An apology from a motorist

[ApologeticMotorist]

I'm not saying I was completely blameless, as has been pointed out I didn't allow space for other drivers errors. In the same token, I don't know why the other car pulled into my path. As I said before, he had no actual need to do this and it was unsafe regardless of the cyclist.

I do feel absolutely awful about the whole situation. I just wanted to put my apology to this poor guy out there.

 

[ApologeticMotorist]

I see what you're saying and I think I will treat this road differently next time. Unfortunately there's no option but to overtake the parked cars and it doesn't help that they park so close to the junction that it is completely obscured.

 

[Scoosh]

You shouldn't have been overtaking at a junction, regardless of how clear the road is. The highway code is quite clear on that matter too.

My reading of the OP is that the overtake would have been safely completed before the junction was reached, had not the other car come at speed towards her.

However, neither of us were actually there, so neither of us can take any 'moral high ground' and be absolutely sure of what should or should not have been done.

As many others have already said, full credit must go the ApologeticMotorist for being brave enough to come here and do her best to explain and apologize for an incident that clearly gave both the cyclist and the occupants of the car a real fright.

Thank you @ApologeticMotorist.

Drive safe and we hope you have many happy miles ahead of you - and better contact** with all cyclists !


** not sure that is quite the right word ...

 

[jonny jeez]

Thanks for coming on here and apologising. Its encouraging for those not involved to hear that not all drivers are out to harm.

Well played.

I would agree though that there is a lesson to be learnt here and I don't feel that you have picked up on it...ir taken to opportunity to leant from it.

You say that you were not passing on a junction and yet, you know you were. If you were not then pulling into the rapidly reducing space on the junction would not have caused any risk to the cyclist, as you would have been past them.

But it did, so you must, by your own definition been passing another vehicle on a junction.

Consider that when next driving, also consider just hanging back and letting the world do its own thing untill its totally clear for you to pass. That will spare you the discomfort and sense of guilt that you mention.

Don't beat yourself up too much, just try to learn from the experience. I really believe that it wasn't the other drivers fault...stupid as they were and the whole thing can be avoided in the future if you are prepared to accept that you contributed.

Harsh criticism often results in defence, try to rise above that and understand.

As for the shouty rider, well as you say, that's totally understandable given the circumstances, after all the person who seems faultless is the cyclist and yet he is the only one who's life was in real danger...from everyone else's bad driving and fault.

Despite my clam nature, I would have lost it...bigger than this rider seems to have.

Thanks for posting though. All helpful stuff...hopefully for you too.

 

[ApologeticMotorist]

Yes I would have passed the cyclist before the junction but accept now that that wasn't good enough. The other car was speeding I believe. The driver didn't signal until after he had turned his wheel either. He also didn't appear until after I had begun moving out to overtake as there is a bend in the road much further up and given where he ended up, he must have been travelling at some speed, perhaps 40mph or more.

I expected some harsh replies as I've seen all to often motorists bullying and being rude to cyclists so I can appreciate that it must often feel like all motorists are like that. I also expected posters to question my version of events and I have gone over and over it trying to think of alternative ways I could have handled it. As I said, my partner was in the car with me and neither of us are afraid to pull each other up on our respective driving faults and have indeed done so. On this occasion, he also felt that I was forced into taking evasive action and that the blame lay mostly with the other driver.

On another note, I have been considering getting a bike soon so may join (with a more appropriate name) in future.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. Nobody is being more harsh than I already am on myself.

 

[Nibor]

Seems to me the OP tokk a calculated risk (we all do this on occasion) it has back fired on them (this also happens) and the most important they have learned from the experience and thank goodness nobody got injured. Well done for taking the time to post your apology @ApologeticMotorist, I for one would have appreciated it once I had calmed down sufficiently to stop sticking pins in effigies of you LOL.

 

[doog]

I see what you're saying and I think I will treat this road differently next time. Unfortunately there's no option but to overtake the parked cars and it doesn't help that they park so close to the junction that it is completely obscured.

I was going to ask if the junction was obscured, it couldnt have helped the situation. Its impossible to predict every outcome on a road, all you can do is drive defensively and expect the unexpected in built up areas.Of course with a cyclist present (and any other road users- including pedestrians) the risks of incidents or occurrences such as this are magnified.

Please don't think this is a blame game - hopefully you are finding some of the comments constructive..

 

[ApologeticMotorist]

Yes, absolutely I'm finding this helpful. I am always happy to learn how to be a better driver.

It was a calculated risk, naturally done on autopilot as emergency decisions usually are. I do think it would have been worse all round if I'd hit the other car. When all this happened, he was moving the whole time and my car would have spun and possibly hit the cyclist as well as the car overshooting the junction and the parked cars, possibly the car travelling behind me too.

 

[Sea of vapours]

Very big of you to come on here and apologise - very few people would do that.

The primary learning point here appears to be that which is most common in driving incidents, i.e more anticipation needed - the 'what if?' question.

So, prior to initiating the overtake:
1. 'What if the cyclist wobbles or swerves?' You gave him plenty of space, so fine.
2. 'What if someone emerges from the junction on the left which I know to be there but can't see?' In that case, the cyclist might well swerve a great deal, using more space than you could provide during the overtake. That's (in part) why there's a 'do not overtake at junctions' statement in the Highway Code. So that anticipation would lead to your choosing not to make the overtake.
3. 'What if the car coming towards me moves into a right turn postion at the junction?' The fact that they shouldn't move over, or didn't need to, isn't material. The fact is that they both could do it and might do it, so again the overtake shouldn't have been made. (If you couldn't see far enough round a bend such that a car could appear and block the opposite lane during your manoevre, that's yet another reason why it was an inappropriate point to overtake - you didn't have time/space.)

Your passenger's assessment may have been right given where you were at the time, but you should have anticipated the above possibilities (2 and 3, not just 1) and then chosen not to overtake, thereby not being where you were when the car unexpectedly moved towards you.

No-one was hurt, physically, so this is a useful learning experience and may well help you to really anticipate and ask 'what if?' more in the future, which is a very useful outcome. Anyone who claims they've never done this sort of thing whilst driving has either never driven or is 'unusual', so just do as you are and learn from it. (EDIT: 'this sort of thing' meaning 'failed to anticipate all hazards correctly'.)

 

[Mugshot]

What speed were you going?

 

[Mugshot]

Anyone who claims they've never done this sort of thing whilst driving has either never driven or is 'unusual'

Really? If by this sort of thing you mean overtaking a cyclist then swerving back in on them then I haven't and I don't consider myself to be in any way unusual, I would be horrified to find out that the "usual" was that all motorists had at some point swerved into a cyclist.

 

[Scoosh]

What speed were you going?

[QUOTE 4278475, member: 9609"]How fast were you going 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 mph ?[/QUOTE]

I was travelling at about 15mph. I spotted a cyclist up ahead ...

 

[Mugshot]

"Up ahead", what about when they were overtaking?

 

[Sea of vapours]

Really? If by this sort of thing you mean overtaking a cyclist then swerving back in on them then I haven't and I don't consider myself to be in any way unusual, I would be horrified to find out that the "usual" was that all motorists had at some point swerved into a cyclist.

No - 'this sort of thing' meaning 'failed to anticipate all hazards properly'.

 

[Mugshot]

I can't see this happening with a car travelling at 15mph;

my car would have spun and possibly hit the cyclist as well as the car overshooting the junction and the parked cars, possibly the car travelling behind me too.

That sounds like a motorway pile up.