The lorry overtake.

[stowie]

I'm not sure what you expected the lorry driver to do. As I see it, from the point you came into the lorry drivers field of view, there wasn't enough time to go down through the gears to slow down enough to sit behind you and he (assuming it was a he) could not move over to the other lane because ther was a lorry right beside him. You were given as much space as it was safe to do. The comment you made about the van and the people carrier giving you room wasn't relevant because those vehicles were travelling in the outside lane, It didn't appear that they moved there because of the presence of a bike on the inside lane.

Seriously?! Mile End Road here is long and straight - the cyclist would have been visible for a long while. I would expect the lorry driver to see me in good time and then pull into the outside lane. If he is slowed then so be it - any driver worth their HGV license would be able to pull out in good time behind the lorry in the outside lane. In fact most HGV drivers on this stretch of road stick to the outside lane simply to stop this situation arising.

Terrible driving which is exacerbated by rubbish CSH.

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

He is joking though? Drop down through the gears?

What about the traffic light,what did he do for that then?

Perhaps he didn't see that like he didn't see me till very late in my hi-viz gear oh and black long shorts as cover just in case he was colour blind as well.I'd guess he didn't see the two pedestrians also as well as the red traffic light which changed suddenly..

Jaysus that guy is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[400bhp]

I'm not sure what you expected the lorry driver to do. As I see it, from the point you came into the lorry drivers field of view, there wasn't enough time to go down through the gears to slow down enough to sit behind you and he (assuming it was a he) could not move over to the other lane because ther was a lorry right beside him. You were given as much space as it was safe to do. The comment you made about the van and the people carrier giving you room wasn't relevant because those vehicles were travelling in the outside lane, It didn't appear that they moved there because of the presence of a bike on the inside lane.

TROLL ALERT

 

[CopperCyclist]

I'm not sure what you expected the lorry driver to do. As I see it, from the point you came into the lorry drivers field of view, there wasn't enough time to go down through the gears to slow down enough to sit behind you and he (assuming it was a he) could not move over to the other lane because ther was a lorry right beside him. You were given as much space as it was safe to do. The comment you made about the van and the people carrier giving you room wasn't relevant because those vehicles were travelling in the outside lane, It didn't appear that they moved there because of the presence of a bike on the inside lane.

Funny, I didn't realise lorries didn't have brakes and could only rely on gears to slow or stop.

 

[gaz]

 

[Glow worm]

That was a shocking bit of driving and I'd be inclined to report it.
I endured similar on Saturday morning. A grain truck overtook me with inches to spare, forcing a car coming in the opposite direction onto the verge. I could hear something big approaching from behind and took a strong primary to force the truck to slow, but could hear it wasn't going to, so had to abort and get into the gutter. The road is long and very straight for miles, although perhaps rather narrower than average. Similar to the O.P. the lorry driver would have seen me way in advance, there is simply no excuse for such malicious behaviour. The driver of the oncoming car stopped and looked at me in a kind of ' I can't believe that just happened' type moment.
( pic of the road below - as you can see - no excuses for not seeing me!).

 

[400bhp]

That was a shocking bit of driving and I'd be inclined to report it.
I endured similar on Saturday morning. A grain truck overtook me with inches to spare, forcing a car coming in the opposite direction onto the verge. I could hear something big approaching form behind and took a strong primary to force the truck to slow, but could hear it wasn't going to, so had to abort and get into the gutter. The road is long and very straight for miles, although perhaps rather narrower than average. Similar to the O.P. the lorry driver would have seen me way in advance, there is simply no excuse for such malicious behaviour. The driver of the oncoming car stopped and looked at me in a kind of ' I can't believe that just happened' type moment.
( pic of the road below - as you can see - no excuses for not seeing me!).

That's one of the things that scares me the most.

 

[Glow worm]

That's one of the things that scares me the most.

Yeah - I'd be interested in other's views on this. Sometimes it feels to me that some drivers will just plough on through irrespective of your positioning. Perhaps I bottled it too early, I don't know. The truck was really tanking along and I'm pretty sure, if I had kept the line, I'd have been toast!

 

[400bhp]

Yeah - I'd be interested in other's views on this. Sometimes it feels to me that some drivers will just plough on through irrespective of your positioning. Perhaps I bottled it too early, I don't know. The truck was really tanking along and I'm pretty sure, if I had kept the line, I'd have been toast!

You did exactly the right thing. One of the main reasons for taking a strong road position (i don't like the words, "primary etc" as they aren't necessary IMO) is that it forces most drivers to slow down on the overtake (you are forcing them to make a change to their speed and direction which forces them to think-the think bit being the most important piece), or not overtake at all. You are then reducing the number of close passes. Unfortunately, you can't stop them all.

I guess there is argument on the road you provided to stay left, as it appears to be a wide road with a far vanishing point (i.e. the furthest point in the distance a driver can see which continually moves forward-a good indicator of the ease and time that a driver should be able to plan a maneuver) , but ultimately there is no wrong or right answer.

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

Yeah - I'd be interested in other's views on this. Sometimes it feels to me that some drivers will just plough on through irrespective of your positioning. Perhaps I bottled it too early, I don't know. The truck was really tanking along and I'm pretty sure, if I had kept the line, I'd have been toast!

Who cares if you bottled it?

At least you are still here.

I had the same with a Beemer coming off the Bow Flyover tonight,I just got out of the way asap.

 

[fudgepanda]

I can look at this from more than one point of view. As a car driver I can see how VAT and duty on fuel, road tax and Insurance Premium Tax (in fairness these are all general taxations and not ring fenced) seem like a penalty when using roads that are becoming more and more badly maintained while someone on a bike hurtles past. The truck driver has time constraints placed on him/her and in an urban environment driving something weighing 32tonnes can be very wearing mentally which can add to the pressures he/she feels. As someone who's just ordered the first bike I'll have owned in 38 years I'm not entirely looking forward to getting involved with these drivers who up to now have been my "brothers" - I use the word in it's loosest sense. Also, as one who's held a Driving Instructor's licence for 25 years I always tried to teach new drivers to look as far ahead as possible in order to give themselves as much time as they can in order to plan their overtake safely. Alas, the more people drive after passing their test the less disciplined they become and the more they concern themselves with radio, satnav, phones and chatting to their passengers and the less they concentrate on planning their drive. Ultimately though, the length of time a driver spends behind a cyclist in traffic is minimal when you consider that once you've got past the cyclist the bugger's going to re-pass you at the next set of lights so I don't think it's worth getting wound up about.

The same applies to driver's attitudes to motorcyclists in traffic. In both cases, perhaps drivers should adopt an "If you can't beat them, join them" philosophy.....which is what I'm going to do, once the cyclescheme voucher arrives!

 

[peedee]

Would suggest you go to a police station, perhaps not dressed as a cyclist, and ask to report a road traffic incident. Hopefully they'll give you a form that you can fill in which would be looked at by a traffic officer (not someone on the front desk) who would obviously see this driving as being beyond disgraceful

I have just tried this yesterday when a lorry overtook me too closely in Surrey. I was informed by the 'Police Staff' that I could not report a road traffic incident unless there was contact. I was given a 'bad driving' form instead (which I completed, though without an independent witness).

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

I have just tried this yesterday when a lorry overtook me too closely in Surrey. I was informed by the 'Police Staff' that I could not report a road traffic incident unless there was contact. I was given a 'bad driving' form instead (which I completed, though without an independent witness).

Doesn't surprise me,lets just wait for another road death,it seems.I mainly post these videos hoping they will do some good and hopefully make people see the consequences of their actions.Sort of see if from the cyclists point of view from the close pass/cut up etc etc.

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

[QUOTE 1998116, member: 9609"]I think it was a horrible and unnecessary close pass - you should report it.

If the cycle lane had not been there, would you have been in a more primary position thus preventing the opportunity for the lorry to squeeze by?[/quote]

I was too tired and lazy,I had been up since 2am and just wanted to get home with minimum of grief.If I had seen it coming I would have been more primary.I just didn't expect the stupidity I guess.I was still concentrating on mainly other things as you may have seen.

Thing that strikes me with this between any of the three vehicles is if anything had gone wrong I may have been brown bread.Hell of a risk to take I think.

OTOH for every one of these I get I must see about ten cyclists go up the inside of these vehicles.

 

[stowie]

[QUOTE 1998116, member: 9609"]I think it was a horrible and unnecessary close pass - you should report it.

If the cycle lane had not been there, would you have been in a more primary position thus preventing the opportunity for the lorry to squeeze by?[/quote]

This is the worst part about this CSH. On similar roads without cycle lane (for example Tottenham hale) I take strong primary and drivers tend to accept it (with some notable moronic exceptions). Here if you do this I have found it leads to very aggressive driving and idiotic manoeuvres as the less cerebrally endowed drivers think that I am in "their" space and not in "mine". I do take primary where possible (or cycle on the edge of the CSH) to slow drivers down in their close pass. I still get a close pass but at least they have to take the foot off the accelerator before they do so.

Token infrastructure at its worst.