A helpful primer from a fellow driver who was on his bike this morning and observed worse than usual behavior from the cars on the road:
First, look to your left behind the steering wheel. Do you see a stick? OK, good. If you pull that stick up a bit, it will indicate that you are turning right. If you press it down, you’ll show the world that you’re turning left. Use it.
Also, I know I recently wrote about when bicyclists can ride through a red light, so take this with a grain of salt. If you’re in a car and there’s a red, you probably shouldn’t go through it. Especially, if I’m on a bike going through the green, there are pedestrians in the crosswalk, and you’re just going to have to wait in line for the onramp anyway.
Finally, some roads have a yellow stripe down the middle. This lets people know that cars will drive in both directions down this road. Keep to the right. No, your right. YOUR FUCKING RIGHT!
If there were a law saying it was legal to use a pogo stick to transport yourself down freeways using the shoulder of the road, that doesn’t mean it would be smart to do so.
Washingtonians have a hard time remembering to use their turn signals . . . and remembering to drive in the right lane, particularly when there’s a line of faster vehicles stacked up behind you.
I had to chuckle regarding the part where the driver has to keep to the right of the dividing line.
When teaching my daughter to drive, for some reason it took her a while to fully understand that since the driver is sitting on the left side of the car, she needs to make an adjustment so the car is centered in the lane. Instead, she kept trying to drive so that her nose was in the center of the lane, not the car.
This led to some uncomfortably close situations where she is driving considerably over the lane divider, and on a single lane of traffic there were some close brushes with cars parked on the right side of the road.
Trying to appear calm and unruffled, I eventually settled on telling her to “pick a lane – any lane, just pick one”, when she started drifting over the line.
If I see a turn signal come on I figure that it’s probably because they got their sleeve caught on it while turning, since so many of those who do use their turn signals only do so when they are in the middle of the turn. We *know* you’re currently turning; we’d like to know a little bit in advance so we can take appropriate action.
And don’t pass a bicyclist on the left and then make a right hand turn in front of them!
That’s a leading cause of accidents that are listed as ‘cyclist injured/killed when bike runs into car.’
@5
There’s a Gig Harbor kid in the hospital right now from a driver that right hooked him.
“Almost Live” went off the air years ago, but the Ballard Driving Academy clearly lives on.
@7
I’d forgotten about that.
When I’m waiting at the red light, in the right-turn lane with my right-turn blinker flashing, don’t ride up along my right side just because there’s a bike lane there and you’ve decided to blow through the red light. I just might make my right turn while you’re along side me. (There are good reasons why the rules of the road include Don’t Pass On The Right.)
@4 The reason Seattle drivers don’t use their turn signals is because they’ve learned from past experience that if they do some asshole behind them will try to cut them off.
Hey, I’m not defending this behavior, I’m as frustrated by it as anyone; but the non-use of turn signals in Seattle is intentional and a whole generation of drivers has been programmed to drive that way by the bad behavior of other drivers, so I don’t think it’s something you can change by reminding people to use their turn signals. They won’t.
6, 9 – A lot of over-50s can’t turn their heads far enough around to see into the blind spot; so there’s a damn good chance that a bicyclist overtaking a car on the right won’t be seen by an older driver.
@9
I’ve seen Seattle cyclists do that one a few times and I’ve always been puzzled by it. I’m a cyclist and it’s not something I’d do or something I see other cyclists doing elsewhere.
@11
The kid on the bike @6 was hit by a car that was over taking him, not the other way around like we’re talking about @9&12.
@13 That’s a different situation, but it’s still possible the driver didn’t see him. Drivers’ optic nerves are hardwired to detect vehicle-sized objects. It’s possible for a driver to look straight at a motorcycle or bicycle but his brain doesn’t “see” that object.
In one respect, it’s better for a bicyclist to be moving than standing still, because the eye and brain and far more likely to detect a moving object than a stationary one. That’s why soldiers in combat “freeze” when caught in the light of a flare or searchlight.
People too lazy to use their friggin turn signals are the height of egotism. They make me fucking sick. Self centered assholes. And, no, despite what you tell yourself, you are not the fucking center of the world. Get off your high horse and start treating people with respect.
@9 There’s a similar syndrome that happens when some idiot in a car tries to pass a truck on the right that’s making a right turn, or a bus that’s approaching a stop. The latter happens often enough that Metro drivers have a name for it: a “pocket accident”.
The driver in a big truck is handicapped not only by visibility issues (“If you can’t see my mirrors, I can’t see you”) but by a big diesel motor next to him that’s wound up in each of the three gears he’s engaging as he goes around the corner, drowning out the desperate honking when the driver of the car realizes he’s in trouble.
turn signals are not law in city of Seattle, but are law in Washington State. So, kwityourbitchin.
Turn signals ARE law in Seattle; the city incorporates the appropriate parts of the State code into the Seattle Municipal Code:
SMC 11.55.200 Turn signal — Required.
No person shall turn a vehicle or move right or left upon a roadway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety nor without giving an appropriate signal. (RCW 46.61.305(1))
SMC 11.55.240 Turn signal — Distance in advance.
A signal of intention to turn or move right or left when required shall be given continuously during not less than the last one hundred (100) feet traveled by the vehicle before turning or moving right or left. (RCW 46.61.305(2))
SMC 11.55.280 When signals required.
Signals shall be used to indicate an intention to turn, change lanes, or start from a parked position and the signal lamps shall not be flashed on one (1) side only on a disabled vehicle, or flashed as a courtesy or “do pass” signal to operators of other vehicles approaching from the rear. (RCW 46.61.305(4))