Two incidents of note, yesterday while cycling into town I was coming up to a traffic light, single lane, with ahead and left, I had taken primary position because it's a narrow road, oncoming traffic, and traffic island, all making overtaking unsafe. The light was amber so I was braking and not paying 100% attention (planning to stop).
Cue white van driver, pulling over a hatched area of road into oncoming traffic, accelerating hard, then braking hard and pulling in infront of me and going through the lights (now on red).
Except he didn't clear my front wheel before he came whizzing back in front of me, and clipped my front wheel. My knees and right wrist took the fall, and other than being really pissed off I felt fine. (plus I was late). I was up and moving by the time the lights had cycled and was on my way. But it made me more wary, and has prompted me to take the lane more often.
So today I'm riding home after doing some jobs in town, I'm at the same lights, opposite direction. There are two lanes going this way, a right turn only, and a ahead only, with sepperate lights (and a traffic island that stops you going ahead from the right turn lane)
To get to this little setup you have to come via the ring road/roundabout/junction. I'd come from the left, and was to the right of the ahead lane where I'd ended up, looked to make my transition to the right turn lane, blue car behind about a bike length from my rear wheel.
Signal, look again, same car has accelerated to beside my right wheel, doing maybe 2mph more than me, so very slowly overtaking, the light is red so I plan to fliter ahead when the driver is forced to stop.
Car suddenly accelerates and pulls in front of me to pass through the lights in the ahead only lane on amber. Emergency braking was all that stopped him from hitting my front wheel just like the white van man had done the day before. Driver clipped the traffic island in the process.
I'm now even more wary, and took the primary road position almost entirely on the rest of my return journey, as well as turning my lights on. I think my rear lights are going to be on now whenever I ride, they do seem to keep people at a safe distance.
Cue white van driver, pulling over a hatched area of road into oncoming traffic, accelerating hard, then braking hard and pulling in infront of me and going through the lights (now on red).
Except he didn't clear my front wheel before he came whizzing back in front of me, and clipped my front wheel. My knees and right wrist took the fall, and other than being really pissed off I felt fine. (plus I was late). I was up and moving by the time the lights had cycled and was on my way. But it made me more wary, and has prompted me to take the lane more often.
So today I'm riding home after doing some jobs in town, I'm at the same lights, opposite direction. There are two lanes going this way, a right turn only, and a ahead only, with sepperate lights (and a traffic island that stops you going ahead from the right turn lane)
To get to this little setup you have to come via the ring road/roundabout/junction. I'd come from the left, and was to the right of the ahead lane where I'd ended up, looked to make my transition to the right turn lane, blue car behind about a bike length from my rear wheel.
Signal, look again, same car has accelerated to beside my right wheel, doing maybe 2mph more than me, so very slowly overtaking, the light is red so I plan to fliter ahead when the driver is forced to stop.
Car suddenly accelerates and pulls in front of me to pass through the lights in the ahead only lane on amber. Emergency braking was all that stopped him from hitting my front wheel just like the white van man had done the day before. Driver clipped the traffic island in the process.
I'm now even more wary, and took the primary road position almost entirely on the rest of my return journey, as well as turning my lights on. I think my rear lights are going to be on now whenever I ride, they do seem to keep people at a safe distance.
