Cycling Mikey and third party reporting

[glasgowcyclist]

He's not obstructing, he's protecting others.

 

[Alex321]

No he's not. The traffic going the right way is obstructed by the car going the wrong way. Which can bloody well reverse.

Which wouldn't have still been there if Mikey hadn't blocked it.

Plus, that legitimate traffic woulod have to drive through Mikey to reach the car behaving illegally.

 

[mustang1]

No.

He blocks them from passing (and more importantly IMV, also blocks anybody trying to turn legitimately into that road from the other direction while he has the offender blocked).

Cars legitimately parked at the side of the road are not usually causing an obstruction. Though I did once get a ticket for that for parking (with a caravan attached) about here. When I queried it, since there were no signs or road marking indicating no parking (and still aren't, 20+ years later!), I was told that queues were building up as a result of my parking there, so it was causing an obstruction - and I should have parked in the park-and-ride even if not using the "ride" part of that (the entrance a couple of hundred yards behind me was a park-and-ride car park then).

You wrote:
He blocks them from passing (and more importantly IMV, also blocks anybody trying to turn legitimately into that road from the other direction while he has the offender blocked).

My interpretation:
He blocks them from passing (and more importantly IMV, also blocks anybody crashing when turning legitimately into that road from the other direction while the offending driver is on wrong side of the road.).

 

[Ian H]

Given that the police have actually praised Mikey for his actions, I do wonder why some people are objecting so strenuously.

 

[DaveReading]

My interpretation:
He blocks them from passing (and more importantly IMV, also blocks anybody crashing when turning legitimately into that road from the other direction while the offending driver is on wrong side of the road.).

Exactly.

The fact that drivers who perform the same manoeuvre as the offender are mostly lucky doesn't detract from the fact that none of them have any way of knowing whether a car is going to come round the corner. In effect, they are relying on the other driver's (or cyclist's) reactions to avoid a collision.

It's not just a stupid and thoughtless act, it's a dangerous one.

 

[Cycleops]

Which wouldn't have still been there if Mikey hadn't blocked it.

….or the driver had stayed on the correct side of the road

 

[mustang1]

Suppose the offending driver who is on the wrong side of the road and I'm turning left (I could be on my bike taking central position, or I could be in my car). I then encounter the offending driver. Should I back away and let the offending driver through, or wait there until the offending driver has reversed?

 

[GilesM]

Given that the police have actually praised Mikey for his actions, I do wonder why some people are objecting so strenuously.

One or two coppers seem to have spoken in his favour, although I'm not sure some of his actions would be praised by all coppers, but I can see some people here think highly of him, and I really know nothing about him, so all I can say is from the few things I have seen of him, I'm not warming to him.

 

[Deleted User]

Suppose the offending driver who is on the wrong side of the road and I'm turning left (I could be on my bike taking central position, or I could be in my car). I then encounter the offending driver. Should I back away and let the offending driver through, or wait there until the offending driver has reversed?

It's a hard one to call really, if there's nowhere for them to go you've got to let them out but I wouldn't fancy reversing back onto the main road.

If I had made the turn already and they could back up I would just sit there and make them reverse because I'm in the correct lane.

If on the bike I would just ride round them or take to the footpath.

 

[Cycleops]

If on the bike I would just ride round them or take to the footpath.

Not so easy to do if you’ve just swung around that corner going at a lick and there’s a car right in front of you. Not like being in a car with a ton of metal around you.

 

[figbat]

Not so easy to do if you’ve just swung around that corner going at a lick and there’s a car right in front of you. Not like being in a car with a ton of metal around you.

Surely if there's a risk of a car being right in front of you (whether legally or otherwise) one wouldn't be going "at a lick"?

 

[Deleted User]

Y

Not so easy to do if you’ve just swung around that corner going at a lick and there’s a car right in front of you. Not like being in a car with a ton of metal around you.

You're absolutely right and they shouldn't be doing it, we've established that fact.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Surely if there's a risk of a car being right in front of you (whether legally or otherwise) one wouldn't be going "at a lick"?

especially round a corner where you can;t see whether there is something there
such as - perhaps - an occupied pram/pushchair

 

[Cycleops]

Surely if there's a risk of a car being right in front of you (whether legally or otherwise) one wouldn't be going "at a lick"?

Quite right, I’m always meeting drivers on the wrong side of the road. Maybe we should moderate speed around corners or even push the bike?

 

[Alex321]

Quite right, I’m always meeting drivers on the wrong side of the road. Maybe we should moderate speed around corners or even push the bike?

Well you should always be able to stop within what you can see (whether on a bike or in a car or any other mode of transport). So yes, you should moderate speed around blind corners. That isn't just about drivers on the wrong side, it could be pedestrians, or the back of a queue of traffic going the right way, or any number of things.