Not quite.He diidn't see Gaz but we don't actually know why?
Did he look or didn't he look? (1)
He must have been looking in that direction to make the move. (2)
Why was Gaz rushing into a black hole anyway? (3)
Yes I know it's easy to do and that it could happen to me as well. (4)
1 Could be target fixation, could be other issues, only through talking to the driver will the Police find out. We can but speculate and its now down to Plod.
2 As above, he could have been completely focussed on the gap and the destination rather that being safe. With situations/drivers like that you're never going to win, just be glad the chances of it happening are so slim.
3 I would seriously disagree that Gaz was rushing. Compare and contrast to other riders I have seen in the cold, dark and wet (youtube and in real life) and that was pretty sedate riding. Knowing his camera I'd say he was sub-20mph, pos. 15. By my own strada in those conditions I average 10-15mph to increase braking capacity and give myself time to assess hazards. In the dry and the day I could double that average when I feel its safe...
(Gaz, what did your Garmin say, if it was in use?)
4 Exactly. You can take all the safety measures you like, the only thing that would ever stop this is complete removal from cycling on the roads or near them. Since that aint going to happen these things will still continue.