http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_safety
"Other significant collision types involve turning-motorists failing to yield to oncoming cyclists and so-called "hook" or "overtake and turn" type manoeuvres. Expert opinion has it that, having taken due account of the nature and speed of any following traffic, cyclists may best protect themselves from such collisions by adopting a prominent road position approaching junctions."
D: we are already pretty invisible out there. So occupying the whole lane, particularly if there are 2, seems like a good idea.
We all know my tendency to walk across at the pedestrian walk.
Well, there is this odd tendency for cars to assume the green/walk signs mean gun it and hope the walker doesn't step forward. I had an incident like that at Northfield/Parkside on the way to work on Kumpf last week. Some guy in a work truck was plainly aware I was there.
The light changes. I hold my bike out, to my right, in front of me and start walking. Of course, I was assuming -rightly- he was a moron. He starts rolling forward. My bike is in front of me enough that IT not ME is in his way. If worst comes to worst, looks like he'd owe me a new bike!
It is my way of asserting myself while stopping shy of being suicidal.
He keeps rolling forward, trying to get past me. Instead of stopping.
(Yeah I hit the walk button and everything. I'd been standing there for minutes.)
I keep walking. He ends up nearly in the oncoming traffic lane but manages to squeeze in front of me.
I also like to suddenly make like I didn't see the vehicle and lunge forward.
Why?
They need to be shaken out of their complacency. Their lazy driving habits have resulted from a lifetime of a cyclist only being there 1-5% of the time. They are gambling. With our bodies. They just cannot be bothered learning better, more safe driving habits. I scare them. I irritate them. I bother them, upset them. I need to. I intend to...
My new 115db Zound bike horn is also very helpful this way. If they are not looking where they ought to, I don't wait to see if they plan to. A bike bell is fine in good hearing conditions. Around the U, for example, students will walk around listening their I-pods. They won't hear, or don't recognize the faint sound. I guarantee folks pay attention when it sounds like a big truck with an air horn is heading towards them!
I refuse to apologize for asserting my right-of-way by the traffic laws of the province.
What we really need is critical mass.
http://www.critical-mass.info/
"The Story Behind the Name
The name "Critical Mass" is taken from Ted White's 1992 documentary film about bicycling, "Return of the Scorcher". In the film, George Bliss describes a typical scene in China, where cyclists often cannot cross intersections because there is automobile cross-traffic and no traffic lights. Slowly, more and more cyclists amass waiting to cross the road, and when there is a sufficient number of them -- a critical mass, as Bliss called it -- they are able to all move together with the force of their numbers to make cross traffic yield while they cross the road.
"When local police learn of your ride, they may insist that you get a permit, perhaps a parade permit. Don't do it. The point of Critical Mass is that biking is a right, not a privilege. Cars don't need permits to ride on the streets, and neither should cyclists. They may threaten to arrest you if you ride without a permit. At that point you'll need to consider whether you're willing to get arrested to make your point. If you're not, and you choose not to ride or choose to get the permit, then you've allowed them to put cyclists in their place."
D: getting a permit to ride a bicycle? Right...
D: I read a California study. Half of accidents were causes by the cyclist. They did such clever things are failure to stop and riding the wrong way v.s. traffic flow. Bad idea generally.
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