Did I deserve this?

[LostBoy]

OK, I'm a newbie commuter (2 months) so still learning the error of my ways. Cycling through Brixton, overtaking traffic to get to the green asphalt 'safe haven' in front of the que of traffic but got caught out by the traffic lights.

Moved in behind the white van and understandbly got horned by the lorry. Fair enough, my fault and I raise my hand to apologise. However wasnt expecting what followed...


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGAoI0JwPGI


There was no traffic to his left side and the other traffic behind us turned left towards Stockwell, so this was definitly deliberate. Was bracing myself for the impact and had visions of ending up under his wheels.

Really ruined my day weekend, started getting quotes for life insurance...

Apologies for the video quality and sound (weird noise and out of sync). Can't really complain as I used a £16 spy camera pen thingy taped to the handlebars, bought for this purpose as I was inspired by magnatom.

 

[kushtrim]

Im a great believer in staying of the left side of the road unless overtaking stationary traffic. Having said that though how close that lorry came to you was criminal (it would have been wise to take the number plate number down) especially since there was room on the left.

You must have a new found respect for life after that!

 

[Maz]

I think you got caught in no-man's-land, there. It wouldv'e been better to wait behind one of the earlier vehicles.

Sometimes it's not worth filtering to the front. Generally, the more vehicles there are waiting at the red, the longer the light's been on red, so you have less time to get to the front. Always have an 'escape route' gap in case of an oncoming vehicle. If you haven't done so already, read Cyclecraft.

 

[Sittingduck]

Apologies for the video quality and sound (weird noise and out of sync). Can't really complain as I used a £16 spy camera pen thingy taped to the handlebars, bought for this purpose as I was inspired by magnatom.

I am quite impressed by the quality for 16 quid Where did you get this device from mate?

 

[LLB]

I'm trying to figure out if the lorry driver was actually aware you were there. THAT was a very close call

 

[Keith Oates]

It may have been a mistake to try and keep overtaking when the lights started to change, but the actions of the lorry driver are 'criminal' IMO. If you know any way of identifying the lorry I would go to the Police with that video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LOGAN 5]

I know that bit of Brixton. Traffic gets stuck so long there that as soon as the lights are green they all put their foot down and it's 60mph down to Kennington!

Don't wish to criticise (unlike some on here) but I would have preferred the lorry in front of me and would have therefore stayed behind it. His driving was disgraceful though. He might have also swung a right turn on you too without indicating.

Give lorries a wide berth if you can, they kill a lot of cyclists particularly in London. Glad you survived it.

 

[Jake]

sorry for being lazy but just going to copy and paste what i put on youtube:

"got to say, i would not have overtaken at that part on that side unless i was confident the lights were going to stay red and i could get into a left hand lane. brixton is rather crazy and not looking fwd to moving there. "

very lucky boy.

 

[Cab]

I can only echo earlier comments.

You made a mistake, try to learn from it.

The lorry driver was an utter loony.

 

[magnatom]

Inspired by magnatom!

Obviously you know you did wrong here. Well done for admitting it. I think a lot of us will have been caught out like this before and you certainly learn from it. I generally will not overtake in this situation, unless I can see past the car/van etc that I am overtaking. As others have said, you don't need to get to the front, that is one reason why I don't like ASLs.

As for the lorry driver, total nutter. Do you have any details from the lorry? If so I would follow this up.

 

[dondare]

If 'twas the lorry driver that sounded his horn then he had seen you, and should have waited until you were out of danger before moving. It really is astounding that some people get so worked up when driving that they will risk killing someone in order to gain a few seconds. Keep well clear of the big ones!

 

[Riding in Circles]

You obviously got yourself in a bad position but I don't think you deserved to have the lorry driver attempt to kill you.

 

[nickb]

It really is astounding that some people get so worked up when driving that they will risk killing someone in order to gain a few seconds.

But it's not about gaining a few seconds; as the OP said, it's about teaching us a lesson.

I get bus and taxi drivers doing this to me almost every morning as they don't seem to approve of me cycling in 'their' lane. Typically, they will overtake with inches to spare and swerve in dramatically just after passing me, even though there may be nothing in the lane to the right of them.

 

[BentMikey]

Ooh, yes, terrible driving that you didn't deserve. OTOH, I know if I'd been riding like that, I'd want to have done things better myself (and I've got caught out myself before).

I think it'd have been better to wait behind the lorry as the others suggest, but if you'd already committed to going past him, I would have waited behind the transit, not next to it. I'd then also own the whole lane in front of the lorry until across the junction, at which point I'd have gone left as you did, assuming of course that he'd been able to see me. Some lorries have a huge blind spot down below in front, and if you'd been hidden in this, oh dear!

Im a great believer in staying of the left side of the road unless overtaking stationary traffic.

I couldn't agree with this. Overtaking on the right was the correct place to be, particularly in this instance.

 

[BentMikey]

It's worth reading Nutty's 4 page article here:

http://www.nuttycyclist.co.uk/cycling/filtering-1.htm

Well written and well thought out, IMO.