Good job they weren't witnesses

[ferret fur]

So there I am. Riding along some small backstreets. As I go round a corner there is a flatbed truck with a trailer. He has pulled in across the mouth of the next junction which leads to a dead end. I.E. There is a turning off to my left, he is blocking it, facing in the direction I going.
I consider the options & elect to keep going at about 15mph on the grounds that I'm going to have to go past him at some point & if he elects to pull out or start to do a U-turn then the less time alongside him the better. Anyway this being life as soon as I get alongside him he does move off without indicating & attempts to pull a U. I'm able to swerve out to the other side of the road, missing him quite easily although he slams on the brakes as I go past. if he had hit me it would have been the front of his lorry going into my side.

50 yards up the road there is an old couple walking towards me. As I approach the old boy says: "you idiot"

I can only assume that it was obviously my fault for being in the road as a stationery vehicle moves off without indicating or looking. With the subtext being that it was also my fault for being on a bike. Thank goodness I didn't connect with the lorry & ended up having this bloke as a witness.

 

[Tommi]

Indicating seems to be an advanced skill that requires years of learning before one can even consider attempting to use it unsupervised. My favourite ones are those who indicate left (so I position myself more to the right) and then turn right instead. Whenever I see someone turning without indicating I've been meaning to let them know their indicator light has burned out, but I never seem to see see them again.

Anyway... Glad you didn't get hurt. In your situation I could imagine the possibility of the driver indicating with working blinkers in front, which would quite understandably make you seem like an idiot. Oddly(?) my first thought after a real near-miss situation is "how did I miss that?" or "oops, shouldn't have done that" regardless of what the other party did. Being in the right offers about as much protection as a helmet in such situations.

 

[guitarpete247]

The first of my mates to pass his driving test once said to me. "Pete. When you get your own car you don't use your indicators as much."
"Why's that Keith?"
"It wears the bulbs out".

Too many other road users seem to be members of the secret service and keep their manoeuvres a mystery.

 

[Tynan]

hmmm, even by your account you went past a large vehicle that might have been about to make/continue a manouvre

old man is allowed an opinion I assume?

that's just one of the reason I avoid anythiong smaller than a main road

 

[ferret fur]

Well it had been stopped for at least 10 seconds.. It wasn't as if he had just pulled in prior to swinging over. Honestly. What are you supposed to do? He could have been having a 5 minute phone call. You cannot simply stop, get off the bike & walk on the other side of the road every time you get to a hazard.

Actually my point is that I was anticipating the hazard & had to use Plan B when it came to it. (Even if it was closer than I might have liked thanks to the lorry driver really flooring it when he swung over) What I was trying to say is that, whether or not my resolution of the problem might have been better, there is no doubt that I was riding in a straight line, past a vehicle who was completely off the carriageway and who pulled into me without indicating or looking. How does a 'witness' see this as idiocy on my part? You really had to be there.

 

[Night Train]

One of the very first things a learner driver is taught is to do an over the shoulder check (along with mirror, signal manoeuvre) before moving off.

Often it seems it is also the first things forgotten after passing the test.

 

[Tommi]

One of the very first things a learner driver is taught is to do an over the shoulder check (along with mirror, signal manoeuvre) before moving off.

Often it seems it is also the first things forgotten after passing the test.

I find that oddly funny. I think I'm psychologically incapable of making any significant movement sideways without reflexively checking over my shoulder first.

 

[Ashaman42]

I find that oddly funny. I think I'm psychologically incapable of making any significant movement sideways without reflexively checking over my shoulder first.

Same here, I often find myself shoulder checking when walking about. Wish more people woild bother in crowded supermarkets and the like.

 

[Sambu]

hmmm, even by your account you went past a large vehicle that might have been about to make/continue a manouvre

old man is allowed an opinion I assume?

that's just one of the reason I avoid anythiong smaller than a main road

he should probably wait for the large vehicle to go before he passes it next time eh?

 

[Tynan]

you're missing my point, OP has one version, witness clearly had another

never mind

 

[Sambu]

i got your point, it just seemed like you were suggesting OP was at fault rather than it looking different from the witnesses angle.

never mind

 

[DrSquirrel]

I wouldn't worry - a court wouldn't take "he rode like an idiot" as a valid statment, it would only be what happened.

Witnesses are known to be unreliable, in general and due to bias.



I think people might not understand what the truck did (and did wrong).

I don't think (U...) turning in the mouth of a junction on the left is a sign of good driving, the proper way to do it would be to pull up behind the junction and reverse into it.

 

[JamesAC]

I wouldn't worry - a court wouldn't take "he rode like an idiot" as a valid statment, it would only be what happened.

Witnesses are known to be unreliable, in general and due to bias.



I think people might not understand what the truck did (and did wrong).

I don't think (U...) turning in the mouth of a junction on the left is a sign of good driving, the proper way to do it would be to pull up behind the junction and reverse into it.

If it was a big truck, I can understand the reluctance of the driver to reverse into a tight blind space, when there was room to turn in the street.
However, especially if you're in charge of several tons of lethal machinery, you should do "Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre"
It is entirely appropriate for a cyclist (or any other road user) to overtake (with appropriate care) a stationary truck.
Did the OP think about asking the Old Bloke what he meant?

 

[DrSquirrel]

I would think that might seem confrontational - and no point. It is possible the "You Idiot" was still meant towards the lorry driver... even with "You" appended.

But a bike "zooming" around a moving vehicle doesn't look that great in general, even if the car did pull out last minute etc etc...

 

[JamesAC]

I would think that might seem confrontational - and no point. It is possible the "You Idiot" was still meant towards the lorry driver... even with "You" appended.

But a bike "zooming" around a moving vehicle doesn't look that great in general, even if the car did pull out last minute etc etc...

Any confrontational behaviour was that by the Old Bloke, who, without being in full possession of the facts, made derogatory comments directed at the OP.
I'm all in favour of enlightenment. I might have felt inclined to stop, and quite politely ask the Old Bloke what he meant? If the comments were actually directed at the driver, then OP agree with OB, and everyone happy. If OB comments directed to OP, OP have friendly discussion with OB, and clear up any misupderstandings.

(BTW, I'm an Old Bloke)