Sorry if you've seen this on another forum already but I am really angry. I didn't really have time to get angry/upset etc. at the time. I was just happy to still be upright on two wheels, thankful that I was switched on and alert enough to realise what might happen and avoid a potentially lethal situation. I pushed it to the back of my mind and carried on working, but now I can't stop thinking about it.
Anyway - I got knocked off on this roundabout last week, by some idiot who was going to fast and didn't stop and give way. Exactly the same thing happened today except with a HGV but I managed to avoid going under it by a small margin. Here's where it happened:
1. I'm waiting at the junction at the bottom of the picture. Wearing a white jersey for visibility (in broad daylight).
2. Nothing coming from my right, so I go onto the roundabout, straight ahead.
3. Halfway across the roundabout I see traffic coming from my left, too fast as ALWAYS, so I keep my eyes on it as always EVEN THOUGH I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO. But I know what these self-gratification artists are like, so my eyes are on them.
4. Lorry number one sees me too late, stops too late, way ahead of the line. Scary, but OK. But I sense there's a lorry coming fast in the lane next to him and slightly behind him, even though I can't see it (and whoever's driving it can't see me because lorry 1 is blocking its view).
5. I spot lorry 2 and instead of going straight ahead like I should have been able to, I swerve to the right ONLY JUST avoiding being splatted by this STUPID MOTHERF**** who thinks it's OK to drive a HGV right onto a roundabout at 30mph without being able to see if there's anything coming from his right. What a stupid ****ing *****.
6. He slams on the brakes when he finally sees me. He says something like "Jesus Christ", in a tone of voice that suggests that it's my fault for being there in the first place. NO ***ING APOLOGY FOR FAILING TO GIVE WAY! AND ALMOST KILLING ME! If I had gone straight on as planned instead of pre-emptively swerving to the right, I wouldn't be writing this - I would have been underneath the lorry and judging by his speed I'm pretty sure that I would be dead now.
7. To add insult to (almost) injury, he carries on going forwards instead of stopping and letting me go ahead, which blocks my path and forces me to go all the way around the roundabout to get back to where I was supposed to be going. I call him a '****ing tosser' and carry on towards my pick up point.
I felt pretty good about myself afterwards, that I was able to see this coming, and that I was alert enough to avoid it. It's only now that I've had time to think about it that I'm starting to feel like you feel when you've narrowly avoided death. The kind of feeling that makes you put your head in your hands, and wonder why you keep riding a bike, and wonder if you're still going to be alive this time tomorrow.
I feel really ****ing grim now. I keep having visions of myself underneath that truck, skin burst, flesh and blood everywhere. Still alive, screaming, or head burst open, skull contents everywhere.
Hopefully I'll be in Jamaica in two days time If I can get through tomorrow. That'll give me time to relax and ease my mind. Then... I think I'm handing my notice in. There's only so many times you can avoid getting killed by other people's moronic actions and I think my luck is running out.
Anyway - I got knocked off on this roundabout last week, by some idiot who was going to fast and didn't stop and give way. Exactly the same thing happened today except with a HGV but I managed to avoid going under it by a small margin. Here's where it happened:
1. I'm waiting at the junction at the bottom of the picture. Wearing a white jersey for visibility (in broad daylight).
2. Nothing coming from my right, so I go onto the roundabout, straight ahead.
3. Halfway across the roundabout I see traffic coming from my left, too fast as ALWAYS, so I keep my eyes on it as always EVEN THOUGH I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO. But I know what these self-gratification artists are like, so my eyes are on them.
4. Lorry number one sees me too late, stops too late, way ahead of the line. Scary, but OK. But I sense there's a lorry coming fast in the lane next to him and slightly behind him, even though I can't see it (and whoever's driving it can't see me because lorry 1 is blocking its view).
5. I spot lorry 2 and instead of going straight ahead like I should have been able to, I swerve to the right ONLY JUST avoiding being splatted by this STUPID MOTHERF**** who thinks it's OK to drive a HGV right onto a roundabout at 30mph without being able to see if there's anything coming from his right. What a stupid ****ing *****.
6. He slams on the brakes when he finally sees me. He says something like "Jesus Christ", in a tone of voice that suggests that it's my fault for being there in the first place. NO ***ING APOLOGY FOR FAILING TO GIVE WAY! AND ALMOST KILLING ME! If I had gone straight on as planned instead of pre-emptively swerving to the right, I wouldn't be writing this - I would have been underneath the lorry and judging by his speed I'm pretty sure that I would be dead now.
7. To add insult to (almost) injury, he carries on going forwards instead of stopping and letting me go ahead, which blocks my path and forces me to go all the way around the roundabout to get back to where I was supposed to be going. I call him a '****ing tosser' and carry on towards my pick up point.
I felt pretty good about myself afterwards, that I was able to see this coming, and that I was alert enough to avoid it. It's only now that I've had time to think about it that I'm starting to feel like you feel when you've narrowly avoided death. The kind of feeling that makes you put your head in your hands, and wonder why you keep riding a bike, and wonder if you're still going to be alive this time tomorrow.
I feel really ****ing grim now. I keep having visions of myself underneath that truck, skin burst, flesh and blood everywhere. Still alive, screaming, or head burst open, skull contents everywhere.
Hopefully I'll be in Jamaica in two days time If I can get through tomorrow. That'll give me time to relax and ease my mind. Then... I think I'm handing my notice in. There's only so many times you can avoid getting killed by other people's moronic actions and I think my luck is running out.
!
