HGV overtaking on left hand bend

[davidtq]

OK heres the clip unfortunately Im still working on camera positioning to make the most of light etc and this morning I got it wrong

But about the clip im heading down hill at a fair lick in primary passing parked cars I hear the ominous sound of the HGV coming up behind, I "feel" it pulling out to over take as Im approaching a left hand bend, then I see the car coming the other way... Hold my position, cover the brakes, and watch the hgv force the car coming the other way to stop whilst braking hard and pulling into my path.

He managed to avoid driving over the top of me which I guess is some credit to him, he was leaving plenty of space, BUT he tried overtaking on a left hand bend and ended up in the path of an oncoming car and having to pull in front of another road user way to fast.



The video doesnt capture so well how close he passed infront of my bike as he pulled in to avoid the collision, but it does show how close he came to causing an accident with his poorly timed bout of impatience.

Glad I was in primary - it forced him to go wider and leave me more space if I had been gutter hugging he would still have had to budge over to let the other car through and guess who would be squished, of course the driver would have claimed "smidsy" and got away with it

Kingsmill van if anyones wandering, Unfortunately the camera didnt catch the reg, Guess thats a lesson learnt to read it out for the mic just in case. the reg was clearly visible to me at the time B)

Do you reckon its worth trying to find the kingsmill "well driven" number? he didnt actually cause me a major problem, it was just a badly timed manouvre where he did cause a few raised pulses all round in order to satisfy his need to be infront of the cyclist.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

What front light do you have on your bike? I'm a bit surprised that the numberplate wasn't lit up at all by it as they are pretty reflective. Perhaps a brighter front light would help? I have the ATC2K camera and it tends to pick up numberplates in the dark reasonably well. However, I have the Smart Twin Halogen front lights, and they put out a fair bit of light (although not in the same league as the Dinottes and Ayups, as far as I can tell... )

 

[davidtq]

I dont think its a lighting issue the light I have is a pretty bright LED that lights up reflective street signs from a couple of hundred yards no problem to the eyes. I think the numberplate issue in this case is because my cameras pointed to low down on the road giving a very black background and the camera picks up the lights and adjusts the brightness of the shot to focus on the lights, a number plate reflection just isnt as bright as brake lights. on days when I get the camera angle better it has no problems picking out number plates. But I do find too much road in the shot causes very very dark images .

My light is more of a to be seen by rather than seeing with light though as my entire route is well street lit.

I also think in this case I seem to remember the numberplate was high up and to the right for some reason?? rather than where it normally would be in the middle between the lights. Not sure what that was about. I could be wrong but thats my memory of the situation and the number plate position. If you watch the clip near the end the top of the truck comes into view, and you see the two rear end lights plus a smaller light on the top edge at the back - I believe thats the numberplate light. as theres a distinct absence of them between the brake lights!

 

[magnatom]

Yes that was nasty. Although the video isn't of DVD Blueray quality you can make out enough to see that it was bad driving.

Your primary positioning was perfect. You had a get out, which if you curb hugged you wouldn't have had. Well done for holding the position!

One thing that might help in the future for situations just like that is, if you hear something behind you sounding like it is about to do some stupid overtake, stick your right arm out with your palm towards them (moving your arm slightly backwards helps as well). This will either a) confuse them enough to make them slow down, or B) look like you are telling them too hang back and slow down, which I have found works surprisingly well. If you can give a glance back (safely) at the same time it reinforces the gesture.

They are generally a wee bit annoyed at you afterwards for daring to tell them what to do, but that's a small price to pay for avoiding an incident.

The above is a suggestion and in no way is it a criticism of the way you ride. Your riding was perfect here.

 

[davidtq]

Yes that was nasty. Although the video isn't of DVD Blueray quality you can make out enough to see that it was bad driving.

Your primary positioning was perfect. You had a get out, which if you curb hugged you wouldn't have had. Well done for holding the position!

One thing that might help in the future for situations just like that is, if you hear something behind you sounding like it is about to do some stupid overtake, stick your right arm out with your palm towards them (moving your arm slightly backwards helps as well). This will either a) confuse them enough to make them slow down, or B) look like you are telling them too hang back and slow down, which I have found works surprisingly well. If you can give a glance back (safely) at the same time it reinforces the gesture.

They are generally a wee bit annoyed at you afterwards for daring to tell them what to do, but that's a small price to pay for avoiding an incident.

The above is a suggestion and in no way is it a criticism of the way you ride. Your riding was perfect here.

Thats not a bad idea hadnt thought of that one, I use the palm back for my regular indications anyway, I find it creates a moments uncertainty in a driver that can break their decision to overtake or speed up etc, sometimes thats all it takes. I hadnt thought about using it when not indicating, that said I think I like having my right hand on the brakes when things are likely to go wrong.