Good Old Hampshire Constabulary

[theclaud]

[QUOTE 3064807, member: 45"]When someone comes on here and asks what they could do better next time, they'll get an answer. When someone comes on defending their behaviour and looking for collusion against those who may suggest that their behaviour could have been better then they're open to disagreement.

The OP could have handled this much better. The fact that he's a cyclist and not a driver is irrelevant.[/QUOTE]

I never suggested otherwise, and I'm no fan of his particular school of incident response. But then people often cross a road in places I wouldn't - when someone else runs them over my first response is not to tell them where I would have chosen to cross the road.

 

[theclaud]

[QUOTE 3064844, member: 45"]This isn't a hospital bedside conversation. It's a discussion following a posted clip, complaint about the police response and a self-unaware complaint that a driver could have killed him.[/QUOTE]

Sure. I'd be as happy as anyone to tell him he'd have been better off slowing down, that all the shouting was a bit unnecessary, and that the whole episode was not especially interesting. But drivers who pull out without proper observation and endanger others don't only do it to those who happen to be nobbers.

 

[Monkreadusuk]

I just found this.
Comments:
A horn is to warn of presence, and should not be an admonishment, or to "assert right of way"
Don't see the issue
Why did the camera user clearly and deliberately ride into danger?
I was covering the brakes as I saw the hazard and stopped peddling
There was plenty of room and time to adjust to the situation.
If you say so
A little patience would do no harm, no-one is perfect.
twice during the video I see riding hard up the nearside of cars - why? What does this achieve?
As already stated I did not try to undertake the car, I went there to avoid hitting the car, or getting rear ended. When I hit the window the driver backed of hence how I ended up in front. This was not an intentional undertake
Overall, perhaps a review of attitude towards other road users is due before something serious happens.

Question:
Why do so many things happen to so few people, if the footage is anything to go by. The majority seem to get by OK and there is not an epidemic of rider fatalities. Considerate and considered use of shared space on the road is surely the correct way to go.

Finally:
What may be seen by ALL other road users - including bike riders - as "militants" are simply not helping anything. All they do is feed the ego - and make riding appear far more dangerous than it really is by almost revelling in getting into challenging situations then blaming someone else.
Guys, THIS DOES NOT HELP!

 

[Monkreadusuk]

This, and your narrative, makes you sound like a pretendy copper.

Real coppers instinctively react against such people, which I think goes some way to explaining their attitude to your complaint.

I'm not criticising you, it's just an observation from my experience of dealing regularly with the police over many years.

Having worked in the police I have gotten used to the phonetic alphabet. It's something that has stuck with me. As for the narrative it's there for evidence incase the video doesn't pick it up.

 

[cycling_angler]

Having read all the comments here, the general concencus seems to be "We're not treated as road vehicles so we shouldn't behave like it even though we are road vehicles" and that this sort of crap is acceptable;

What a load of bull, I know the road in the original video quite well, it is VERY steep, even sitting on the brakes so they're noticably rubbing, you can coast up to 25 to 30mph, the point at which the car pulls out is BEFORE, the road levels out, the cyclist is only at most, 5 meters away when the car pulls out, even with super duper hyraulic disc brakes, you would not be stopping in 5 meters or less from around 25 to 30mph, even in the dry, so the OP handled it pretty well considering his life was endangered.

 

[Big Nick]

It's NOT acceptable but the harsh reality is this sort of thing happens on a daily basis largely down to the inattentiveness of drivers and the small 'footprint' on the road of a cyclist.

Getting angry, thinking why should I yield I have right of way, not slowing down and banging on cars is one way of dealing with it but it ain't gonna change it happening to you over and over again. Better to adjust your mindset and cope with these occasions with a cool head (which isn't easy I know).

You are massively vulnerable to injury on a bike if you come into contact with any other road user so in any collision, regardless of fault, it's you that's gonna be hurt and not the at fault driver.

Most of those whom have questioned the OP's approach and subsequent actions possibly have a different sense of hazard perception which they have tried to impart to him to consider in the future

 

[Origamist]

What a load of bull, I know the road in the original video quite well, it is VERY steep, even sitting on the brakes so they're noticably rubbing, you can coast up to 25 to 30mph, the point at which the car pulls out is BEFORE, the road levels out, the cyclist is only at most, 5 meters away when the car pulls out, even with super duper hyraulic disc brakes, you would not be stopping in 5 meters or less from around 25 to 30mph, even in the dry, so the OP handled it pretty well considering his life was endangered.

Don't worry, most people on here dishing out their own brand of defensive riding guidance (aka "I'd have handled it better as you're a camera wearing collision instigator") are unlikely to follow it themselves, and certainly not all of the time.

 

[hennbell]

It seems to me that the OP alertness and observation allowed him to use horn, brake, and maneuver to the inside to avoid hitting the car. I am not sure that hitting the car helped but I can understand the frustration. Then he posts it up here, it is clearly a case of someone pulling out without due care, and we review the video from relative comfort and pick it apart. I think the fact that he slapped car is inconsequential considering the potential danger involved. Had he run into the back of the car would we be criticizing the aggressive nature in which he bashed through the rear window?

 

[Pale Rider]

Had he run into the back of the car would we be criticizing the aggressive nature in which he bashed through the rear window?

Depends on whether or not he was wearing a helmet.