I am someone that worries about hitting a bicyclist.
To do a proper right turn in the US in 2023 there are three directions a driver needs to look.
1. To the left for oncoming car and bike traffic.
2. To the right for bicyclists riding up the wrong way of the street or on the sidewalk riding towards you.
3. Behind and to the right for any bicyclists that choose to pass your car on the right while you're making a right turn (even if you're signaling your turn).
For context 2 & 3 happen to me more than once per year.
As a cyclist (on a designated bike path), I was hit by a small SUV in case #2.
The driver looked to the right and I thought our eyes connected, but he proceeded from the stop sign to make a right turn right into me. Fortunately, he stopped as soon as he knew he hit something and I only ended up under his bumper, with a slightly bent up bike and major bruise on my left thigh.
In this case, I would have actually been safer (and in better view of this driver) if I had been riding on the road.
Up to that time, I rode over 1,000 miles outside in the summer, mostly on roads. Now, I no longer trust traffic at all and ride mostly on the extensive bike trail system in Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area, except when I consider the road to be a better option.
The thought of sharing the road with distracted drivers and other drivers who choose to be assholes to cyclists makes the road riding just too risky.
> 2. To the right for bicyclists riding up the wrong way of the street or on the sidewalk riding towards you.
Is biking the wrong direction on a bike path on a one-way street legal in the state or country that you were in? Are you surprised that you got hit when you were biking going the wrong way down a one-way street?
He was on a designated bike path. Without seeing the signage around the accident, it's hard to say who was really at fault here. But I would easily assume it was the driver.
Correct. The bike path was designated and two-way.
I was certain the driver saw me when he looked to the right and we made eye contact, but apparently he was looking in my direction beyond me toward the street.
To me there's a impedance mismatch between cars and bicyclists. I have known about 2 or 3 people in my life who have died in a biking accident -- one of those people I really liked as a kid.
On the other hand I have seen bicyclists (also electric scooters) riding at high speed on a sidewalk shoot out quickly into a low visibility intersection. If you were the driver at the wrong time wrong place you would hit that bicyclist, and probably feel bad about it.
Leisurely biking on the sidewalks I think is fine, but above a certain speed the bikes should be on the road obeying normal traffic laws.
I agree with both of you actually. I also don't bike because of all the close calls and real injuries I've seen with careless drivers, but ALSO because when I'm driving myself I feel like it's easy to hit someone by accident especially when they are in the right lane. I wish there was more dedicated bike infrastructure, which seems like it would solve both problems
To do a proper right turn in the US in 2023 there are three directions a driver needs to look.
1. To the left for oncoming car and bike traffic.
2. To the right for bicyclists riding up the wrong way of the street or on the sidewalk riding towards you.
3. Behind and to the right for any bicyclists that choose to pass your car on the right while you're making a right turn (even if you're signaling your turn).
For context 2 & 3 happen to me more than once per year.