California law requires drivers to merge into a bike lane before making a right turn, after ensuring that the lane is clear.
This is why.
This is what a right hook looks like
Category: Bicycle Safety, Bike Cam Video, Car vs Bike / Tags: bicycling, Los Angeles, right hook, Stupid Driver Tricks
That’s a pretty easy one to avoid due to the fact that the driver was well in front of you and going slow. By not signaling he violated CVC 22107 but by slowing he did give you a hint, even if he wasn’t trying to.
It’s harder when they are going much faster than you, just barely pass and slam on the brakes going into the turn. That’s why I take advantage of CVC 21208(a)(4) and move out into the lane. It makes those impossible.
Yeah, I slowed down in anticipation that he was going to do something stupid. His hesitation was a pretty good indication that he was going to do something I wouldn’t like.
Keep in mind that most bike cameras make things look further away than they actually are, due to the wide-angle lenses.
I try to avoid right hooks by taking up more of the lane at intersections, but that’s hardly something that is always an option, or something that a less confident cyclist will be willing to do in dense or high speed traffic.
I think it’s good to concentrate on educating motorists of their legal requirements, while simultaneously educating cyclists of their options. It’s also good to advocate for infrastructure that makes these mixing zones more explicit or avoids them altogether.
My right hook looked alot different cause the car actually hit me.
Like Ruben, my right hook actually involved the driver hitting me. Then the jerk took off like he never noticed me while I was left with a fractured spine.
Usually the driver thinks he’s doing you a favor by swinging wide staying out of the bike lane even if he cuts you off, most motorists are not cyclists and have no perspective of what they are doing. Trouble is, an ingorant nincompoop will get you killed just as fast as a psycho cager. A few bicycle related public service announcements could be used to inform the drivers in this state, but politicians are better at wasting money than using it to prevent accidents.
Yeah, the right hook is a nasty move. Around here we don’t even have a law to require someone move into the bike lane first, and if we did nobody would care to look out for a bicyclist. Hell, around here I used to wear all black and hide my reflectors because it always seemed that when they could see you, they’d TRY to hit you.
I seriously think that all drivers should be forced to ride a bicycle for 3 years before you are able to even get a permit, but I’m of the mind that at least 90% of drivers shouldn’t have been given their permits at all, ever and since it’s a privilege, not a right, we should be regulating them FAR more than we are now. Cars kill about 6,000 pedestrians every year and total deaths are 40,000. Three MILLION people are injured every year. And most of these are 100% preventable.
So when are local PDs going to accept video evidence and cite drivers based on the video? Or is camera video only good when we get killed?
Now that’s a video post!!!! AAA++++