Today I broke one of the Rules of Cycling – I did not make eye contact with a driver that was pulling out into the street.

While biking home from a ride with friends, I saw a motorist ahead of me start to pull out into the main street. I thought ‘oh gee I’m sure they see me… I’ll just keep going ahead without slowing down’

I’m sure you can see where this is going.

The motorist was looking to her right (I am not sure WHY because in America oncoming traffic would be coming from her LEFT) and started to accelerate.

At this point, I could see her still looking to her right and that her car was accelerating…towards ME, who was now almost directly in front of her vehicle.

Realizing the imminent collision, I mentally berated myself for breaking the 452th rule of cycling by not making eye contact with the driver first.

Fortunately, the driver then looked forward, saw me and slammed on the brakes. I made some loud sort of curse and pedaled onward, a sigh of relief escaping my lips.

So this story ended well, but it could have ended poorly. Heed my stupidity and make eye contact.

Now I’ll share some pictures I took during a trip to the UK:

What the heck is going on here with the wacky lines?

Roundabouts are living hell for Americans

This is to keep tourists from getting hit by a car