Last night a car nearly ran me down, should I feel overly grateful it didn’t do it?

Your fault….you “assumed” he/she saw you. If you feel the need to further assume drivers see you…make sure you have an ID on you, a number of who to contact to identify your remains and update your will. Today 2 out of 5 drivers are texting at any given moment so embrace that or start texting while riding your bike to even the playing field.

^ Your fault….you “assumed” he/she saw you.
Might have been, but in pure science logic, he was stopped at the yield sign, and being night, I could not see where he was looking, so being stopped at a yield sign means you yield for coming traffic or pedestrians. I guess the right thing in this situation was to wait until he passed or motioned me by because one cannot go off the facts as they occurred.

You trusted someone? Are you insane.:) Oh man, tonight the roads were slick with snow. I didn’t even get out of the parking lot before an idiot pulled out of a parking spot without looking when I’m 20 feet away. And that was only one of five other tries to kill me.

After a close call, I tend not to feel “grateful” to the idiot who didn’t hit me. I get what you mean, you’re lucky to be alive, so that’s a good thing, but it’s natural to be angry at the twit who almost ran you over due to negligence. Especially in the moments after it happens.

And @Cruiser, everyone should, of course, drive safely. That doesn’t make it the victim’s “fault” for getting hit. If the driver ignored the yield sign and didn’t cede the right of way, an accident would have been the driver’s fault, period.

@dappled_leaves I totally agree and harp incessantly to my teen drivers that although you are obligated to obey the stop signs and street lights there is no guarantee it is safe to proceed. There will inevitably be the cross walker, bike rider and distracted (or inebriated) driver who is not paying the attention they should. This also applies to walkers and bikers who if they assume the car drivers are aware of their presence…they will be lucky to give their version to a police officer if and when. Cell phones and texting is IMO 10 times worse for driving than drinking ever was.

@Cruiser Got it right. You assumed. One of my favorite sayings is: NEVER assume ANYTHING!

Hmm, any jellies live near you? :D

Drivers are all arseholes. Never trust them, lest you turn into actual jelly.

When I do not know for certain that the driver sees (like I can actually see the driver signalling for me to cross) me then I defer to the car. Especially at night. Be thankful that your own lack of good sense didn’t get you hurt.

No point in philosophizing now, great that you made it unharmed! What a way to start off the year! Glad you are okay!

I would be feeling pretty glad, but not because of the driver.

Oh, I always assume people DON’T see me.

@kritiper @Cruiser Got it right. You assumed. One of my favorite sayings is: NEVER assume ANYTHING!
One can hardly avoid assumptions on the road be it bike, motorcycle or car. If you apply your left turn signal because you are making a turn, if you did not assume approaching traffic see you and acknowledge you desire to turn, you’d be sitting there until there was no traffic headed your way that could hit you if they did not stop or slow giving you ample time to complete the turn. When you place your signal on and attempt to enter the freeway do you go only when there is no vehicle in the far right lane for 200 years and none in the next lane over for 100 yards that could merge over to the right lane? I am sure you assume if there is any vehicle in the right lane that they will merge left or slow down allowing you to enter if they are at a sufficient distance behind you, or do you assume they will just drive forward as if they did not see you entering the freeway before them? There is always some assumption, just not always the correct one.

@Darth_Algar .Be thankful that your own lack of good sense didn’t get you hurt.
Pray tell, what better sense could be used? The car was stopped at the yield sign, I had no yield sign but the cross walk. I stopped and waited for the car to go, when it did not, I preceded to continue, at that point rather than taking a last look to the right, I guess he just took off. When I am driving if I had to sit for more than 20 seconds I always take a last look in the opposite direction to make sure nothing sneaks up on me, dog walker, cyclist, woman with a stroller, etc. If I figured people to not be attentive behind the wheel I guess I should not trust traffic when I have a green light because the person can plow right through the intersection anyhow. I cannot think of anything I could have done better less wait until there were no vehicles in the area closer than 70 yards to me, then I could assume none would be close enough to hit me.

It was dark and you assumed the driver saw you. That was your lack of good sense. From your post there it sounds like, above all else, you got impatient and decided to go without knowing if the driver was aware of you or not.

@Darth_Algar If I waited to know whether the drivers around me were aware of me or not, I’d never ride a bike in the street, ever. It sounds like you’ve never been on two wheels in traffic before.

Honestly, the judgment on this thread is ridiculous. Try being a commuter cyclist for a year, and then come back and post here.

On the contrary a bicycle was my primary mode of transportation for years. Never once had a near accident like the OP however, since I don’t assume that the car, who’s driver may or may not be aware of my presence, isn’t going to pull on out.

^ […since I don’t assume that the car, who’s driver may or may not be aware of my presence, isn’t going to pull on out.
Curious, did you stop at each parked vehicle with a person in it or every drive way assuming the person did not see you and thus would open their door in front of you just as you were even with the rear wheel, or that some vehicle would come shooting out of the driveway and not see you?

No, but I also sure as shit didn’t dart out in the street, at night, with a car right there making a turn into my path.

@Darth_Algar No, but I also sure as shit didn’t dart out in the street, at night, with a car right there making a turn into my path.
To be clear neither did I. Had the car been moving, even if he were doing a ”California Stop” I would not have attempted to pass in front of him. But having him stopped, no creep, slow roll or nothing, and with a bright light that an attentive driver would certainly notice was not another car down the street, I felt is was no different than passing vehicles in a driveway without expecting them to plow you down in the street. The driver stopped to make sure he did not hit me and said he did not see me, but he never looked that last look to the right, as we are told; look both ways. Had I been jay riding as I find myself doing sometimes when I am impatient and I got my clock cleaned it would have been my foolishness because I would be placing myself in the path of cars when they have the lane.

Since you must assume, as I assume you are going to assume anyway, assume then Johnston’s law. “Murphy’s law is ALWAYS in effect and it can affect YOU.”

“Murphy’s law is ALWAYS in effect and it can affect YOU.”
Gosh darn, if that isn“t a new concept? I guess that is why my quick reflexes allowed me to avoid calamity. I always anticipate someone not playing attention or caring for safety even when they should.

So you shouldn’t feel grateful towards the car since there was no thinking entity (car wise or anything other than the driver of the car) involved, only pure chance. You can’t be grateful towards the driver who almost ran you down!
Don’t leave fate to chance next time. Learn from your mistakes and near misses lest they get you killed. You can be grateful to yourself for that opportunity to learn and thus live another day.

^ Learn from your mistakes and near misses lest they get you killed.
If ever I anticipate wrong, it will not be a negative, that driver will haven given me my exit ticket out of this cracker barrel to a much better place.