Happy to be alive

[Angelfishsolo]

I am happy to take the OP at face value, so I will say the cyclist was in the right until shown otherwise.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Isn't the principle of justice that a man on trial is innocent until proven guilty? In this case, as evidence and proof are clearly ridiculous, shouldn't we say that we should accept the OP's statement as correct until we can find any reason to doubt it?

 

[Jimmy Doug]

God, this could go a long way - how can the OP know for sure that he can trust his own judgment? How can he be sure that his senses aren't tricking him? How can he be sure he really exists at all?

 

[theclaud]

we arent perfect cyclists all the time

Speak for yourself, Banjo

Thing is, the title of the thread is "Happy to Be Alive", not "Just nearly died- opinions please". Going for a bike ride should not entail fear for one's life, even if one wobbles along like Rich P after a free bar. I have a strict-liability approach to who is responsible, but it doesn't even need to come into it. "Glad you're Ok" will do the trick, with an optional "think about reporting it". The OP's cycling prowess is irrelevant.

 

[Twigman]

I doubt the OP would know that. Why do drivers do anything that could threaten a cyclist?

Perhaps, like so many around here it seems, he jumped a red light?

 

[Twigman]

I am happy to take the OP at face value, so I will say the cyclist was in the right until shown otherwise.

I hold that for a lorry driver to 'hang on the klaxon' I suspect there must've been a jolly good reason for him so to do. Lorry drivers are professional drivers who in my experience, and I have met and dealt with several, are the best drivers on the road. they have to be, their livelihood depends on it. Given the anecdote as presented, I would tend to side with the lorry driver and suspect there is something the OP is not telling us.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

and I haven't pointed the finger at anyone, have I?

Now you have

 

[Mad at urage]

Not all of us.
I make no assumptions until I have reviewed the evidence.

I see many, many incidents on the road where, in all honesty, the cyclist is at fault (RLJing/wobbling in to traffic/bunnyhopping off pavements into traffic etc etc) but would they admit liability in the event of an accident? Probably not as it's always the nasty driver's fault, isn't it?

I would remind the Friend of the Lorry Driver that cyclists are not only (as has been said) part of the traffic, but are also entitled to wobble. I refer the FotLD to the Highway Code. As a motorcyclist he should be well aware of section 213.

I hold that for a lorry driver to 'hang on the klaxon' I suspect there must've been a jolly good reason for him so to do. Lorry drivers are professional drivers who in my experience, and I have met and dealt with several, are the best drivers on the road. they have to be, their livelihood depends on it. Given the anecdote as presented, I would tend to side with the lorry driver and suspect there is something the OP is not telling us.

Really? Is this true of those who tailgate cars? Those who cut in after overtaking, forcing overtaken road users to brake to avoid their trailer? Those who pull onto roundabouts without checking for circulating traffic?

In my experience (and I've met and dealt with more than several) whilst some lorry drivers are undoubtedly extremely good, a high proportion are either too blasé or completely careless about other road users.

 

[Twigman]

I would remind the Friend of the Lorry Driver that cyclists are not only (as has been said) part of the traffic, but are also entitled to wobble. I refer the FotLD to the Highway Code. As a motorcyclist he should be well aware of section 213.

I omitted the word motorised......and wobbling into the path of motorised traffic is suicidal

 

[Jimmy Doug]

As for lorry drivers being the best drivers around, maybe this is true, but it doesn't mean they have the best driving around. No matter how well they've been trained, no matter how much experience they've got, the problem is that their work conditions are such that many of them can't perform to the best of their ability.
I work in the world of transport, particularly with road transport, so too did my wife, and so I have a little experience in the matter. The simple fact of the matter is that lorry drivers are put under massive stress to get to their destination on time. If they're delivering to supermarkets for example, and they're late by even a few minutes, their load can be refused at the cost to the haulage firm. This, with the mounting cost of petrol, means that haulage firms are running under tighter and tighter margins, which inevitably results in them putting yet more stress on the drivers. Also, a hell of a lot of lorry drivers do not have enough sleep, because their environment, often out in the service areas of motorways, isn't conducive to good sleep. This puts them under yet more stress, makes them yet more irritable and inevitably has an impact on their concentration.
And then they meet a cyclist. Maybe they don't seem him - that happens all the time, no matter how hard the cyclist tries to make himself visible (and I would be the first to admit that a lot of cyclists don't pay enough attention to this). Or maybe they do see him, but they're at the end of their tether. They've got a few minutes left to make thei delivery - if they don't it'll be refused and their boss will be breathing down their neck - again. They crack - just like they do when they drive too close to the car in front.

 

[Jezston]

Generalisations are wrong whether they are positive or negative.

While my general experience of lorry drivers has been positive, I've still had some bad incidents. Saying ALL lorry drivers are courteous and exemplary professionals that never put a foot wrong is completely wrong, as would saying all lorry drivers are prostitute murderers. Obviously the latter statement is probably MORE wrong, but wrong is wrong and not a quantifiable factor. Less than nothing is still nothing. Sorry, what were we talking about?

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Well said, sir!

 

[Mad at urage]

I omitted the word motorised......and wobbling into the path of motorised traffic is suicidal

I again refer to the Highway Code, section 213.

 

[Twigman]

Over 90 posts in and the OP still hasn't related the story of what led up to the lorry driver 'hanging on the klaxon'....


I wonder why?


I never said ALL lorry drivers are fantastic drivers but on the balance of probability IME the vast majority are excellent drivers and need to maintain a spotless record to ensure their continued livelihood. As with anything in life there will be exceptions but they are exceptions and not the rule. To tar all lorry drivers with the same brush is disproportionate.

The only fact we have is that the OP was terrified by a lorry whose driver was 'hanging on the klaxon'.

We know nothing more, yet the vast majority of those that responded instantly assumed that the lorry driver must've been at fault and the poor innocent cyclist is a victim of circumctances over which he had no influence.

I merely suggest that on the balance of probability there is more to this story than we have in the OP. Lorry drivers do not, in my experience 'hang on the klaxon' without just cause. I'm curious as to what made the lorry driver do that.

The OP either doesn't have a clue why the driver did it or is embarrassed to admit that he did something amiss himself.

 

[format]

I hold that for a lorry driver to 'hang on the klaxon' I suspect there must've been a jolly good reason for him so to do. Lorry drivers are professional drivers who in my experience, and I have met and dealt with several, are the best drivers on the road. they have to be, their livelihood depends on it. Given the anecdote as presented, I would tend to side with the lorry driver and suspect there is something the OP is not telling us.

I realise I'm matching one anecdote with another, but in my experience, the people who use the roads the most are the most inclined to disrepect and endanger cyclists.

Men with Ven, Taxi drivers and the like (again, in my experience) seem to suffer from some sort of illusory superiority complex whereby they deem themselves above the concerns of 'normal' traffic. They might believe themselves to be better drivers but that's always a pretty dangerous delusion which emboldens them to make stupid and/or dangerous maneuvers that can endanger other road users.



Edit : in a similar vein, bicycle couriers are often seen to ride dangerously, RLJ'ing etc.