Caught on Video

[Simple Nature]

That one should be sent to the local sheriff's office before someone gets killed.

[wsbob]

Re; post #30 ...the u-turn granny. That's definitely dicey maneuvering on Barbur at 8:55 in the morning. Not a great way to start out the day.

Barbur is just lousy for making impromptu left turns originating from...as seth has described it... a south bound direction, so the lady being in the northbound lane in her attempt to get over to Lowell isn't completely atypical for people driving on this road.

A better position would have been poised over the small space between the double yellow lines dividing north and south bound lanes. That's what I've seen people do, and it's what I've done on occasion when driving the road, but...it's a completely miserable maneuver, and feels completely dangerous sitting stationary in the car while other cars are whizzing by you at high speed, buffeting the vehicle, etc. Eventually, I figured out a route where I didn't have to make the left from Barbur.

Traveling or being stopped in the opposite direction of travel though, is asking for trouble, and I hope the lady driving the SUV that day stops doing that kind of stunt, or finds a different route before she gets killed, or kills somebody.

[setha]

Was something peculiar happening yesterday? To go along with my near left hook for my morning commute, I had a near right hook for my evening commute. Here's a link to the helmet cam video

Here are some stills from that video:


right_hook_capitol_hillsdale_passing02 by pdxcommuter, on Flickr


right_hook_capitol_hillsdale_completely_blocks_bik elane by pdxcommuter, on Flickr


right_hook_capitol_hillsdale_269_efu by pdxcommuter, on Flickr

Finally, here's the description of the video from youtube:

Was something peculiar happening on Monday, August 15, 2011, in Portland, Oregon, USA? To go along with my near left hook from my morning commute, (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw2WjH0v5sw) I had a near right hook on my evening commute.

This is helmet cam video. This happened at about 7:10PM, 8/15/2011, westbound Capitol, just before where Capitol and Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway split.

A silver mini-van, Oregon EFU 269, passed me, slowed down, and tried to make a right turn across the bike lane. This driver had to have seen me while passing me. Not only did they right hook me, they right hooked me in order to turn into a vacant lot (the former gas station between the Wells Fargo cash machine and the Baskin Robbins.)

At about 0:08 seconds into the video, I realized that the car was potentially coming into my path. I shouted "car right." I should have shouted "car left" since the car was on my left. But I was too busy concentrating on braking.

Since saying something laden with curse words is not a good idea, especially since I know I'm videoing, instead I said, "Good afternoon. How are you today?" at around 12 seconds. They looked like they weren't moving. So, I followed up with "Get out of the bike lane!" Yes, I know. I did not realize it at the time, but the driver was turning the front wheels to get out of the way. You can see the front wheels turning in the video. And, I sound pretty loud in the video. That's because I was loud, since I have to make myself heard over the driver's engine, the radio, and through the closed windows. The microphone is also on the camera, which is on the helmet, which makes what I say sound louder. And, yes, I know that it's better to not say anything so as to not escalate the situation. But this was the second time in the same day that I had this sort of maneuver pulled on me.

[Haven_kd7yct]

So.... the van passed you while straddling the line between the two lanes, turned kind of in to the driveway and then stopped, and then pulled back into traffic and turn at the light.

Sigh. So many things wrong with this situation. Glad you were able to stop!

[Simple Nature]

You know, some part of me thinks that one of those doors on the van deserves a nice big dent to remind the owner just how STUPID they really are.

[wsbob]

'Hey...the horse knows the way to the barn. I'm just sittin' here listenin' to the radio. Do you really gotta be bothering me about using the bike lane for a few seconds?'

[setha]

I picked up a hubcap from the Barbur bike lane, and I tossed it to the roadside. I also shooed away a snake which was sunning itself in the road.

Here's the hubcap:


hubcap_on_barbur by pdxcommuter, on Flickr

And, here's the snake:


snake_on_barbur

And here's a link to a video of the whole thing on youtube. Be aware that the snake is sometimes just out of the bottom of the frame. The helmet cam is angled so I can capture interactions with other road users, not things happening at my feet.

[OnTheRoad]

I too ride this stretch of Barbur, but usually in the afternoon about 4:30.

Many people make this illegal left turn at Lowell. I've seen 2 cars make the same turn one right after the other. They are turning left across double-double yellow lines, and they are turning onto another street. They could legally make that left into a driveway, but not onto another street. They are also usually holding up southbound traffic, since SB Barbur is only one lane at that point.

I reported this ongoing situation to the city's SAFE hotline, and they forwarded my complaint to ODOT since Barbur is a state-maintained highway. ODOT sent me an email that they would investigate and get back to me. That was about 8 months ago.

[browse]

For all of you folk who are posting helmet cam videos to YouTube, what's your helmet cam of choice? Is there a consensus on the best of class for helmet cams? Thanks!

[Alan]

GoPro Hero got good marks in these two threads.

(sick videos on their home page)