Being taught a lesson?

[benborp]

I was rear ended again yesterday. Nothing too extreme, the rear wheel of my bike just wedged under the bumper of the car.

Youtube Video

The trouble is it happens quite often. In the last couple of years I've been hit from behind more than five times.

In one case a woman ran into the back of a queue of traffic with me being the last vehicle in line, she was oblivious of me until the impact and this was the only instance when I was hurt.

All the others had been following me and had been aware of my presence for some time, one hit me while I was travelling at speed (25mph) and trashed my rear wheel, the others struck me while I was stationary at traffic lights or junctions - always a significant time after I had come to a halt. Something about each incident also made me think that the collisions were not accidental, three of them definitely were deliberate. The guy yesterday was more ambiguous, apparently he didn't see, feel, or hear anything! I don't think he was that thick though.

As well as being rear ended I'm frequently squeezed, which again often seems to be malicious rather than accidental. Certainly the four cabbies that have come after me in the last month made no secret of their intentions and I certainly pick up a few punishment passes.

So I have two questions:

1. Can those that have seen me ride point at any factors that make me more susceptible to being taught a lesson or becoming invisible?

2. Are these just common experiences that those commuting in south London have to bear? Several forumers with frequent tales of numptiness travel through my neck of the woods.

 

[ianrauk]

In 5 years of commuting and cycling in SE London being hit from behind has never happened to me however getting squeezed is a regular occurrence.

(ooh eer.. is this a reply from fnarr?)

Not sure why it has happened to you a few times. And having been with you on rides a few times, I can honestly say that there is nothing in your riding style that leaves you more open to these type of situations then others. I think it's just bad luck.

Looking at the vid, you stopped at the junction at a normal slowing down pace and with plenty of time for the moton behind to see you. There was no need for him to hit you. I can only surmise that the moton was just not paying attention to what was happening in front of him for what ever reason.

 

[buddha]

2. Are these just common experiences that those commuting in south London have to bear? Several forumers with frequent tales of numptiness travel through my neck of the woods.

Finger's crossed it's never happened to me yet - and I hardly ever filter - just wait in line.
But then I am a bit of a 'wide-load' .
Although as I hear someone pulling up behind I pretty much always look behind and make eye contact. Also have a bright red light on the saddlebag - on day and night.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I've had three SE London cars drive into me when I was driving, two of which were written-off, two of which happened when I was stationary at red lights and one when I was parked off-road!!! If they can't see a big estate car stationary in front of them, they're not going to see a bike.

But 5 does seem excessive. I was in Penge a couple of days ago and hadn't realised I'd been lucky to get out of it in one piece.

 

[Moodyman]

I'm paranoid at getting hit from behind - though I've never been.

I look over my shoulder regularly to see who's behind as I'm braking. This alerts drivers that something's up and they keep their distance.

Gotta remember that you've no breaklights to alert drivers.

 

[benborp]

Moodyman, I'm very aware as I brake and often make room for cars following behind to over-run. This kind of thing only seems to happen once I've been stopped for a while.

deptfordmarmoset, you are indeed extremely lucky. Although you've probably got the right skill sets to survive in Penge. Walking into a random pub in Deptford is probably going to result in a similar outcome as to doing the same in Penge. Although I think there is a slightly higher chance of being able to purchase beer round your way.

 

[recumbentpanda]

Just a thought, but, maybe its worth reflecting that chance is inherently 'lumpy' (if it wasn't it wouldn't be truly random). In other words, it can be quite natural for a 'cluster' of similar events to occur, without there being any connection. An intriguing recent example of this was the shuffle function on Apple's ipod. People were complaining that it seemed to have 'preferences' for particular tracks or bands. In fact it was just 'lumpy chance'. Apple rewrote the software from a truly random system to a 'pseudo-random' one that smoothed out the lumps and everybody was happy. Scares about 'cancer-clusters' a few years ago were complicated by the same issue: It can happen just by chance and doesn't necessarily mean there's something nasty in the water.

It may be that your events have a common factor - but its equally possible that they don't, and you've just had a run of bad luck.

Good luck!

 

[BentMikey]

In 5 years of commuting and cycling in SE London being hit from behind has never happened to me however getting squeezed is a regular occurrence.

(ooh eer.. is this a reply from fnarr?)

Not sure why it has happened to you a few times. And having been with you on rides a few times, I can honestly say that there is nothing in your riding style that leaves you more open to these type of situations then others. I think it's just bad luck.

Looking at the vid, you stopped at the junction at a normal slowing down pace and with plenty of time for the moton behind to see you. There was no need for him to hit you. I can only surmise that the moton was just not paying attention to what was happening in front of him for what ever reason.

+1 to Ian's comment, Ben. I feel you've just been unlucky. I've heard of this happening to other people a while back on uk.rec.cycling, so you're not the only one.

I presume you've roadsafed the latest one?

A rear HD camera might one day pick up some evidence of intentional bumping? I'm hoping mine deters anything like that since it's a large GoPro HD behind my head and very obvious. I've certainly noticed a driver or two change from pushy aggressive to calm and careful after noticing the camera.

 

[Black Sheep]

One thing I do when I'm sat at a junction for a while is to signal my right turn as if to re-affirm my position on the road.

I've not been bumped myself, but I don't ride in London.

 

[snailracer]

Do you coast before stopping? That's the nearest equivalent to brake lights on a bike.

 

[Tynan]

I don;t pull up in primary ubless I have a reason to, perhaps one junction in 10 or 20, I suppose that avoids the problem, an awful lot of drivers seem to stop way over the stop line or even the ASL

never been rear ended, I was taught on CBt multiple times to slow and stop carefully while paying attention to the following vehickle, I'm not suggesting anything faulty with OP's riding

 

[gaz]

Never been rear ended. *touches wood*

 

[sheddy]

Time for some Hi-Viz ?
and runs off......

 

[BentMikey]

I don;t pull up in primary ubless I have a reason to, perhaps one junction in 10 or 20, I suppose that avoids the problem, an awful lot of drivers seem to stop way over the stop line or even the ASL

never been rear ended, I was taught on CBt multiple times to slow and stop carefully while paying attention to the following vehickle, I'm not suggesting anything faulty with OP's riding

On your second para, I agree, I learnt that lesson a long time ago when I was nearly rear ended on my motorbike by a car driver. Modulating my braking let me roll out into the intersection and give him enough space to stop without hitting me. I think Ben is probably at least as good as the best of us at that.

Offtopic slightly, the bolded bit - wicked posting quality there Tynan. That's the kind of stuff we should all be doing more when talking about someone's videos. You are teh bomb!!

 

[dellzeqq]

I can't see that Ben did anything wrong. I do think it behoved the driver to get out of his car and apologise.