Close call

I was out on the fixed gear bike today.   I was northbound on SW 65th and rolled up to Boone's Ferry Rd near Tualatin and stopped in the center of the right lane waiting to make a left turn. The lane I was in was permitted to turn left, go straight, or turn right.  The lane to my left was left turn only. I was the fifth vehicle in line.  I signaled my left turn intention as a motor vehicle came in behind me.  As the light turned green we moved forward.  Counting the turn lanes, there are 4 lanes of traffic, plus one lane for bike traffic heading east. I made it to the third traffic lane (left through lane) before the traffic signal turned yellow.  On the slightly downhill run I was traveling about 20 mph. (My path is in yellow in the illustration below)

A cream colored 4 door sedan with a 65ish year old woman at the wheel  heading south into the intersection decided to make a right turn on red.  Allowed....IF the road is clear.

Click on photo for full size

What she also did that was not legal was to go completely across the lanes to access a left turn lane (much as the white SUV did in the photo above).  It is a common move, since the south bound freeway ramp is a left exit just a block away. What is supposed to happen..... for those who have forgotten their driver's education lessons.... after checking that there is no traffic, turn right, into the first right hand lane.  Signal, and move over to the next lane when it is clear.  Repeat until you are in the lane you need to be in.

Mitigating factors:  While I had signaled my left turn intention back when I was stopped waiting for a green light, I was not signaling as I moved into the intersection.  It is legal to do that (though not necessarily safe) since under acceleration from a stop I needed both hands on the bars of the fixed gear bike. There is a lot of traffic mixing, as most of the motor vehicles in my lane were continuing into the west bound right turn lane to access northbound I-5.  The car behind me acknowledged my signal and followed me rather than cut me off making the turn.

In any case, the 65ish year old woman wasn't watching and came across the intersection (path in red above).  We met at the black X. Luckily the weather was nice and she had her window down about half way.  I veered to the left as she was arcing across and let out a loud "hey!".  She was close enough to me that I slapped the driver's side rear door to get her attention.  That of course startled her, as she had no clue I was there. She jerked the wheel to the right, then started reading me the riot act for riding in the street instead of the sidewalk as she continued on her way (in orange above)

I just smiled and proceeded on my way (in green), glad that I was still alive and able to enjoy a sunny day.

 ..........road bike..........rollers........mtb.........lifecycle....total Today..........15...............0..............0...............0............15 Jan............710................0..............0...............0...........710
Feb........... 578...............0..............0...............0............578
March ...........701.............0..............0...............0............701
April..........749.................0..............0...............0..........749
May...........613.................0..............0...............0...........613
June............309...............0..............0...............0...........309
July...............615...............0..............0...............0............615
August.........359................0..............0...............0.............359
 Sept.............92................0...............0...............0..............92
Total..........4634...............0..............0...............0..........4634