How many incidents in a mile??

[Sandra6]

I only cycle a mile to work but I am constantly amazed at the number of attempts that can be made on my life in such a short space of time! The record was six - and four of those were on the carpark!
Today's idiot driver almost took me out on a round-a-bout. Having right of way and with no traffic to the right I set out over the road only to have a van driver decide not to wait in the queue of traffic, instead he came down the wrong side of the road and straight at me!
I had to stop sharply - not easy in the wet and on my little metis - while he and the boy racers in the next car laughed loudly at my profanities!
Jammy git had his licence plate obscured by a trailer or I'd have been straight on to the police.
I can happily do 20 or so miles around and about the country lanes with nothing more than a deer leaping out on me but that one mile to work is treacherous.

 

[PK99]

[quote="Sandra6, post: 1915742, member: 22336". Having right of way [/quote]

no one has right of way- see the highway code

 

[Brains]

I have one 200m long street, with a cycle lane down the side
I have at least one attempt and taking down the cyclist every day, but I think my record is close to 6

The road is Crutched Friars/Hart Street/Mark Lane EC3

 

[Sandra6]

At a roundabout you give way to the right? No? Therefore if there isn't anyone coming from that direction you have the right of way?? The cars entering from the left have to give way to me?
That's how I've had it explained to me anyway - I don't drive, just cycle.
All that aside, anyone on the wrong side of the road going against the flow of traffic has absolutely no rights and is a total pillock surely?

 

[Hector]

[quote="Sandra6, post: 1915742, member: 22336". Having right of way

no one has right of way- see the highway code[/quote]

To right, might have something in it to do with driving on the wrong side of the road as well..

 

[Hector]

At a roundabout you give way to the right? No? Therefore if there isn't anyone coming from that direction you have the right of way?? The cars entering from the left have to give way to me?
That's how I've had it explained to me anyway - I don't drive, just cycle.
All that aside, anyone on the wrong side of the road going against the flow of traffic has absolutely no rights and is a total pillock surely?

What PK is getting at is that it is not enstrined in law that you have to give way to the right.

 

[potsy]

Some people are pedantic and like to quote the 'priority' and not 'right of way'
Others know what you meant

4 incidents in the car park?

 

[Ian Cooper]

The last time I had a dangerous problem with a motorist was in about 1998. Since then, I started riding more assertively - taking primary position whenever possible, and always when approaching a junction. Drivers no longer try to squeeze by (in either direction), and I never get hooked or crossed at intersections. The only time I get anything near a close call is if I'm not riding in the proper lateral position in the lane (which usually means that I'm riding too close to the kerb) and not properly controlling the lane, or if I make some other similarly stupid error.

Also, I always avoid bike paths due to the higher potential for intersection conflicts. I avoid bike lanes whenever possible, as they are usually not placed in the correct lateral position (they can't be, since the proper lateral position can change depending on conditions) and so they tend to increase the chances of a conflict. Though it can be difficult to avoid using bike lanes here, as Maryland law requires cyclists to use bike lanes if they're present on the road you're using. But usually there are parallel roads with no bike lanes, so I either use them, or I break the law and just ignore the bike lane.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Well, Sandra6, here you go: the answer is to cycle in the States (post # 8)
Can't get a visa? Don't wanna emigrate?

 

[Gary E]

Had a bit of a scary moment, at the end of a ride yesterday. On a stretch of road about 1/2 mile long there are 4 pinch points. A Range Rover over took me (despite the fact that I'd taken primary) about 40 feet from one and then muscled me into the kerb so that he could avoid hitting the central bollard.
Unfortunately for him the T junction up ahead was busy so he couldn't pull out before I came along side and scared him back!
I figured that the embarrassment of being told off in front of his missus (and him cowering like a school boy) was sufficient to put things right and so left it there.
It was at this point that we realised that we'd dropped the third member of our ride (on that stretch of road you need your wits about you so we tend to look out for ourselves and regroup after the T junction).
When we cycled back we found he'd been forced off the road (and off his bike) at the previous pinch point by the same Range Rover!

 

[Hector]

I don't have many incidents TBH. The key is to be pro-active rather the reactive on a bike.

 

[gaz]

The last time I had a dangerous problem with a motorist was in about 1998. Since then, I started riding more assertively - taking primary position whenever possible, and always when approaching a junction. Drivers no longer try to squeeze by (in either direction), and I never get hooked or crossed at intersections. The only time I get anything near a close call is if I'm not riding in the proper lateral position in the lane (which usually means that I'm riding too close to the kerb) and not properly controlling the lane, or if I make some other similarly stupid error.

Also, I always avoid bike paths due to the higher potential for intersection conflicts. I avoid bike lanes whenever possible, as they are usually not placed in the correct lateral position (they can't be, since the proper lateral position can change depending on conditions) and so they tend to increase the chances of a conflict. Though it can be difficult to avoid using bike lanes here, as Maryland law requires cyclists to use bike lanes if they're present on the road you're using. But usually there are parallel roads with no bike lanes, so I either use them, or I break the law and just ignore the bike lane.

I wish it was that simple, my experiences of riding assertively are not the same as yours.

 

[addictfreak]

I normally cycle between 13 and 18 miles to work, depending on the route I choose. I do this all year and very rarely have incidents. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Coming home today in driving rain on a wet road in the Malvern Hills, I had about a gazillion incidents in a mile.

Descending out of very low cloud, there was water running down parts of the road.

Normally 45mph territory, but my computer later told me I didn't go over 34. It felt like 60. Maybe 70...

Every driver seemed like a psychopath. Every gap in the hedge offered a wind that nearly blew me across the road.

My bars were chattering away and the front wheel wanted to dance when I just wanted to get home.

The brake levers were taunting me that they'd spit me off if I put a gramme too much pressure on either of them.

Every smooth strip of tarmac threatened to scoop my wheel away in a millisecond.

Every bend seemed coated in engine oil and graphite.

I calculate that I had 427,000,000 incidents - minimum. Maybe anything up to twice that number. Perhaps more. I have the data.

I arrived safely home only through the thorough application of the skill, courage and cat-like reflexes that I modestly like to think I possess.

 

[gaz]

34 miles today in central london rush hour traffic. One 'incident'. about average for me.