Defensive riding

[Tommi]

Be careful out there.

Just witnessed this today. I could sense the potential conflict from the distance, in part because of the empty space before the cyclist, in part because of the second car, in part because of the cyclists position on the lane, in part because I'm always expecting someone to cut me off like that.

[media]

]View: http://youtu.be/t2qcj2F2WkA[/media]

 

[Alien8]

Ouch!
Yep, as we all know, if one car turns expect the next one to follow regardless of what's coming down the road.

 

[gaz]

Happens a lot here, I work just to the right of where it happened.
As I said in the comments there are ways to do better in these situations but sometimes they are unavoidable.

 

[pshore]

Hi-Viz or flasher might have saved the day.

Grey day, grey buildings, grey cars, neutral coloured cycling jacket, plus driver on the lookout for cars = SMIDSY.

 

[blubb]

Had one of these yesterday aswell. Saw it coming a mile back, but kept going till the last second. He was quite frightened and apologised.

Hi viz or flasher won't help at all, because the driver isn't looking your way. Just focused on the car infront of him.
In my case he didn't even see the car that was right beside me, it was red.

 

[BentMikey]

AirZound!! That and thinking ahead a little more usually averts these clowns.

 

[fossyant]

Bad move - I get these quite a bit - shame rider didn't notice a bit earlier. Ouch.

 

[Origamist]

First and foremost, that is poor driving. Either the driver did not look (following the lead car) or glanced and thought they had time to execute the manoeuvre before the cyclist had passed. In either scenario, the driver was at fault.

In these situations, sometimes you see the problem developing:

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vGCfCaH4Z0


other times, you are not so lucky.

 

[fossyant]

I usually shout "Oi" to idiots that do that !

 

[blubb]

I usually shout "Oi" to idiots that do that !

If you stop a few inches short of their path they will suddenly notice you and brake hard.

Slightly more dangerous than shouting though, but if they see you slowing down and stopping they won't give a duck.

 

[davefb]

tbh, I've been in the car and have drivers come across like that without looking properly

if they can miss my car ( and lets face it, if every car got seen, there'd be a lot less crashes on the road), then they can miss me when cycling...