First bad incident need advise

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Maz

Guru
Did you take any photos of the car and its position in the cycle lane?
Did the Astra driver stop to exchange details with her? (just curious!)
 

Drago

Legendary Member
She saw the lane was partially obstructed long before commuting to the move, and still chose to go for it. What happens after that point is moot as far as liability goes because she's seen trouble ahead and still felt all was tickedyboo.

I, as an experienced rider and cycle trainer and copper with a law degree, would be thinking "look at that chump - they're either pithed or texting, I'll still well clear", which is the sensible approach when one sees a hazard forming ahead.

I think if it were me I would keep schtum about having seen the car encroaching into the lane prior to me then making the decision about trying to slip past, then I could avoid all those unpleasant questions from my insurer as to why i saw a situation developing, ignored it, and thus exposed them to an avoidable risk.

Aside from everything else, if you choose "squeeze past" instead of "wide berth" every time you see a situation brewing ahead it won't be long before your insurers will need to hold a seance to speak to you.
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Shame really.

For two reasons.

first because of the fact that you had an incident (although as others have mentioned it was actually pretty minor so dont let it put you off)

But also because of the fact that I cant help thinking most riders would have screamed something nasty, waved their arms about a bit and ridden on, leaving the driver to pick up the pieces. If you had done the same rather than being upfront and frankly, nice, then you would probablty think no more of it.

As it is, stopping and doing the right thing has caused you more concern than the incident itself.

Perhaps there is something, in acting like a road warrior.

I suspect MS VW moved over to allow riders or bikes to get past her on the right and didn't think to check her left. Its common, as people try to be helpful but cause an issue in doing it badly.

The point here is that if you are not injured and are happy to keep riding and put it behind you, then you can as the police will almost certainly not intervene.

Good luck
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
She saw the lane was partially obstructed long before commuting to the move, and still chose to go for it. What happens after that point is moot as far as liability goes because she's seen trouble ahead and still felt all was tickedyboo.

I, as an experienced rider and cycle trainer and copper with a law degree, would be thinking "look at that chump - they're either pithed or texting, I'll still well clear", which is the sensible approach when one sees a hazard forming ahead.

I think if it were me I would keep schtum about having seen the car encroaching into the lane prior to me then making the decision about trying to slip past, then I could avoid all those unpleasant questions from my insurer as to why i saw a situation developing, ignored it, and thus exposed them to an avoidable risk.

Aside from everything else, if you choose "squeeze past" instead of "wide berth" every time you see a situation brewing ahead it won't be long before your insurers will need to hold a seance to speak to you.

Uh oh .............:ohmy: .
 

Hip Priest

Veteran
It sounds like an avoidable incident, to be honest. I'm very careful when undertaking traffic, cycle-lane or not, and I certainly wouldn't try to undertake a car that was drifting into my path. Having said that, a wing-mirror casing will surely clip on as easily as it came off.
 

400bhp

Guru
The quick response is that she doesn't have a leg to stand on. She should not have been in the cycle lane. It is irrelevant that it was a dashed white line - a motor vehicle is not supposed to enter a cycle lane with a dashed white line when a cyclist is in it.

Frankly, if she's stupid enough to go through her insurers then she may well find her premiums going up.

At what point does a cyclist become "in the cycle lane", e.g, if the cycle lane is a few 100 yards or more in length behind the vehicle?
 
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