Seven in a day...

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Moodyman

Legendary Member
Shall i post the video I have of someone shooting a firework across the road at a shop? Scared the crap out of me!


Fugget about that Gaz. Post that Video where you and Origamist raced and he scalped you on his single speed.
 

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
So if you're in a cycle lane, the lane next to you must not be used for overtaking? No wonder motorists hate us!

Good grief! What chance have we got if even other cyclists believe that the presence of a dashed line gives motorists carte-blanche to ignore Highway Code rule 163?

Admittedly, if the cycle lane conformed to the DfT guidelines (at least 2 metres wide on a road like this), then I might agree with you. However, it isn't even half that width.

EDIT: Corrected "cycle" to "cycle lane".
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I do find it hard to blame motorists for coming too close when I'm in a narrow cycle lane. I mean they shouldn't, and they should really know better, but the power of the line is quite strong. If I feel the cycle lane is too narrow to use safely, then I'll ride in the main lane. Vauxhall Bridge southbound is one example of this.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
I do find it hard to blame motorists for coming too close when I'm in a narrow cycle lane. I mean they shouldn't, and they should really know better, but the power of the line is quite strong. If I feel the cycle lane is too narrow to use safely, then I'll ride in the main lane. Vauxhall Bridge southbound is one example of this.

+1 to this. If you don't want people using the lane next to you, TAKE it. This is what I've been trying to get across. In all the videos where I've said I don't see the problem, if you do see a problem the solution is easy, move right.

You have as much, if not more, of a duty of care to your safety than the driver of the car. Take some responsibility, take action and cycle safely.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Well, I do have some sympathy to MrHappy's viewpoint as well - these are not good pieces of driving, do you agree?

They aren't great, no but they do pale in comparison to some of the driving I see on a daily basis. If you cycle assertively you can cut down the motorists opportunity to turn a piece of "not great" driving into a problem.

And the 1st and 4th of Mr Happy's I did say were pretty bad.
 

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
It's less about how bad the cockups are, more about how many of them there were in a 10 mile commute (3 of which on the same bit of road).

I think this is a good point. There are various degrees of badness, the least being failure to adhere to HC rule 163. I think most drivers fail to do this, so I don't bother posting them unless I felt endangered, but that doesn't make them OK, as you correctly imply.
 

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
And the 1st and 4th of Mr Happy's I did say were pretty bad.

It's true that those were the worst of the five. The first was just about as close as a driver can get without actually hitting the cyclist. The alarming thing is that even these are not unusual events; I probably get one per week like those on average.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
It's a bit like the overtakes, sometimes on double white lines - I get loads of them, and don't bother with most. It's only the ones that I felt endangered me (very few) or someone else, that I report.

I've a couple of recent ones where the drivers almost had head-on collisions with oncoming traffic. The metrobus white van one was bad enough that Roadsafe have put the incident forward to the Traffic unit for consideration for prosecution. According to the camera naysayers on here they were nothing to worry about/I caused them/this never happens to them/some other excuse.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
It's true that those were the worst of the five. The first was just about as close as a driver can get without actually hitting the cyclist. The alarming thing is that even these are not unusual events; I probably get one per week like those on average.

I think this is why I tend to be a bit blase about this. Until I started to take much more assertive action, I would have these daily, often more than once per day. For example, at pinch points on my route, if I don't deviate from my normal line (about 2-3 feet from the kerb) cars will squeeze through with inches to spare. It's only because I move over to the right and maintain such a position as they would have to drive over me to get through that I don't have near misses. I do get irate drivers occasionally but I can deal with those. I do find that the number of drivers that are irate with me for slowing them down is much less than the number that would have tried to squeeze the gap previously though. Perhaps some drivers are glad that I have made myself much more noticeable!! :whistle:

I wasn't out to start a row (BentMikey will vouch for me I hope!!) I think it's the different perceptions of risk I have commuting into central London in rush hour.
 

Melonfish

Evil Genius in training.
Location
Warrington, UK
See i get a lot of "must pass cyclist" i travel up a road that has area's for cars to park on the side, its not a small road by any means and there's room to pass, however when coming up to parked cars, naturally i'm looking behind so allow me to move out and overtake, i always stick my arm out to indicate but regardless you always get those idiots that insist on flying past you at high speed, they speed up to get past you so they don't apparently get stuck behind you.
the upshot of this is that i either damn near lose my arm or i'm forced to brake or plough into a parked car.

Gaz, Totally saw that one coming m8, wet ground and those silly metal grid runner things add a leaf and you are a gonner every time.
 

MrHappyCyclist

Riding the Devil's HIghway
Location
Bolton, England
I wasn't out to start a row (BentMikey will vouch for me I hope!!) I think it's the different perceptions of risk I have commuting into central London in rush hour.
No problem at all. It's always useful to hear other people's opinions and experiences. I tend to think of these in four categories:

1. Downright dangerous (often requiring evasive action)
2. Would be dangerous if something went wrong (e.g. if I skidded on oil)
3. Rude and inconsiderate (e.g. overtaking and then slowing down gradually)
4. Just plain rude (e.g. stopping in a position deliberately to prevent me getting through)

I'd always post 1s and sometimes the others.
 
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