SMIDSY'd by a left-turner

[tzrider]

I had my own somewhat close encounter with a surprise left turner early this morning. An oncoming driver turned left through an uncontrolled break in the median, trying to beat oncoming traffic. Traffic in my direction had left a stoplight a few seconds earlier and I was out in front, accelerating. I think this driver perceived the gap, decided she could make it before traffic got there and went.

She didn't see me either before the move or at any point after. Once committed to the turn, she was focused on the driveway across the street that she was turning into. I'm telling you this story; she isn't telling anyone anything because she doesn't know anything happened.

This was close enough to have resulted in a crash. I braked hard, looked at where the driver was looking and realized she wasn't going to stop. This left an increasing space behind her car, so I lightened up on the brakes and swerved left to pass behind her.

So, there was no crash and there was adequate room to escape. I mention it because, as fortunate as the outcome was, if she had started the turn maybe a half second later, the outcome could have been a lot different.

My part in letting this happen was that I had accelerated away from the light and allowed my vision to narrow in this stretch of road, which looks as if it has a solid median. I actually didn't know that opening was there until a car was coming through it. My situational awareness could have been better and I got a free reminder of that.

 

[Beanzy]

... Traffic in my direction had left a stoplight a few seconds earlier and I was out in front, accelerating. I think this driver perceived the gap, decided she could make it before traffic got there and went ....

One thing I've learned is, don't be the first into an intersection on a green light. Let a car run interference first. That way, you're more likely not to get hit first.

 

[Kantoh]

ABS!!!

 

[Tom G]

One thing I've learned is, don't be the first into an intersection on a green light. Let a car run interference first. That way, you're more likely not to get hit first.

Since we all know that a red light means "proceed" these days, it became a habit of visually checking the intersection if it's clear, before I move into it, be it bike or car.

 

[afm199]

Lots of good info, I agree with Pat, practice the technique of increasing braking pressure. What put you on the ground was "grab and squeeze hard." What might have kept you up would have been:" Grab and squeeze softly for a tiny moment to get the front tire loaded and then rapidly increase pressure."

 

[FXCLM5]

happened 2x today on my commute home, and yea my dashcam didnt turn on even though i swore i heard the beep.........

one guy literally merged into me - cuz he panicked and heard emergency sirens trying to pull over

one guy turned right onto the road I was on, i was in the fast lane - i expected him to turn onto the closest lane to him, nope he merged into the fast lane, I had to cross double yellow cuz there was nothing I could do......

 

[sonnyt650]

End of 2013 I T-boned a left-turning Prius driver that didn't notice my headlights (DL650 with conventional brakes) in the dark. As mentioned by others emergency braking is just that with no higher mental systems overcoming instinct to lock up both the front and back; I was more concerned with losing control and going down from the slide. I'm certain ABS would have helped, as it is I required surgery to fix a ligament-bone separation in my right shoulder. ABS.

 

[stratslingr77]

I fell victim to SMIDSY two days ago on Skyline in the Oakland hills... Toyota Corolla turned left right in front of me to park at JMP. My 9 year old was on the back...thank God I kept the bike upright and nobody got ejected. We're both ok but my GS is gonna need a new front end and it did a number on the Corolla.

 

[ThinkFast]

OP never did respond to Gary856's great questions. I'd be particularly interested to hear from him about what the lady had to say regarding why she waited so long, and then turned at the last second.

The pic someone else posted of the view in the other direction may be helpful, or at least instructive. Notice the bicycle lane, which would have been on the left side of car driver's view. Clearly visible in the bike path is the upside down word, 'STOP', and the familiar white stopping line. It's only in the bike path, not in the road itself. Also visible to the driver are the backs of some other signs on posts that are about the same height as stop signs.

I wonder if the driver was somewhat distracted - talking to someone in the car, or on the car's phone speaker? - and didn't fully comprehend what she was seeing, and wrongly assumed OP had a stop sign in the oncoming lane that would give her a clean left turn there.

The intersection was on a pretty sharp curve, so the oncoming car driver's vision would have been more limited than at a usual, straight on intersection. This may have triggered some hesitance on her part, as she tried to make sense of the unfamiliar scene in her visual field. "Where is the oncoming traffic? Normally it's right in front of me, but now it's coming from somewhere else."
"Oh - now I get it -there's a motorcycle coming. And now I see there's a stop sign there on the left for oncoming traffic, so he'll stop here."
"Ok. Good. So now I get it. So I'll just turn."
Bang.

Regardless of whether this is what was going on for her or not, it's important to try to understand what the other person is seeing, and use that understanding to anticipate what they may or may not do.

 

[cheez]

I fell victim to SMIDSY two days ago on Skyline in the Oakland hills... Toyota Corolla turned left right in front of me to park at JMP. My 9 year old was on the back...thank God I kept the bike upright and nobody got ejected. We're both ok but my GS is gonna need a new front end and it did a number on the Corolla.

Sorry to hear. Well done in not losing control and riding the bike to the scene of the crash.

 

[bojangle]

Lots of good info, I agree with Pat, practice the technique of increasing braking pressure. What put you on the ground was "grab and squeeze hard." What might have kept you up would have been:" Grab and squeeze softly for a tiny moment to get the front tire loaded and then rapidly increase pressure."

Yup!

And ABS is a good backup if one panics and screws up the above.

It's a good idea to practice threshold braking to a stop from 30 mph in a parking lot. Also practice threshold braking to almost a stop and swerve around cones to the left and right.