A close shave tonight with a car :-(

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johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
Hi.
Woohoo I nearly ended up on my backside tonight after a car pulled out in front of me. The driver was a nurse pulling out of a nursing home and never looked to the right just as I was coming around a bend. As she lurched forward panicking at the sight of me , I darted to the left to avoid bouncing off her car. Thank god cars have jelly moulded bumpers nowadays as my leg just clipped it. She was really shaken up by it and very apologetic with no nasty cross words exchanged. As the old saying goes " you just don't know what's round the corner"
 

hoopdriver

Guru
Location
East Sussex
Wow. That is all too easily to visualise! Right down to the (probably quite nice) motorist who didn't think, didn't see...
 
OP
OP
johnnyb47

johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
Things can happen so quickly.If I would of been looking momentary the wrong way it could of easily end up in me doing a Starsky and hutch impression over the bonnet lol.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Sorry but I don't understand. Did you shout or ring to get her to look towards you? Were you going too fast to stop within what you could see to be clear? Glad the bike's OK though.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Is the bike ok?
No damage done thankfully buddy. I would of been mortified if my bike would of got scratched.
 
Not go around a bend faster than he could stop if someone exited that drive, perhaps? I know what he wrote, which is why I suspect there may be some extra factor not stated.
so all cyclists should dissmount and walk around bends in case there is an obscured driveway on or after the apex.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
I nearly ended up on my backside tonight after a car pulled out in front of me.
Glad your reactions were good.
Not go around a bend faster than he could stop if someone exited that drive, perhaps?
What you are proposing / implying is entirely unrealistic for all road users (other than pedestrians whose speed is slower and thus stopping/direction changing ability better). I suggest that cycling or driving round every bend thinking 'I'd better go round this really slowly so I can stop if someone pulls out from a turning' is a hard way to live one's life on the road. I will cycle/drive at a speed (and in a position on the road (laterally) where I can stop or avoid if there's another road user, or an obstruction in the road. The narrowness of the road is a critical factor - if it's so narrow that a rider could not get past a tractor, then one's speed must be low enough to stop. If a car is waiting to turn out, its front wheel (trim) will show whether it's moving or not, and one can often see the driver's eyes (ie whether he/she is looking your way) - and adopt suitable speed/precautions till you're safely past. But allowing for a car pulling out of a turning you can't see . . . . . ?
 
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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
It's a tricky one ... Strictly speaking, mjr is right - if you can't see that something is safe then you should assume that it is unsafe, but you are also right - riding life would become awfully tedious if we always did that.

There are a couple of fast local downhill bends that I often ride down. I once went round one of them fast and found the bum of a huge horse right in front of me where I'd rather been hoping to find empty space! I take that bend a bit slower now ...

THIS bend is another iffy one.

Keighley Road descent from Pecket Well.jpg


It is easy to be doing 30+mph when you get to it but there is always the risk of encountering something unexpected. The nightmare scenario would be for some idiot to be overtaking towards you out of sight round the bend. I slow down a bit coming in to that bend and am always aware that I might need to take emergency action.
 
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