Judging the speed of a bike

[2Loose]

Having had two not (very close) left hooks and another accelerate only to try and squeeze me at a pinch point because I got there faster than they expected recently, I can only assume that bike lights mean that some drivers make assumptions that bike = slow. Each time I was over twenty mph and there was little else on the road, so I agree, although I think that night time lighting does make it a bit harder for them to judge. Not that it is an excuse in anyway.

 

[boydj]

I've long thought that a lot of drivers treat bikes as virtually stationary objects - hence a lot of left hooks in particular. With many drivers speeding anyway, they catch up very quickly and the miscalculation for the left turn is too easy to make.

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

I've long thought that a lot of drivers treat bikes as virtually stationary objects - hence a lot of left hooks in particular. With many drivers speeding anyway, they catch up very quickly and the miscalculation for the left turn is too easy to make.

Yes, I agree. It is also a problem with long vehicles such as buses, which cut in too early. I had to explain to a bus driver the distance it takes to pass a cyclist on one stretch where I tend to do 20mph on a 30mph road. If the bus is travelling at 30mph, it is doing 10mph relative to me. Assuming the bus should move out when its front is 1 bus length behind me, and then pull in again when its rear is one bus length in front of me, that means the bus should move 3 bus lengths (plus a bike length) relative to me in the overtake. In that time, I will have moved 6 bus lengths. Therefore, to make the overtake properly will take them 9 times the length of their bus, which is a bloomin' long way! A lot of bus (and truck) drivers just don't understand this at all.

 

[BlackPanther]

I just assume that at least 1% of drivers are either partially blind/too old/drunk/drugged up/not paying attention/strongly dislike cyclists. 1% doesn't sound like much, but as I share the road with maybe 400-500 drivers on every commute, that's 4 or 5, people who, given half a chance would knock me off every day. I find it helpful to just assume that every one is out to get me, and ride accordingly. As for them misjudging my speed, I tend to cover brakes approaching every junction.

 

[BlackPanther]

I quite regularly get folk not realising speed - see a bike and pull out ! I expect it, so can react. On a few occasions the 'reaction/avoidance' has been to overtake the car and shout 'use your eyes' then pass and pull back into line.

I tend to use the 'use your eyes' gesture by pointing at my eyes in a v-type finger style.

 

[Origamist]

A while back somebody on here explained a phenomenon that explains lots of motorbike crashes. It's where for the vast majority of the distance between you and the car the size that the driver sees hardly changes. It's only in the last few metres that your size suddenly starts to multiply. It was said to explain why some drivers pull out when you are almost on top of them, as you have not reached the critical point where you suddenly get bigger. Forget the name for it but it does explain a lot.

Looming!