Mandeville Canyon - Motorist/Cyclist Cooperation

[rickhark]

I think common sense will prevail anywhere on the road. We hear constantly of incidents but never about the good deeds of driver co-operation.

I'm a driver as well as a cyclist and courtesy goes a long way.

Great video.

RickH.

[TesterAnimal1]

With probably quite obvious video equipment on show. It has a huge effect on driver behaviour.

When they see it, they behave. When they don't see it, they don't give a flying about your life.

To believe otherwise is to just bend over for them.

[CyclistLorax]

@TesterAnimal1 - I don't think so. The video cameras are not easily visible from the rear, and we get the same treatment without cameras. But as I wrote before, if your belief system is out of touch with reality, far be it from me to persuade you otherwise. So where is your video data that demonstrates that your view is anything more than a fantasy?

[TesterAnimal1]

"Motorist waits"? Pretty unrealistic video I would say. "Motorist has a brain seizure at being delayed by a picosecond" would be my experience. Or "Motorist overtakes annyway while yelling and foaming at the mouth".

[CyclistLorax]

@TesterAnimal1 - Did you read the description and the earlier comments? This is as real as it gets. We shot this video in unstaged daytime traffic. To call it unrealistic is quite factually incorrect, and shows that you prefer to cling to your beliefs than accept video evidence of what cooperative driving looks like in the canyon.

[pedalpink]

Excellent video showing positive, cooperative, safe behaviors for both cyclists and motorists. I hope you'll be doing more of these. Thanks, and I'll use it in my LAB classes.

[buzzco01]

I like the intent of this video except: 1) Everyone should make their own decisions about when it is safe to pass, etc. Riders should not wave a car around them. 2) Cyclists signalling a stop must do so with their left arm, not their right. 3) At stop signs & red lights, cyclists should move left, not to the right as shown. Moving to the left lessens the risk of getting a right hook from a driver turning in front of you. You'll be just as fast thru the intersection as a car from a complete stop.

[CyclistLorax]

1) Risk trade. Drivers in the canyon tend to immediately pass, regardless of sight lines, so we elect to actively discourage/encourage passing when it is unsafe/safe.

2) On the downhill, it is sometimes easier to use the front brake and make a right arm stop signal. Meets the intent of the law while exploiting the stronger brake.

[CyclistLorax]

3) The lanes are too narrow for passing, with no turnouts or shoulder; the only time I can let motorists pass safely is at the stop sign stops. Since we are both stopped, there is no right hook danger at such low absolute speeds. Moving left at the stop sign is way off the mark, since I was already controlling the lane, so I could not move left (into the opposing lane). Moving right in this specific circumstance precludes long queues of motorists forming behind me for no good safety reason.

[ninababes1]

Seriously...you people think this video is anything like the REAL Mandeville Canyon. Think again! I'm sure whoever posted this video does not live in Mandeville Canyon. In tthis video there are NO perfect scenarios and it is NEVER like that at all...one part I would like to point out is the NEAR COLLISION while the third vehicle is passing at 2:49. I hope the good Doctor gets off....and bicycle riders learn their place on the road.

[CyclistLorax]

The video is real and unstaged in Mandeville Canyon. You sound just as rational in your denials of this video evidence as a holocaust denier does when they deny the film from WWII. The pass at 2:49 was not a near miss, but kep trying, I'm sure in your desperation to deny the video evidence, you will find more windmills at which to tilt. Regarding your bigotry, we cyclists are not your road slaves, so please take your ignorance, intolerance and hatred to a place where it will be better received.

[brenttoast]

CA vehicle code 21200a gives a person every riding a bicycle on a highway the same rights and provisions as any vehicle. The cyclist has no obligation to let ANY vehicles pass, as you can clearly see in the video, the center line is a double yellow, therefore, passing is illegal. All 3 automobile drivers just broke the law. Thanks for pointing that out genius.

[tobarstep]

I don't know about CA but in FL vehicles are allowed to cross a double yellow to pass a slow moving vehicle like a bicycle or road equipment/tractors.

[CyclistLorax]

CA does not have any allowance for passing bicyclists by crossing double yellow, though the CHP does not enforce that law if the pass is made safely. The problem in Mandeville Canyon, is that there are a lot of impatient drivers who try to pass immediately, and this creates hazardous passing scenarios.

[spatiotemporal]

ninababes1: if by "the good Doctor" you mean Christopher Thompson, then you are perhaps as angry and misguided as him.

[ride446]

OH bitch I really love the last part of your comment.

Please explain to me how bicycle riders should learn their place on the road? So if riders are riding side by side and they impede a motorists progress for less than 60 seconds that gives the motorists the right to use their 2-3 ton vehicle as a weapon against a 160lbs rider with a sub 18lbs bike? Please please please explain your logic on how you value human life. I would love to hear it.

[jtniehof]

Well-done, Dan. Best video I've seen that gets the nuances of balancing assertiveness and politeness.

[CyclistLorax]

Yes, the lanes are quite narrow, though fixating on my ass and making "catty" / "nellie" comments is not best way to make your point. Since your words indicate a greater interest on your part in cruising men's asses compared to examining the cycling content of our videos, I suggest you try other YouTube channels that are presumably better suited to your particular proclivities. lol

[carrigan88]

Excellent work, helps cyclist and motorist understand how to share the road.

[jumpflyz]

Awesome Dan! I was just there a couple weeks ago. Glad you did this, it helps others to ride safely... especially after that doctor guy had his fit of road rage on this road and stopped his car and made those two cyclists smash in to the back of his car... ON PURPOSE! What a piece of crap he is. I can't believe someone would do that.

So again, thanks for your videos to try to always keep riders safe.

Later,

Mike D

[bikenhike]

Not only does full lane use provide "best visibility" (0:50), but being out there in the "driver's position" is from where the cyclist has the best vantage point (for the same reason the driver position is on the left side of the car) to see potential hazards earlier. It also gives the cyclist the best avoidance margin from potential right-side hazards. The pavement also tends to be smoother and more debris-free towards the center than at the edges.

[andybeals]

Not "aviods", but "avoids". Nice video work! A lot of this also applies to motorcyclist safety as well, as taught by the MSF. Their key phrase: "Defend your lane".

[CyclistLorax]

Andy, did you notice that "avoids" was spelled correctly other times in the video? This video was shot Saturday (7/12/08) afternoon, and after struggling with a corrupted video file most of Sunday, I was able to do the video editing by pulling an all-nighter Sunday night so it could be uploaded Monday morning prior to the public meeting which was later cancelled. That I only made one two letter transposition of an "oi" pair is rather remarkable, but in a good way...

[joebiker1326]

This video is designed to show how cyclists can safely use the roads with motor vehicles... not how to spell words. I hope you got more out of it than just what spell check told you.

This is a great video. Keep up the good work Dan and Brian!

[Enci3]

Great video, Dan!  I hope you get to show it at tonights meeting!