A Tale of Left Turns

Let me describe my ride on Wednesday evening, about 4:00 in the evening. The route I chose was the flat route along the center of the valley. In town there is a four lane main road that is busy and a few secondary roads parallel that are less busy. I take one of the parallel ones through town that is marked as a bike route and has "Share the Road" signs then join the main road at the edge of town where a separate bike lane starts. The bike lane goes for about 2 miles and then there is a wide, paved shoulder for another 8 or 10 miles so you can ride completely out the car lanes. There are reasons we have such a good road for biking that have nothing to do with biking, but it is great. Because it is one of the few flat routes anywhere in East Tennessee, it is used pretty heavily for recreation, training, and commuting. I saw 10 or 12 other cyclists that day and I was out a little bit early. There would have been more later. I describe the route to set the scene.  I was in a place where bikes are supposed to be and riding the way the law allows.  The road is flat and straight.  There are no factors that make biking particularly unsafe or the route a poor choice.

So how was the ride. It was typical. It was a beautiful day with perfect temperature and I enjoyed it completely. But, this is the tale of left turns, left turn from the oncoming traffic crossing the bike lane, and what the interactions with drivers mean for a cyclist who wants to stay safe and not offend anyone with his riding. The first left turn occurred on that side street. I pulled to a stop at a stop sign. A car pulled up on the opposite side at about the same time. We both waited for a car coming from my left to cross our street. As soon as the crossing car was directly in front of me, I stand on the pedal to roll forward and glance down at the pedal clip in. I look up to see the car from the other side has pulled forward and is turning right at me. I grab the my brakes and turn to go parallel to his line. He slams on his brakes. We are both going slowly. It is not too close. He politely waves me on. It is only a guess what happened from his perspective. I started forward immediately because that is what I am supposed to do. He is supposed to yield. He could have not noticed me, he could have thought he was much faster than I and could make it through the intersection before I got going, or he could have been expecting me to yield because I was on a bike and he was in a car. Whatever he was thinking, he waved me through which suggests he thought he should have waited. I waved back and continued on my way.

The next left turn interaction occurred on the bike lane of the main road. I was approaching a green traffic light. It had been green for some time and I was hoping to get through before it changed. I was down in the drops pedaling full speed. An SUV was in the left turn lane waiting for traffic to clear. Just before I get to the intersection, the car traffic on my side clears. The woman driving the SUV holds down her horn and blows through the turn in front of me. I slam the brakes, the rear wheel hops a couple of times, I unclip and extend a foot. I recover my balance without ever quite touching my foot down. She missed me by 10 or 15 feet. When you are going 20 mph, this seems close. What was she thinking? She certainly saw me. She began honking before she began to move. Probably, she thought that the light was about to change. If she waited for me, she would miss it. Her time was more important than being courteous to a cyclist. It was this interaction that made me think about writing this post. I as a cyclist am worth less than a minute and a half of inconvenience to a some drivers on the road.

Last, an almost unnoticeable left turn occurred on the way back. I was still outside town riding on the shoulder section of the route. Another SUV in the oncoming traffic pulls into the left turn lane. I look up. The driver sits and waits. I pedal strong right through the intersection. The driver turns behind me. The driver probably could have made his/her turn without slowing me down but didn't. Probably because of the other interactions, I noticed and thanked them in my head.

This is a long discussion about one of the most dangerous car/cyclist interactions that we encounter. I can think of several people who have been hurt by a collision in this type of event. Here is the lesson. Always remember, the drivers are accustomed to looking for cars in the car lane. A cyclist is not in the center of their field of vision. You can be missed. There are some drivers that believe cyclists should not be allowed on the road. They will honk or be rude intentionally to get that message across. You have to be defensive and not depend on drivers doing what they are supposed to do. For my part, I should not have been looking down at my foot in an intersection in that first encounter. In the second, I should have been sitting up holding the hoods and going easy, ready to stop if the driver pulled out or if the light turned yellow. In the third, I should write an essay complimenting the driver which I have done.

Be safe out there.

TW