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From: powers@noscvax.UUCP (William J. Powers)
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Bicycle death & Macho Passing Vehicles
Message-ID: <1072@noscvax.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 17-Aug-85 13:36:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: noscvax.1072
Posted: Sat Aug 17 13:36:07 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Aug-85 02:01:12 EDT
References: <298@SCIRTP.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego
Lines: 49

> Am I the only bicycle commuter who faces this scenario with regularity?
> 
> 
> 		_________________________________________________________
> this guy is           
> passing the other guy)->     OOOO->        <-me on bike
> 		- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> 	the other guy->      OOOO->
> 		_________________________________________________________
> 
> I'm riding on a two-lane road. I look ahead of me and
> whaddya know, I've got two cars coming at me, taking up
> both lanes. I eat it into the shoulder and tactfully
> present a gesture to the driver informing him/her of
> the error.
> 
> My questions are: How do us poor bicyclists
> deal with this abuse? How can car drivers be educated
> about the perils of passing in a lane with a cyclist
> in it?
> 
> It's too hard surviving the shoulder to worry about
> getting license plate numbers. WHAT TO DO?
> 
I would guess that in the majority of cases the motorist has simply
not seen you.  There are many reasons for this happening.
Probably the most common reason is that the motorist in the passing
vehicle has very little time in which to decide whether to pass or
not; consequently, s/he is only looking for other cars and not
bicycles.  In this regard, I would like to see two lane roads as
described above (presumably primarily rural) posted with signs
cautioning drivers to be on the lookout for bicyclists.

Another reason for this incident is that the bicycle is not visible.
This can happen at the crest of a hill or if the vehicle being passed
is particularly wide.  I would suggest that in any case that you can't
see cars coming that you ride to the right as far as possible
(contrary to the general rule).  If you can't see them, they can't see
you.  This means that if you can't see behind a wide or high vehicle
sufficiently to ascertain whether there is someone behind them, move
to the right and be prepared to stop or take diversionary action.

Finally, I want to thank this person for bringing to our attention a
possibly seriously dangerous situation.  The best defense for a
bicyclist is to be prepared for a particular situation BEFORE it
arises.  We can only do this if we are cognizant of all the possible
occurrences of motorist-bicyclist interactions.

Bill Powers.