The Vig

I heard about the collision on Interstate while listening to the Rick Emerson Show today. Rick immediately recognized this would be the incident the local media would seize upon to finally have some sort of fake tee-vee discussion. And with November sweeps just around the corner, how will they possibly resist? He and Sarah hatched a great plan to post the rules of the road on Rick’s website. I was planning to do the same thing here. Just a silent tribute without comment. And I may yet, but I have to get some stuff off my chest.

My current day gig involves me driving anywhere from 50-100 miles a day. Those miles are mostly on Portland’s surface streets. I drive from Hayden Island to the north to Milwaukie to the south. From 122nd Ave to the east to Beaverton in the west. I’m everywhere. And no matter where I am, it’s a pleasure for me to share the road with cyclists. Although I haven’t been on a bike since the Clinton administration, I still remember what it’s like to be out there and would love to do it again one day. I keep an eye out for bicycles at all times and try to stay on top of their location when I’m around. I try to be attentive, I really do. That aid, there were three separate incidents I was involved in tonight alone that makes me wonder if anyone on either side will ever learn.

• At 5:45, I was traveling eastbound on Hawthorne from downtown. As per usual there were several cyclists commuting home. I gave each a wide berth as I overtook them and generally tried to stay in the center lane. When it came time for me to turn right on 36th, I signaled and waited for several pedestrians to cross 36th. It’s no big deal. After several seconds, the last pedestrian cleared and I started to make my turn. At that exact moment a cyclist passed me on the right. This despite my right turn signal and the lack of bike lane. The cyclist literally appeared out of nowhere and I nearly clipped him. He wasn’t one of the cyclists I’d passed several blocks back, so he’d come onto Hawthorne fairly recently. How am I supposed to know about him if he doesn’t slow down and ignores my signal? WTF am I supposed to do?
• Shortly after making my drop on 36th, I was working my way east along Lincoln. I was at about 35th and Lincoln when I saw a cyclist with no helmet and both hands off the handlebars. Fine. The problem? He was talking on a cell phone. He was heading west as I went east on Lincoln. I looked in my rear view mirror and watched him cruise straight through the intersection at 34th and Lincoln (note Google Street View clearly shows it’s a 4-way stop with flashing red lights). Still no hands on handlebars and still working the cell phone. Not a care in the world.
• My last cyclist encounter of the evening came on SW Salmon St. I was heading east toward Naito Parkway at about 9:15 pm. A cyclist was up on the sidewalk along the south side of the Hilton between Broadway and 6th, no hands, cruising at a pretty good clip. No helmet, a very dim LED headlight on her handlebar. The sidewalk is closed at 6th, so she jumped down into traffic and slid in behind me. It was dark and I couldn’t find the LED light anywhere around me. I knew she was back there, but where? As we crossed 6th and then 5th, I could make out the LED occasionally in my rear view mirror. She was behind me. I knew that. Then suddenly she was back up on the south sidewalk. WTF am I supposed to do? Clearly she wasn’t going to obey any traffic laws. And I seriously couldn’t figure out where she was from one moment to the next. And that damned LED wasn’t helping matters.

I try, people. I honestly do. And I know cyclists have just as many stories of inattentive (or worse) drivers. I know. Hell, I’ve probably been that inattentive driver at some point. We’re not all going to operate at 100% all the time. But if we’ve learned anything in the last two weeks, it’s that we’ve all got to be more attentive and not assume we know what the other is doing.

I dunno. I guess it’s up to me to keep my own little corner safe and well kept. I hope you will too.

By the way, if you’re looking for the rules of the road, you can find them here and here. [HT: Jonathan Maus]