A truck nearly hit me this morning

[cooky1975]

Got up this morning - beautifal weather , having a nice ride in. On my comute are road works. I had a truck pull out into traffic from my front left accross to my right - he didnt even see me - he bloody swore - God that was scary. Logve riding but God the driving is bad in auckland. I have been riding 8 months and without fail once a week i am nearly taken out.

Any one else have this experience or is it just me ?

[avgas]

haha.................

[Icemaestro]

Used to commute every day from west auckland into the city - It was a rare day in which I didn't have to take evasive action or anticipate a vehicle trying to occupy a spot I was in.

Though I have to say my reaction and emergency skills have gotten worse since not doing said commute

[Maha]

Vigilance is paramount in Auckland traffic, thats a given.
It is the nature of the beast.

[maggot]

Just wait, you'll soon realise it's not just trucks. Taxis, couriers, bicyclists, pedestrians, SUVs, other cars, pretty much everything on the road, including you!

[slofox]

Happens all the time. At the risk of sounding like the Great Katman, it is up to you to be alert for this kinda thing and to be as defensive as you can be. You can do a lot yourself to reduce your own level of risk. As in "never assume you will get the right of way that the rules say you have". Etc etc etc...

I had a tanker come round the corner this morning on my side of a narrow country road (how un-fucking-usual ) but I had already prepared for such an eventuality by keeping as far from the centre line as I could - "just in case" sorta thing.

Still made me arse go "TWOING!" though...

[Oblivion]

On the road everything that you think won't try to kill you will probably end up trying to kill you anyway. Best get used to it now and start practising defensive driving as soon as possible. The sooner that you get this stuff down the better of you'll be.

[mrchips]

Shit like that doesn't happen in Wellytown + the car drivers here are friggen awesome ...

Must be just an Auckland thing.

[Mom]

Any one else have this experience or is it just me ?

It is just you

Seriously though, when you have been riding a while you develop something you will see referred to on here as spidey sense. It is a feeling that someone is not paying attention/something is not quite right, and you learn very quickly to tune into it.

You need to have your eyes everywhere on a bike. All well and good seeing what is right in fornt of you, you need to be watching the sides and behind you as well. At all times you should be scanning for an escape route should something happen. Always have a plan B.

Be vigilant and remember the saying, he was dead right. He was in the right, but is dead all the same, is the translation. You are the only one responsible for your safety.

[Dodgy_Matt]

Just ride like every fucker is out to get you, make sure you know where everyone is at all times and try to anticipate what the Reets are going to do...
Do this for every car on the road.... no matter where they are...

[Oakie]

Just ride like every fucker is out to get you, make sure you know where everyone is at all times and try to anticipate what the Reets are going to do...
Do this for every car on the road.... no matter where they are...

Yeah, what he said. You need to get to the stage where nothing they do surprises you. You've been biking for 8 months so I reckon you've got another 10 months until you achieve the suitable level of mistrust of all other road users.

[Berries]

I have been riding 8 months and without fail once a week i am nearly taken out.

Any one else have this experience or is it just me ?

Happens pretty much every week to me as well. if you expect it to happen you are most of the way there to stop it hurting you and riding on shaking your head at the driver. Or kicking their door in in the true KB fashion.

I had a thought on the way back from Queenstown tonight which is kind of related. People fail to see trains, and trucks, and cars and motorbikes and cyclists. You can have your lights on full beam, hi-viz to the max and a beautiful Colgate smile but someone somewhere will still pull out on you.

Is it better to be as visible as possible so only 1 in 10,000 people pull out in front of you, or to be all done up in camouflage and get 1 in 100 pulling out on you? If it is 1:10,000 it will be unexpected and there is a good chance you will get caught out. If it is 1:100 you'll be expecting it. You'll have the brakes covered, an escape route planned and more than likely get away with it.

This is where I think the whole hi-viz idea falls over. Even if it works, as I am sure it does up to a point, people are still going to pull out on you. Anyway, that's off topic. You live in Auckland, what do you bloody expect?

[Banditbandit]

Yeah .. anything with four wheels is either a moving chicane or a potential hazard .. ride accordingly...

[Eyegasm]

I had a mint 67 impala pull out of a t-junction on me, I shook my head in disbelief...

Such a beautiful car driven by a f-tard, total disregard for beauty.

[gale_wolf]

As others have already said, you should assume that all other road users are completely unaware of you.

Note that this also includes other riders, especially when they're lane-splitting and particularly when they're weaving back and forth across several lanes then decide to split down the same area that you're already riding or splitting in. They may pop out in front of you without checking behind first and cut you off.