A couple of new videos...

[Archie]

..for your entertainment ladies and gents.

Nasty, nasty overtake.

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjADY7AFSIY


Couldn't believe this day. The one on the vid was into work, there were another two bad ones on the way home, but my batteries had died by then.
I'm sure we all get ones where we think "Hmm, that was questionable!", then you get on with life (i.e. iffy), but this one really made me swear!

Possible left hook?

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChAbgtB2cUU


But probably not. All the same, there's better situations to be in!

 

[hackbike 6]

I was down the Romford Road earlier this evening and there was a lot of that.

 

[magnatom]

With regards to the left hook, in an ideal world the van driver should look in his wing mirror before making the maneuver. However, we all know that doesn't happen. That's why I hate cycle lanes like this, they encourage left hooks. On approach to the roundabout I would slot into the traffic near the front and wait my turn. That way I would be able to take the full lane, which would prevent incidents like this.


Cycle lanes like that are killers!!

 

[BentMikey]

+1 to magnatom.

I think the van driver was actually at fault, but both cyclists had a failure of defensive riding.

 

[Origamist]

Cycle lane or no cycle lane, if your going to ride up the inside of traffic at a RaB there's a pretty high chance the driver is not going to check his nearside mirror and a close pass like in the vid is the likely result.

 

[magnatom]

Cycle lane or no cycle lane, if your going to ride up the inside of traffic at a RaB there's a pretty high chance the driver is not going to check his nearside mirror and a close pass like in the vid is the likely result.

Aye, but the problem is that the cycle lane encourages, what we know is dangerous cycling. I would be tempted to send this video to some of the authorities and ask them if they consider such cycle lanes safe.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

Another vote for the cycle lane – really bad design – not only is it too narrow but it encourages cyclists to adopt a piss poor road position – and if you as a cyclist position yourself correctly, it gives that small minority of twits an excuse to beep and shout at you.
As magnatom says, I’d have moved right out into primary, behind the van, and waited my turn…

 

[Origamist]

Aye, but the problem is that the cycle lane encourages, what we know is dangerous cycling. I would be tempted to send this video to some of the authorities and ask them if they consider such cycle lanes safe.

It might, but perhaps some cycle lanes encourage motorists to be more wary of cyclists filtering on the inside.

What I was trying to get across is that people will ride and drive like that regardless of whether there is a strip of paint on the road – that is the part of the wider problem.

 

[magnatom]

It might, but perhaps some cycle lanes encourage motorists to be more wary of cyclists filtering on the inside.

What I was trying to get across is that people will ride and drive like that regardless of whether there is a strip of paint on the road – that is the part of the wider problem.

I agree that people will ride like that. However, this lane encourages it. I honestly think that the majority of drivers don't notice cycle lanes, and anyway, if you are a driver who doesn't use your wing mirrors, and a proportion don't, the presence of a cycle lane won't make a difference.

If there must be cycle lanes, then fair enough, but on approach to a roundabout like this, I think there should be some signage encouraging cyclists to join the main queue and signage for the drivers to warn them that cyclists will be doing it.

Of course this will never happen.

 

[Cab]

Dreadful cycle lane.

I'd have preferred to tuck in behind the van, to be honest.

 

[Origamist]

I agree that people will ride like that. However, this lane encourages it. I honestly think that the majority of drivers don't notice cycle lanes, and anyway, if you are a driver who doesn't use your wing mirrors, and a proportion don't, the presence of a cycle lane won't make a difference.

If there must be cycle lanes, then fair enough, but on approach to a roundabout like this, I think there should be some signage encouraging cyclists to join the main queue and signage for the drivers to warn them that cyclists will be doing it.

Of course this will never happen.

If you re-watch the video not one of the cars has crossed into the cycle lane - that suggests to me that they are aware of the lane and the cyclist. However, lots will simply ignore the lane and a small minority will not know what it signifies anyway.

I'm not really sure that we need more signs by the roadside. Encouraging cyclists to be less submissive would be better IMO.

 

[magnatom]

I'm not really sure that we need more signs by the roadside. Encouraging cyclists to be less submissive would be better IMO.

I agree that road signs aren't really the answer. However, as you know the problem is driver education, i.e. that cyclist sometimes need and should be in the centre of the lane. How do we solve the education issue? That's a discussion for another thread. How do we at least make drivers aware of the problem in problem areas, a sign would help.

Yes the cars are staying over to the side, but I would bet that is because they have clocked some form of road marking, and not the fact that it is a cycle lane.

There is no justification though for the cycle lane going all the way up to the roundabout and continuing to encourage cyclists to hog the edge. Imagine the same situation with an artic in place of a van!

 

[Riding in Circles]

I would say there is equal blame on that one, the cyclist should have had the good grace the join the queue and the van driver should have been more aware of what was going on around him.

 

[Cab]

I would say there is equal blame on that one, the cyclist should have had the good grace the join the queue and the van driver should have been more aware of what was going on around him.

I err 70:30, its mostly the van drivers fault because there is another lane of traffic to his left which is clear and he must expect traffic to be in there and able to move faster than him, but the cyclist should know better than to believe that the van driver really WILL be that good.

 

[Origamist]

Yes the cars are staying over to the side, but I would bet that is because they have clocked some form of road marking, and not the fact that it is a cycle lane.

There is no justification though for the cycle lane going all the way up to the roundabout and continuing to encourage cyclists to hog the edge. Imagine the same situation with an artic in place of a van!

I think the fact that there are two cyclists in the lane and cycles painted in the lane at the RaB make it obvious to most people what the markings represent.

It's also worth remembering the old HC guidance about keeping left at RaBs which still lingers in the minds of cyclists and motorists - this is a problem in the same way that the cycle lane can be.