Sunday, November 25

A Tale of Two Cut Corners

My Daughter Stands in for the "Texting Motorist" in this Recreation, Shot Yesterday
Bedford Road is Five Lanes Wide Here
Ian Brett Cooper, in his blog, here, wrote: "Woman on cellphone turns left, cuts corner, nearly kills my daughter She turns left onto our road, narrowly misses the curb, travels towards us in her left hand lane (our lane)..."

Four days later, riding home from work without considering the irony, Steve A turns left, cuts corner, considers how doing so violates the "Land Rover Rule" and how he's got no regrets.

Of course, Steve A does not advocate cutting corners, nor riding the wrong way, not even when visibility is great. OTOH, Steve IS a fan of physics and of going where no motorist can go in preference to trusting a lady with her left turn signal on, chatting on a cell phone, and alternately edging forward and hesitating.

On Friday, the cut corner illustrated that even a principle as honored as "cyclists fare best when..." is not absolute. I suspect my loyal reader has heard that "true/false" questions with "always" or "never" are usually false.

Yes, I DO consider circumstances. Had I been with a group of other cyclists, I'd probably have stopped and waited for the motorist to simply go. It'd ruin one's whole day to get broadsided by a drive-out motorist...

3 comments:

Pondero said...

Interesting example. As you know, I don't ride much in urban environments, but my experience is that there are often situations like you've described. Sometimes expediency (based on a mature understanding of the situation) makes sense. Of course, knowing when is critical.

John Romeo Alpha said...

I encounter the Texting Uncertain Creeper regularly while I'm trying to turn from a busy road with few gaps in traffic, and do the same as you, but find that the white Mustang shows up about 10% of the time and things get complicated quickly. Other motorists appear understanding, though, because they don't like to be on the receiving end of her lack of proper lookout, either.

cafiend said...

I have ducked behind motorists for various reasons many times over the years. I never forget that other road users should not have to accommodate my improvisations, so their presence will alter my tactics. I don't have to deal with a lot of urban intersections, but Wolfe City does provide a microcosm of everything but traffic lights. The earth would split and swallow the town if they ever put a traffic light on any intersection. At least that's how the locals act about it. We get everything else, though: texting, chatting, drinking, dope smoking, nose picking, tailgating, hot rodders, old fogeys, and more, all crammed into a few blocks. An average commute runs pretty smoothly but still calls for vigilance.

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