January 28, 2009 7:44 pm
I Spent The Following Nine Seconds With An Asshat Motorist And Lived To Tell About It
Posted by Will under biking, idiots
[6] Comments
Biking south of 8th Street on La Brea I was “passed and slashed” as I like to call it — aka: cut off or turned in front of — by an inattentive and irresponsible motorist. Below are the nine frames/seconds of the incident captured by my handlebar cam.
But first let me break ‘em down for you:
First frame: With the green light at 8th Street I’m moving through the intersection at approximately 15 mph. The motorist is still out of frame somewhere behind me on my left.
Second frame: I’m midway across the intersection.
Third frame: I’m across 8th.
Fourth frame: Our motorist arrives and passes me. I notice the signal and the vehicle’s sudden reduced speed so I ease off the pedals and coast, sensing trouble.
Fifth frame: Just as I thought, the motorist is going to fire the car across my bow into the Goodwill parking lot.
Sixth frame: She’s going in! The driver doesn’t not so much as glance over her shoulder to see if the burly motherfucking bicyclist she just passed a literal second ago — you know, the one with the RIGHT OF WAY — might be hindered by her sudden and unsafe maneuver. She just goes for it. In response, that thumb in the upper right of the frame means I’m on the brakes. Hard.
Seventh frame: I manage to slow enough to avoid any attempt to occupy the space she’s now fully bogarting.
Eight frame: I’m at a full-stop as she completes her turn.
Ninth frame: Here I mull over a broad list of potential responses, but I’ll spare you the spittle-inflected invective I decided upon.
Here’s a slideshow of the nine snaps:
As usual, I’m always glad one of us was paying attention, and always sad it has to be me.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Un-fucking-believable.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
I hate to say it, but this is one reason why I often ride on the sidewalk. Oh, there are still hazards, but they’re usually the walking kind…………:)
Cars and bikes often don’t mix.
January 29th, 2009 at 3:39 am
Maybe this is a dumb question…Would the law be on your side if you take this footage to the area police department? You have the make/model and license plate number of the idiot. With Cameras at intersections for red-light runners etc you would think that you would have some luck with it.
January 29th, 2009 at 5:37 am
LIsa, I’m a firm believer in cyclists riding within their comfort zones so I don’t fault your decision to do so on the sidewalk (just know that in some municipalities such as Santa Monica, West Hollywood and parts of Culver City it is illegal to do so), and I agree there are hazards wherever you go. I do dispute your assertion that bikes and cars often don’t mix. I’ve pedaled more than 10,000 miles on the streets (and occasional sidewalk) these past two years and with the exception of incidents such as this I’m proof we can get along fine.
Kat, as to your question, while clearly this is not lawful, even with my footage, unless it had been witnessed by an officer there’d be no citation — and even then, highly doubtful. Had a collision occurred I could have used the video to support my version of events, but since nothing “happened” there’s really nothing the law can do.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Actually Lisa, had you been riding on the sidewalk in a situation like this, you wouldn’t have seen the car until it was far too late and the car probably wouldn’t have seen you at all. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
I’ll continue to maintain that riding on the street is far safer in almost all circumstances, in addition to being a far better way to get where you’re going.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Although collisions when a rider is on the sidewalk tend to be less traumatic, they are far more common then collisions on the road. Cars pulling out of or into driveways and intersections don’t expect cyclists and are rarely paying enough attention. The most common kind of bike on car accident is a cyclist riding on the sidewalk against the flow of traffic. I sometimes rollerblade in the street when sidewalks are too narrow even though skates are obligated to be on the sidewalk legally, because I feel safer there at the speeds I am going.