Collision Type No. 10 > The Wrong Way Wallop

Skate safety:

10 Ways to Not Get Hit

Collision Type No. 10
The Wrong Way Wallop

You're going the wrong way (against traffic) on the left-hand side of the street. A car makes a right turn from a side street, driveway or parking lot, right into you. They didn't see you because they were looking for traffic only on their left, not on their right. They had no reason to expect that someone would be coming at them from the wrong direction.

Even worse, you could be hit by a car head on. They had less time to see you and take evasive action because they're approaching you faster than they normally would because you're going towards them rather than away from them. And if they hit you, it's going to be a much more forceful impact. (Both your and their velocities are combined.)

How to avoid this collision:

Don't skate against traffic. Go with it ... in the same direction.

Skating against traffic may seem like a good idea because you can see the cars that are passing you, but it's not. Here's why:

1. Cars which pull out of driveways, parking lots and cross streets (ahead of you and to the left), which are making a right onto your street, aren't expecting traffic to be coming at them from the wrong way. They won't see you, and they'll plow right into you.

2. How the heck are you going to make a right turn?

3. Cars will approach you at a much higher relative speed. If you're going 15mph, then a car passing you from behind doing 35 approaches you at a speed of only 20 (35 minus 15). But if you're on the wrong side of the road, then the car approaches you at 50 (35 plus 15)! Since they're approaching you faster, both you and the driver have lots less time to react. And if a collision does occur, it's going to be much worse.

(There's one possible exception to skating the wrong way: When you're in the country on narrow, high-speed roads, it may be helpful to go against traffic so you can see what you're up against. Compared to city traffic, country traffic is likely to have less roadspace for skaters and cars to share. That being the case, skating the wrong way allows you to bail into the shoulder if a car doesn't see you. You don't have problem No. 1 because side traffic is rare, and problem No. 2 is avoided because you're skating primarily along one road and not turning right.)

(Did we leave something out? ... Add your thoughts and comments.)

(Go back to Intro)