A minor prang

[Tynan]

I was free wheeling along the rhs side of stopped traffic heading SW down Fenchurch Street this morning at about 9.45

The whole road is fairly dangerous, narrow, roadworks, lots of black cabs and coaches and vans and suicidal peds

Anyhow, I see, through a chink between two big vans, a car starting to pull out from a left turning, and clearly he can have no chance at all of seeing me or anyone else coming down the outside, I slow down a lot and then emergency stop as I get there and he's just starting to pull out while not looking right at all, I end up stopped perhaps a foot past the First van, perhaps a foot past the center line, just short of the center of the line he'll take turning right, right in front of him essentially

And out he comes, slowly but accelerating and I think Christ almighty, he can't see me, hike my left foot off the pedal and leap off the bike as he gets to me, fully expecting him to drive right over the bike

at the last moment he sees me and stops, clouting the bike front wheel

cue me shouting a lot, rather rattled, generally along the lines of 'I was right in front of you, how could you not see me?'

he only had two lines, nice old buffer as it turns out

'sorry' and 'the van driver let me out' he repeated that last one a lot

I'm almost certain that at one point he said ' you shouldn't have stopped in front of me'

anyhow, no harm done, the wheel was ok but that bloke will hurt someone if he thinks he can pull out right there without being able to see right, all the bikes and motorbikes run down the RHS, it's patently obvious

 

[gaz]

it has happened to me so many times.. even people turning right into a side road, your coming down the inside, and he just comes past. I look out for this sort of thing so i never get that unexpected one. or at least i hope.

 

[Tynan]

yes although there genuinely is only so much you can do, when they do it through a narrow gap at any sort of speed, there's little chance to do anything useful

people seem to do it quickly because they think it'll be safer i suspect, heaven forbid they inch through looking around the corner of the line of traffic

 

[gaz]

true that.

I do see some n00bs on the road that aren't aware of what else is going on.. and in that situation and reckon they would get side swipped.

 

[ttcycle]

tynan

hope your wheel isn't too out of shape and that you're alright to ride another day!

I cycle down that road daily as part of my commute home and know exactly the bit you're talking about - idiots pull out from that side road like there is no tommorow. Plus it seems there are also a disproportionately high number of 'step out into the road I don't care what's coming' peds as well, combined with a wobbly uneven road surface...not a nice road at all!

Even if the white van man let him pass he should still do his observations - I despair at the lack of care and attention people pay on these roads.

Though on a seperate note - did you know Tynan there is a brand of mineral water in restaurants called Tynant...?!

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Not as bad as the nob I saw today... approaching on the opposite side of the road he then veers towards the centre of the road (not even a glance backwards to check for traffic) and onto 'my' side of the road... in the gutter area heading towards me. At this point a car which has been waiting on 'his' original side of the road to turn right (across in front of me) does so neraly wiping him out as he passes across the junction the car was turning into.... absolutely no idea how these idiots survive a day on the roads!!

Nowt much you could do, Tynan - glad to hear you're basically okay. I think I might have mentioned that just because someone "lets you out" doesn't mean it's safe to just go for it... but probably not as politely as that.

 

[cannondale boy]

Look both ways at a junction...thats what my driving instructor told me to do. But some drivers are in a daze and thats how mistakes or even accidents happen. Expect the unexpected!

Just the other week i was heading down a hill around 20+, i see a car on the left knowing it wasn't going to stop, so had to slam on my brakes. I observed on what she was doing and it turned out that she was having a conversation with her fellow passenger, while chuckling away. The passenger was a distraction and the worst thing was she never even bothered to look right at all.

Oh well, do you think she would of been laughing if i was on her bonnet

 

[Tynan]

the wheel was fine sadly because he got off scot free when he could have trashed my bike at least, he was a second away from driving over it and possibly me

people driving into blind spots infuriate me

 

[purplepolly]

I 'the van driver let me out' he repeated that last one a lot

unfortunately that's not a very good safety guage.

At one junction I've been waved out for a right turn twice recently when on my bike, by a bus driver and a van driver, and didn't move on both occasions. Both times a car came past that would have hit me if I had turned out. I'm assuming they were just stupid and not doing it on purpose.

I certainly never move the car out if I can't see what's coming. This often makes the waver a bit irrate and they make even larger gesticulations to get me to move out into the unknown.

 

[mr_cellophane]

I was in the car and a woman pulled out in front of me "because the driver of the car coming towards me waved her on" I think he waved me on because I was turning right. I asked her why she didn't look right and she said that she couldn't as she had just been to the chiropractor. That went down on the insurance claim so hopefully she got taken off the road for a while.

 

[Tynan]

I remeber my driving instructor pefectly well, all they're saying is that it's fine by them, it is too, they're not going to check everything for you

 

[hackbike 666]

the wheel was fine sadly because he got off scot free when he could have trashed my bike at least, he was a second away from driving over it and possibly me

people driving into blind spots infuriate me

Fenchurch Street yesterday.Where the temporary lights are,going towards London Bridge

I overtake a black cab going into the single bit of road then a car pulls out (at speed) from the hidden left hand turning so I had to pull sharp left on instinct..I couldn't go right as he had taken up the space when I originally had all of the single bit of road to myself.I didn't even see who the driver was.

I blame myself mainly first commute back after 6 days off and I must have been on another planet.

Obviously the cab driver had let him out and I didn't see it.

 

[Tynan]

same spot hack

yay

 

[hackbike 666]

Hmmm and with all my experiencei fall for something basic.

 

[skwerl]

I was free wheeling along the rhs side of stopped traffic heading SW down Fenchurch Street this morning at about 9.45

The whole road is fairly dangerous, narrow, roadworks, lots of black cabs and coaches and vans and suicidal peds

Anyhow, I see, through a chink between two big vans, a car starting to pull out from a left turning, and clearly he can have no chance at all of seeing me or anyone else coming down the outside, I slow down a lot and then emergency stop as I get there and he's just starting to pull out while not looking right at all, I end up stopped perhaps a foot past the First van, perhaps a foot past the center line, just short of the center of the line he'll take turning right, right in front of him essentially

And out he comes, slowly but accelerating and I think Christ almighty, he can't see me, hike my left foot off the pedal and leap off the bike as he gets to me, fully expecting him to drive right over the bike

at the last moment he sees me and stops, clouting the bike front wheel

cue me shouting a lot, rather rattled, generally along the lines of 'I was right in front of you, how could you not see me?'

he only had two lines, nice old buffer as it turns out

'sorry' and 'the van driver let me out' he repeated that last one a lot

I'm almost certain that at one point he said ' you shouldn't have stopped in front of me'

anyhow, no harm done, the wheel was ok but that bloke will hurt someone if he thinks he can pull out right there without being able to see right, all the bikes and motorbikes run down the RHS, it's patently obvious

are you not partly to blame here for overtaking stationary traffic? especially on the approach to a junction.