inconsiderate drivers!

Had a close call with a motorist who was making a left turn without
looking for pedestrians(or unicyclist). I had all my gears on but doubt
that would of helped if that driver clubbered me. I live in a
pretty open area of city that is mostly homes but there are "some"
drivers with poor driving skills. I mostly ride on the sidewalk instead
of riding w/ the traffic cause many drivers whizzes by me when I ride
along the street, missing me by inches sometimes! This would scare the
hell out of anyone! Now because I now ride the BIGGER and TALLER Coker,
drivers seem to slow down more around me. I think it's because I look
like a big STOP sign on a Coker; especially when I wear bright-colored
shirts.

Anyone else with close calls with cars?


--
leadpan - OC Cokeur

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever" - Lance Armstrong
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Sounds bad mate,

I remember Kit had more than a close call with a car earlier this
year!


Joe,


--
joe - Who needs cranks anyways?

*www.cool.unicyclist.com*

'I like to show off in front of people not to show them what I can do,
but to show them what can be done on a unicycle' - Sofa

'Unicycle.Com' (http://www.unicycle.com)
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I live on a highway in the middle of timber-country, big trucks are
always -flying -past, I've had a few close calls.


--
arcane - my avatar is INTERESTING not green

Why does everybody want green avatars?
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leadpan wrote:
*I mostly ride on the sidewalk instead of riding w/ the traffic cause
many drivers whizzes by me when I ride along the street, missing me by
inches sometimes! *

That's why I ride on the sidewalk (or pavement as we like to call them
the UK) on busy roads, along with the fact that the pavements next to
busy roads tend to be nice and wide.

But when I turn off into a quiet suburban road, I tend to switch to the
edge of the road itself, as the pavements there tend to get rather
narrow, especially as it seems much more likely to encounter a fellow
pedestrian than it does to encounter an occasional car. If a car does
come, a quick turn to ride up a dropped kerb outside someone's driveway
(or hopping up to it, or idling between two parked cars) is needed, but
that doesn't happen often.
*Anyone else with close calls with cars? *

Well if anyone does, it won't be with me as the driver. Having just
passed my driving test today, I've said to myself that I will always
respect cyclists (one wheel or two) and keep a careful eye on them. I
wonder if that's due to the fact that I ride myself...


--
gkmac - Seldom rides in public
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On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 15:05:32 -0500, gkmac wrote:
leadpan wrote:
*I mostly ride on the sidewalk instead of riding w/ the traffic
cause many drivers whizzes by me when I ride along the street,
missing me by inches sometimes! *

That's why I ride on the sidewalk (or pavement as we like to call
them the UK) on busy roads, along with the fact that the pavements
next to busy roads tend to be nice and wide.

I've recently stopped riding on the pavement, after an almost nasty
incident. I was riding one way, and there was a jogger coming the
other way. Just as we were about to pass, a car suddenly popped out of
a slightly concealed driveway right next to us both. Fortunately, the
driver managed to stop before hitting us. However, the jogger got very
cross with me, because since I was focussed on avoiding him, I hadn't
noticed the car until it was almost too late, and had ridden right in
front of it.

He said I was a bit big (meaning too old) to be riding on the
pavement. I was extremely upset by this, because I didn't think being
on the road would be particularly safe, so the discussion got a bit
heated. However, I did ride the remaining 150m home on the road,
mostly so this bloke wouldn't chase after me.

I stayed upset for a long time. I could see the jogger's point that
riding on the pavement wasn't safe, but I also didn't feel safe on the
road, where I'm legally obliged to ride. It was looking like I was
going to have to get my bike fixed for my commute to work.

The next couple of days, I continued riding to work on the pavement,
but I was looking at the road, wondering just how dangerous it
actually was. Then came the weekend, so I decided to try road riding
in the quieter traffic. It wasn't nearly so scary as I had thought it
would be, though there were occasional moments of worry. After that, I
switched to riding on the road wherever possible. I do leave the road
for shortcuts across a pedestrian bridge, and a couple of short bits
of road where I'm riding against the one-way direction. However, in
these cases, I keep a really close eye on where people are walking,
and don't ride down the bridge steps until pedestrians are well clear.

I now find that not only is road riding almost entirely un-scary (but
see below), it also seems much easier than riding on the pavement. I
used to UPD a few times during the 24 miles I rode each week, but on
the road, I think it's only happened 3 or 4 times in a few months (and
one of those was because I was trying to show off to people who
shouted "Jump!" at me). There's a pretty big hill I have to climb on
the way home. On the pavement, I usually stopped once or twice on each
climb and thought it necessary, but on the road, where stopped
vehicles just get in the way, I find that I can ride the entire hill
in one go, even overtaking the occasional bike.


*Anyone else with close calls with cars? *

Last weekend, a car came extremely close to hitting me. I was riding
along a big open road, with plenty of visibility. As I was riding past
a side road, I saw a car coming up it, towards the junction with the
road I was on. I had right of way, and I was already half way across
the turning, so I didn't really pay it much attention. As I was almost
past this car, however, it started to pull out. At first I thought
this was just one of those impatient drivers who like to cut things
fine, starting to pull out before they really should, in preparation
to overtake me. However, I soon notice that this car isn't overtaking;
it's heading directly towards me, and accelerating! By the time the
driver sees me and starts braking, the car's bumper is about three
inches away from my wheel (I can see it without turning round, just by
looking down), and I'm going as fast I can.

Fortunately for both of us, he did slow down just in time, and I
managed to stay in control despite being terrified and riding faster
than I thought possible. The driver then tried to argue that I
shouldn't be "racing along on that little thing". I told him that I
can only usually manage about 6-8 mph, which he'd have seen for
himself if he was paying attention. The only reason he thought I was
"racing" was because when he did see me, I was trying to escape being
smashed into a bloody pulp.

--
Peter Haworth
"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre,
but they are more deadly in the long run."
-- Mark Twain

Oh I just love it when drivers aren't paying attention then try to blame
you, for their almost killing you.


--
ThisGuyIKnow - Film Guy
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I HATE WHEN THEY DO THAT. I HAD A COUPLE CLOSE CALLS THE FIRST FEW TIMES
I WENT ON THE ROAD


--
unicycle dave - ONE WHEEL IS BETTER THAN 2

David Sensenig
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I've had a few bad ones...almost got hit by a truck at a stop sign once
while riding my coker, but it was clearly my turn to go, and he just
wasn't paying attention to me. came close enough for me to put my hand
on the hood though. it was scary.
another time, I was riding my coker on the left side of the road like I
usually do, it was kind of on a highway, and a car came behind me and
buzzed me. that means, they went as fast as they could and came as
close as they could to me, without hitting me. it really makes you
wobble, and scares you too.
another time, I was riding my coker home at night, and the street to get
to my house is sooo dark at night, it's SCARY. so a car drove past, and
the driver leaned out the window and just SCREAMED really super loud and
scarylike, it totally freaked me out for a minute.


--
James_Potter - betcha can't stick it!

sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.

michael atkinson
mdotedotatkinsonatgmaildotcom
President of the MRIS

-last edited by george w. bush on 2005-09-05 at 4:23 pm-

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Yea, I hear you James. My riding after work sometimes takes me in to the
night. Last night, two guys driving saw me riding my Coker yells,
"Awesome!", takes a photo on his camera phone then turns around sneaks
up behind me then blew a loud noise-maker can at me. I am guessing he
thought I was fall cause of the loud noise. Instead it scared couple of
pedestrians walking near me. What kinds of people compliments you on
riding a uni one moment then tries to make you fall the next? "Morons" I
thought to my self as I kept riding.

I might add few months ago I WOULD of fell cause of the loud noise but
now other people watching, yelling, motioning at me don't phase me
anymore.


--
leadpan - OC Cokeur

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever" - Lance Armstrong
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"leadpan" m wrote in
message yclist.com...

Had a close call with a motorist who was making a left turn without
looking for pedestrians(or unicyclist). I had all my gears on but doubt
that would of helped if that driver clubbered me. I live in a
pretty open area of city that is mostly homes but there are "some"
drivers with poor driving skills. I mostly ride on the sidewalk instead
of riding w/ the traffic cause many drivers whizzes by me when I ride
along the street, missing me by inches sometimes! This would scare the
hell out of anyone! Now because I now ride the BIGGER and TALLER Coker,
drivers seem to slow down more around me. I think it's because I look
like a big STOP sign on a Coker; especially when I wear bright-colored
shirts.

Anyone else with close calls with cars?


Far too many people in this forum have had close calls. Sounds a pretty
good statistical reason not to risk the roads to me. I don't want to be that
headline on the news thanks. I'll stay on the pavement, and give the
pedestrians space too. Before I took up the unicycle I used to see I guy
riding down the roads locally. I thought he was insane. Not seen him for
years, neither on or off the road..


Nao