Riding home today on a country road, I approached a blind left-hand corner with double white lines down the middle. As I would always do in this situation, going into the corner I have a glance behind. Seeing a car about 100 metres behind me turning I move over into almost the middle of the lane, a technique I use to make sure that the driver sees me, rather than come whizzing round the corner and take me out, and in this situation so I can keep him behind me through the corner. This particular driver comes up behinds, beeps his horn, overtakes on the wrong side of the road around the corner and makes a signal at me something like pointing to the left. I was wondering whether he was suggesting I should be further over to the left, or whether I should have been on the path, which there was running to the left of the road. No doubt had he been walking on the path he would have told me cyclists should be in the road. Anyway, there was a long straight after the corner which is perfectly safe for overtaking and I just wonder about these idiots who would rather risk my life, their lives and the lives of anyone coming the other way, just to save 5 seconds off their journey, and I don't really know why I'm even posting this here except that sometimes its nice to tell someone who understands what I'm talking about. Incidently, I have a friend who did LEJOG and I was once discussing the problem of blind left hand corners with him, and he said in that situation he would keep as far to the left as possible, in the hope that the car would miss him even if it didn't see him. I called him an idiot.
Idiot driver
- Thread starter chris__P
- Start date
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hackbike 666
Guest
You answered your own question though,they would rather put everyone else in danger to save two seconds.Seems like a common human trait.(Peds being an example also)
joolsybools
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Scotland
Its just a selfish shellfish world these days
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
At least by being well out you still have room to duck left when they do overtake. Reminds me of Darwin's corners near Downe on the A233. The barriers and fences need regular replacement.
XmisterIS
Purveyor of fine nonsense
chris__P said:
Bear in mind that the average IQ of the population is 100 ...
GrasB
Veteran
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Grantchester has a set of bends like that, if the idiot wants to overtake you're better off in primary or even near the centre of the road as it gives you loads of space. Personally I take a passive secondary in if possible on a longer straight stretch of road but also there's a parking space at one end & enough drop kerbed area to let cars pass at the other end. Most drivers appreciate the fact I do duck in but for those who are aggressive I'm much more inclined to take a very strong primary & ignore these opportunities to pull in.
hackbike 666
Guest
Funny you say that but when I get p1553d off with agressive motons I tend to ride more in primary.
2Loose
Guru
- Location
- Loughborough, Leicestershire.
Amazing how stubbornly righteous we get when under unfair pressure 
hackbike 666
Guest
2Loose said:Amazing how stubbornly righteous we get when under unfair pressure
Aye.
GrasB
Veteran
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
It's not righteousness, it's more preservation of road space. I can't take a strong primary when I'm near the kerb to keep a defensive line because the the driver is being an aggressive prick & I don't want to manoeuvre fairly aggressively my self. Of course because they're being an aggressive prick I need to be more assertive about claiming the road space I need in the first place. I'm in primary because I simply don't trust the driver to actually give me space & be sensible.2Loose said:Amazing how stubbornly righteous we get when under unfair pressure
Blind corners are often a problem in this country due to our tendency for high hedgerows etc. A corner like the one where this happened would, for example, not be allowed in Holland because of the danger it causes cyclists. At the end of the day it is all about self preservation and I will always be aggresive if it is the right thing to do. These types of blind left hand turns were even more of a common problem when i was touring in New Zealand, when I might find myself grinding up a steep incline at 5kmh with a logging truck coming up behind me. Every situation is different but usually I would take a strong position and speed up to get out of the 'danger zone', once or twice if I was in doubt about having been seen I ditched and bailed out onto the ditch and a few times, only if I was sure it was safe, I would switch to the right side of the road where I would have a clear view around the corner myself and could always bail out given oncoming traffic
