Annoying what some other riders do..

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Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
I wonder what's on the other side of that taxi?", and would ride accordingly.
Well said. In similar context, I'd be interested to read your take on @johnnyb47 's "close shave" thread. As he rounded a bend (rural) a car pulled out on him from a side turning and then stopped mid road. Are you in the @mrj camp?
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
The primary cause of this collision is (according to the account) the cyclist crossing two lines of vehicles on red, presumably in the knowledge that the lights were about to turn green.
Why on earth would the cyclist presume that the lights were about to turn green? Flaming crossing lights at junctions these days often turn red a whole stage (often 45 seconds or more) before the carriageway lights turn green. If you report this excessive red crossing light time to the highway authority, you just get reminded that the red light is only advisory and the signals are left as they are. So able-bodied people get into the habit of crossing on red, especially if parallel carriageway lights are still green when they start.

Bottom line: motorists need to obey http://highwaycode.info/rule/198 "Give way to anyone still crossing after the signal for vehicles has changed to green. This advice applies to all crossings."
 

classic33

Leg End Member
I think you are being a little harsh, officer. You're stationary (on a motorbike in the inside of two lanes of an urban dual carriageway with a high(ish) sided taxi in the lane next to you, waiting for the lights to go green. They go green and the road ahead of you and within your vision left and right is clear. You start accelerating (whether to 'beat' the taxi or otherwise). Simultaneously a cyclist appears travelling from the other side of the taxi across your path. The OP did his best to stop/avoid and managed to mitigate the collision to a minimum, and one which did not harm the cyclist. "Going for it" from lights to "beat the taxi" is a mindset that'd be worth moderating, but the OP's request was:

The primary cause of this collision is (according to the account) the cyclist crossing two lines of vehicles on red, presumably in the knowledge that the lights were about to turn green.
If the cyclist was already partway through their turn(from the other side of the dual carriageway, no longer out of no-where), they may well have been in a yellow box that allows them to enter if they're turning right.

If this had been someone on a pedal cycle, who'd ridden up the inside of two lanes of traffic, waited in the gutter until the lights changed(as the first poster says they did, on a motorbike). Then "went for it, just to beat the taxi", colliding with another road vehicle(first poster doesn't appear to consider pedal cycles as road vehicles), what would be said?

Who'd be at fault for the collision. The person who'd gone up the inside/left-side of another vehicle at lights, or the person they hit?
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Well said. In similar context, I'd be interested to read your take on @johnnyb47 's "close shave" thread. As he rounded a bend (rural) a car pulled out on him from a side turning and then stopped mid road. Are you in the @mrj camp?
There were four lanes of traffic to consider. Two each way, with a motorbike having been taken up the left-side of a parked vehicle. The riders sole interest to begin with was to beat the taxi away from the lights. In doing so they collided with another road user, blaming them for what they themself had just done.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Well said. In similar context, I'd be interested to read your take on @johnnyb47 's "close shave" thread. As he rounded a bend (rural) a car pulled out on him from a side turning and then stopped mid road. Are you in the @mrj camp?

That's why they're called "blind" corners. The name is there for a reason, and the name tells us they require additional caution and a specific technique.

And I'm not camp, thankyou very much (said in a deep raspy voice).
 
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