Anyone know this idiot?

[Origamist]

I hate him for doing something so utterly stupid in the first place. Maybe this will make him reconsider in the future. Maybe.

You must hate an awful lot of people if stupidity is the criterion that boils your piss.

 

[I like Skol]

Mickle, you are not doing yourself any favours here and you are doing a good job as portraying yourself as an irrational livid loony vehicle hater!

At no point in that clip did the cyclist get the back of his rear wheel more than millimetres away from being level with the trucks front bumper. If you actually go back to the vid clip still image that shows before playing the clip you will see that unless the driver was stood up with his face pressed against the windscreen he is unlikely to be able to see the cyclist (you could argue that the rider would be visible in at least one of the many forward and sideward mirrors but it is impossible for anybody, no matter how good they are, to simultaneously watch 6/7/8 mirrors and the road ahead).
There is only one farking psychopath in that video and it is the truck hating scumbag cyclist who shouldn't be on the road!

 

[TheJDog]

You must hate an awful lot of people if stupidity is the criterion that boils your piss.

I really really do.

 

[mickle]

Mickle, you are not doing yourself any favours here and you are doing a good job as portraying yourself as an irrational livid loony vehicle hater!

At no point in that clip did the cyclist get the back of his rear wheel more than millimetres away from being level with the trucks front bumper. If you actually go back to the vid clip still image that shows before playing the clip you will see that unless the driver was stood up with his face pressed against the windscreen he is unlikely to be able to see the cyclist (you could argue that the rider would be visible in at least one of the many forward and sideward mirrors but it is impossible for anybody, no matter how good they are, to simultaneously watch 6/7/8 mirrors and the road ahead).
There is only one farking psychopath in that video and it is the truck hating scumbag cyclist who shouldn't be on the road!

I am not denying that the cyclist was a nobber. What I'm saying is the truck driver knew that there were cyclists down the side of his truck becuase a buch of them popped out in front of him. So he could have predicted that there was one or more cyclsts still down the side of his truck at the point he entered the junction exit. If he didn't then he's a danger to other road users. You can't just plow on ahead like that if there's a chance that you might hurt or kill someone.

Again, the cyclist took an unnecessary risk, but lets not pretend that the truck driver didn't know exactly what he was doing when he took the cyclist out.

And I think it's worth adding, I've been in exactly this situation as a driver - not of an artic, but a 14 metre long van and trailer. And rather than pose even the remote chance of any danger to the cyclists I stopped to let them filter in. because I'm not a psycho nutter cyclist hating bastard. It's not difficult to drive like you give a sh!t about people.

 

[Labradorofperception]

The cyclist went for a gap that was not there and the truck driver had his elbow out.

 

[Jody]

All the cyclists should know what a risky situation they were in. At half way accross the box junction those who weren't absolutely clear of the front of that lorry should have hung back. Its just not worth your life.

Personally I think they were all nobs for trying to go up the inside of an artic.

 

[Lozz360]

Even if they were all in the wrong lane the trucker made a deliberate attempt to maim them. He knew what he was doing.

I may be paranoid but I do believe that there are those that drive motor vehicles that would quite happily kill or maim a cyclist if they were sure that the fault was with the cyclist. However, this doesn't apply to this instance. The lorry driver had right of way and probably was not able to see the cyclists changing lane when it was not safe to do so.

 

[PK99]

I'm not a psycho nutter cyclist hating bastard.

But you do seem to be trying very hard to come across as a psycho nutter driver hating bastard.

 

[I like Skol]

......but lets not pretend that the truck driver didn't know exactly what he was doing when he took the cyclist out.

You seem very sure! I'm not.

I once drove something bigger than a Fiat Panda and I am the bestest/safest/most observant driver in the world because I spotted someone endangering themselves and successfully avoided them........

I will see your pointless anecdote and raise you another, possibly equally meaningless, anecdote...

I used to drive for a living. Nothing huge, just a LWB Sprinter Luton van covering around 30-40k a year for 13 yrs. I once nearly crushed an elderly lady and here is how. I had popped to the bank in my local town, parking on street at the end of a limited waiting section. When I returned to my van I approached from the rear to find someone had parked in front of me virtually touching bumpers so I couldn't drive off without first reversing away from the line of parked cars. I had walked past the back of my van so had seen there was nothing there, climbed into the cab, checked both mirrors and began to slowly reverse while continually checking both mirrors. Just by chance I spotted something at the very bottom of my view in one mirror and stopped because although it hadn't registered what it was, I wasn't expecting anything. It turns out a slow moving old lady had wondered out of a side entrance on my blindside as I got into the cab and was crossing behind my van. I had gently pushed her over and thank god, spotted the edge of one of her shopping bags sticking out from behind the van! I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn't spotted her or been one of those drivers that slams it in reverse, shoots back, before roaring off flat out!

What I am trying to say is that with the best will in the world, shoot happens to even the most conscientious drivers. Stuff can get missed, things slip through the net, people will find ways to foil your care. You are being wholly unfair to accuse the driver of 'knowing what he was doing' when he collided with that cyclist and to be honest you are losing a lot of my respect by trying.

 

[davidphilips]

Theres at least a few things everyone can agree on. The cyclist was in the wrong and no one on here would have been silly enough to cycle in such a crazy way.

Also concerning the driver even any one who has never sat in never mind driven a class 1 vehicle knows there are blind spots and as no one can read minds then no one can really say the driver seen the cyclist or done any thing wrong.

 

[sight-pin]

Isn't that one of those mirrors on the unit that gives views down beside the cab?

 

[Tin Pot]

Just one question? If any one thinks the lorry driver was some how in the wrong then what on earth should the driver have done?

So, at the risk of being able to hold more than a black and white view...

The cyclists en masse are in the wrong lane. They would've been better off behind or even in front of the truck, so that their presence and intentions were clear.

The driver still is the one bringing all the danger to this environment, he has a responsibility. Knowing that the cyclists were positioned wrong, seeing them cycle ahead of him, all of these were indications that he might not be able to see all of them, but he chose to drive on without pause.

Secondly, the cyclist is the one who nearly died. Leaping out of the cab and angrily shouting at the cyclist is not an appropriate response for a professional driver, or driver of any sort. This alone should be reprimanded.

So what should have occurred?

The cyclists should have been positioned appropriately.

The driver should have waited until he was sure it was safe to drive.

The cyclist hit should have looked out for his own safety.

The council should have put in a cycle box for this kind of incident.

 

[I like Skol]

Isn't that one of those mirrors on the unit that gives views down beside the cab?

Yes, and there is one above the windscreen for seeing down by the bumper also, but they have their limits and give a rather skewed view of what you are seeing. They are really good for using when stationary or manoeuvring slowly but the effect of the convex surface means that tracking moving objects, especially when you are also moving, is a tricky business. Add to this that you cannot give that mirror your full attention because you have to check half-a-dozen other mirrors and look ahead to watch where you are going and it soon becomes clear why a cyclist should not rely on being seen in one. As I keep telling my kids, with trucks/vans/buses you either need to be way out front or stay behind because once you get to any point inbetween you may be on your own!

 

[sight-pin]

Yeah. I dare say the driver was checking the other mirror etc trying to merge into the single lane ahead anyway.

 

[davidphilips]

So, at the risk of being able to hold more than a black and white view...

The cyclists en masse are in the wrong lane. They would've been better off behind or even in front of the truck, so that their presence and intentions were clear.

The driver still is the one bringing all the danger to this environment, he has a responsibility. Knowing that the cyclists were positioned wrong, seeing them cycle ahead of him, all of these were indications that he might not be able to see all of them, but he chose to drive on without pause.

Secondly, the cyclist is the one who nearly died. Leaping out of the cab and angrily shouting at the cyclist is not an appropriate response for a professional driver, or driver of any sort. This alone should be reprimanded.

So what should have occurred?

The cyclists should have been positioned appropriately.

The driver should have waited until he was sure it was safe to drive.

The cyclist hit should have looked out for his own safety.

The council should have put in a cycle box for this kind of incident.

Agree with you tin pot about most points, apart from the bit about the driver should have waited, why should he not have drove on when the lights changed it was safe for him to drive on and thats his job and duty as a driver to do so, the cyclist made a bad error in cycling up on his left and caused the danger, if it had been a car not a bike it would have been destroyed and the car driver convicted? Should the driver have stopped in the of chance there might be some nit that he could not see in his left if so the our roads would be chock a block.