Nearly a head on with a scooter

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Road Fiddler

New Member
Yesterday whilst cycling home I nearly had a head on with a scooter and it was all my fault, just glad there was some room between us for me to react.

My cam is mounted on the left side of my drop bars to give you an idea of how close it was.

I am approaching a blind left when i see a car in front indicate to the left so I move through the traffic to the right to come face to face with a scooter filtering up through the traffic.

I had some choice words with myself, I dont have many incidents on the road, it does not normally bother me if someone drives to close or pulls out in front of me unless it is very close, like the idiot who was was waiting to turn right across my path and was happily sat there i assume waiting for the other traffic which was only me to pass but instead looked straight through me and just went for it and swung around right in front of me to go back the way he had come, i shouted the "Watch out mate" to be met with something in Russian. After i had composed myself i caught up with him and told him in Russian that he was a silly boy, the shock on his face that someone was speaking Russian probably matched the shock on my face when he pulled out in front of me.

Here is the vid



Sorry about the quality i compressed the vid before up loading it to YT
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Eeek!!! Glad that was just a near miss and no worse.
 
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Road Fiddler

New Member
Oops indeed...

I hadn't pressed play on my ride home tonight so have no footage on the mad Russian sadly.

The music is Deerhoof - Midnight Bicycle Mystery, who ever they are. I ain't into music really just downloaded a load of bicycle related songs to go over my freewheel vid.
 
:biggrin::biggrin: Woooowzers Penny!

Good reactions there mate! And good man for showing a mistake. I bet you will be taking the overtaking a bit easier for a while.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
not the best manoeuvre was it, good job scooter boy was on the ball

you were going quick enough for primary there surely? would have stopped that car needlessly passing you just before the incident and most likely would have given you a better view and better position for the overtake

just a suggestion, thanks for sharing
 
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Road Fiddler

New Member
I bet you will be taking the overtaking a bit easier for a while.
Nooo and notice i didn't even lift off the power :biggrin:

To be honest i was a bit pissed with myself. A second or two later or if he actually reacted other than pulling a funny face it might have been another story. but, to be fair i pulled a bit of a funny face too. You know the look im talking about? This one :biggrin:
 
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Road Fiddler

New Member
Tynan said:
not the best manoeuvre was it, good job scooter boy was on the ball

you were going quick enough for primary there surely? would have stopped that car needlessly passing you just before the incident and most likely would have given you a better view and better position for the overtake

just a suggestion, thanks for sharing

To a curtain extent i agree.

As for scooter boy being on the ball his actions suggested he lacked experience, the time he saw me and i passed him he managed to pull a funny face, this one :biggrin:, and start to reach for his brakes. He was not covering his breaks at all. Ok i am not blaming him for anything including his reactions it was me that was in the wrong and i have held my hands up but i take exception with you saying he was on the ball in a way that suggests he did something to avoid the accident, by the time he was passing me he had only started applying his breaks.

I can say this because in this situation i look at, in the case of a bike the handlebars or with a car the front wheels to see which way they are being steered. By looking at the bars i registered his hand movement and i actually thought Fu k hes not breaking.

He probably froze for a second which slowed his reactions which is quite normal and again i cant blame him for that. It was me that put use both in that situation and i was wrong to do that.

Thankfully we both came away from it unscathed and we have both probably learnt from it.
 

Archie

Errrr.....
How bizarre, I know the road well and it seems strange seeing it on youtube!

I think the reason you got into the situation was not taking stationary behind the Peugeot (?) which allowed the Ford Focus to overtake you just before the traffic slowed. This meant you had to go side-on to overtake the Peugeot when it had slowed, giving a poorer view of the traffic ahead. I'm assuming you did a life-saver before the overtake too, which would further distract from forward traffic?

Glad it ended with just a scare for both of you!
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
fair enough, I mostly meant that he on his side of the road and a bit and seemed to swerve slightly

you didn't give him much of a chance to react in fairness, as you say
 
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Road Fiddler

New Member
i moved to the left to go down the left of the traffic, as Archie will know after the the right bend there is some traffic lights and at this time of day the traffic can be backed up as far as where the footage was taken. The traffic was slowing and there was no need to take primary as i was not intending to stop, i went to go down the left hand side of the traffic then use the concertina effect on the traffic that the bend causes to take primary or to filter down the right hand side of the traffic to the lights. But, on moving to the left and whilst passing the first car i saw a car in front indicate to the left. Instead of continuing down on the left and encouraging a left hook at the junction i decided to move to the right, i did this at the only gap i could see in the cars ahead of me. I would not normally take the right to filter until I have past the garage on the right to avoid a possible right hook.

There is much talk of secondary and primary positions on here which is wonderful but primary is normally only used on quiet streets or when you are moving with the traffic. Secondary is normally used when the traffic is moving faster than you. When you are moving faster than the traffic as you are entitled to, you can not take primary or stationary because the cars are covering these positions. I am not in the wrong for going down the left or the right but i am in the wrong by cutting across the traffic into the path of an oncoming vehicle.
 

Archie

Errrr.....
Road Fiddler said:
There is much talk of secondary and primary positions on here which is wonderful but primary is normally only used on quiet streets or when you are moving with the traffic.
But you are moving with the traffic. After the Astra's questionable U-turn it's the same two cars in front of you. I know why your passing on the left past the traffic lights by Kingston Crescent, after that I think you're well within your rights to take primary behind the Peugeot.

Just my 2p. :biggrin:
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
only observations, you know the road best and what the score was

but if you ride the same then that incident is liable to happen again init? chopping from lhs to rhs is one to try to cut out

good thing about primary and the rhs is a better view of what's going on

you know best though naturally (that's sincere, not meant to sound sarky, I'm off the bike for five odd week snow with a cracked shoulder so what do I know)
 
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