Monday, August 25, 2008

Ducking the Right Hook



"An accident so common it has a name..."

Another great commute to work this morning; clear weather, strong legs and no headwind. Unfortunately, my happy Monday morning mood was broken by a somnolent lady in a battleship-grey RAV4 who made a right turn into a driveway.

Directly toward me.

I've developed a paranoid, look-over-my-left-shoulder twitch that has kept me safe from quite a few situations like this. Due to my quick right turn (to parallel Ms. RAV4's direction of travel) and her slamming on the brakes, we both avoided an unpleasant discussion.

In today's traffic adventure, I was nowhere near an intersection. But the "Right Hook" seems to be most common at green lights. Portland, Washington has recognized this problem and taken action. My strategy at traffic lights is to get as far out in front as possible to make myself visible. And to get a head start on crossing in front of the impatient right-turners.

Be safe and friendly out there, ya'll.

2 comments:

Laura Drexler said...

Wow. I'm so glad you're hyper-aware of these things. Ride safely!!

-your wife

Bill Doughty said...

Thanks for sharing your strategies to keep people safe on the road. I was drawn to your blog from your posting to Admiral Rat Willard's blog about motorcycle safety for Sailors. ATGATT -- All the gear all the time. Great advice for people in and out of the Navy!