I nearly knocked a cyclist off

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benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
At this junction, turning left into a one way street, so I didn't check to my left.
The cyclist had come up my left and was next to me at the line. A gap came along and we both pulled out at the same time, and I had to swerve immediately to avoid him.

Clearly I should have checked to my left quickly before pulling away, and will definitely do that in the future, but IMHO he should never had come up along my left side, but should have waited behind me.
 

Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
When going left I always do a left hand lifesaver check for this very reason, it is one of the useful skills I gained from when I was riding motorbikes :smile:
 
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benb

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
Yeah, I feel really bad as I could have easily hit him. I'll definitely check left there from now on. But it was poor riding on his part to be on my left in any case. You should never go up the left of someone at a junction where they might be turning left, correct?

BTW I was in my car in case that wasn't obvious.
 

StuartG

slower but further
Location
SE London
Should have known you were turning left even if you were not signalling (were you?), railings too. Deathtrap.

Yes as cyclists we should know to look out for this danger when we are driving. Thanks for admitting your failure and I'm sure I have not double-checked every time either. Which means non-cycling motorists are very likely not to doublecheck.

So you in the wrong (a bit), cyclist in the wrong (a lot) and the local authority in the wrong (completely) for knowingly creating the dangerspot.
 

jeltz

Veteran
Easily done but we all need to do the check to ensure that our route is clear and not obstructed but an idiot, whether that be an undertaking cyclist or a ped that's vaulted the barrier...

I would like to see a public information campaign about filtering on the left, to hopefully reduce the number of cyclist that do it and raise awareness for drivers to look out for it.
 

StuartG

slower but further
Location
SE London
HLaB said:
What happened to Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre.
Agreed but there is also a real danger of the cyclist being in the blind spot. That's one reason why I think every motorist should take the motorbike test. It conditions you into NOT relying on mirrors but doing the final over the shoulder glance.
 

Origamist

Legendary Member
jeltz said:
Easily done but we all need to do the check to ensure that our route is clear and not obstructed but an idiot, whether that be an undertaking cyclist or a ped that's vaulted the barrier...

I would like to see a public information campaign about filtering on the left, to hopefully reduce the number of cyclist that do it and raise awareness for drivers to look out for it.

The problem is when you have cycle lanes, paths and Cycle Superhighways all on the left of traffic there is going to be an unfortunate tension between the merits and demerits of undertaking and overtaking (a conflict between best practice and the lure of cycle provision).

As I have previosuly mentioned, cycle lanes make it more difficult to overtake (but not significanlty so) as many vehicles keep out of the cycle lane and further toward the centre markings. Whilst cycle lanes may help condition drivers to use their nearside mirrors, that's not much of a consolation if a passenger opens their door into your path...
 
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benb

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
Yep, mea culpa. I absolutely should have checked to my left, and he absolutely should not have filtered down the left.

Hopefully we both learnt something.
 

Jaguar

New Member
Location
Norfolk/Suffolk
I filter down the left of stationary vehicles, and will continue to do so. I'd never get anywhere if I didn't: our town is one long gridlock.

I do, however, sit in full view of the lead vehicle, in front of it if I can (I've been run over there as well: sitting in front of a car at a roundabout ... he saw a gap and floored it, completely forgetting to look through his windscreen at the cyclist in front of him).

If the lead car is indicating left then I sit behind him, in full view of the next driver.

If I suspect the lead car hasn't seen me, I wait for him to move first.
 

Mark_Robson

Senior Member
HLaB said:
What happened to Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre. However you acknowledge that and nobody was hurt and put it down to experience and learn from it as you clearly have.
If the driver was indicating to turn left left then IMO the blame lies with the cyclist. Undertaking is dangerous at best. I would never rely on a motorist looking down his left hand side for cyclists before turning left.
 
Mark_Robson said:
If the driver was indicating to turn left left then IMO the blame lies with the cyclist. Undertaking is dangerous at best. I would never rely on a motorist looking down his left hand side for cyclists before turning left.
Neither would I. IMO the blame lays with both parties but was most inadvisable for the cyclist. The driver has learnt his lesson and no one was hurt; lets hope the cyclist has learnt a lesson too.
 
Mark_Robson said:
If the driver was indicating to turn left left then IMO the blame lies with the cyclist. Undertaking is dangerous at best. I would never rely on a motorist looking down his left hand side for cyclists before turning left.


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