The other day, during evening rush hour, I made a left-hand turn on a 5-lane intersection. I waited in the left-hand turn lane until I had a protected turn with a green arrow. Sometimes this intersection is busy, sometimes not. Just as I was completing the turn, a car facing me in the opposite oncoming lane decides to turn right. There is nothing against a car turning right when the light is red. However, it’s typically most accepted to do when the intersection is clear. While still dangerous in a car, this sort of thing is especially unnerving on a bike for a few reasons. First, I essentially have 6 lanes of traffic to cross before my light turns red. Traffic lights are timed for easy-to-accelerate cars, and a cyclist with fully loaded panniers starting up from a dead stop need to generate as much momentum as possible to have the speed to cross in time. It’s a law of physics. By the time I reach the end of the intersection, I am pedaling as fast and hard as I possibly can. I was also turning onto an uphill road (Stone Way), another count against a cyclist’s speed. When the car turned in front of me, I had no choice but to brake as the speed at which he accelerated made it clear he was not going to yield to my right of way. I doubt this driver has ever tried to put on the brakes while turning a bike. Braking on a bike when going at full speed while in the peak of a turn is not a good idea. I’ve never lost ground, but it feels like the wheel will just skid out from underneath you and you end up landing on your side. Hard braking is just not an option. I had to straighten my turn while braking. As my rear tire fishtails across the pavement, my front time comes within inches of ramming into the car’s bumper. My angle was such that I was able to change direction and turn to the inside of him rather than stop. Had he decided to brake at all I would have hit him. As I watched my wheel approach his bumper, I pumped my brakes harder, skidded further, and gasped a little. Luckily nothing happened. A few feet ahead we both had a red light (all his rushing was for nothing; the cars turning with me, in front and behind me, all had to wait at this light). As I approached and passed him, he didn’t appear to have any idea I existed, much less just saw my life pass before my eyes due to his actions.

The picture above depicts my fear, what really happened was that when he accelerated, I braked and the bumper I nearly hit was the opposite (passenger side) rear bumper. While the above collision would probably have been the most damaging to my skull, we could have collided in many other ways that still would have been a bummer on my part. These are the things you ponder while pedaling in the city.