Controlling the Lane

On Sunday, June 23, 2013 3:42:30 PM UTC-4, JoeRiel wrote:
I performed a small test of controlling the lane today. Did my usual

weekend ride, though today on a Sunday. I normally ride on the shoulder

of a highway for about 10 miles. Speed limit is 55 mph, typical speed

of the cars in the low 60's.



For most of the route the shoulder is more than adequate, however, there

are a few places where it narrows to about a foot. In the place where I

took the lane, there are two travel lanes in my direction, the outside

lane is probably 10 feet wide (one of these days I'll remember to bring

a string with a weight to quickly measure it). For that section the

shoulder is about a foot and half wide, but narrows to a foot or less,

with a steel barrier to the right.



Traffic is light. I took the outside lane, riding slightly to the right

of its center, for about 1/4 mile. My speed was between 20 and 30 mph

(there was a downhill followed by the start of an uphill). Before doing

so I checked that there was plenty of time for approaching cars to see

me. I was passed by six vehicles (SUVs and passenger cars). I've

recently installed a mirror, so could watch the cars approaching.



Any predictions on what happened? Here are the possibilities, pretty

much in order of optimality from my perspective:



1. vehicle changed lanes to the inner lane and passed with no issues;

2. vehicle changed lanes to the inner lane and blasted the horn;

3. vehicle straddled the lane;

4. vehicle straddled the lane and blasted the horn

5. vehicle stayed in lane and slowed [the horn is a given]

6. I'm entering this from a laptop in the ER



The result was 3 and 4. All vehicles straddled the lane, but only half

of them were laying on the horn.



In case it wasn't clear, the inner lane is a travel lane in my

direction, changing lanes took minimal effort on the drivers' part.

Traffic was light, all the vehicles approached in the outside lane. My

unscientific observation, not verified with hard data, is that most

vehicles travel this highway in the outside lane, at least where there

is a choice (the total number of lanes, both directions, varies from 2

to 4). I assume the drivers do that to increase their distance from the

cars traveling in the opposite direction.

I'm curious about the amount of lane straddling (i.e. how far they remained into your lane) and the duration of horn "blasting." I'm also truly astounded that none of the vehicles changed to the next lane.

I've mentioned that Friday I rode to a distant town (over 50 miles) for a visit. Let me describe the _only_ motorist that hassled me in any way:

I left about 8:15 AM, planning to be through the area's busiest suburban highway stretch between the "get to work by 8" and the "get to work by 9" crowds. That worked well. This 40,000 ADT road was pretty empty at that time.. It was _very_ easy for motorists to get around me.

The lanes are roughly 10 feet wide, two in each direction, center bi-directional turning lane, occasional right-turn lanes. I was in the middle of the 10 foot outside lane. I want a six foot car to leave the lane at least partly to pass me, and (as I've said) "straddle passes" don't bother me if the clearance is adequate.

Being clearly at lane center worked great, as usual. I watched in my mirror as car after car moved completely into the inner lane. Great!

Until I looked and saw, in the now empty road, two cars approaching side by side. The one in the inner lane was a small Toyota. The one in my lane was a brand new Corvette. They were at least a quarter mile back. (The 'Vette still had temporary tags, I saw when it passed.)

I watched, amazed, as the 'Vette driver did _not_ speed up to get in front of the Toyota. He obviously had the power to do that. Then I watched even more amazed as he did not brake to get behind the Toyota.

What he finally did was to merge to his left, sort of herding the Toyota driver partly into the bi-directional turning lane in the road's center! He passed me about three feet away, and gave a brief "toot" as he passed. I just shook my head and gave my usual palm up, "what the hell?" gesture.

Again, that was the _only_ non-optimum encounter in the 50+ miles. There were plenty of rural roads and city roads where I had no choice but to control the lane, and all drivers were very patient. There was a stretch of ugly fast two-lane highway where I did ride the adequate shoulder, probably less than half a mile. Unfortunately, I paid for that with a flat tire.

I can't say what causes the difference between my experiences and Joe's. But I will say, I love riding in Northeast Ohio.

- Frank Krygowski

writes:

On Sunday, June 23, 2013 3:42:30 PM UTC-4, JoeRiel wrote:
I performed a small test of controlling the lane today. Did my usual

weekend ride, though today on a Sunday. I normally ride on the shoulder

of a highway for about 10 miles. Speed limit is 55 mph, typical speed

of the cars in the low 60's.



For most of the route the shoulder is more than adequate, however, there

are a few places where it narrows to about a foot. In the place where I

took the lane, there are two travel lanes in my direction, the outside

lane is probably 10 feet wide (one of these days I'll remember to bring

a string with a weight to quickly measure it). For that section the

shoulder is about a foot and half wide, but narrows to a foot or less,

with a steel barrier to the right.



Traffic is light. I took the outside lane, riding slightly to the right

of its center, for about 1/4 mile. My speed was between 20 and 30 mph

(there was a downhill followed by the start of an uphill). Before doing

so I checked that there was plenty of time for approaching cars to see

me. I was passed by six vehicles (SUVs and passenger cars). I've

recently installed a mirror, so could watch the cars approaching.



Any predictions on what happened? Here are the possibilities, pretty

much in order of optimality from my perspective:



1. vehicle changed lanes to the inner lane and passed with no issues;

2. vehicle changed lanes to the inner lane and blasted the horn;

3. vehicle straddled the lane;

4. vehicle straddled the lane and blasted the horn

5. vehicle stayed in lane and slowed [the horn is a given]

6. I'm entering this from a laptop in the ER



The result was 3 and 4. All vehicles straddled the lane, but only half

of them were laying on the horn.



In case it wasn't clear, the inner lane is a travel lane in my

direction, changing lanes took minimal effort on the drivers' part.

Traffic was light, all the vehicles approached in the outside lane. My

unscientific observation, not verified with hard data, is that most

vehicles travel this highway in the outside lane, at least where there

is a choice (the total number of lanes, both directions, varies from 2

to 4). I assume the drivers do that to increase their distance from the

cars traveling in the opposite direction.

I'm curious about the amount of lane straddling (i.e. how far they remained into your lane) and the duration of horn "blasting." I'm also truly astounded that none of the vehicles changed to the next lane.

I didn't carefully note the passing distance. I believe it was
adequate. My second description of the horns (laying on the horn), was
an exaggeration. None gave the continuous (several second) blast used
to announce that the driver is a complete asshole, rather they were more
of the *you shouldn't be in my way* duration. Undoubtedly part of the
annoyance was that not only did they have to change lanes, even if
partially, to pass me, but would have to change back again because most
were turning right in a 1/2 mile or so.


I've mentioned that Friday I rode to a distant town (over 50 miles) for a visit. Let me describe the _only_ motorist that hassled me in any way:

I left about 8:15 AM, planning to be through the area's busiest suburban highway stretch between the "get to work by 8" and the "get to work by 9" crowds. That worked well. This 40,000 ADT road was pretty empty at that time. It was _very_ easy for motorists to get around me.

The lanes are roughly 10 feet wide, two in each direction, center bi-directional turning lane, occasional right-turn lanes. I was in the middle of the 10 foot outside lane. I want a six foot car to leave the lane at least partly to pass me, and (as I've said) "straddle passes" don't bother me if the clearance is adequate.

Being clearly at lane center worked great, as usual. I watched in my mirror as car after car moved completely into the inner lane. Great!

Until I looked and saw, in the now empty road, two cars approaching side by side. The one in the inner lane was a small Toyota. The one in my lane was a brand new Corvette. They were at least a quarter mile back. (The 'Vette still had temporary tags, I saw when it passed.)

I watched, amazed, as the 'Vette driver did _not_ speed up to get in front of the Toyota. He obviously had the power to do that. Then I watched even more amazed as he did not brake to get behind the Toyota.

What he finally did was to merge to his left, sort of herding the Toyota driver partly into the bi-directional turning lane in the road's center! He passed me about three feet away, and gave a brief "toot" as he passed. I just shook my head and gave my usual palm up, "what the hell?" gesture.

Again, that was the _only_ non-optimum encounter in the 50+ miles. There were plenty of rural roads and city roads where I had no choice but to control the lane, and all drivers were very patient. There was a stretch of ugly fast two-lane highway where I did ride the adequate shoulder, probably less than half a mile. Unfortunately, I paid for that with a flat tire.

I can't say what causes the difference between my experiences and Joe's. But I will say, I love riding in Northeast Ohio.

- Frank Krygowski

--
Joe Riel

drivers blow long caws they perceive you an they are in danger from your riding: IMR

The Reil Horn/Psychological Competency Scale lacks quantification.

Drivers in SD are here observed as competent with a road system at AAA levels.

With the excption of Hispanic wannabe GP drivers and sociopaths who eg will not merge with skill but merge to bully.

My drives from Chula Vista to Pacific down the interstate during RUSH hour were always memorable.

Per James:
Still, a young man on P plates decided two other lanes to choose from
was not enough, and straddled the lane as he passed us, hung on the horn
and cut in sharply in front.

Now, this was just one driver out of ?? many we had pass us on this 60
km ride, so the incident rate was nothing on a per car basis - but still
unnecessary.

Suppose

- It the driver described is only 1 in 25,000

- One out of ten of those impatient drivers misjudges his little
antic enough to take out the cyclist.

- Somebody rides to work 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year....
i.e. 250 days/year.

- During those commutes, they are passed by 100 cars each day...


Sounds to me like the biker is going to be dead meat within 10 years.

--
Pete Cresswell

On Monday, June 24, 2013 8:14:16 PM UTC-4, datakoll wrote:
drivers blow long caws they perceive you an they are in danger from your riding..

So, a young couple I know was talking just a few days ago about biking with their toddler son. The dad had the kid in a baby seat, and had ridden to their small town library. To get back, he had to go onto the main road (if you can call it that) for about 100 feet and get into the left turn lane to turn into their own quiet residential street.

A woman pulled up alongside and told the guy "You shouldn't have that child in traffic. You should be on the sidewalk."

The guy (a very calm sort) said "Ma'am, it's much more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk. This is the safest way for me to make this left turn."

He said she was silent until the light turned green, then said as she pulled away "I'm going to report you to the police!"

Danger, danger indeed!

BTW, the guy was exasperated by calm about the incident. But his wife, who has much more cycling experience, was absolutely furious. She feels as I do: Why do _you_ as a driver think you know more than _me_, a lifelong cyclist?

- Frank Krygowski

On Monday, June 24, 2013 8:49:42 PM UTC-4, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per James:

Still, a young man on P plates decided two other lanes to choose from

was not enough, and straddled the lane as he passed us, hung on the horn

and cut in sharply in front.



Now, this was just one driver out of ?? many we had pass us on this 60

km ride, so the incident rate was nothing on a per car basis - but still

unnecessary.



Suppose



- It the driver described is only 1 in 25,000



- One out of ten of those impatient drivers misjudges his little

antic enough to take out the cyclist.



- Somebody rides to work 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year....

i.e. 250 days/year.



- During those commutes, they are passed by 100 cars each day...





Sounds to me like the biker is going to be dead meat within 10 years.



--

Pete Cresswell

Oh, it's a dangerous world all right! That's why there are so many thousands of bike deaths every year in America. :-/

- Frank Krygowski

On Monday, June 24, 2013 11:28:52 PM UTC-4, Dan wrote:
datakoll writes:



Frank, the concept is POTENTIAL INJURY



X run down, killed TTL or X(N) is meaningless in POTENTIAL DEATH analysis.



Potential not probability for your injury.



a PRIXCURSORE !



Exactly. It demands excessive active defensive attention, which

detracts from the experience. And that is harm.

NNNNNN

GNAW, this is organization beyond the cave.

Per :
Oh, it's a dangerous world all right! That's why there are so many thousands of bike deaths every year in America. :-/

I think there are not partially because most people's judgment tells
them it's a bad idea to "Take The Lane" when traffic is closing at high
speed diffs.
--
Pete Cresswell

On Tuesday, June 25, 2013 12:11:15 AM UTC-4, Wes Groleau wrote:
On 06-24-2013 20:51, fk wrote:

The guy (a very calm sort) said "Ma'am, it's much more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk. This is the safest way for me to make this left turn."



Way too nice. Although I too would remain calm, I might have speculated

aloud on the appropriateness of giving driver's

licenses to people ignorant of traffic laws.

The guy who the woman lectured was still very irritated a day later. He (who, BTW, is a lawyer) did say he went home and looked up the traffic laws. He was wondering if he should type them up as a handout. It's a nice thought (and I actually have some cards like that), but I think many people would just toss them out the window.

A few years ago, when my wife and I had a somewhat similar experience, I was much more challenging, much less nice. A guy was actually holding up traffic (about four cars behind him) to yell at us that we should be on the sidewalk. In that situation, I was loudly saying "Let's call a cop. Let's get a cop here right now and see what he says."

The guy in the car did drop the issue and drive on. Perhaps there was something about cops that made him nervous.

- Frank Krygowski

On 25/06/13 22:44, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per :
Oh, it's a dangerous world all right! That's why there are so many thousands of bike deaths every year in America. :-/

I think there are not partially because most people's judgment tells
them it's a bad idea to "Take The Lane" when traffic is closing at high
speed diffs.

I chickened out not so long ago, when on approach to an intersection I
looked over my shoulder to see this guy in a 4WD barreling along toward
us at about 80kph (I was furthest from the gutter next to another
rider), obviously trying to beat the lights. The driver showed no signs
of slowing or moving to go around us, and every indication that he was
going to maintain a collision course no matter what.

Within a couple of turns of the cranks I was in front of the other guy
and moved out of the way - and yep, the guy in the 4WD just kept
barreling through, but we were both safe, and live to fight again
another day.

I don't often chicken out though, unless I read real craziness in their
eyes - so to speak.

--
JS