[Typetwelve]

I'm sure this varies per area but I've noticed more and more what vehicle seem to give me room and which ones don't while on the road.

Bar none...here in central Illinois, it's large trucks. Giant pick up trucks, dump trucks and semis will simply not move an inch more often than not.

I tend to ride roads with good sized shoulders and I'm not a jerk riding int he center of a lane, I spend most of my time riding as close to the curb as possible (it also helps me work on keeping my line). I also spend a good amount of time on either 4 lane roads (2 in each direction) or often near deserted country roads.

On the country roads, farmers and their giant F550 with huge side mirrors are the WORST. It will be me, him and God out there and the guy won't move 2' to keep from putting the fear of god in me. Last summer I had an country person smack the crap out of me with his/her giant side view mirror on the side of their dually pickup and just keep on driving. Again, there wasn't a single drive on the road other than them.

Either way, if I'm skinned by someone refusing to get over, more often than not its a giant truck or some crap wagon junk heap...time and time again they are the worst offenders.

 

[Burnette]

Random Rudeness

Like politics and real estate, it's local. And totally random for me.
By and large the tractor trailers, dump trucks and pick ups treat me well.
Sure I have had some incidents that didn't go well, but as a whole, I can't say any specific genre of vehicle type contains occupants that are better or worse than another.
I don't think that you can nail down bad drivers by vehicle type.
You will find exceptions to every rule you make on that front.
There was a thread about cyclist who, when driving a vehicle, treat cyclist they encounter on the road rudely, was interesting.
In short, it's not about the car/truck, it's the nut behind the wheel.

 

[NJBiker72]

I find the opposite here.

The least room is always given by either luxury cars or minivans. Avoid minivans before school drop off. They have no problem killing you to get Johnny to class on time.

Avoid Mercedes at all time. Its their road. How dare you take part of it. ; )

 

[bballr4567]

I tend to ride roads with good sized shoulders and I'm not a jerk riding int he center of a lane, I spend most of my time riding as close to the curb as possible (it also helps me work on keeping my line).

Dont ride so close to the white line. You are inviting them to pass you close. When I first started on the road I used to ride decently close to it but trucks would pass me insanely close. Now, I ride in the right 1/4 of the lane, usually in the passenger side tire imprint, and trucks will move over now.

 

[Typetwelve]

Dont ride so close to the white line. You are inviting them to pass you close. When I first started on the road I used to ride decently close to it but trucks would pass me insanely close. Now, I ride in the right 1/4 of the lane, usually in the passenger side tire imprint, and trucks will move over now.

Interesting...huh, I never thought of that. I will try that next time...and maybe get hit, who knows.

It's funny, I live in Peoria, a larger city (100K+ people) and it is often referred to as a very "unfriendly" cycling area. Crazy figuring how cycling friendly Chicago can be.

 

[bballr4567]

There are tons of tips on the forum here on how to ride smart and safe. Really read up on them. A lot of it is just being a little proactive. For me, I generally ride in the rolling country side outside of Evansville and a vast majority of cars are insanely cautious. So much so that I have to wave them by me to get them to pass. The worst time to ride is grain season. Talk about crazy truck drivers trying to get in as many loads a day as they can. Its brutal.

 

[aclinjury]

I think you're right, trucks, SUV, minivans are hell bent not giving you an inch.

Also, woman drivers are hell bent of not moving over either. Something about woman drivers that is just stupid in that they are afraid that if they move over a bit, an oncoming car will suddenly strike them.

Old senior citizens. Now I have nothing against these folks, but they should not be driving, period. They scare me as much as those stupid soccer moms.

Believe it or not, the sort of drivers that I'm comfortable with alongside or approaching me from behind are the middle aged male drivers driving a SPORT CAR (not a Ford or Chevy beater pickup). Yes male drivers in a sport car are aggressive drivers at times, but these are they guys who will move clearly over toward the yellow line and giving you ample space when they pass you.

Women, seniors, SUVs, trucks.. are they ones who seem hell bent on not giving you an inch

 

[velodog]

Interesting...huh, I never thought of that. I will try that next time...and maybe get hit, who knows.

You already said that you got wacked by a mirror whgile hugging the curb or fog line, so maybe if you take the lane you won't get hit, who knows.

 

[Typetwelve]

You already said that you got wacked by a mirror whgile hugging the curb or fog line, so maybe if you take the lane you won't get hit, who knows.

Yeah...I was just kidding about the second part. I can see his point, hugging the shoulder would give drivers the idea of "meh, he's over pretty far, ill try to squeeze my oversized house with wheels between him and the curb." Riding more out in the lane an additional 3' or so will force the, to get over, or flat out hit me...hopefully they'll see me and just get over rather than do that.

 

[velodog]

Yeah...I was just kidding about the second part. I can see his point, hugging the shoulder would give drivers the idea of "meh, he's over pretty far, ill try to squeeze my oversized house with wheels between him and the curb." Riding more out in the lane an additional 3' or so will force the, to get over, or flat out hit me...hopefully they'll see me and just get over rather than do that.

The thing about taking the lane is not only does it force traffic to swing out to go around you, but if they crowd you there is enough room for the cyclist to take evasive action. When you're hugging the side of the road there is nowhere to go when crowded.

 

[OldChipper]

In Colorado, at least 75% of the time that I'm passed too closely, it's by a pickup truck or big SUV.

 

[Clipped_in]

Same here in Utah. 30 something soccer moms in Suburbans talking on cell phones, and you are invisible.

Old senior citizens. Now I have nothing against these folks, but they should not be driving, period. They scare me as much as those stupid soccer moms.

True--Beware of Buicks!

 

[SauronHimself]

I think you're right, trucks, SUV, minivans are hell bent not giving you an inch.

Also, woman drivers are hell bent of not moving over either. Something about woman drivers that is just stupid in that they are afraid that if they move over a bit, an oncoming car will suddenly strike them...


...Women, seniors, SUVs, trucks.. are they ones who seem hell bent on not giving you an inch

Be careful there, ACL. Dave Cutter might try to perform a psychological analysis on your misogynistic tendencies and advise you on how to better treat women.

 

[chudak]

Be careful there, ACL. Dave Cutter might try to perform a psychological analysis on your misogynistic tendencies and advise you on how to better treat women.

Doh....beat me to it. Cutter's Law: any rider who gets run off the road by an inattentive driver is a misogynist, a rager or a raging misogynist. It is never the driver's fault.

 

[chudak]

Avoid Mercedes at all time. Its their road. How dare you take part of it. ; )

On one of my recent 'rage rides' I was passed by at about 60mph on a narrow 4 lane road with hardly any shoulder by a large dark mercedes. I think if the guy missed me by a foot that is me being generous with the measurement. I waved to him and invited him back for coffee and croissants.

 

[SauronHimself]

I think part of the reason all these "near passers" don't think twice about it is the lack of education as opposed to a lack of empathy. I hate getting passed very close purely because of the physics behind it. When a large vehicle blows by quickly, you have to worry about the pushing force of the vehicle's slipstream but also the Venturi effect. For those who don't know about the latter, it's simply an extension of Bernoulli's principle. When air strikes a vehicle, the spot at the very front is a high pressure zone, whereas the air flowing around the sides become low pressure zones. A relatively more massive vehicle passing you is going to have a stronger Venturi effect and may actually suck you towards it if it passes too closely and too quickly. If you don't hit the vehicle, you may just get sucked toward the lane and risk oncoming traffic, but then you have the pushing force of that vehicle's wake after it passes you, and that's dangerous because it compromises your stability.

 

[hdbiker]

I'm sure this varies per area but I've noticed more and more what vehicle seem to give me room and which ones don't while on the road.

Bar none...here in central Illinois, it's large trucks. Giant pick up trucks, dump trucks and semis will simply not move an inch more often than not.

I tend to ride roads with good sized shoulders and I'm not a jerk riding int he center of a lane, I spend most of my time riding as close to the curb as possible (it also helps me work on keeping my line). I also spend a good amount of time on either 4 lane roads (2 in each direction) or often near deserted country roads.

On the country roads, farmers and their giant F550 with huge side mirrors are the WORST. It will be me, him and God out there and the guy won't move 2' to keep from putting the fear of god in me. Last summer I had an country person smack the crap out of me with his/her giant side view mirror on the side of their dually pickup and just keep on driving. Again, there wasn't a single drive on the road other than them.

Either way, if I'm skinned by someone refusing to get over, more often than not its a giant truck or some crap wagon junk heap...time and time again they are the worst offenders.

I'm not one of those guys who say " we have as much right on the road as cars" and then block traffic to prove it, but I find that if I see a car coming in my mirror, I hold a line out a few feet from the white line. Then I slowly angle over to the shoulder as they approach. I think this makes them more aware of me. Usually it makes them swing over to the center. If I totally hug the white line, they seem to blow by as close as possible. Each situation and driver is different. I've never noticed a type of vehicle being better or worse.

 

[Typetwelve]

Well guys (or gals)...I took your advice to heart today. Whe t out for an afternoon ride in some pretty heavy traffic. Nothing crazy but definitely a constant flow of cars.

Rode more into the lane (nothing crazy but a good 4' from the curb)...and...more people got over for me. I was very pleased...it's some great advice and to be honest, something I may not have thought of...thanks!

 

[Tusk]

School bus passed with a 25 mph differential. I was surprised at the amount of suction it created.

 

[Typetwelve]

School bus passed with a 25 mph differential. I was surprised at the amount of suction it created.

You're not kidding! A school bus or semi creates a big suction at times, it will throw you all over the place.