Monday, January 11, 2016

Scary Moments for a Cyclist

I have been cycling on the road for the past 50 over years. Most of the time it is uneventful. Occasionally there are moments where it bring chills to your mind. The following are some of it.

One car sped past me while I am about to cross a T junction. It turn right in front of me into the side road. I have no choice but turn abruptly and brake hard at the same time. I miss hitting the car just by inches. This is not the only time the exact same thing happens.

On car sped past me on a straight road and cut in front of me then brake hard. Luckily I usually slow down when a vehicle cuts in front of me. That habit save me from hitting it. A lorry did the same thing to me a week or two after a national cyclist was killed by a parking lorry.

I was speeding across a junction. A car driver moves his car forward even though the light has not even change orange yet. The worse thing is that he realizes the mistake and stopped his car right in my path. Again been observant save my skin.

A pickup was moving fast from opposite end and turns in to the left turn lane. I noticed that it is moving fast and thus slow down. That pickup just speed right across me. When I show "what are you doing sign" to it, the person on the passenger seat even mock me.

Countless moments when I cross a side lane of a junction, the vehicle never stops despite there is a zebra crossing. Once I was moving slowly towards the zebra crossing one car speed across it without even pausing. It is just when I was about to cross the side lane.

I am very particular about crossing a T junction. Once I was going straight. A car moves from the side lane towards the junction. He stops at the junction and when I am about to reach him, he zooms out from the junction. I would end up dead if he moves out one second later.

A pickup come out from a side road onto the second lane then turn right into another side road close by without even signalling. If I wasn't aware, I would have crashed right into it.

A bus was making a U turn and since I am already at the point of the turn going straight I did not pause for it to turn. The driver was probably agitated by my action he goes along side me and slowly inches towards me till I had to jump out on to the curb. He then sped away. A very evil person.

A vam is about to turn into a side road then suddenly brakes and stops right across my way. I am expecting it to move in early so I continue speeding and when it brakes, I almost lost control of my bike. It is not the fault of the van driver. A child actually runs across the side road. The van was on the same side of me and I can't see the child so never expects it to brake and stop right there.

Pedestrians never notice bicycles. When they jay walk even when the it is not supposed to (the traffic light already turn red for them), they just cross without looking. It is so often that I always slow down when I see pedestrians waiting to cross the road regardless whether there is a traffic light control.

Once I was on the right side of a car that stopped. A passenger just open the door without looking and I banged right into the door.

A few cars and a bus stopped at the junction. Naturally I go on the left and try to get near the junction. This bus has its door open but is not near the curb. One passenger suddenly jumped out from the bus right into my path. Even though I wasn't speeding, the impact send the guy down onto the floor with elbow bruises. I also lost balance and landed on the grass verge on my back with just minor scratches.

A taxi sped past me and let a passenger alight in front. By the time I reached it, the passenger has already got out of the taxi and it is about to move. Since I am already along side it, I signalled that I am cutting back left. He probably not happy that I blocked him from moving so he sped past me and then slow down near a side road. I noticed that he slow down and assume that he is about to turn into the side road so I just follow behind. Instead of turning he accelerates pass the T junction. I also pick up speed. At the next junction he slow down again. I noticed that he did not even look side ways. So I keep even a longer distance away from him. He did not turn and then drive quickly forward.

I speculate that he is not happy with me and thus want me to go near then make a sudden turn to make me fall over. If he is not sure whether he should turn, at least you can see his head turn towards the side road. It is highly unusual that he only looks in front. He probably look at the rear view mirror to see if I am coming on the left.

One car drive besides me along a road. There is no traffic in front so he should not be at the same speed and just beside me. When going near a T junction,  I purposely slow down in case he make a sudden turn. The car accelerates away.  If I am a girl, it is probably sexual harassment. I would consider this as a malicious act again.

When I cycle from Yishun via Lentor Ave towards AMK. The lane actually leads toward express way entrance. Since there are two lanes that goes into the express, I cycled on the third land.  The next moment a few cars zoom pass me on the left and on the right. The right hand car even cut across my path to go into the express entrance. I also hear a few cars horning at me. I is a truly scary moment. Since then I avoid Lentor Ave and choose Upper Thomson Rd when I am going towards AMK. If I need to go further north to Punggol, I choose Yishun Ave 6 and 7 then Seletar North Link instead.

When going from AMK to Yishun, Lentor Ave have an express way exit with car going at high speed down the slope. At the turn near Mandai road it is difficult to go straight. You have to cut across two lanes. Even after you managed to pass the turning point you end up on a second lane with buses and cars going out on the first lane. End up I always do a stop-look-go way just to cut across the lane. Too much hassle to do it three times on a same road moreover Lentor Ave is always full of speeding cars during rush hours. I avoid Lentor Ave like a plague.

Was cycling on Telok Blangah Rd towards Jurong. Nearing the entrance to Sentosa, There are huge number of cars trying to turn in to it. It is really scary when so many cars trying to cut in front of you to turn left.

I was going uphills and there is a turn right on top of it. I made a turn then realized that there is a oil spill on the road but is too late to avoid it. Sustained a large bruised skin on the back and elbow.

Of course not all cars behave the same way. There are plenty of courteous cars,buses and lorries who give way to me even though they have the right of way. Some even encourages me on.

A more scary experience is actually pedestrians and cyclists on PCN. You see inconsiderate cyclist speeding and shouting for you to give way. You see pedestrians blocking the way, making turns without looking, suddenly step into the PCN, children on bicycles makes sudden turns, novice cyclists lost their balance, illegal ebike user zooming in and out etc. I have lost count of how many times such incident occurs. It is even more stressful to cycle on PCN than on the road.

Once I was on Mandai PCN during the raining season. It was not raining on the day I rode on the PCN. I saw a tree branch so I turn my handle a bit and the result is I see myself sliding on the floor. Luckily there is no serious injury. A few weeks later my cycling group also go on to Mandai PCN. 8 of them fell along the way some had bad cuts. It is all because the PCN is covered with algae.

Despite all these scary moments, it does not deter me from cycling. Accidents does occur. Due to my extra vigilant caution, I have avoided major injuries. These incidents tells me not to be complacent when I go on my bike.



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