It’s that time of year. Blame it on the time change, the position of the sun (or lack thereof), or maybe less bikes on the road, but there’s more close calls with cars. Seems to me to be worst on the freeway. But, it probably is worse for you wherever you ride most. When it happens my first reaction is to get pissed. Then I think about it and realize (most of the time) I was riding in a spot that was hard to see for the driver. This is a good time to remind yourself where you need to be around a car to make sure they see you. First and foremost, if they have to see you in a mirror - you are in the wrong spot. You’ve got to figure that whatever lane you’re in, that car is going to develop “lane envy” and make a lane change. So, it’s key to make sure you are far enough forward of the driver’s door that the driver sees you as they are looking forward. Alternatively, be far enough back that their sudden lane change isn’t going to cause you to panic. It’s that time of year, so be extra careful out there.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.