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Permalink Reply by Ryan L on September 16, 2009 at 6:33pm

Yes and Yes! Just one more thing to add to a list of how a self absorbed driver can kill a poor cyclist.

I had someone in a BMW open their door on me the other day and I was damn lucky I was staring the car down as I rode by and swerved out of the way just in time. The car had tinted windows so I couldn't see in which always garners my extra attention. No brake lights were on but all of a sudden some guy blasts open the door with his cell in his hand fresh from texting his bros or hoes or whatever. Some choice words from my potty mouth were expressed :)

I'm still waiting for drivers to figure out they have turn signals and that they need to f-ing learn how to use them. Seriously, how lazy can someone be not to flick a damn turn signal on that turns itself off after said turn? Sad and sad :(

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Permalink Reply by Homebuilt on September 17, 2009 at 3:29am

Well... I'm glad that they're parked while texting anyway.
I am getting much more "defensive" about the potential for car doors: basically I try to always ride far enough out to miss any car doors that might open, unless traffic is stopped and I'm sliding through the space. Even then, I've always done the swervy to make sure I'm always as far away from any car doors as possible - cars stopped in traffic sometimes let passengers out.
If there's a sharrow for a shared lane, I try to ride so I'm going over the points of the arrows.
I know that this may confuse and annoy drivers, but when cars do inevitably come too close to me, I at least have someplace to go.
In fact if some car is having a habit of passing too close, I usually ride FARTHER into the street so that I have someplace to go when they buzz me.

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Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on September 17, 2009 at 3:33pm

yup, similar experiences here that you've described. Ok, its not just me..I suspect people are less mindful of checking for oncoming traffic when they get in their texting mode. Its like they become texting zombies and forget everything else. Thanks to both you guys for your observations and tips for dealing w/it.

Ryan L said:

Yes and Yes! Just one more thing to add to a list of how a self absorbed driver can kill a poor cyclist.
I had someone in a BMW open their door on me the other day and I was damn lucky I was staring the car down as I rode by and swerved out of the way just in time. The car had tinted windows so I couldn't see in which always garners my extra attention. No brake lights were on but all of a sudden some guy blasts open the door with his cell in his hand fresh from texting his bros or hoes or whatever. Some choice words from my potty mouth were expressed :)
I'm still waiting for drivers to figure out they have turn signals and that they need to f-ing learn how to use them. Seriously, how lazy can someone be not to flick a damn turn signal on that turns itself off after said turn? Sad and sad :(

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