For the newer cyclists here

[johnridley]

From Bicycling magazine, The Five Most Common Causes of Bike-Car Collisions and how to avoid them

Not surprisingly, all five of them are the fault of the car driver, the advice is how to avoid in the first place, or how to get out of the situation if it happens.

I don't personally think the advice is really aggressive enough, but it's not bad as far as it goes. It's good to at least know what the biggest hazards are. They're mostly not the things most people worry about who haven't much experience in traffic.

Comments

[forestweather.livejournal.com]

Yes, what John says is totally how I used to ride. However, I am essentially a brand new rider in terms of stability/balance, being able to right "straight" without wobbling, starting from a complete stop, turning, etc. So right now I am more comfortable on sidesteets or sidewalks--which are sometimes bikepaths in Walker, as along Remembrance. When my skills increase, I expect to ride like that again. While I agree that it's my right to be on the road, practically, I'm not ready to challenge the cars/trucks.

As for being a driver, I always wait behind the cyclist on a blind curve or double yellow going uphill--and good cyclists signal the driver when it's safe to go around--by moving over and/or with an arm wave.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

That's a valid point. The whole aggressive VC argument kind of hinges on fairly competent riding ability. I'm not the best, I can't trackstand for beans, but I can ride straight within an inch or two down to walking speed. If it's hard to hold a line and steer rapidly and accurately exactly where you want to go, it's probably best to just avoid high traffic situations until those skills come to you.