I try to leave home before 7am. Vancouver does NOT have a freeway system. All highways stop at the city limits and from there it is a mess of surface streets to zig and zag my way to work. I don't have many options but I have 3 routes to choose from and can make minor adjustments along the way due to traffic flow. This particular day I chose a route that I don't normally use so I am not familiar with the traffic patterns.
I was heading Eastbound on a single lane urban street with parked cars sort of like this
Early in the morning on a work day traffic is brisk as everyone is rushing . I was last in a group of 3 cars. We were not travelling very fast, definitely under 50 km/h which is the city speed limit, and there is nowhere to pass anyway. I had been following these cars for nearly 2 miles and I notice a car on the right coming from a side street waiting for us to pass and I noticed the left blinker light flashing
Etch-a-sketch version of our near encounter
The three cars in front of me passed and then suddenly the car on the right started to make his left turn right in front of me like he didn't know I was there. Luckily I was spaced back a bit and there was more room between me and the car in front.
In a millisecond I squashed my brakes and slowed to a walking crawl, and then the car stopped just in the nick of time to reveal a driver with an astonished, stupid look. I passed, stared at him and then realized that this was my lucky day . I think people are not expecting to see a motorcycle as I was certainly invisible to him .
I find that sometimes the faster routes are really safer as drivers are in rush and keep changing lanes to get ahead, therefore they are always scanning for traffic and they are more aware of where the dangers lurk and where the vehicles are positioned.
After work I took the faster southern route home; Marine Way, Marine Drive then Northbound on Cambie Street. I was being cautious as usual but I got tripped up at 41st avenue when I went into the dedicated left turn lane
Left turn lane at 41st & Cambie, Vancouver, BC
Remember that this is the weekend. Traffic is much heavier during a weekday afternoon rush hour. Today, being a Saturday, it was sparse. This is a very busy intersection with 4 lanes. A dedicated left turn, a right turn and two straight through lanes. The left turn is controlled by an Advanced Left turn light which allows the left turning traffic to GO first, then another light signals the through traffic to proceed. There are also pedestrian crosswalks and bike lanes here.
Looking North
Notice the position of the green van which is a taxi. This particular van didn't do anything wrong, I only wanted to note the position of the Van that is in one of the 2 straight through lanes (heading south)
I was on my bike in the dedicated left turn lane (northbound) waiting for the advance left turn signal light to turn green. I was second behind another car. The light turned green and we started to turn. Then the lead car in front of me stopped abruptley. I usually twist my throttle mid turn to gain speed for the upcoming straight section but instead I had to brake hard to stop in time from not hitting the car ahead. I had no idea what had happened nor why we had to stop. Then the car ahead made a maneuver to clear the intersection and before me was a taxi which had gone straight through his RED light and nearly clipped us. I was in the middle of the intersection watching him back up but then the lights turned green for the thru traffic and in seconds, traffic was moving all around me and I was trapped in the middle of the intersection with no escape route
Dear Bobskoot:
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of horn does your rig have? Not that a really loud horn is a guarantee of anything, but it does help. I recommend the Steble Nautilus Compact Air Horn at 136 Db. When in doubt, hit the button. I have never rolled an intersection where I saw the back of the driver's head in cross traffic. But I have had them look me right in the eyes, and pull out anyway.
I'm horrified that gas is sold by the teaspoon in Canada. At the Canadian price, it would cost me $225 (USD) to fill the tank on my truck.
Fondest regards,
Jack/reep
Twisted Roads
Jack:
DeleteI am not a horn user, even if I had a horn it would mostly be silent, unless I lived in China where a horn is a requirement. Over there you push the horn, then "gun it".
gas was down .02c this morning. You must have dual gas tanks ?
Glad you're ok Bob, we can never relax our vigilance and paranoia.
ReplyDeleteDom
Dom:
DeleteLuckily I had sufficient safety margin but I find traffic worse than before. So many people run RED lights, and most don't stop when they make their free right turns, and also the aggressive ones who are constantly changing lanes to get ahead. Then there are those "texters" . . . So many things to watch out for. Urban riding isn't fun anymore and the open road is an hour away.
So glad you are not injured, or worse!
ReplyDeleteI would not be able to ride in that kind of traffic pattern.
I am too "chicken".
Deb:
DeleteIt all depends upon what you are used to. You will get used to city traffic once you move. Don't forget that Vancouver has the 2nd worst traffic in North America (2nd to LA) in a recent survey
Read This:
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/20-cities-worst-traffic-north-america-far-beyond-181602175.html
My 35 minute commute in the morning, turns into an hour+ commute to get home
Glad you're alright. You really can't be too vigilant due to the smaller size of a motorcycle. Not to defend the driver pulling out from the side street but he probably saw the two cars coming down the street, then looked to the right to see if it was going to be clear, then started to pull out without glancing back to the left first. Everyone is in too much of a rush and in heavy traffic, motorcycles and bicycles are just buried in all the other traffic.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's time to retire just to avoid the commute?
Richard:
DeleteIt is a balancing act between lane position ONE and Lane position THREE. If you are in THREE then the left turners can't see you, and if you are in ONE, the side street people can't see you, so I tend to "hang back" to be seen from both sides. I find that busier 4 lane roads are better than these single residential roads. This was not my normal route so I am not as familiar with the traffic flows, it's just that there was an "accident" on my usual route (radio traffic report) so I was diverting to bypass the closed intersection. They always close intersections/roads when it is serious or involves fatalities.
I wished I could retire, soon I hope. I keep buying Lotto tickets.
Bob
ReplyDeleteThe first "event" was a classic SMIDSY collision - drivers may look but they don't see. Event 2 - sometimes you have to take quick action to get out of the danger zone - I had to pull across sharply in front of a car in my Advnaced Test to avoid being stuck in the centre of a road on a fast blind bend waitingt to turn (why put a junction on turn??)- I was expecting the examiner to pull me down on this but he said that I balanced the risks and had taken the correct judgement.
N from dreary England
I have a feeling the same silly people laid out your roads as ours. We have to many turns on curves. Or blind rises where the road suddenly curves without notice! People flying down the roads, that are familiar with them, can cause some problems. Glad your assessor agreed with you.
DeleteNikos/Lori:
DeleteOur City Planners have installed a lot of traffic calming obstacles, such as traffic circles, speed bumps, and signal lights which are not syncronized and you have to stop at nearly every block. It frustrates drivers so they become more aggressive. If they let the traffic flow then there would be less road rage. On many streets they have eliminated BUS STOP PULL OUTS, so when the bus stops to pick up passengers, they have no where to stop except in the middle of the road and the traffic has no where to go except to wait . . . I know you won't believe me so I may snap a few photos next time. Also most dedicated left turn signal lights are NOT computer controlled. They are on a timer and even though there are dozens of cars waiting to turn left, only a few get through at each light cycle, so many "jump" the light, or go through late at the tail end
Glad that all ended well.(I am always leary at intersections.) Gas down here in Flatistan is only 121.9L (Guess we're lucky.)
ReplyDeleteKaren:
DeleteI haven't been to Flatistan since 1998 when I had family living in Weston. I actually stayed there one summer and worked downtown near Bay and Yonge, across from the TD tower. Most times I took the subway from Islington, but I would drive on Fridays. I drove my car across Canada so I would have transporation there, then I drove it back across Canada back home after the summer. I wished I had explored more but we also had relatives in London, and an Uncle in Troy Michigan. We still have family in London, ON. I never paid much attention to gas prices back then. I got used to the 401 and used the express lanes all the time
With the others, glad you are ok. People sometimes just don't pay attention. Like Jack...get a loud flipping horn.
ReplyDeleteWhere were you positioned in the lane for event one? Had you moved to the right a little to allow them to see your lights? Or were you on the left side of the road kinda 'hidden' behind the car in front of you?
Lori:
DeleteI would never use the horn anyway so no use to get one.
It is usually a "dance" between Lane positions ONE and THREE . I usually "hang" farther back to be more visible from both sides. A left turning car will often let the car ahead pass then make their turn right in front of you, if you were not seen. I can see this is not a good idea to be taking these single lane neighbourhood routes but I was trying to avoid a closed intersection where there was an accident
Glad you're okay. We are invisible out there. I think we all see crazy stuff out there on a regular basis. With riding you learn to really observe at what's going on. Keeps ya sharp, even in the car.
ReplyDeleteBlueKat:
DeleteI try to keep vigilent even while driving. Sometimes it is like you are psychic and you just know what the cars are going to do, before they do it. Must be the M/C training. I also read somewhere that you should be travelling at a slightly faster pace so you don't blend into the landscape.
I too am glad you are okay. Always best to remember they are all out to kill us.
ReplyDeleteOne thing Brad has taught me when going through towns is to tighten the gap between riders if there are more than one in a group as people will try to turn between the riders otherwise. I wonder if it works the same when you aee last in a line of cars. You want to leave a gap, but at the same time if the gap is too big they try to hole shot it or don't see you. Hmmmmmm.
Trobairitz:
DeleteI used to do a lot of group riding, not so much nowadays, so I am used to going slow and being last. Tightening up formation through signal lights or in heavy traffic is best, to keep cars from cutting into your formation. Many cars try to "share your lane" to get ahead, rather than pull in behind.
It is particularly harder with low powered scooters who cannot maintain formation on hills and gaps form unexpectedly and cars move into the group. This is where more power is safer
Notice that on our ride from Enterprise to Redmond I hung back at least 6 seconds to give you more breathing space, but then I closed the gap as we encountered more traffic, or when I knew that Troubador was positioning for a "pass"
I had to learn to drive as if I'm invisible. That wasn't easy to do after 22 years of driving well marked squad cars and large transport vehicles. As a motorcycle rider I can't "argue" with cars... I won't win.
ReplyDeleteWow, on the gas prices!
Erik:
DeleteI usually hang back so I am more visible from both sides. You have left turners coming from the front, and look to the right for side street turners.
We haven't been under $5./us gal for a while now. Gas in the USA is cheap to us, even though it doesn't seem cheap to you. Bike prices are also very high as compared to you, and our dollar is nearly the same. Our bikes cost thousands more for no apparent reason
Bob,
ReplyDeleteWell done on your situational awareness and avoiding the potential SMIDSY collision! Car/motorcycle collision stats in NZ suggest that even if a motorcyclist was the victim rather than the perpetrator, many accidents were totally avoidable if the motorcyclist had better situational awareness skills; thereby taking earlier corrective action. Congrats in being a member of the latter group!!
Excellent post!
Geoff:
DeleteI am constantly looking ahead and changing to Lane position ONE & THREE depending upon circumstances. I have see cases where a left turner will start their turn as soon as the car in front passes, right in front of the motorcycle as they didn't see them, usually they are very close to the car ahead. I decided to hang back a bit so I could be seen on both sides from the front. It requires more attention to ride on these surface streets rather than a higher speed arterial with two lanes travelling in each direction.
since I am used to commuting in dense traffic I am more laid back now, and not as aggressive as in the past. If the traffic is speeding along at a good pace, I just sandwich myself into the flow of traffic. If I get a tail-gater, I move over to let them pass. I don't want them behind me. I look ahead for "parked" cars in the curb lane and I know that the cars on my right will be moving in front of me soon. I also leave more space than I should and it is very frustrating to constantly have cars pull in front of me eating up my safety margin
PS: Skype shows you are "online", but your phone just rings
Copy Erik on the invisibility. The time I spend riding in the city is spent maintaining a bubble of safety around myself. I never take anyone's intention for granted, and watch their wheels. The wheels never lie, the operators frequently do. Also I obey every (I mean every) traffic rule regarding stop signs, signalling lane changes etc.
ReplyDeleteVigilance and discretion trumps road rash and crumpled scooter every time!
Chris:
DeleteI always look at their wheels too. Sometimes they are turning very slowly and you have to keep an eagle eye on them. In the city you find that many drivers are very aggressive, it's because we have no fast routes within the city and we have no internal freeways, just lots of signal lights are nearly every corner which frustrates drivers
Yikes. Glad you came out unscathed. That looks like a crazy intersection!
ReplyDeleteKathy:
DeleteIn a recent traffic survey, Vancouver has the 2nd worst traffic in North America. It's because our City likes to discourage cars and encourage anything eco friendly, which means lots of concessions given to pedalpower or electric bikes, but not to gas consuming scooters or motorcycles which are often towed away without discretion