Idiot in a car

[tmcd35]

There's your answer.

Most accidents occur within the first few minutes of driving IIRC.

You're simply not alert to driving.

I hate to say it but in all honesty I think you are 100% right.

 

[Amheirchion]

My neighbour tried to mow me down on 2 separate occasions within 50yds of his house at 7am.

Are you actually on friendly terms with them? It might not have been an accident.

 

[zacklaws]

Its very easy to not spot something in a car.

Many years ago, I nearly ran a cyclist over. I slowed down and approached a T junction with a give way sign with the intention of turning left, looking left, right and to the front, I could see nothing so I started to speed up to pull out of the junction and at that point, my passenger warned me of the cyclist to my right. I braked sharply, and low and behold, a cyclist appeared in front of me from behind the front right hand side roof support.

All the time it took me to drive up to the junction, and as I slightly turned left, the cyclist was hidden out of view. Since then I have learnt my lesson and always look to see if anything is hidden behind the roof supports and learnt the lesson beforehand of always a good look to the front as well before pulling out of a junction as I was rammed by a car who pulled out of a junction once and the driver admitted he only looked left and right and not to the front and pulled straight out onto the road.

I drive many different cars at work and sometimes, I think modern car design can be a lot to blame with the way they design roof supports and their positioning. Even the rear view mirror can at times partially hide things, which is one reason why I am totally against all these dangly things people have like lucky dice, a swinging object to your front, could easily distract you from a small moving object to your front as well as possibly hide something.

 

[pshore]

When I'm on the bike approaching a side turning and failing to make eye contact with the driver, I try to do a little weaving to make myself obvious

Sheddy is describe what is known as SMIDSY Avoidance and Evasion technique for motorcyclists.

For the details have a read on this page:

http://www.mag-uk.or...gnsdetail/a6525
which links through to a good paper if you read it in detail:
http://www.network.m...Too%20Close.pdf

SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I did'nt See You) Avoidance and Evasion Strategies

Duncan MacKillop is a Motorcycle Trainer and is also an aviation pilot. As a victim of SMIDSYs, he has carried out research over the last ten years to understand the reasons for this type of accident and to find solutions for motorcyclists through avoidance and evasion techniques. His research considers the phenomena of looming and motion camouflage.

.....

Techniques for SMIDSY avoidance and evasion

The failure of the motorcycle to pop-out from the general background as seen by an observer, is a problem that no amount of observer education will currently cure in consideration of the lack of driver awareness training that the present system offers. There may well be ways to find some observational strategy for motorists that will maximize their ability to identify oncoming motorcyclists.

Read the full report HERE

As I motorcyclist I can tell you these techniques definitely work and have saved me on the push bike too. Obviously you cannot just weave because you may have an overtaker when on a pedal cycle. The way I apply this on a pedal cycle is:

Approaching a side road on left with motorist waiting to pull out, look for eye contact from the driver. If you don't get it, be prepared to stop or if you have time, check behind and make a wide pass around the nose of the car.

This will move you across the vision of the motorist and they will most likely see you and if they see you whilst pulling out they will automatically hit the brakes stopping and blocking the lane. Your wide pass and moving to the right will allow you to go round safely.

Hope that helps,

Phil.

 

[HLaB]

About 8 years ago I was that idiot; didn't drive much but cycled a fair bit. A few workmates and I went on a camping trip to Sligo and I ended up driving the leg back to Dublin. I was almost back, hit traffic in Dublin even in the evening (to excuse the pun) and was sitting in a right turn pocket and switched the indicators off as I'd be waiting till the lights changed, my mate switched them back on from the passenger street; I smiled and switched them off again and he switched them back on LOL. Then suddenly a bus coming the other way pulled upto a bus stop and blocked the road; so I started to move; I didn't notice the cyclist udertaking the bus Luckilly there was no contact but he wasn't very happy and I don't blame them.

 

[Sheepy1209]

Kudos to the OP for being so open and fair-minded.

As a cyclist, motorcyclist and driver something that I find interesting is how quickly I switch modes mentally - so when I get in a car, despite high awareness of two-wheelers I still find myself making assumptions. For example a few weeks ago I followed a car through a right-turn off a fast A-road, looking up the road and seeing no vehicles, but completely missing the cyclist who had been obscured by the car in front. In this instance I was lucky, and I suspect the cyclist just put it down as a typical near miss.

So why did it happen?
In this case I think simply because it's a section of road I wouldn't cycle on because I know how dangerous the junction is - I weave on a motorcycle, but cycling it's just not possible to do that there - nor is it safe to adopt primary. I already knew how vulnerable I'd be on a bike there and like the vast majority of locals would take a different route - so cyclists are rare.


This isn't the same as the OP's situation but illustrates how easy it is to make a mistake. Unfortunately on a daily basis we see so many drivers who appear not to have a clue that when something goes wrong we assume the culprit is one of those drivers - as this shows, that's not necessarily the case.

 

[BentMikey]

Funnily enough three times on my commute yesterday I had motorists pull up to a T-junction (them on the minor road having to give way, me on the major one with priority), and each time I had serious suspicions on whether they had seen me, simply because their eyes were close to or hidden by the A-frame pillar.

It just goes to show how important rearward observation is, especially before junctions. Each time I avoided trouble by pulling well right on the road. I'd not have been able to do that if I didn't already know it was clear to pull right. Must admit I was close to a toot on the AirZound each time.

 

[trj977]

Its very easy to not spot something in a car.

Many years ago, I nearly ran a cyclist over. I slowed down and approached a T junction with a give way sign with the intention of turning left, looking left, right and to the front, I could see nothing so I started to speed up to pull out of the junction and at that point, my passenger warned me of the cyclist to my right. I braked sharply, and low and behold, a cyclist appeared in front of me from behind the front right hand side roof support.

All the time it took me to drive up to the junction, and as I slightly turned left, the cyclist was hidden out of view. Since then I have learnt my lesson and always look to see if anything is hidden behind the roof supports and learnt the lesson beforehand of always a good look to the front as well before pulling out of a junction as I was rammed by a car who pulled out of a junction once and the driver admitted he only looked left and right and not to the front and pulled straight out onto the road.

I drive many different cars at work and sometimes, I think modern car design can be a lot to blame with the way they design roof supports and their positioning. Even the rear view mirror can at times partially hide things, which is one reason why I am totally against all these dangly things people have like lucky dice, a swinging object to your front, could easily distract you from a small moving object to your front as well as possibly hide something.

There was a very good article referenced on this forum regarding the increased size of "A" posts, due to the inclusion of air bags, design for convertables etc, which showed the actual area of the blind spot created.

 

[007fair]

There was a very good article referenced on this forum regarding the increased size of "A" posts, due to the inclusion of air bags, design for convertables etc, which showed the actual area of the blind spot created.

I noticed this when buying our last car - Choosing between a ford S Max and Citroen Picasso
The latter has very slim A pillars comparatively and this must make a difference in the type of situation described by OP The S max has large blind spot there As some said though- if you know there is a blind spot you are responsible for being more careful.

(... we chose the S max ! )

 

[chillyuk]

I have never had to make an insurance claim thankfully so could someone please clarify something for me. All the information I have from my insurance company on what to do in an accident states that I must not admit liability. Would admitting liability affect the settlement of a claim by my insurance company. Could the insurance company get out of settling a claim by saying I hadn't followed their procedures.

Reading the OP's comments got me thinking about this aspect. It would be a pity if an apparently decent man was penalised by an insurance company for doing the decent thing.

 

[thomas]

I have never had to make an insurance claim thankfully so could someone please clarify something for me. All the information I have from my insurance company on what to do in an accident states that I must not admit liability. Would admitting liability affect the settlement of a claim by my insurance company. Could the insurance company get out of settling a claim by saying I hadn't followed their procedures.

Reading the OP's comments got me thinking about this aspect. It would be a pity if an apparently decent man was penalised by an insurance company for doing the decent thing.

If you admit liability you could in turn void your insurance policy and therefore may be personally liable for damages.

That's not to say admitting a mistake is a bad thing to do on a personal level.

Also. Saying 'sorry' is not the same as admitting liability. It is just good manners.


However, when filling in any insurance document be completely honest. Don't try to make yourself look slightly better - it only delays claims and doesn't benefit you!

 

[tmcd35]

Well I think I can bring a resolution to this thread. The cyclist contacted my insurance company yesterday and left me a message last night. I contacted the insurance company today and it boils down to a choice between settle privately or accept a lose of 2 year NCB.

The message on the answer phone says he got a quote for £160 to repair his bike. If I had no choice I could find the money - but can I afford it? No not really. So I'm letting the insurance company sort it out. There is no excess, I am told, on third party claims and I'll lost 2 of my 5 years NCB. My monthly premiums will go up next years, so yes I'll be paying for my mistake financially.

In all good will I hope that my error has not cost the cyclist financially. As of yet my insurance company are reporting no injury claims.

I admitted liability at the scene. My insurance company did not ask me about this. They did ask if I accept liabilty though - to which I replyed "It's impossible not to given the circumstances".

 

[taxing]

Also. Saying 'sorry' is not the same as admitting liability. It is just good manners.

I've heard advice that drivers shouldn't apologise at the scene, as it can be used as evidence that they accepted liability at the time. As someone who says 'sorry' when they bump into inanimate objects, I think it would just slip out, whether I was at fault or not.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Having seen how much insurance has risen for my Wife who has had no claims in the last year, I'd be trying to pay it personally rather than risk losing any NCB!!

 

[Iain p]

+1 I would personally find the money and not go through the insurance company.