Cyclist assaulted by white van man.

[fossyant]

Trying not to thread de-rail but @Matthew_T that is some shockingly bad cycling. No need to ride in the middle of the road at all. You just wobbled out. OK driver was going to quick there, but you made no clear indication of what you were doing.

 

[Boris Bajic]

"Yes, I did not signal. I was not turning and the van was a long way back (or so I thought)." - But you were wrong.
I wouldnt really call a van a large vehicle. I would. It is quite a lot larger than a bicycle.
I was expecting the van to be doing the speed limit, not speeding. That's fine. We all pull out without signalling in front of approaching vehicles whose speed we've guessed. Not mad at all.
Its called being courteous. Being courteous by swinging unnecessarily out in front of another road user and without signalling. You and I have differing definitions of 'courteous'.
Does matter if the horses were at the junction or just a little bit behind it? Yes. They were far from the junction.
I moved out because I analysed the situation and decided that it would be safer for the horses and riders if I moved out. If I had not, and the van had passed me at that speed just as I was passing them, the horses could have been spooked and put my life at risk. This is bunkum. I think you know it is.
I dont quite understand why people go on about the camera. I do not have the camera view feed directly inserted in my eyes. I cannot see what the camera sees (wider angle and clearer picture sometimes). I was fully aware of the van approaching but from a distance it seemed that he was doing the speed limit (30) and I had plenty of time to make my manouvre. I was just pulling back in to the left when he undertook me. If he had been doing the limit, I would have had plenty of time and all this wouldnt have happened. You compound your error (pulling out irrationally) with another (pulling back in without checking to the rear). It is poor riding or madness or both.
I think the important word here is "guess". If you are unsure of what another road user is doing, you should slow and and give them room. None of which the driver did. You write this in all seriousness, having 'guessed' that the van driver was farther back than he was.
Its called being courteous and other people would do good to follow my example around horses. They are unpredictable. They are not the only ones. And I should be very surprised if the equestrians had the first clue why you rode as you did or how it benefitted them.
I did really grill him, I just evaluated his sh*t driving and critisized him for undertaking me at speed. People like him should not be on the roads. I cannot comment on this response without weeping in both grief and tears of laughter.
The WVM might have appeared calm but as he said in the video, he wasnt going to argue with me when I had a camera. I dont quite understand how I was disputatious, he was the one who dangerously undertook me.
No... You were not disputatious. And each time you say that to yourself it will seem less absurd.. until you end up believing it.

Apologies for the polychromatic and bitty response... I was unable to use the normal 'reply' function.

 

[Matthew_T]

*Sigh*

 

[Boris Bajic]

Matthew, whether you pass your test or not, please do not drive a car.

You frighten me.

 

[Leodis]

*Sigh*

Just watched it with sound, PSCO Mattew T... I am shocked.

 

[400bhp]

*Sigh*

You confronted a grown man.

Think about that for a while.

 

[ianrauk]

Wow, just watched Matthews vid to see what the fuss was about. And YeGods, that was really crap cycling & really crap driving.
Good thing he had a camera as if not I think the outcome would have been very different.

 

[campbellab]

Sir Matthew sir,

Why do you continue to share these clips? You appeared (I may be wrong) to pull out into the centre or right of the lane without signalling.

Doing so when a large vehicle was approaching from the rear was not wise or safe.

Did you really do it for the horses? They were some distance from the junction. Are you sure you weren't looking for an 'incident' or a confrontation? I'm afraid it looked as if you were. Other contributors might disagree.

I may have missed something in this video. You seemed aware of the approaching van, but rode as if you were not. If you were unaware of it, please throw away the cameras and start using your eyes. They make a perfect system for live-action capture in full 3-D. Seriously. I use them and they work!

Many cyclists and motorists fail to signal. It seems perfectly reasonable for a driver to see a cyclist swing to the centre or right of the lane and guess that they may be turning right.

In my many decades on the road I have NEVER seen any vehicle pull out across a lane without signalling to allow room for horses that are really not presenting a danger to themselves or other road users. Your action seemed eccentric. It looked contrived.

You are not (yet) a PCSO, yet you grilled the guy like some sort of Clarence Darrow wannabe. It is bizarre and disturbing viewing.

The driving wasn't great, but the WVM appeared the calm one. You seemed your normal disputatious self.

I repeat my advice of some months ago: Wind your neck in. It is hugely entertaining for other CC members to see these clips, but they do not dignify you. Quite the reverse.

I wouldn't signal to take that position if I was avoiding a hazard, that would definitely give the wrong impression of my actions if I'm continuing straight on. But I probably wouldn't consider the horses as that much of a hazard because as a cyclist you are a lot less intimidating than motor vehicles flying past. Though when coming up behind horses and the riders haven't noticed a tinkle on the bell I always give them a wide berth!

As a driver I wouldn't dart down the inside of a cyclist that I thought was positioning themselves for a right turn like that, nor would I if it was a car. And certainly not between a vehicle and horses at a junction. Looked like the van driver was going like a bat out of hell and showed no concern for anyone else but his speed and I agree with matt it was awful driving. If you see someone acting erratically (from your perspective - they may see something you don't) you slow down and pass with caution.

Also if I took that position to avoid a pothole or whatever and had only clocked the van and the horses I wouldn't be doing a full shoulder look when moving back in, just glance out the corner of my eye if anything... There's no real reason in that situation to expect someone driving like a nutcase.

 

[Hip Priest]

I wouldn't have done what Matt did, but I wouldn't have done what the WVM did either. The post-incident debrief was good though. The van driver reminded me of Andy from Peep Show. The sensitive handyman.

 

[cd365]

I don't normally watch matt's videos but due to the seriously bad comments I did this time.

Matt I think you are a very keen cyclist and you seem to love camping your rides, please for your sake let an experienced car driver and who is an experienced cyclist look at your videos before posting them up. It might save you a lot of grief. I actually don't like to see all the grief you bring on yourself.

 

[Primal Scream]

Matthew, one day you will confront the me of 40 years ago and the me of 40 years ago would have punched your lights out and to hell with the consequences.

 

[glenn forger]

Fewer violent fantasies please.

Matthew you provoked that, there was no need to swing right for those horses, they were well away and calm as anything. Don't try to dominate the road or act as a police officer. It's introducing stress and woe where there's really no need for it.

 

[Primal Scream]

Fewer violent fantasies please.

I am ashamed to say they were not at the time

 

[Primal Scream]

I just hope that the tiny bit of authority of a PCSO does not go to his head.

 

[Schneil]

The van was close but didn't hit the rider so hard to say it was too close.
There is no excuse for the rider hitting the van and I would have liked to heard that the police gave him a warning (or more) for creating the situation and then falsifying his statement. It is nobbers like this that drive the wedge between cyclists and drivers.
Oh, and I would have decked the WVM had he punched me, but then I am 6ft2 and can handle myself. However I wouldn't have hit his van in the first place due to my respect for other's property, and so wouldn't be in that situation.

So if a car is dangerously close to you and you slap it as a warning, then you are saying the police and courts would have a problem with that??
In a similar situation I had to slap a car that was dangerously close. What else was I supposed to do? Wave? Ring my bell? Let the car hit me and be run over or crash into railings at 20mph?
And no the police and the judge didn't have a problem with the slap. The driver meanwhile got 5 points on his licence.