Ken's Voyages Around the Sun


Turning Right
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Mood:
Upset

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On this morning's ride I had another person turn right directly in front of me, so close that by the time I somehow managed to stop I could touch her SUV. She was turning into a parking lot so I took a few steps on foot to catch up and harangue her.

She kept her window up so I don't know how much she could hear my opinions. She was responding but I could not hear her whatsoever. I don't know whether she was sorry or not. I'm not even sure she spoke English.

Sigh.

I posite only a few reasons for this maneuver:

1) Driver sees me and ignores me

2) Driver sees me and underestimates my speed

3) Driver does not see me

I don't knon which is worse. I discount #3 in this case because I was plenty visible cycling along the road in plain view ahead of the driver (not like I was coming up along the right side of cars parked at an intersection and would be unexpected).

I say I had this happen again because a couple months ago (don't recall posting this) the identical thing happened with a minivan. It was also turning right into a parking lot, this time across a well-marked bike lane with me in it.

In that case the woman's window was down and she at least pretended being sorry, saying she did not see me. I asked how she could miss someone dressed in so much flourescent yellow, but got mostly a shrug.

What's most interesting about that incident was that a woman driving a car out of the parking lot at the same time -- who saw the whole thing -- rolled down her window as I approached the minivan (on foot) and *yelled* at me that this was a schoolground!

At this point I'm planning to get a camera phone to take pictures of these drivers, their vehicles, and plates and post them on a web site. A hall of shame, as it were, and I'm thinking of inviting other cyclists to do the same.






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