Which driver do you mean? The driver of the Hargreaves artic who found himself in a sandwich between a cyclist and an overtaking vehicle. Or the driver of the overtaking vehicle who, if the cyclist had been visible to him, could have anticipated the Hargreaves artic would require to pull into the right hand lane, and should have held back until the cyclist had been overtaken.
The safety factor for cyclists is low on a road like that.
Hmmm. Ok, you've made me think deeper about this. It is certainly true that the HGV is hindered in it's ability to move out due to the flatbed.
There are two main questions:
1) Was the HGV driver able to see the cyclist from far enough back that he was able to adjust his speed (slow down) such that he could give the cyclist more room?
I don't think you can blame the flatbed driver from the evidence, as we have no idea how far back he was in that position. It is entirely possible that he was next to the HGV for some time. That would likely hinder his view of the cyclist, though we can't be sure of that.
General visibility looks good, and the gap between the Hargreeves HGV and the one in front was about 4 or 5 seconds. The HGV in front, did pull out before it reached the cyclist (not enough) but that suggests that it pulled out to some extent, probably 8-9 seconds before the Hargreeves HGV passed the cyclist (I would expect probably more). Therefore, there is some suggestion 8-9 seconds at least before the HGV in question passed the cyclist there was some indication that there was a hazard up ahead for the HGV to negotiate.
Of course it is possible, and perhaps likely that there was more time than this. Is this enough time for the driver to negotiate the hazard safely?
It would be important to get the drivers response to this, ideally before he saw the video. If he suggested that, 'I gave the cyclist plenty of room', then books could be thrown, if however, he said, 'damn flatbed cut out just at the wrong moment, and I tried to compensate but couldn't', then it's a little less clear.
2) If this is a road that has cycle lane leading up to this, then the road is set up to encourage cyclists. Thus cyclists should be expected. Thus drivers should be expected to be aware of this and drive accordingly. Therefore, were the speeds of the vehicles appropriate? What is the speed limit on that road and were they above or below it? etc.
This is a difficult one for us to answer here without more information on the road etc. Of course it could be argued that if the road is fast, and space is tight, then cyclists should be prevented from using it for their own safety.
Going through this thought process makes me realise that my first reply was a little hasty, so thanks for questioning me Snorri. Mmm. It will be interesting to hear how this progresses.....
