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Regarding the gentleman who described getting "left-crossed" twice: both he and Carl Decker described bicyclists as being "invisible". The solution to this problem is to "make yourself visible". In both of the gentleman's collisions he described himself as being in the "shadow" of a truck and was thus not seen by the oncoming left-turning motorists. Along with "right hooks", this is EXACTLY the kind of collision that bike lanes exacerbate. The solution is for bicyclists to "use the full lane" at intersections: merge WITH traffic and take a position behind the truck (not behind and to the right). My mantra is: if I can't see potential oncoming left-turners, then they can't see me, and by "using the full lane", I MAKE myself visible and avoid these kinds of collisions. Fortunately I live in a state that, unlike Oregon, does not have a discriminatory mandatory bike-lane law, so this maneuver is legal on all streets.

Chris Lundberg, formerly of Corvallis, OR

posted 5 years ago
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