BBC helmet cam film to explore cyclist-motorist conflict

[davefb]

wierd.. i read that as being this

"IF you don't want to go round like you would in the car and stick to the left hand lane, then watch out for this"

it isn't just cyclists who might be effectively turning right at a roundabout from the left hand lane, i've seen other 'slower traffic' do this...

personally.. i don't like the stay to the left.. i'll either cycle like a car or avoid... frankly i might even do a bit of pavement hopping or walk where appropriate.. or use a subway...

 

[fudgepanda]

Yes, cars will notice the camera on your helmet and be angels. People will also look at your, especially if you have a GoPro stuck on top of your head. Lol

They'll look at you a lot more with a Panaflex 35mm on your head. I believe there is a perfectly working model available on fleabay somewhere but it's about £15,000.

 

[fudgepanda]

Just had to read quite a few pages in one fell swoop so I'm going to comment on a few of the threads. Lane discipline first. The Highway Code, indeed traffic law itself, states that you should only overtake on the right, except in a one way street; when the vehicle in the right hand lane is, or is shortly about to turn right; or (perhaps more pertinent here) in slow moving queues of traffic where traffic in the right hand lane is moving more slowly than that in the right. If filtering up the inside, outside or between traffic flows the rider should be observant and be ready to expect that something unexpected, such as a door opening to allow a passenger out of a vehicle, a pedestrian crossing or a vehicle turning into or out of a side road may happen. Motorcyclists know all too well that when something like that happens usually the best they can hope for is a 50/50 decision from a court based on the assumption that you should expect something like that to happen.

As for the video, it was a little difficult to get a real idea of distance because of the extreme wide angle lens of the dashcam, but the driver seemed to display an extraordinary degree of patience. I can't help thinking that he was either a cyclist himself or a driving instructor or road safety officer.

Finally, roundabouts. I'm pretty certain the Highway Code did (at some point at least) suggest that slow moving road users could use the left hand lane to negotiate roundabouts, regardless of the final destination. I suppose it depends on the size of the roundabout, the prevailing speed limit. The advice to horse riders was certainly to use the left hand lane.

 

[fudgepanda]

It's worth bearing in mind that most of the Highway Code rules are advice rather than law. I would also suggest that, with the exception of laws, road users interpret the Code to the best of their ability and with regard to the particular situation they find themselves in. Recently I was using a shared bus/cycle lane at some traffic lights. They were on red so I sat there and waited.....and waited.....and waited. Until it finally dawned on me that it would probably require the weight of several tons of bus before they changed to green, so I made a judgement that it was safe to carry on and went across the line on red. In retrospect I should (legally) have changed to the right hand lane where the lights actually were on green. I contravened the law so would have been liable to prosecution, or at the very least a bloody good telling off if seen.

When it comes to overtaking on the left, there shouldn't be any issues, apart from keeping your wits about you, but from a driver's point of view, the interpretation could come when speed (as in slow moving traffic) is taken into account.

The rules can be used in support of a prosecution, for instance, where rules say that drivers should look for cyclists or pedestrians in certain situations but a driver goes headlong into a situation, for instance an overtake or lane change and takes out the said cyclist or pedestrian.