Faith restored

[wesa]

My faith is drivers has been restored, especially WVM.

Heading into work this morning my quiet rural commute takes me round three very tight bends in quick succession. The first bend was visibly icy, I took the middle of the lane (rougher road surface) at about 5 mph and with a bit of wheel twitching I got round. The second bend looked clear, I took a similar position at a similar speed and was fine. Due to my speed and position I had collected a following of three cars, I was planning to pull over to let them pass after the third bend. The third bend looked clear, same position same speed and I ended up on the road. I unclipped and got a foot down but that slid out from under me. I was a bit worried about the car behind me that was sliding towards me as I was looking up at the headlights; in actual fact he stopped a good few meters short of me.
The driver of the car immediately behind me jumped out to make sure I was Ok. WVM behind him pulled off the road and waited with me for a few minutes to make sure I was Ok, he repeatedly offered to put my bike in the van and to drive me to work. The third car behind me pulled over and asked if I was Ok.
I have escaped with only a bruised ego and a slightly sore shoulder, but a big thank you to all who stopped.

 

[Arch]

Nice story! Not your fall, of course, but it's nice to hear about people caring, rather than hooting and driving by. I wonder if your fall looked much worse than it was, to people who never cycle (I mean, we all take a tumble sometime, but to someone who doesn't ride, it might look quite serious)

Anyway, hope the shoulder and ego recover quickly!

 

[ianrauk]

That's really great to hear.
Had a similar experience with a wvm a couple of moths ago.

Classic case of smidsy, went to remonstrate with him, but he caught me on the back foot by being very apologetic and concerned I was ok.

It's not all bad out there...

 

[4F]

I hate this bloody ice . I attempted to commute in this morning but gave up after less than 50 yards from my front door after going down like a sack of spuds. Walked bike home and then walked to bus stop and went over again really cracking my head on the pavement. Ooooooooouch bloke in car also stopped to see if I was OK so there are some good ones out there.

 

[tyred]

A WVM tried to kill me and a pedestrian this morning as I was driving to work.

On a very short straight between two blind corners on a country road (just about wide enough for two cars to pass comfortably) there was a man walking on the other side of the road (dressed in hiviz, I see him every morning) when a Mercedes van coming the other way swerved around him at about 50MPH (there were icy patches on the road) right into my path and I ended up on stuck on top of the grass verge with a broken door mirror in my effort to avoid a head on accident It's lucky I was only doing about 35MPH at the time.

When I seen him indicating to go round the pedestrian and not slowing down, I flashed my lights at him and he just gave me the fingers and came on anyway.

Why do some drivers possess so little patience that they are willing to risk causing an accident to save about ten seconds of their journey time?

 

[Arch]

Why do some drivers possess so little patience that they are willing to risk causing an accident to save about ten seconds of their journey time?

Because he's never been on the recieving end, and has no imagination or empathy or common sense. The best you can hope for is that one day he comes off worse, and learns a lesson (or is removed from the gene pool).

 

[wesa]

Thanks for your comments.
I hope you are all uninjured from your encounters with the ice.
tyred, Did WVM at least stop and apologise / exchange details or did he disappear in a cloud of exhaust fumes?

I just found out from a colleague that there is now a car on its roof in pretty much the exact location where I came off the bike; numpty – whichever way they approached the bend there was plenty of warning of ice.

 

[tyred]

No. He kept on going.

 

[wesa]

Because he's never been on the recieving end, and has no imagination or empathy or common sense. The best you can hope for is that one day he comes off worse, and learns a lesson (or is removed from the gene pool).

I agree absolutely; I have been on the receiving end of road rage in the past (as a car driver), it is amazing how peoples attitudes change once they are out of the metal cage and they realise that they have just p****d off a 6'3" (very)ex-rugby player. That metal and glass enclosure separates the driver from the rest of the world – something I try to remember when I am driving.

 

[beanzontoast]

People do care. A ped stopped to ask if I was ok when I went over on the ice a few weeks back. Fortunately, I was fine - just slid along the ice with no damage to me or bike - but it made me feel better just being asked.

 

[Arch]

I agree absolutely; I have been on the receiving end of road rage in the past (as a car driver), it is amazing how peoples attitudes change once they are out of the metal cage and they realise that they have just p****d off a 6'3" (very)ex-rugby player. That metal and glass enclosure separates the driver from the rest of the world – something I try to remember when I am driving.

That's true, but I was thinking more that they are cocooned in their metal box and never venture onto the road outside it, so they simply have no idea what it feels like to be vulnerable, or to be affected by someone else's impatience.

I favour a driving test that is more of a course of tests and includes a compulsory session on a bike on the road. Or at least, every test applicant should be sat on a chair in the middle of a runway, and have a stunt man drive a car past them at 40mph with 6" to spare.

 

[threefingerjoe]

It feels good when you meet the nice people out there. Last week, on my commute home, I was descending a hill at about 25mph (speed limit 30, mostly residential area) when the idiot in the car behind me decided that he HAD to pass, then turned right in front of me, into a petrol station! Had he stayed back, he might have been 2 seconds late to his destination! I managed to avoid him, simply because as he passed, I somehow anticipated his stupid manoeuvre. I was about to pull in and confront him, but, so many people carry guns, that I thought better.

THEN, only a block later, just as I was starting off, after stopping for a traffic signal, a car pulled alongside, rolled down the window, and the guy shouted, "I ADMIRE a guy riding a bike!" and gave me the "thumbs up" sign!

That guy rescued my day after the unpleasant encounter with the earlier idiot!