Say Heelo to a Luckeeee Man

[Freewheeler]

Close overtakes by big wagons terrify me. At least a bus has low ground clearance to reduce the chance of you ending up under the wheels.

My commute goes along a link road between a Royal Mail depot and the M62. There are lots of artics on that route but the drivers are real knights of the road; they wait patiently to overtake and always move right over to the other side of the road when passing.

 

[J4CKO]

Crikey, I was dropping bricks just reading that. Glad you and your bike are both OK.

Stupid blunt of a lorry driver, totally his fault. It does highlight how important regular look backs are and being aware of vehicles coming up behind you, especially large vehicles.

I do look back when makign a maneuver but find a bar end mirror enables a lot more frequent checks, if its somethign I dont like the look of, I will pull over, had a close one this mornign a "Maynes" coach passed me at 50 mph in the rain with inches to spare, I have emailed them to ask for a little more consideration.

 

[goo_mason]

Holy Brad Pitt, McB !! That made for terrifying reading - being at the end of the lorry's treatment must have been a real brown-shorts moment.

Glad you made it through unscathed physically (though I suspect that there's some mental scarring). Take it easy on the way home tonight.

 

[peanut]

bluddy ell Mac that was a close one

You just cannot trust anyone any more can you . I suspect that he had something come from the other direction and had to squeeze you to clear oncoming traffic. probably thought you'd take evasive action.
Bet he was sweating buckets

I'd have given the side of the van a good thump to make him realise what he'd done

The really worrying thing here is that no one stopped to see if you were alright. I think that is the worst endictment of modern man . 'nothing to do with me ' syndrome

 

[fossyant]

Glad you are OK !!! Phew...

 

[Shaun]

<hands MacBludgeon some clean pants>

Luukkkeeee indeed - scared me, and I was just reading it!!!

Glad you're okay and home your ride home is traffic + numpty driver free!

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[hackbike 666]

Threads like this make me remember how vulnerable we can all be.Hope you are ok mate.

 

[BentMikey]

I do look back when makign a maneuver but find a bar end mirror enables a lot more frequent checks, if its somethign I dont like the look of, I will pull over, had a close one this mornign a "Maynes" coach passed me at 50 mph in the rain with inches to spare, I have emailed them to ask for a little more consideration.

Mirrors are a good aide to looking back, but they have two major disadvantages. One is that there are blind spots - you don't have those when you look back by turning round. The other is that they prevent some of that essential communication between the road users behind you and yourself. Getting that humanisation going seems to be a hugely important thing in getting people to behave better around cyclists. Those blindly pedalling small gap taking cyclists that never look back when they pull out/jump off the pavement cause stress to other road users.

In this case that look behind and a signal right to take the lane might well have prevented the lorry driver from making the overtake. It certainly would have made sure the OP was aware that a large vehicle was about to overtake him, and that would have allowed him to brake and dive left if the lorry still carried on. I say this with the full knowledge that I sometimes also do exactly as the OP did, and lose myself in the landscape of my own mind.

 

[hackbike 666]

BTW whats an OP?

 

[summerdays]

BTW whats an OP?

OP = Original Post

Back to the OP ... that sounds really really scarey... I am amazed that we aren't reading a different outcome. Good luck for your return journey tonight.

 

[nilling]

Glad you're ok MacB that was very scary...

all I can remember is thinking 'oh no, not my new bike'

made me smile and prob this thought kept you upright

 

[hackbike 666]

OP = Original Post

Back to the OP ... that sounds really really scarey... I am amazed that we aren't reading a different outcome. Good luck for your return journey tonight.

Doh!Thanks.

 

[magnatom]

Brrrrr. That sent shivers down my back reading that!

Well done for staying on two wheels.

Get yourself a helmet camera. You don't have to do what I do, post on the web, but at least you know if something like that happens again (God forbid!) that you have some evidence and have some method of identifying the driver. A driver like that, driving a vehicle like that should not be allowed to cross the road never mind drive on it!

 

[MacB]

thanks folks, made it home safe and sound and took a minute off my previous best return time, maybe I was keen to get off the road The Altura Nightvision has taken a bit of a pasting from shoulder to wrist on the right arm, but thankfully not right through. Have replayed endlessly in my mind and really can't think that I could have avoided, without hindsight, as it wasn't something I considered a possibility. At least, not at that point in the road, guess I know better now. Maybe I just let my guard down as I'd ridden so far allready and had nothing but great treatment from the drivers. Thankfully the lesson learned has only cost me a sore arm.

Amazing how blase I can be now this morning I was ashen faced and shaking like a kid

Mags, happy to go the helmet cam route if you can persuade my wife to allow me to spend the money

 

[purplepolly]

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm not suprised that no-one else stopped, and being ignored and left alone like that can be worse than the accident itself.