Battle hardening ?

[gbb]

I sometimes think i am !
Watching some of your videos of errant drivers, i find myself thinking 'it's not that bad '
Am i becoming immune, is it a good thing ? I certainly enjoy commuting, wouldn't have it any other way.
I watched one video posted the other day with an oncoming car...i really thought 'so what'.
Are cycle lanes contributing to my outlook ? Cars constantly passing within 2 ft, you quickly get used to it, accept, it and think when someone actually does gives you good room...'nice one bud'

There's always the really close ones of course, the ones that leave you spitting blood in an instant, but thankfully they're really rare.

I'll take it as a good thing. I rarely ever get angry anymore, just think tw@t when someone comes too close (what is too close ?), although i'll nearly always 'have a word' with a driver i think's overstepped the mark.

Is it just me ?

 

[ianrauk]

Cycling in London everyday you do become immune.... most of the time. Though there is the odd one or two that make you think wtf. Like you I rarely get angry anymore, they usually just get the finger and I get on with my commute. Soon forgotten.

 

[summerdays]

I sometimes think i am !

I agree that you become acclimatised to it ... but I don't think that is right. And every now and again someone oversteps the boundary of what we feel is safe, when in reality most of the other traffic is also too close if we hit a pothole or had a sudden mechanical. We should be given a reasonable amount of space when being passed. I think it is one of the things that puts off new cyclists off riding in traffic and creates the demand for cycle lanes and separation from traffic.

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

I have also wondered about this. I did a compilation of close passes before Christmas and my daughter, who also cycles to work (though a much shorter distance) said she dikdn't see what the problem was with most of them. I wonder whether the camera doesn't show just how close they were. Or perhaps she doesn't recognise the danger. Or perhaps I'm being too sensitive. Yesterday, I moved the camera from the top of my helmet to the right hand side tol see whether that gives a more accurate impression (either way).

 

[Tommi]

I'm almost certain I've become more immune. Though it really depends on situation. In quiet residential road where the road is only wide enough for maybe 1.5 cars (thanks to parked cars on both sides) a car coming slowly (enough) and straight on it doesn't feel that bad even though I know I'm in the door zone for the duration of the pass. On the same road I'm reluctant to allow anyone overtake me, haven't really thought about it but I guess partially because I can't see them, they'd keep me in the door zone for longer time, and they might decide to suddenly brake just in front of me.

On the other hand if the oncoming car was drifting towards me, maybe due to avoiding something or other, even if they kept the same distance it would feel more uncomfortable.

And then, the faster I go and the faster they go, the more distance I need beside me.

I generally don't let people get to my nerves so I shrug it off. If it was clearly too close to my taste, I report it. Such cases are rare enough to remember the details of each incident. But lately I've come to realise I'm too lax regarding inconsiderate driving and I'm going to get a helmet camera so I can report more of them.

 

[gbb]

I agree that you become acclimatised to it ... but I don't think that is right. And every now and again someone oversteps the boundary of what we feel is safe, when in reality most of the other traffic is also too close if we hit a pothole or had a sudden mechanical. We should be given a reasonable amount of space when being passed. I think it is one of the things that puts off new cyclists off riding in traffic and creates the demand for cycle lanes and separation from traffic.

And that's the irony. I think its the advent of cyclelanes thats given us all some sort of seperation and allowed cars to think they can pass closer. (i'm in my lane, cyclist is in his, so all's well kind of mentality) Something done to help has actually made things worse you could argue.

 

[slowmotion]

I think it is inevitable that passes that seemed worrying when you first started commuting now seem perfectly normal. However, there are still those moments when the lorry with an endless trailer cuts back in and you instinctively move your right shoulder, or when you look down to see a wing mirror eight inches from your bars. I haven't managed to take those with a Zen-like calm....yet.

 

[downfader]

I think its worth analysing the risk, and understanding that newbies get put off because that natural inclination to think "WTF!" at a pass that is under 3 feet is for a reason - survival instinct.

I found myself getting used to the close passes, some would come within a few inches, but reading of incidents where a rider has had to move out to avoid a dog, or a pothole have shown me there is a massive risk at times. The question is, how the hell do we have any effect on it, once we've had this epiphany moment..?

Newbies also dont have that instinct to read the road ahead as an experienced cyclist might, they might come across a hazard they suddenly need to avoid and the consequences could be terrible. When we also add this situations to a driver that is unable to understand, or unwilling to, then this too adds to the risk.

The only things I can see that would reduce this little lot would be:
- keep campaigning, recording and documenting
- somehow increase the availability of workable segregated routes that would in turn increase cyclist numbers, and lead to a greater empathy.
- keep riding, because the more of us visibly out there, the more others will join us

 

[JonnyBlade]

To be honest I'm grateful when they do pass. Too man drivers don't pass when they can causing almighty jams that end up with at least one irate traffic jammer giving me crap for it!

 

[gaz]

Just because we are used to sub 3ft passes, doesn't mean we should put up with them.

 

[Underdog1964]

When I get out on my bike and commute I very rarely encounter impatient drivers. When I see these videos, as annoying as impatient drives are they annoy everyone not just cyclists......wonder if they are patienced enough to have insurance or even a valid license?


But to be fair there, they are inbreds travelling by everyform of transport.


Though remember some inbreds do exsist as cyclists too. I have witness countless moronic actions taken by people giving cyclists a bad reputation, such as wearing completely dark clothing and no lights/reflectors during night, not giving way and countless other foolish actions.

 

[BSRU]

You should also remember the wide angle lens's used make things seem a little further away and not look as bad.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I find what matters is the relative speed: if you and the motorist are 2 ft apart and both doing, say, 40km/h, it's less of a problem than if you're doing 40km/h and the motorist screams past you doing 70km/h (sorry for the metric, people, it's my background ). Of course, the higher the speed the more the risk, even with a low relative speed, because if you make contact then higher speeds mean more bouncing around on the road.

All that aside, I'm getting pretty blasé about close overtakes, and it's a mixed blessing of course; less stress for me but perhaps the danger of complacency also.

 

[John the Monkey]

Though remember some inbreds do exsist as cyclists too. I have witness countless moronic actions taken by people giving cyclists a bad reputation, such as wearing completely dark clothing and no lights/reflectors during night, not giving way and countless other foolish actions.

I've been put at risk precisely once, in about 4 years of commuting by cycle in and out of Manchester by a cyclist - old chap on a roadster who nearly t-boned me by going through a red at a light controlled junction I was crossing on green.

Motorists put me at risk pretty much every day, sometimes multiple times a day. IME there's no equivalence between the levels of risk posed by errant motorists and errant cyclists.

 

[Jezston]

If you think that being close-passed is annoying, imagine how horrible it must be for the driver!

I mean, just this morning some guy in a black Golf (not a Brazillian, fortunately) cut me up on the quiet residential street I live on just to stop right in front of me at a junction. I said "do you mind?" and he went absolutely mental and started exhibiting signs of a diabetic emergency or tourettes. I told him he should calm down before he gives himself a heart attack (as he was rather overweight), but he then acted quite contrary to my advice!

Poor guy.