Close Calls (No crash)

[PurpleRiderUSA]

A close call is exactly that -- a potentially dangerous incident which is just narrowly avoided. 

For example, the other day I was accelerating to 25+ mph (about 40kmh} on an unprotected bike lane as a Prius began to turn right unexpectedly. 

I accelerated again into the same right turn which barely avoided the car and then I did a quick U-turn back towards the sidewalk of the original direction that I was riding. After reviewing the video footage, I concluded that the driver did put their blinker on although a bit late while the glare from the sun made it extra hard to notice. 

Despite taking precautions, I seem to have a close call nearly every day. Usually minor and often only involving myself, but still. I recently hit a hidden groove into a bump in an intersection and almost lost the wheel directly into a construction worker -- that would have been f**ked. 

I think it contributes to the enjoyment and thrill of riding an electric unicycle, even though I know that objectively a rider should be more cautious. 

Am I reckless or do other people experience close calls? What close call have you had and how did you learn from it?

Edited October 28, 2022 by PurpleRiderUSA
Formatting

[Cerbera]

5 minutes ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

Despite taking precautions, I seem to have a close call nearly every day.

 

6 minutes ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

Am I reckless or do other people experience close calls?

Er.. if you are having close calls every day, then that might suggest you ARE a bit reckless !  Or at least may be riding in not the safest of environments - ie, roads with other traffic. Yes, I know loads of other people routinely do it, but we don't know often know how many close calls they get - I suspect it's similar !

I decided a while back that roads that were not the best places for me and my EUCs, and if I stick to pavements and cycle paths, and trails and parks and whatnot, then I do get close calls of course, but they are few and far between - if I have more than 1 in 6 months I am surprised !

I did have one the other day as it goes, out on my old MS3, and in that case if I had been on the road it wouldn't have happened ! Electric car pulled silently out of a driveway across the pavement in front of me, forcing me to swerve into the road without looking first. It was empty on this occasion, fortunately, and nobody fell off anything.

We gotta expect falls and crashes sometimes, and presumably close calls rather more often - in some ways it's the nature of the beast riding these things, but if I was getting near misses like that every day I would be asking myself if I couldn't be doing anything else to bring those odds down a bit !

[Tawpie]

50 minutes ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

I think it contributes to the enjoyment and thrill of riding an electric unicycle

I save my close calls for the trails, and there I find plenty of opportunities. I could hurt myself playing in the dirt for sure, but probably not as bad as I would if I tangled with a licensed motor vehicle...

In town, I'm hyper aware of what's going on around me, so much so that some of the enjoyment is diminished. I also go fairly slowly. I think I developed this habit when I bought my first car and realized that I was in fact, driving in a beer can. I would lose any confrontation, even with a decent sized rabbit. Riding my wheel isn't much different than that '73 CVCC so my head is on a swivel, I pre-slow for all driveways, and stay as far from cars as I possibly can. I'm also lit up like "a christmas tree on the way to the hospital", but that's as much due to an unhealthy relationship with blinky lights as anything ("Visibility=Safety Improvement" is a really good excuse, and when you need an excuse, any one will do)

Edited October 28, 2022 by Tawpie

[RoboFixIt]

 

I have seen enough cars cut in front of bikers etc that I don't trust any gas guzzling machine anymore. Just expect people to be bad drivers and stay away from them. You can have close calls with any means of transportation even if you're in a bike lane, that's why I try to ride off road.

 

[xiiijojjo]

After a few thousand kilometers of riding, especially in cities, I've developed hyper-awareness. I can no longer get myself to turn without first looking over my left shoulder. After almost being cut off and hit by cars turning right (through the bicycle lane) countless times, one day I would finally be hit in such a manner, landing me in the hospital. Thankfully I had started wearing protective gear so after a scan I was ready to leave with no broken bones. However, I hurt my foot and couldn't walk for around 2 weeks.

Another time I was not so lucky...

I was on the bicycle lane approaching a T-intersection and I had right of way, so naturally, the car on the connecting road was stationary and seemingly waiting for me to pass him, however, the second I was in front of the car it started accelerating right into me landing me in the hospital with broken wrists (before I started wearing my protective gear)

In my years of riding close calls have become fewer and further between. For the first time, I have become the person most prone to put me in the hospital with crazy fast acceleration and riding fast on unfamiliar asphalt...

I find myself not even recalling any close calls for the past three years or so. I think the biggest contributor to this is how whenever I pass somewhere where a car could turn right I always assume it will so I slow down sometimes almost to a full stop, letting them cut me off and break the law because I'd rather they break that than my bones. 

Whenever I'm passing in front of cars giving me the right of way, I make sure to get eye contact with them to ensure they won't accelerate into me while I'm in front of them. 

I'm sure there are a bunch of other small things I do for safety that have been deeply ingrained in me. BTW The only other vehicle I rode in traffic was a bicycle, never a car, and I come from a country with a bicycle culture so I may have an advantage, considering that I always behave as a bicycle in traffic (albeit fast AF).

My best advice is to look over that left shoulder (or use a mirror if that's more your thing) don't do it for too many seconds at a time as I did that one time to see if my family's car had caught up to me. I ended up hitting a curb at like 20km/h scratching up a factory-new RS19 in the process... Still the only scratches on it after 2 years impressively.  

Edited October 28, 2022 by xiiijojjo

[Paul A]

Car Intentionally Hits EUC rider - What do you guys think?

U-Stride

6.04K subscribers

Oct 25, 2022

 

 

Pinned by U-Stride

Laenthal

3 days ago

This is my city.

 

Here the story as was told in a local "road accidents" group - the car dude wanted to "burst through" using the rightmost lane, disregarded or did not noticed the euc dude in time (who was occupying the center of the lane), got mad and did what he did.

 

However there was more events after the video ends - the whole deed was witnessed by a driving along National Guard (Rosgvardia) guys, who chased and pulled over the car dude.

 

By late words of the euc (that's a Sherman btw) dude he had no idea that the car dude intentionally cut him off, so he, thinking that "eh, mistakes happen" struck a deal with the car dude for a bit of money and no hard feelings (in the presence of NatGuards).

 

However, having learnt about this video later now the euc dude wants to sue the car dude using this video.

As far as i understood there were no injuries and no real damages to the Sherman.

 

[mrelwood]

My safety techniques are similar to others in this thread. A lot of it comes from motorcycle schooling, which emphasizes many of the aspects that I think are crucial for EUC riding as well.

19 hours ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

For example, the other day I was accelerating to 25+ mph (about 40kmh} on an unprotected bike lane as a Prius began to turn right unexpectedly.

To me that wouldn’t have been unexpected. A very large portion of drivers don’t use the blinker each time they should, which makes it an extremely unreliable method to rely your safety on.

 Behave as every car had a blinker on all the time. Or as if every car was out to get you. Learned this in motorcycle school.

19 hours ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

Despite taking precautions, I seem to have a close call nearly every day.

In that case your precautions can be improved!

19 hours ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

I recently hit a hidden groove into a bump in an intersection

The groove and bump were not hidden, they were right there in front of you. One must register all crevices on one’s planned riding path. I ride with loose and slightly bent knees, in case I miss a bump while scanning the road.

A suspension helps immensely with this though. I noticed that with the V11 I could concentrate much more on the traffic and environment, since I no longer had to scan the road right in front of me all the time. This was a huge literal eye opener.

 

19 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Electric car pulled silently out of a driveway across the pavement in front of me

Cars come from driveways, that’s a common event and shouldn’t be a surprise. If you are not prepared to stop when they do come, you are gambling it if you think that they wouldn’t come right when you are there.

 There are no blind corners. There are just really really slow ones. One should always be able to stop in the visible distance of the road. Motorcycle school.

 

19 hours ago, Tawpie said:

In town, I'm hyper aware of what's going on around me, so much so that some of the enjoyment is diminished.

My thoughts exactly. But to me that’s what riding in a town or city means, there’s no way around it. It is stressful, but pulling down one’s guard equals taking more risk.

 

15 hours ago, Paul A said:

Car Intentionally Hits EUC rider - What do you guys think?

That was a truly depressing clip! I’m all for suing the driver.

 

19 hours ago, PurpleRiderUSA said:

What close call have you had and how did you learn from it?

I’ve always been a careful and mindful rider, but in the early years I had a few lessons.

5 years ago I was slowly passing two pedestrians on a gravel road when the other pedestrian started to rush across the road. She had heard me and thought that I was a far away bicycle, so she thought she still had time. I bumped her and she slowly fell into the shallow bushes. No damages. She was sorry.

 Around the same time I calmly passed a large dog and the owner. I kept ample distance. When the dog saw me at her side, she tried to attack me or jump in front of me. I was barely able to swerve to the side. I started to use a bell whenever I felt that the dog owner hasn’t noticed me.

Although, dogs’ behavior has changed hugely in these five years. I barely ever need the bell anymore. I’m sure they have been accustomed by the kick scooters.

[Paul A]

Body video cameras.

Great for recording of evidence.

Mount two for front and rear view.

Attach with heavy duty velcro.  Cut yoga mat foam as a shock absorbing intermediary between camera and EUC body.

High speed TF memory card preferable for smooth capture.

Battery capacity provides many hours of continuous recording.

Lens direction pivots/adjustable.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/385000563745?hash=item59a3d26421:g:hkoAAOSw-spiy80n&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4IMwuGhDZDdL5OJE1jlvOMi0LifPK9cxgMMttbsVPwjbMcGppRXLxKUKFRHdCXhz4wel6lb5qEop9Hu%2Fi5p2eGythlQx3VtDT%2FFq59rKVrfgYQW2zTYZoWlzphbxLKADlqg0o9VVx2CS7WAvYVqNM07XTOoDZmqEmGtdEQQk3B0PK1acQNgRvQT5qqENuK8pXZOsdfAbpF8B4xT17fQILEK9y6cA1Jp1BudCq9x1gwokccJU8WDG9v2eHaBewYGCybbTu4aXzLrxXxLll1cnTPiKo8BFZz%2Btju6lMEvaNgEz|tkp%3ABFBM7rKrqIRh

 

 

[Mono]

A close call is great, if one can learn from it. Then, it is one of the top safety features we have (well, in the end it's the brain that does the job).

I frequently mix with many people coming in various modes of transportation (walking, cycling, driving PLEVs, cars, busses, some trucks). In recent years, I had only two close calls: an overlooked pothole (at ~23km/h) and a pedal scratching the curb (at ~10km/h). Avoiding pedal clipping I learned from the real thing (on the sidewalk) instead of a close call.

Further close calls on the sidewalk from the past: a wheel runaway that ended up in a guardrail instead of the street, I gently bumped into a pedestrian twice and almost in a skater once and I fell once to avoid crashing into a cyclist (close call regarding the hit, both of us speeding on the side walk through a curve). On the road: I hit a few scary close bumps, potholes and lane grooves (but never fell on the street or bike lane) and I was a few times close to run out of space while braking.

I learned respectively to use a leash until I learned to better control the wheel when stepping off, to better adjust my distances to moving people (pedestrians, cyclists, cars, etc. always assuming the possibility of some erratic behavior) in line with speed, visibility and my skill set (brake distance), and I learned to read the street and keep the knees flexible and the heels light such that potholes and even bumps almost don't scare me anymore. I also ride with (small) Kuji pads now which give a firm contact point to the wheel right above the ankles and help with bumps and potholes.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Mono

[360rumors]

On 10/27/2022 at 6:16 PM, PurpleRiderUSA said:

A close call is exactly that -- a potentially dangerous incident which is just narrowly avoided. 

For example, the other day I was accelerating to 25+ mph (about 40kmh} on an unprotected bike lane as a Prius began to turn right unexpectedly. 

I accelerated again into the same right turn which barely avoided the car and then I did a quick U-turn back towards the sidewalk of the original direction that I was riding. After reviewing the video footage, I concluded that the driver did put their blinker on although a bit late while the glare from the sun made it extra hard to notice. 

Despite taking precautions, I seem to have a close call nearly every day. Usually minor and often only involving myself, but still. I recently hit a hidden groove into a bump in an intersection and almost lost the wheel directly into a construction worker -- that would have been f**ked. 

I think it contributes to the enjoyment and thrill of riding an electric unicycle, even though I know that objectively a rider should be more cautious. 

Am I reckless or do other people experience close calls? What close call have you had and how did you learn from it?

I’ve had close calls such as cars suddenly backing out of driveways but they don’t happen all that often and I’ve thus far anticipated them all, probably because I rode a motorycle on the street before and have been trained to think that everyone is secretly trying to kill me.  If you have a close call everyday then I think you may need to be much more cautious.

Edited November 21, 2022 by 360rumors

[PurpleRiderUSA]

On 11/21/2022 at 2:08 PM, 360rumors said:

I’ve had close calls such as cars suddenly backing out of driveways but they don’t happen all that often and I’ve thus far anticipated them all, probably because I rode a motorycle on the street before and have been trained to think that everyone is secretly trying to kill me.  If you have a close call everyday then I think you may need to be much more cautious.

Yea, I think you're right about that. I've recently watched a lot of motorcycle / first responder commentary videos and it's given me a good perspective of how to predict things before they happen.

[PurpleRiderUSA]

Hsiang close call

Looks like he's enjoying the V12HT in the city with his weird stance haha.

[Circuitmage]

I got tired of waiting for the light to turn green at 6:30 am this week...almost got hit by a bus. Does that count?

 

[Funky]

17 minutes ago, Circuitmage said:

I got tired of waiting for the light to turn green at 6:30 am this week...almost got hit by a bus. Does that count?

 

How close was it? That's the question - That needs to be answered. 

[mike_bike_kite]

On 10/28/2022 at 2:16 AM, PurpleRiderUSA said:

For example, the other day I was accelerating to 25+ mph (about 40kmh} on an unprotected bike lane as a Prius began to turn right unexpectedly. 

...

Am I reckless or do other people experience close calls? What close call have you had and how did you learn from it?

So you're accelerating past a vehicle, on the wrong side, at a junction where the vehicle could easily turn? In all honesty that's not reckless, that's pretty foolhardy. I think it would be a good idea to think very hard about your approach to riding and try to learn to anticipate what vehicles are likely to do in advance rather than just reacting to situations. 

On 10/28/2022 at 2:16 AM, PurpleRiderUSA said:

What close call have you had and how did you learn from it?

My last close call was during the summer when approaching an empty pedestrian crossing. The traffic was moving about 20mph and I was looking over my shoulder to get into the other lane when someone ran out onto the crossing. I leant back to slow down but unfortunately the road was very corrugated where I was braking and the wheel started to bounce and skip across the road - it also didn't help that on every bounce my feet were moving further forward on the pedals. I wasn't 100% sure I was going to stop in time or even stay on the wheel. I did stop but the episode did bother me a bit and I'll admit I stopped for a moment to gather my thoughts.

I now change lanes much earlier, which allows me to be facing forward to see what the pedestrians are doing and it also puts me on smoother tarmac. I also ride slower whenever I'm approaching a pedestrian crossing when pedestrians are nearby. 

[Paul A]

1 hour ago, Circuitmage said:

almost got hit by a bus.

 

Females have better peripheral vision.

Think it is evidenced by car insurance claims, whereby males are more likely to be hit by other cars to the side.

 

Might hark back to division of labour in Hunters and Gatherers society.

_________________

 

https://inside-the-brain.com/tag/peripheral-vision/

May 16, 2015

The human eye is built differently in men and women.

 

It may surprise you but most men have less peripheral vision than most women.

This is because men have less rod cells than women in the back of their eye balls.

Most women’s peripheral vision is effective up to almost 180 degrees.

 

A man’s eyes are larger than a woman’s and his brain configures them for a type of long distance tunnel vision, which means he can see clearly and accurately directly in front of him and over great distances – almost like binoculars.

This allows a man to focus clearly on a distant target while women can monitor everything going on around her.

 

This is part of the reason why women can cook dinner and watch the kids at the same time – a recipe for disaster with many men.