providenceleaf

OMG...That is a scary picture. It's amazing that only one person died. This is the kind of crap that scares me when I am out on my bike.

westcoast550

Bud, I ride a lot and have had several issues with ignorant drivers , that why I try to stick to off roading ..........is'nt it fun catching the bozos at stop lights

melimel

oh my god that is horrible.. i bet some of them didnt even see that coming.. soo sad....

Richard in NC

Horrible picture and I agree with you as I feel its too dangerous to ride on most roads. NC doesn't have very many bike lanes.
I don't bike often but when I do its in an office complex on weekends, etc.

One question though: What are your thoughts on obnoxious bikers. Once I was driving thru a neighborhood with a 25 mph speed limit and stop signs every block. A cyclist was in the middle of the lane and wouldn't move over. I waited for traffic to clear and passed, giving plenty of room. I stop at the next stop sign. There is a car turning. I wait. The cyclist passes inches from my right fender, blows thru the stop sign and moves into the center of the lane. I soon catch him and am slowed. I wait for traffic and pass (probably with a little more agression). He chases me. I stop at the next stop sign. He passes on the right, hits a side window with a fist, blows thru the stop sign, moves to the center of the lane and slows to a crawl. I came so close to bumping him off the road but chose to pass, with a full throttle first gear tire squealing display and left him.

Are most cyclists like that (thinking they have the right to a full lane, etc) or did I just encounter an a**hole?

DRANGED

Bikers and pedestrians once had respect for automobiles. This unfortunately is no longer the case.

No offense to any respectable cyclists here but there are as many idiot cyclists as there are idiot car drivers on the road, maybe more. They blow through stop signs, red lights, crosswalks, no signaling, weaving in and out of traffic, riding on the wrong side of the road, etc....with complete and utter disregard for the law. While I do respect cyclists that obey the street signs, the majority of cyclists I see here in MN, especially Minneapolis have no regard for the law.

Cyclists also need to realize that we are driving a 3000 car and just like pedestrians they should respect cars in motion. The onus is not wholly on the car driver, with the obvious exception of this horrific accident we see here.

When I dress up like a race car driver in full Nomex race suit, Piloti shoes and Race Helmet to go for a Sunday drive in my 550 I expect to get looked at funny and called names, hell I expect it anytime I'm out in public. That being said, if you are dressing like a member of the Canadian Olympic Bobsled Team, you are going to have to expect to put up with at least a minimum of crap.

westcoast550

..............I knew you were going to pull the Canadian card.................I call fowl ....er foul !@!!

PS I completely agree on the "A" hole biker thing. it is so easy to be a prick on a bike and expect car drivers to give the leeway ..................in North America we still don't get the Euro biking mentality, it's civilized there, bikes and car seem to get along harmoniously ............hmmmm

Bud

I knew this would come up. What I can say is that whatever dismay he may have caused you, he doesn't control your destiny with his ridiculous riding. When you are operating a 3000 lb. vehicle any contact with a cyclist can be fatal for the rider. I just ask drivers to understand that they hold our lives in their hands. I know that doesn't justify his actions or appease your anger. Whatever delay he causes you can be made up rather easily (especially if you're driving a 5 series BMW ). I cringe when I see people riding stupidly because I know it will come back to haunt me somewhere down the line. In your situation, I would have stopped my car, exited the vehicle and confronted him. I would have more respect for a driver that did that. By the way, he was an a-hole.

As an example. There is a local training ride out here in So Cal, a large group ride. One day a semi truck passed extremely close to the group at a high rate of speed. A rider was "sucked" into the rear trailer dual wheels. It literally ripped him apart. He was a father of two small children. The group was doing nothing wrong and really the truck driver did nothing wrong aside from passing too closely but it resulted in someone losing their life.

As a cyclist I ALWAYS give a rider (one who is being an a-hole or not) plenty of room when passing (at least half the lane) and slow considerably. As I said before, if you insist on crowding it could cost someone their life and it is just not worth that.

Lancaster

No, in the UK at least we still have a lot of them weaving around lanes, cycling 2 and 3 abreast with a long line behind them and going through red lights etc. It's particularly annoying when they weave through the traffic then move in front of the first car at the lights, making sure we all get away from the lights at his\ her speed. This causes maximum frustration to the drivers who then miss the lights.

Did it never occur to someone on a bike to just wait in line instead weaving between cars? Think of the accidents it would save and as they are always quick to say to people who also use cars - what's a few seconds anyway if it's safer?

I was going down a one way street one day and I indicated well before turning right. Despite that, some bearded fanny on a bike came down the inside of my car as I was turning. Luckily his bright ginger beard made him easy to spot and I managed to avoid killing him but I did feel like getting out of the car and, er, killing him.

I gave him a toot but of course he thought that was outrageous - what the hell was I doing turning right after indicating?

I had another one meet me on a roundabout as he had decided to come through it in the wrong direction. I could quite easily have killed him as a result.

These were both experienced (looking) cyclists with lots of inappropriate lycra riding skinny little alloy bikes who should have known better. BTW, I've learned that there is quite a bit of snobbery in cycling circles. Apparently if you don't spend some ridiculous sum on a bicycle you are riding a BSO (Bike Shaped Object).

nigxdoof

OMG.. this is horrible.

AKAlius

Damn. no sleeping when driving