Car Pulls Out from Parked

[Jezston]

Had a weird one this morning (forgot to ask earlier) which gave me a bit of a fright. Not sure how to deal with such an eventuality in the future.

Car parked at side of the road, road is plenty wide enough so everyone is driving around him.

Notice his right indicator is on, but don't think too much about it - often see people parked up going nowhere with one indicator on or both as hazards - he's certainly not actually moving, so I pull out to go around him. Often this is also the case with buses - they start indicating right long before they actually pull out and I've often found myself sitting behind them stationary while they sit there waiting for them to pull out.

Just as im besides him, he pulls out, pushing me to the right, although the lane is plenty wide enough. Gets an "oi!".

Now find myself to the right of a traffic lane with cars now undertaking me with nowhere to go. Eventually after a hundred meters or so of uncomfortability I managed to pull back to the left.

Was he a knob, or should I have slowed down, and stopped if necessary?

 

[Tynan]

he shouldn't have pulled out

I can;t imagine the cirumstances where you couldn't get back to your position again, unless you were pushed very wide and the car behind was very agressive

 

[661-Pete]

This is a textbook SMIDSY. He obviously didn't see you and he's in the wrong all right. You could have lectured him a bit about what the HC says - about looking behind before pulling out etc. etc...

But - I suppose it makes sense to look for the danger signs. I do find it irritating that if you can only see one side of a vehicle, a turn signal may be mistaken for hazard flashers. You just have to assume the 'worst case'. And look for a vehicle with front wheels turned outwards. A person in the driving seat. Exhaust smoke.

 

[BentMikey]

Ooh, sympathies! A bit of looking back and negotiation should get you back across to the nearside more quickly than a hundred metres, I would have thought.

On a related matter, I get slightly frustrated by buses parked up with their hazards on. Why? Because I like to let buses out of stops, and I can't always tell if they're parked up, or indicating right.

 

[XmisterIS]

He should have looked over his right shoulder and given way to you. You had priority in the road.

That being said, the operative word is *should* ... I get this when I'm on my motorbike. I've even had it done to me when I was driving a heavily loaded luton van once! How the hell the driver failed to see a sodding great big van right next to his/her car is entirely beyond me.

 

[HLaB]

The SMIDSY shouldn't have pulled out but as you've learned when there's parking driver sometimes do thing without thinking or assume that an indicator means they have priority, after all its only a bike ; the next time you'll be ready for it.

 

[HLaB]

On a related matter, I get slightly frustrated by buses parked up with their hazards on. Why? Because I like to let buses out of stops, and I can't always tell if they're parked up, or indicating right.

Slightly OT, What really freaks me out is when a car comes up on my right and I suddenly see a Left turn indicator but its not, its one of those solid amber LEDs.

Edit: Oops forgot the comma again, doh

 

[Alembicbassman]

Slightly OT, What really freaks me out is when a car comes up on my right and I suddenly see a Left turn indicator but its not it one of those solid amber LEDs.

Had that happen to me the other week. Big gold Merc E class. The driver obviously assumed I was turning left too, I wasn't. Contact was made and I called him a word that rhymes with hunt.

For right turners the shoulder check was recently flagged by the DSA as one of the most common omissions by 'experienced' drivers. You can hide a truck in a blind spot, let alone a bicycle.