What’s the most dangerous thing about riding your bike in Metro Vancouver? Is it riding into a stationary object because you’re gawking at our splendid views? Is it getting squished out of your bike lane by a territorial city bus looking to park in front of the next bus stop? No, although these are definitely hardships many a cyclist have to endure on the mean streets of Terminal City,
I would argue that the single biggest threat to a cyclist in Vancouver is vehicles turning right.
If you ride your bike in traffic, you’ll know what I’m speaking about. You’re riding upto a red light while in a bike lane on the right side of the road. You’re monitoring your speed so that when you get to the intersection the light will turn green, and you won’t lose your momentum for that upcoming hill of physical punishment. There’s a car on your immediate left that’s slowly moving towards the red light. As you near the intersection, that car suddenly turns right, right in front of you.
Now, to be fair, cyclists are supposed to follow the same rules of the road as cars. So if a driver in a car decides to turn right suddenly without the driver looking, then a cyclist shouldn’t have a problem because the cyclist, like other vehicles on the road, should be behind the car, not beside it.
But if you are in a bike lane (as you should be), and a car turns right without the driver looking, you can definitely get hit, and there’s often nothing a cyclist can do to avoid this other than leaving the bike at home.
In some areas of the United States, they’ve tackled vehicles that run lights with cameras that send them tickets in the mail. Maybe a camera that takes photos of cars that turn right without signaling could work here to. However, The cost to tax payers and to traffic offenders is always an issue when you set up expensive traffic cameras like this.
How do you as a cyclist avoid getting hit by cars turning right?
1 Comment
Alex says:
I avoid it a few ways. When approaching a red light, I don't filter up to the front of the traffic queue, unless that intersection has a 'bike box'. Also I don't ride as a 'gutter bunny', i.e. I take the full lane as much as possible so I'm more visible to to drivers. Finally I just try to keep ready for a right-hook, by making sure I'm aware of the cars around me, and make sure I'd be able to stop or swerve if I had to avoid it. Luckily I haven't had to use that last one yet!