BIKE: Lane has accident, is ok

[Fred Meredith]

Mike Librik's concerns are on target based on the information at hand 
although I would prefer he called the roadusers coming from behind 
"overtaking" traffic rather than "pursuing" since the latter would 
suggest that you are a "goal" or a conscious target. I prefer to think 
that all road users are trying to cooperatively use the road unless 
they exhibit specific behavior to the contrary -- hence, a good reason 
to keep an eye on overtaking traffic.

The incident, as Lane describes it, could have involved a vehicle 
entering the roadway from a driveway or it could have involved an 
overtaking vehicle executing a "right hook" of the very shortest kind, 
one that turns right before even coming completely abreast of the 
cyclist and hitting him before he was even aware of its presence.

Yes, speed considerations are important in that they affect both the 
time available for the cyclist or the other vehicle operators to react 
to a potential conflict situation, and it affects the stopping distance 
and control of the bicycle. [Forty+ mph used to feel breathtaking 
coming down Robert E. Lee on a morning commute until the day a squirrel 
ran across in front of me and I realized I could be killed by a rodent 
in my spokes.]

A good helmet or glasses attached mirror (once you get the feel of 
using one) is very good for keeping track of overtaking traffic. You 
can read a lot into the apparent speed and lane positioning of a 
vehicle behind you such as whether they appear to be aware of you and 
are moving laterally to go around or are bearing down on your back 
wheel in apparent oblivion (time to bail for the side of the road or 
some other evasive tactic.

Perhaps as time passes and Lane has a chance to find out from witnesses 
and the other operator involved some version of what happened, he can 
share that and we can all speculate from there.

Just glad Lane is okay and I though about him as I cycled that same 
roadway yesterday on my way from my home in Manchaca to the last couple 
of bike shops on my Cycling News route -- Tsunami on Burleson and East 
Side Pedal Pushers on far East 5th St. Yes, there is an opportunity for 
some extremely fast speeds coming down that hill (32.5 in my case with 
some brake riding).

Let's be careful out there and let's also consider that motorized road 
users are required to have functioning rearview mirrors to operate 
legally on the public roadway. Maybe we should voluntarily buy into the 
concept that they can (when used properly) be an important piece of 
safety equipment.

Fred (always wearing my "geeky" Chuck Harris eyeglasses model mirror 
when I'm on my bike) Meredith

On Aug 29, 2004, at 10:38 AM, Librik or Babich wrote:

> "Lane S. Wimberley" wrote:
>
>> ... I'm now wondering what I might have done to avoid this.
>
> That is the most worthwhile question to ask.
>
>> Not entirely sure what happened, but I think someone pulled out of an 
>> apt
>> parking lot in front of me.  ... I was heading east on Woodward at a
>> pretty good clip ... downhill ... I was in the bike lane.
>
> A rule of thumb that I have is that whenever my speed hits half the 
> posted
> speed limit, I take the lane. I do not think bike lanes are a good 
> thing on
> downhills, though they are a great thing on slow crawls uphill.
>
> Granted, doing this technique requires a speedometer. In fact, this 
> rule is
> the one thing I actually need my speedometer for. The main utility of 
> my
> computer is the cadence function, which helps me to optimize my 
> climbing
> speed while minimizing fatigue. But I monitor my speed closely on 
> downhills,
> unless I have simply occupied the entire lane before beginning my 
> descent.
>
> The other thing this technique, or any assertive approach to lane 
> control,
> needs is a means of knowing what is behind you all the time, and how 
> your
> situation to the rear is developing. For me this is mirrors, and my 
> limited
> perspective inclines me to believe that properly positioned, 
> non-vibrating
> mirrors are the only way to monitor pursuing traffic with enough 
> constancy
> to confidently pull off an assertive degree of lane control. Head 
> checks
> work for critical moments like when executing a lane change, but they 
> do not
> work so well for comfortably controlling a lane.
>
> This is a difficult point to argue to anyone who has never had a good 
> way of
> monitoring pursuing traffic, since they do not know what good 
> information in
> this regard can allow them to do. My suspicion is that you kept to the 
> bike
> lane in spite of going too fast to safely use it because you did not 
> have an
> easy enough method of merging with cars in the main lane of traffic.
>
> Therefore I would suggest that the root of the problem that caused the
> collision had more to do with poor interaction with pursuing traffic, 
> which
> resulted in not enough lane control for the situation that you created 
> by
> allowing your speed to increase to the point that it did.
>
> --
> Mike Librik, LCI #929
> Easy Street Recumbents
> 512-453-0438
> 45th and Red River St., thereabouts
> Central Austin
> info
> www.easystreetrecumbents.com
> www.urbancycling.com
>
> "Is it about a bicycle?"
>
>
>
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>
When in doubt, ride your bike … or at least write about it!

Fred Meredith
P.O. Box 100
Manchaca, TX 78652
512/282-1987 (voice)
512/282-7413 (fax)
512/636-7480 (wireless)
visit <http://2merediths.com> for writings and photos