My Closest Near Miss - WTF!

[beanzontoast]

No change in meaning by me there, and you're still this: WRONG.

Cycling is a very safe activity.

I don't know what to say to you apart from wishing you well in your cycling. I was hospitalised by a driver last year while commuting to work. Maybe that has some bearing on my opinion. When I cycle nowadays, it is with a sense that there are dangers around me, not that I am 'very safe'.

 

[Crackle]

It's a Good job for this discussion, that deaf people don't drive cars or ride bikes then

Edit: ....and glad you're OK Snapper. Always remember that lifesaver check.

 

[Bollo]

Hay hay, ladies - it was only a throw-away comment!

Beanz! People are notoriously bad at assessing risk in either direction. Whether it's flying (safe), cycling (safe) or balloons (quite dangerous), people's perceptions of danger will often not match the true danger. Some of the problem with drivers is that driving is such a common activity that they forget the risks associated with controlling 1.5 tonnes of metal at 80mph.

You were unlucky to be hospitalised. I was unlucky to be hit but before someone beats me to it, the plural of anecdote is not evidence.

 

[snapper_37]

Thanks Crackle and Lee.

While I don't agree that cycling is exceptionally damgerous, it *can* be and I think that is whan Beanz meanz hey hey hey...

 

[beanzontoast]

Thanks Crackle and Lee.

While I don't agree that cycling is exceptionally damgerous, it *can* be and I think that is whan Beanz meanz hey hey hey...

I'll settle for that!

 

[snapper_37]

Phew.....

 

[J4CKO]

Of course cycling isnt as safe as getting around in a 2 tonne vehicle designed to be crashed, tested to destruction. It is still safer than most people assume, especially if you take it seriously and dont take risks, when you eat into the margin of safety is when you have problems.

I see it like this, I need some exercise, I am too lazy and get too bored spinning in a leisure centre so I ride on the road, that exercise is getting me fitter, potentially it may keep my cardivascular system in better condition so may well be safer than sitting on my arse in the car.

I try to assume everyone is an arse and out to get me, that every parked car, junction, driveway has a car or somethign ready to jump out, every ped is going to walk into the road, make any assumptions the other way and you are in for a painful dissapointment, I try to learn every possibility.

I love my mirror, I struggle without it, I still look round but this means I can see behind me every couple of seconds to see what motorised aggro is about to appear, I had a helmet one, that did wobble, I got a Cateye bar end one, looks a bit gimpy but I would hate to be without it.

 

[shunter]

By your logic cars shouldn't be allowed either stereos or windows.

No to stereos, noisey kids, mobile phones, illegal blacked out windows, yes to working indicators and headlights, no to facing the passenger to have a conversation with him/her and a working brain and adequate level of intelligence to enable the driver to multitask, understand roadcraft and obviously some money to buy insurance and road tax and take lessons to get an actual driving licence. That's all I would ask. Keep the windows.

 

[Cromcruaich]

http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221549/227755/rcgb2007.pdf

There ya go, page 80. Cycling is significantly more dangerous than getting into a metal box before going onto the road, about the same as walking but safe as houses compared to a motorbike.

Infact you are approx 10 times more likely to be fatally injured per mile than someone in a car/van etc.

 

[fossyant]

Bad luck Snapper - had the same happen to me on a speed humped residential road, it was only spotting the headlamps on the wrong side of the road that stopped me turning...... idiots.... Fortunately for the driver, this happened before my recent bad luck....grrr...I didn't chase them down...

 

[BentMikey]

Funny how I heard that dodgy driver revving in my last video, and all the other aggressive drivers on my commute then!

Maggers, it's very much like you saying I can't possibly have a conversation with someone, whilst others are having other conversations around me, which would clearly be nonsense.

 

[BentMikey]

http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221549/227755/rcgb2007.pdf

There ya go, page 80. Cycling is significantly more dangerous than getting into a metal box before going onto the road, about the same as walking but safe as houses compared to a motorbike.

Infact you are approx 10 times more likely to be fatally injured per mile than someone in a car/van etc.

And how much closer would they be if you took out all the motorway miles that motor vehicles do since this will heavily weight the supposed safety against cycling?

 

[BentMikey]

I don't know what to say to you apart from wishing you well in your cycling. I was hospitalised by a driver last year while commuting to work. Maybe that has some bearing on my opinion. When I cycle nowadays, it is with a sense that there are dangers around me, not that I am 'very safe'.

I'm sorry you took the whole safety discussion personally because of this - but that's not my fault. Cycling is still a very safe activity, pointing out the times when something went wrong isn't going to change that.

 

[magnatom]

Funny how I heard that dodgy driver revving in my last video, and all the other aggressive drivers on my commute then!

Maggers, it's very much like you saying I can't possibly have a conversation with someone, whilst others are having other conversations around me, which would clearly be nonsense.

I'm not saying that you won't necessarily hear an engine revving behind you, but you might miss a change in engine note, or something else just as subtle which if we hear it might consciously or unconsciously inform us. You can't honestly say that wearing headphones with music playing doesn't dull your sense of hearing for events beyond the music, are you?

 

[BentMikey]

It might have some effect on my hearing, but can you really credibly say it would cause me to miss the change in engine note? I can tell you from experience that I can hear plenty more than enough to hear this, and far quieter things than necessary for my safety.

By your own admission you're not talking from experience.