyclist 3 to 5 feet of space between, then YOU SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING.

This Mini-Coup had a close call, the video shows them jerking their car back into the right side of the road after almost causing a head-on collision with a minivan: (please disregard my typo/lolcat caption in the video)

If you're looking to be more active about getting the "3feet2pass" law passed, go here and do it to it!

Remember to ride without a jacket while you still can, it's going to get very cold before you know it.

1 comment:

  1. FWIW When I ride in the margins in the city, on one way roads I stay to the left, the risk of someone opening a parked car door on you is lower and drivers know where the left side of their car is (the right side is more a fuzzy type of calculation.)

    Also always stop between the 1st and second car, that way when the 1st car makes a unexpected turn you can easily pass on the left.

    I've collected what I think are some of the best on-line resources for safe bicycling: http://www.baltimorespokes.org/links/index.php?category=Must+read+for+bike+safety

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