Tuesday, August 18, 2015

a near miss

I've written recently about bike safety and sharing the road safely. On a recent evening I was riding home from the train station, trying to do just that.

I rode away from the Metra station and came to a 4-way stop. A driver approached on the intersecting street. We stopped at the same time. I yielded to the driver to my right, in accordance with the law. After he went, I entered the intersection. I was in the middle of the intersection when the next driver started from my right, as I was about to roll in front of his car.

I had to yell "STOP!" at the top of my lungs to bring him back from his distracted state. He hit the brakes and said "Sorry!" I was glad to leave the intersection without any collision.  It was still daylight. Visibility was not an issue.

We all need to pay attention in traffic, whether we are drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. This kind of encounter happens every day.  If we're lucky, we all get home without injury.

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