I’m returning home after accompanying Mary to her morning of volunteering in the Locust Grove veggie gardens. The Locust Grove gate faces predominantly left-turning traffic from Beechwood Avenue, so I’ll be watching the vehicles approaching head-on.

T = 0.000 – Signal turns green:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0135

T = 2.500 – Entering the intersection:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0270

I don’t start pedaling until the signal in my direction actually turns green, because drivers have been known to blow through intersections with a fresh red signal. Two seconds seems like a reasonable delay.

T = 5.500 – Three lanes later, nearing the midline of Rt 9 and still accelerating:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0465

T = 5.917 – The black car in the right lane is moving and I begin to look that way:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0490

I cannot tell from the video whether the driver actually stopped (as you’re required to do for “right on red after stop“, but nobody actually does) or just slowed into a rolling stop for the turn.

Why not slam to a stop in the middle of Rt 9 in front of the left-turning traffic? Come for a ride with me and we’ll try that out. I’ll shout “LOOK OUT!” at some inopportune time when you’re in the middle of traffic and not expecting it, whereupon you must hit the brakes and deal with the consequences.

T = 7.117 – One second later, I’m beginning to veer left, directly toward the stream of oncoming traffic turning toward me:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0562

In round numbers, the black car moved 35 feet in 1.2 s between those frames: 30 feet/s = 20 mph.

T = 7.750 – The white car on my right continues turning and I’ll definitely clear its rear:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0600

The black car has moved another 15 feet in 633 ms: 24 feet/s = 16 mph.

I’m wearing the vest part of my fluorescent green jacket over a fluorescent green shirt with fluorescent green gloves. By now, I think I’ve been sighted, at ten feet and closing.

T = 8.383 – The only clear area lies directly ahead of the oncoming silver car:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0638

T = 9.000 – I’m approaching the yellow line, probably won’t sideswipe the silver car, and the black car is now braking:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0675

T = 9.583 – The black car has nearly stopped:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0710

The wide-angle lens on the HDR-AS30V makes it look like I had plenty of room. The Fly6 rear camera shows why I had reason for concern:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – rear camera – 0323

I’m still moving, the black car is slowing:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – rear camera – 0332

T = 9.767 – Props to this driver for not starting quickly:

Rt 9 Locust Grove – Right on Red – front camera – 0781

Elapsed time: four seconds from spotting the black car not stopping in the right-turn lane.

I moved back to the right side of the lane and continued the mission, but decided I didn’t need a jaunt across town to the rail trail before the rain set in to get my heart rate up.