I have been doing the majority of my runs around my neighborhood, mainly going from Fruit and Shaw, going West on Shaw to Van Ness and then going North on Van Ness and back. Yesterday I only had a 3 miler to run and in that short distance, 4 cars pulled out in front of me without looking and was very near to hitting myself or Nika.
The problem is people are looking in the other direction (to the left) to check to see if traffic is coming and they completely disregard anything that is happening on their right side. In one incident I literally had to stop dead in my tracks while a van pulled out from an office complex and stood inches from the passenger side for a good 15-20 seconds before she pulled out without ever seeing me. She was also on her cell phone. And then there was an older man who kept inching forward into the road, completely blocking the sidewalk without once looking to his right. The other two incidents were very similar to those two.
Now I understand that people are used to looking to their left because that is where the traffic is coming from but people need to be more aware of what is going on around them. Running down Shaw is not ideal by any means either, but there is a very limited number of running trails in Fresno unfortunately so unless I want to drive 15 minutes to another location everyday, I have no choice and don't feel it should be that dangerous to do so.
To be fair though, I have also had people see me coming and back up so I can run by. I always wave and smile when that happens because I certainly appreciate it. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
Yeah, that blows. And I think technically, you're doing it right, yes? Don't they advise runners to run on the side of the street where they face traffic?
ReplyDeleteYes, I always try to face the traffic so you can have a chance to jump out of the way if someone is about to barrel into you. What is funny though is that when you face traffic is when the people pulling out don't see you but when you are running with traffic they do because they are looking in that direction so you can't really win.
ReplyDeleteAll you can really do is make sure that you are paying attention and shoot daggers from your eyes. God it would be awesome if that was a literal statement;)
Ha!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the best way to make better drivers of people is to have them experience it from the other side. Riding a bike, the legal and correct way (ie not on the sidewalk), is actually a really good way to build awareness when you're driving your car because you know how nerve-racking it can be on a bicycle dealing with drivers who don't pay attention.