RLJ smash finally

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Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
It's finally happened, after many years of driving, scootering and cycling and watching endless people sail through red lights, often dangerous ones at high speed, saw one get caught last night

rolled up to one car back at the lights eastbound on Seven Sisters Road and Hornsea Road, as our lights go green, there's the noise of a speeding car, a brief toot of a horn and then an almightly smash, some sort of MPV has come through the lights from the North, presumably at speed and very late as they've smashed into someone pulling away in the southmost lane, swerved to miss them and run into the railings and them, awful noise of things smashing and breaking, brief pause while everyone at the lights looked at them and then everyone drove off, it was 9.30pm and cold and dark, seemed to be plenty of peds around anyway, I thought about being a witness for the chap presumably in the right but I suspected he might have set off early, no-one else had gone, and they were on the other side of three lanes of speeding cars

ah well, nice to see someone finally cock it up properly


oo and on the way in my first high speed left turn across me, rock solid primary in the bus lane going down the long hill into Camden from Holloway Road, 25mph+, car acclerates alongside and past me indicating left, I watch with interest than across me he comes and then tries to slow down enough to turn left with another cyclist waiting to turn right out of the side road and watching with interest, suffice to say the car makes a complete cock of it and even with anticipation I do lots of braking and fishtailing/trying to say on and thinking I won't be able to stop in time, I wouldn't have either but luckily he managed to get into the side road and tear away, grrr, not fun and yet another two pieces of classic footage lost forever, my PI settlement comes in fairly soon, I might have to slice a piece off for a snazzy camera thingy

you'd have loved both incidents, perhaps not the left turn
 

GrahamG

Guru
Location
Bristol
OOh, that is crazy. I take it that 'amber gamblers' are the more reserved of drivers in London then? :sad:
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
yep, I do amber, no problem there but plain busting straight through solid reds is perfectly commonplace

I satopped comfortably for a red yesterday only to watch the double decker bus that was behnd me acclerate through the red to the bemusement of myself and the peds waiting to cross
 

Maz

Guru
From the title, I thought it was going to be about a RLJ cyclist coming a cropper.
 
The daftest RLJ I saw was when I stopped at red and the car behind me stopped calmy too and applied his hand brake I think. After we were stopped for about 5 secs he suddenly loses patience overtakes me and left hooks through the left. 10 seconds or so the lights go to green. Why take the risk?
 

yello

back and brave
Location
France
I think the highway code must have changed with regard to amber lights... it must now say "put you're foot down and go for it".
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Gutted you didn't have a camera for those incidents, Tynan!! p.s. did you shout at the left hooker?
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
ditto Mikey, I think this one is the one that finally makes me get one, it was really close to a serious accident, no way could I have stopped and I damn near lost it through braking so hard, thought I was going to pile into his back wing, at the last second he sorted himself out and went up the road and out of my lane, presumably camera footage would have been needed to show both his fault and his reg

yes I shouted but in a rather shocked and breathless way and he was long gone anyway, it all happened rather quickly

as for amber, I go if stopping is an ag, ie I'm going fairly quick, I see it as a warning that the red is coming, I think almost everyoe in London does the same

don't tell the wife but I think a POV is in order, still very happy with yours I assume Mikey?
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I'll bet your heart was in your mouth for those moments, sympathies! Most of mine haven't been nearly that close, but then I also have nearly double the braking ability to help get me out of trouble.

Yep, still loving the POV.1. It works so well, I just button the remote control when I see something interesting and check it out at home.
 
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Tynan

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
I had double too but only really got the back on which wasn't a great help

aye aye on the pov, ta

horrid feeling emergency stopping and suddenly realising that it ain't going to stop you in time

did it on a scooter once from 50mph whene I was slow to realise that the traffic in front had stopped, jammed everythig on with a recent service and newish tyres in perfect road conditions and only relaised I wouldn't be hitting the car in front in the final ten yards, barely enough time to eather and come to a controlled stop, not nice at all
 

swee'pea99

Squire
Tynan said:
horrid feeling emergency stopping and suddenly realising that it ain't going to stop you in time
My commute back from school used to bring me downhill onto a big roundabout. Approaching at speed one afternoon, I was doing my usual look over to the right to check for a good space in the traffic on the roundabout, saw one and got ready to move into it. Looked back straight ahead and parked on the roundabout itself, not 10 feet ahead of me, was a flatbed truck. Bang. The worst thing was having to clamber up into the damn thing to retrieve my glasses, which had shot off my face and ended up sliding along the floor as far as the driver's cab...
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I meant I have roughly double the stopping power of an upright on the recumbent. I'm not sure it makes me any safer, since it's so tempting to go that little bit faster and brake a little later just because I can.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
p.s. Tynan, if you want to borrow my VIO for a little test go one weekend, come down to the park and you can take it for a short ride or something. Let me know and we'll make a plan.
 
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