E Biking the Villages
 

Near Collision

https://youtu.be/nUUbMq9aHOA

Careless cart driver cutting a curve short, crossing into oncoming lane.

Close one. Whew

Yep. Makes no difference if you are on an E-bike, traditional bike, or golf cart... when the oncoming cart cuts the corner and is in your lane, that's a problem.

Yeah, the same thing happened to me. An oncoming cart cut the corner sharp and almost hit me,

It didn't bother me because I was in a good-sized automobile. The cart driver did not look happy.

///

Curves in roads should be wider than the straight road - ideally, at least
 

Curvy roads seem to invite corner cutting, especially when there are *usually* no consequences. Reminds me of my favorite road, the Blue Ridge Parkway. And, suddenly having to whip to the outside of the curve sets up other potential problems, for which one has probably not put in a lot of practice.

And, since only the front wheels turn, the rear wheels don't follow the same path - they are *already" "cutting the corners" somewhat. Obvious stuff to most of us, but there are enough for whom that it is *not* obvious that that defensive driving thing kinda matters.

Also noted the low sun angle in the video. If you see your shadow well in front of you, what do you reckon oncoming traffic sees? New here but learning that those gates can be hard to spot if the late afternoon sun is in your face, too. Near oopsie.

Getting close to having the various roundabouts figured out, but one situation remains a little fuzzy in my mind. Maybe better placed in another thread. Something tells me that there might be multiple existing threads on that subject. Possibly hours of fun await following a forum "search". :-)

Gotta stay on guard 100% of the time biking (or walking!) anywhere. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it, unfortunately.

Joe

New to Villages cart paths
 

Lived in a golf community with cart paths everywhere for 36 years, but have no experience with these luxuriously wide ones nor the apparently one-way paths here. That video was my first look at one of the wide ones - and what it looks like up on one of those bridges. Our cart is still on order. Guess I need to do a "forum search" on those, too, before the cart arrives.

One quick question *does* come to mind, though. Is it difficult for cart drivers to keep their wheels inside that white line that separates the cart/auto lanes within the neighborhoods? Have noticed that some seem to have difficulty with that. My sense would've been that the difference in size of the types of vehicles involved would've made staying within the lane a rather high priority.

I can imagine how rotten it would feel to hit a cart with your car, regardless of who's fault it was, but running over the bumps on the yellow lines is not always feasible, depending on oncoming traffic. I'm finding myself on pins and needles driving in such lane situations. Any tips? Is it just not something to worry about? Probably shoulda just done the search, eh? :-)

Staying on the proper side of the white line should not be difficult for carts or cars. The lanes are plenty wide for standard carts and I've noticed there is ample space for the wider carts as well. The only area where the lanes are tight is the golf cart lanes on the bridge over Lake Sumter - there is still enough space but there isn't much to spare.

That said, I have seen both carts and cars having difficulty staying in their lane. This shouldn't be a problem but it seems to be for some. In these cases I really feel the issue is more with the operator than with the width of the lanes.

Aha! A "sticky"! https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...ht=roundabouts

Although that golf cart was in the wrong, that e-biker was going way too fast. That's why those types of e-bikes are banned from the cycling groups. People go too fast and loose control. These are basically like mo-peds or small motorcycles vs a bike.

Post #38 in the sticky
 

Post #38 covers my "fuzziness".

"If you look at the roundabout brochure, it specifically states that you should “Never change lanes in a roundabout”. This means that if you are going 3/4 around, you should enter a gate in the visitors lane. The statement is written in red on the brochure. If you follow the lines that show a left hand turn, (3/4 around), you’ll see the line going into the visitors’ gate."

One of the reasons the golf carts can’t make the turns and STAY IN THEIR LANE is because they are going too fast! I am so tired of people flying up behind me and riding my behind because they have “souped up” their golf cart so they can go 25-30 miles an hour.

The e-bike was not going fast. Watching the movie I would estimate the speed to be in the range of 12-14 miles per hour or less. That is not fast for a road bicyclist. All e- bikes can now be used in the Sumter Landing Bicycle Club. The only requirement is that those e-bikes that have a throttle control feature are to not use that mode, but rather only use the pedal assist power control. Pedal assist means that the bicyclist needs to pedal and then the engine will add assist power to that. As soon as the bicyclist stops pedaling the engine shuts off.