Not a lawyer. I only have a lay understanding of the general flow of the process.
Fair enough.
I find the whole process flawedā¦
but as an attorney one told me: āwe have a law system, not a justice systemā
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No. I moved from Katy (a west Houston suburb) a couple of years ago and I am 0% surprised.
Have you ever heard the anger in a personās voice when they tell you they once saw a cyclist in front of them slow-roll through a stop sign and not come to a complete, dismounted stop. Itās so out of proportion with reality. We have a HUGE anger management problem but anger has proved to sell. And people seem so eager to buy that crap by the truckload.
I was in Steamboat for SBT and was ordering pizza at a little shop a block off the start line and two of the employees were engaged in a very open āGawd, I hate cyclists becauseā¦ā conversation. In the middle of 1) their shift in front of customers and 2) a very big cycling event that probably gave them a ton of extra customers. I mean, the total and complete lack of self awarenessā¦
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This is sadly everywhereā¦
I remember riding outside of the Northern VA suburbs years ago, as part of a 100 mile charity ride. We were screamed āget out of the roadā several times by people on the carsā¦ not very friendlyā¦
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DUI isnāt a crime to most people. They think of it as being unlucky or unfortunate. Cause people canāt imagine going out and not drinking or making plans ahead of time for transportation. āI didnāt plan on drinking and driving.ā You drove to a bar, yeah you did. Few things are more frustrating than someone dying because someone else wanted to āhave a few drinks.ā
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Yep. Growing in Central PA in the 80s, Iād constantly have people in pickup trucks throw empty beer cans and bottles at me whenever I was out on a ride. Rarely got hit, but generally a pretty unpleasant experience. And like gravel biking now, it was definitely a strong push to pick up mountain bike where we didnāt have to worry about it.
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Thatās on you for being in the gutter. Donāt invite them into your lane then get upset when they get in your lane.
Only if itās a felony charge.
And not to give too many details because it is not my story to tellā¦ but I met a lady this weekend who had been hit by a car just a few days before. She was doing well - some minor injuries. The car that hit her - didnāt even stop.
She had flashing front and rear lights, was wearing a high contrast colored jersey, in her lane, following the rules of the roadā¦ what else could she have done?
That could have been sooo much uglier. How do you leave someone on the side of the street like they arenāt worth the breath you just knocked out of them. 
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REALLY? There is no shoulder, Iām holding my position, and Iām at fault? Excellent logic!
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Ride closer to the yellow line. They are passing close because they think they can. If you force them to go mostly into the other lane their normal āpassing habitsā take over and they get to the other side of the yellow line.
They āshouldā do that anyways. But they donāt. There is a trivial way to encourage them to do the right thing while putting you more in their ānormalā sight line.
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Iāve been on the receiving end of a ācoal rollā, itās sad. Itās also sad that Iāve stereotyped diesel truck drivers. The lack of respect for human life these days is truly depressing.
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The car that hit me actually stopped. But, when I lifted my head off the pavement and looked towards the car they sped away.
I canāt be 100% certain but I feel it was an accident. They did not see me until too late. To not get out of the car to help a fellow human being you just struck with a huge piece of machinery is inconceivable to me.
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This would be illegal usage of road on most statesā¦
here is the florida law:
Florida requires that a bicyclist, traveling at a speed less than the speed of traffic, must ride as close as practicable to the right-hand edge of the roadway except under any of the following circumstances:
- When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction;
- When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway;
- When reasonably necessary to avoid any unsafe condition or potential conflict, including one caused by a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and another vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane; or
- When a bicycle lane is available.
Most states have rules like thatā¦ Probably most countriesā¦
Maybe you should brush off your state lawsā¦
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So tell me: if a car is passing you in your lane are they still blocking oncoming traffic, while putting you at risk? So does that not count as ānot being able to travel safely side by side within the laneā? Because you knowā¦ they arenāt in the lane anymore?
Edit: Texas has a similar law; but explicitly states lanes which are less than 14 ft wide. Which basically means the rule doesnāt apply to any normal lane. And then still gets nullified in residential zones because cars park on the curb acting as an obstruction.
So sorry to hear this! These kind of stories make me wonder if I should be riding with a GoPro all the timeā¦at least then youād have a license plate. Not sure where it would go from there with the authorities though.
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What the drivers should have done if there was a car on the other lane is simple:
- SLOW DOWN
- Wait for the car on the other lane to passā¦
- Pass the rider with safe distance.
See. Not that hard. But people dont careā¦ Rules are for the people on the bikes, not for them.
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Yeah I think video will become mainstream. Rather than market aero bs I think if companies incorporated some sort of video ability theyād do well.
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Which is the same regardless of where the bike is in the lane. But if you ride closer to the lane divider it causes drivers to pass safely because they act like there is a car there instead of a bike.
We agree on what the car SHOULD do. We disagree on how the bike should behave to encourage the car to engage in the correct behavior. Hiding in the gutter encourages bad behavior.
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