friend caught left-hooking

[dellzeqq]

here's an interesting one. A friend is the subject of a youtube 'left-hooking' video. I say 'friend', but, actually, he's a tradesman who I've employed at intervals over the last eight months to do stuff for me and for clients. I like him. He turns up, he's always in a good mood, he works like a demon and gets the job done in time. Right now he's downstairs doing a job for £1200 that other people wanted £3000 for.

My real friend is the videoiste. I've known him for perhaps five years, although we see each other very rarely. He's a first rate cyclist and all-round stand-up good guy. We have a fair few aquaintances in common.

So - will I dump the tradesman? Probably not. We've had a discussion, and I'm bound to say that hitherto I'd always thought him a first rate driver - he gives me a lift to the cash machine when I settle his invoices with notes.

Is the world a better place for the video? I'd say it is. I'd also say that these videos are clearly more effective than I'd thought - most of the 300+ hits have been friends of the driver, not outraged cyclists. Once the word gets out to one of your mates it spreads like wildfire.

 

[fossyant]

Has the driver seen it, and what's his take on it ? Just be 'interesting' to hear of his reaction.

PS nowt to do with his ability on the job. People make mistakes.

 

[dellzeqq]

Has the driver seen it, and what's his take on it ? Just be 'interesting' to hear of his reaction.

PS nowt to do with his ability on the job. People make mistakes.

oh, yes, he's seen it. He told me about it. He used the van to make a point to a cyclist that annoyed him, and didn't appreciate that, irrespective of the 'befores' he wasn't in a position to know precisely what would happen when he turned left - not least because the road (and the cyclist's brakes) were wet.

The point is that if you want to make a point, using £1500 kg of metal isn't the best way of doing it.

 

[PBancroft]

What had the cyclist done to annoy him?

 

[aberal]

[QUOTE 1292664"]Can I stir it a bit and ask what the 'cyclist' (maybe not your friend) had done to annoy him in the first place. RLJing? Riding on the pavement? Or merely doing a trackstand on the flat riding a freewheel with the driver thinking 'You smug bastard I'll show you!'
[/quote]

Probably just being there. I have a friend who freely admits that cyclists "annoy" him.

 

[dellzeqq]

the cyclist (not my friend) had done something perfectly reasonable. He'd filtered to the front and, in getting away from a red light, delayed the man in the van. Now, to some that would constitute a bit of uneccessary delaying, but, from the cyclist's point of view it makes sense - if you get to the front then don't sit on the left hand side of the first vehicle in the car because, if you do you might trap other cyclists behind you, or leave yourself vulnerable to a squeeze or even a clip from the second car that doesn't pull out to get past.

Now there's different degrees of delay (my cycling videoiste friend would pull away at such a rate that the drivers following would simply have to do their best to avoid the melted, smoking tarmac) but, if the cyclist is a slow cyclist, then the delay will be greater. Cue frustration from driver. Personally I wouldn't let that frustration trouble me, because I'd still reckon that I'd be doing the sensible thing. But, once in a while, you get passed by drivers that want to make a point. In this case the van driver was turning left in any case, so he thought he would overtake and turn left. Again, in this case, there wasn't really much chance of a left hook impact, but, nonetheless, forced braking in the wet isn't fun.

 

[BSRU]

You should ask your tradesman's reaction to this similar situation.
He's minding his own business driving along, when a tank zooms past then left hooks him forcing him to brake heavily on a wet road in order to avoid a long stay in hospital, would he think
a) what a fantastic bit of driving that taught me a lesson, although I have no idea what, or
b) what a complete tosser in the tank, the tank driver should buy the Highway Code and read it instead of just looking at the pictures.

 

[mr_cellophane]

Link ?

 

[thomas]

Link ?

+1. It sounds like the trademen acted a like a bit of an idiot. Any form of intentional intimidation is never acceptable.


However, we do all make mistakes, and had it been an honest mistake (which I don't think it was here?), then a simple apology to the cyclist and lesson learnt.

 

[Origamist]

I know the sequence in question (it's not one of mine) and it doesn't look that bad, but a) the conditions are v poor - standing water and water on the camera lens, and, b) it's difficult to see how hard the cyclist has to brake in order to avoid the hook (although it's pretty evident he has to apply his brakes). What is clear is that the manoeuvre by the van driver is unnecessary. Whilst most of us have experienced left-hooks in the past - we usually put it down to poor judgement/driver error - not "afters". It is this justification from the driver - that he was making a "point" (it's not a debating point where ethos, pathos, logos are deployed in order to pursuade in a pseudo-Aristotelian manner - it's brute force, plain and simple), whilst conveniently ignoring the fact that he's operating heavy machinery in adverse weather conditions without considering the consequences of his actions. This is worrying, but perhaps, not that surprising.

The film and the admission from the driver make it pretty clear that he feels slighted by a cyclist momentarily delaying him and chooses to vent his frustration by bullying and endangering a vulnerable road user by throwing 2 tonnes of weight around a corner.

 

[dellzeqq]

his intention wasn't to endanger. He just thought that he'd hold the cyclist up the way that he'd been held up. What he didn't think about was the risk to the cyclist in doing so.

As luck would have it he's cheated death by inches this morning, thanks to the culpable insanity of a previous unknown electrician. We've all moved on.

 

[Origamist]

his intention wasn't to endanger. He just thought that he'd hold the cyclist up the way that he'd been held up. What he didn't think about was the risk to the cyclist in doing so.

It might not have been, but as you point out it was a possible/likely outcome of his inconsiderate behaviour. I find this casual, unthinking disregard for others unaccpetable and I'd have told him so. I'm glad to hear he survived a near electrocution though!

Off for a ride now as it looks like the weather is clearing up...

 

[gb155]

Link?

 

[dellzeqq]

It might not have been, but as you point out it was a possible/likely outcome of his inconsiderate behaviour. I find this casual, unthinking disregard for others unaccpetable and I'd have told him so. I'm glad to hear he survived a near electrocution though!

Off for a ride now as it looks like the weather is clearing up...

it wasn't electrocution - the previous electrician had left a solid metal bar lying on top of a lightfitting to balance it up - it weighs about 1.5kg. When his mate went up to detatch the light fitting it slipped off, missing our friend's head by two or three inches. (This was after he discovered that there were three phases going through a lightswitch). So, in a way, it's comparable. No harm was meant, but it could have been nasty. He could have collected the steel bar that went straight through the laminate flooring he was standing on, and the cyclist could have braked and lost his wheels in the wet. It's a comparison that I'll go through with him when we stop for the day.

 

[dellzeqq]

Link?

sorry - I've only seen it on the electrician's laptop. O might be able to help when he gets back from his ride.