Bexley Council Sweeper Van Should I report this

[Trickedem]

Lovely day for the commute today. Bright day, not too cold. I was really enjoying the ride until this. Why oh why are some people so impatient?

I was just about to overtake a parked car, but as I started to move out the Sweeper Van driver decides to overtake me. At the same time nearly taking out two cars coming in the opposite direction. I was considering reporting this to Bexley Council, as if this driver normally drives likes this it is surely just a matter of time before he causes an accident. What do you think?

[media]

]View: http://youtu.be/7Q5TLeR0b90[/media]

 

[400bhp]

+1

If you've gone to the trouble of installing a camera and uploading it to Youtube then it is your duty to.

 

[growingvegetables]

Yup - report it to the council.

And why not also to Serco? Since they operate the Barclays Cycle Hire, they might have a bit of a vested interest in employing truck drivers who show a bit of respect to cyclists.

 

[Trickedem]

+1

If you've gone to the trouble of installing a camera and uploading it to Youtube then it is your duty to.

I got the camera to provide evidence in the unfortunate event of me having an accident, having been knocked off my bike a couple of months ago and having a couple of very serious near misses. In this particular case, I was ok, although I was completely stunned at the stupidity and impatience of the driver. I could easily have crashed and he also passed two cars incredibly close, which could easily have caused them to crash.

So I have reported this to Bexley Council and I will see what transpires. I haven't mentioned the video to them yet.

 

[Jezston]

Was looking at the gap between yourself and the van and thought "what's the problem"? Wasn't til I saw the freezeframe that I noticed the mini! Blimey! Surprised he didn't take the wing mirror off!

 

[Trickedem]

Was looking at the gap between yourself and the van and thought "what's the problem"? Wasn't til I saw the freezeframe that I noticed the mini! Blimey! Surprised he didn't take the wing mirror off!

You are right, he did leave me some room, although I did swerve as he started to overtake as I never expected anyone to overtake at that point. I think he did the same to the silver car as well!

 

[Stig-OT-Dump]

In those situations I tend to use a forceful hand signal well ahead of my pull out point to indicate my intention to pull out and to encourage a following driver to hang back. I had a look at your shadow when you passed through patches of sunlight and there was no evidence of you signalling.

I'm not saying you didn't, and I'm not siding with the driver, but you may want to consider doing a longer held forceful indication in similar situations. Just a thought.

 

[BlackPanther]

In those situations I tend to use a forceful hand signal well ahead of my pull out point to indicate my intention to pull out and to encourage a following driver to hang back. I had a look at your shadow when you passed through patches of sunlight and there was no evidence of you signalling.

I'm not saying you didn't, and I'm not siding with the driver, but you may want to consider doing a longer held forceful indication in similar situations. Just a thought.

I agree that yes, a hand signal can be helpful to make the driver aware of your intentions.

But........he did look over his shoulder THREE TIMES, which should also have made the driver aware of his intentions. The driver either didn't see (so he probably wouldn't notice a hand signal either), or just didn't care (more likely) and blundered on regardless.

 

[mcshroom]

Most road sweepers are left hand drive so the driver probably doesn't even know that he almost hit the mini. I hope you get a response as that was stupid driving.

 

[Trickedem]

I agree that yes, a hand signal can be helpful to make the driver aware of your intentions.

But........he did look over his shoulder THREE TIMES, which should also have made the driver aware of his intentions. The driver either didn't see (so he probably wouldn't notice a hand signal either), or just didn't care (more likely) and blundered on regardless.

You are right I didn't do a hand signal. I was already out in a strong seconday position with enough space to pass the parked car and as I recall it now, the first I saw of this truck was once it was beside me!! To be honest, I am constantly looking over my shoulder and I also have a mirror and will signal when I need to, but I don't do it for every car I pull out for as normally I will pull out a good hundred metres or more before any obstruction. I will have a look at my ride leading up to this to see where I was in the road and see if there is anything I can learn.

My complaint has now been sent to the council and acknowledged by them. I have stated the facts as far as I can on their form. But I haven't told them that I have a video. Some of you who have been in this sort of situation before could hopefully advise me. I have the various email addresses that it has been sent to, so I could easily tell them, or should I wait and see how this develops.

 

[campbellab]

Tell them about the video from the start, otherwise you sound disengenuous and they are more likely to take a defensive stance when they find out you do have.

 

[Stig-OT-Dump]

You are right I didn't do a hand signal......

Just to clarify, I don't just stick my arm out to indicate that I will be pulling out (fnarr) but to say "back off - that bit of road space is mine". I try to get a bit of eye contact at the same time. Not criticising anyone, just saying what I do.

 

[growingvegetables]

Tell them about the video from the start. Give the council officer/SERCO official the tools s/he needs to do their job.

 

[Tynan]

looked like an alright pass to me, sorry, nothing wrong with your riding either, the only person with greif was oncoming traffic imho

I appreciate you were there and the camera might be misleading

 

[mcshroom]

looked like an alright pass to me, sorry, nothing wrong with your riding either, the only person with greif was oncoming traffic imho

I appreciate you were there and the camera might be misleading

That's the point really. I don't think the pass is that close, but he was ridiculously close to the car coming the other way.