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Near accident on the bike path...who's at fault?

F

FleshLight

Diamond Member
I'm passing this lady on a cruiser bike on the left in a 10 ft. wide bike path. She's on the far right and I'm on the far left and there's no oncoming traffic. When I'm right beside her, she makes a hard 90 degree left without looking, nearly t-boning me and taking my rear wheel out which would put me on the pavement.

She didn't look behind her to see if it was clear before making the hard left. But I didn't yell out "on your left" for some reason. But I usually don't when there's more than enough room.

I think it's my fault because I was going too fast and I didn't yell out on your left. But as I thought about it, I think it's both our faults as she didn't even look behind her and she made a hard left for no reason.

Had she hit me, I would've been on the floor but she would've been fine.
 
I'd say it was a no fault situation. You should've let her know you were passing and she should have at least checked behind her (throw in some bonus points for signaling!). My bike is my car and the number one rule I ride by, especially in downtown traffic is that as a rider, I have to look out for myself and not count on ANYBODY paying attention.
 
I'd say it is her fault. When I started I would say "on your left" to everyone, but then I realized nobody ever said it to me here in Seattle so I stopped. In southern California it was weird because people would say "good morning" or "good afternoon" as they zipped by, I started by responding until I realized that was just their way of letting you know they're there.

So I guess you're going to get different responses from different parts of the country.
 
The only thing you need to watch out for when giving people a heads up is the problem of them moving left when you say on your left. It happens all the time to me, especially with pedestrians. Not a big deal if you yell long enough ahead of time, though.
 
I wish people on bike paths would follow the drive right/pass left philosophy. I love it when I'm approaching someone, and they're on MY side of the path. Do you drive your car into oncoming traffic, too, you clod?
 
Mostly her fault, partly your fault for not letting her know you were passing her. Did she turn at the intersection of another path?
 
how can she move so fast I mean

10FT !!! She was 10 ft away and she turned towards you and you didn't notice this is damn strange !!!
 
Originally posted by: ganesh1
how can she move so fast I mean

10FT !!! She was 10 ft away and she turned towards you and you didn't notice this is damn strange !!!
Click to expand...

She took a really hard left.
 
Originally posted by: EMPshockwave82
was this an intersection point where she could have been turning left to leave the path?
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It was 15 ft. after an at-grade crossing which would require her to make a U-turn. But who makes U turns without looking? Even when I'm passing on the left, I still look over my left shoulder to see if I'm cutting anyone off.
 
half the time i yell 'passing on the left' people get startled and try to turn into me
 
Originally posted by: slayer202
I wouldn't know anything about that. I play real sports, I'm not trying to be the best at exercising
Click to expand...

Such a dumb comment it hurts. Thanks for that.


Back on topic: here's my ride. It's a fixed gear made by a local company named Surly. Not to be confused with the other local company named Surly that makes delicious beer!

http://gallery.me.com/alevasse...id&bgcolor=black&sel=0

Once you try fixed, its hard to go back!
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
half the time i yell 'passing on the left' people get startled and try to turn into me
Click to expand...

Yeah I've done that a few times. One lady started screaming that I scared her and I should be more polite while riding. 😕
 
Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Originally posted by: slayer202
I wouldn't know anything about that. I play real sports, I'm not trying to be the best at exercising
Click to expand...

Such a dumb comment it hurts. Thanks for that.


Back on topic: here's my ride. It's a fixed gear made by a local company named Surly. Not to be confused with the other local company named Surly that makes delicious beer!

http://gallery.me.com/alevasse...id&bgcolor=black&sel=0

Once you try fixed, its hard to go back!
Click to expand...

Nice, is that the steamroller? There is an odd lack of aerospokes/disk wheels/deep-v's
 
Originally posted by: FleshLight
Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Originally posted by: slayer202
I wouldn't know anything about that. I play real sports, I'm not trying to be the best at exercising
Click to expand...

Such a dumb comment it hurts. Thanks for that.


Back on topic: here's my ride. It's a fixed gear made by a local company named Surly. Not to be confused with the other local company named Surly that makes delicious beer!

http://gallery.me.com/alevasse...id&bgcolor=black&sel=0

Once you try fixed, its hard to go back!
Click to expand...

Nice, is that the steamroller? There is an odd lack of aerospokes/disk wheels/deep-v's
Click to expand...

Cool! It is a 'roller! I didn't expect anyone to recognize it! The front wheel is the stock wheel, and the back is a similar replacement (Sun, I think). The stock rear hubs have this nasty habit of eating bearings and seizing up so my local bike shop replaced the whole wheel after putting three new Surly hubs in it. They just don't like the winter riding I guess.

I peeled all the stickers because I was going to sandblast it but I ran out of funds and I kinda liked the maroon look anyways. I also chopped the bars myself. I really like the looks of Deep Vs but everyone runs those and the ones on there work well enough.

Do you have any other rides?
 
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