Undertaking not a good idea

[Fnaar]

Saw this nearly happen this morning (see pic)
I was on the bus, bus stopped in slow moving traffic to allow car to turn right into side road. Cyclist going at a fair whack undertook bus, and damn near collided with car at point indicated by "yikes!" on my diagram. Personally I never undertake especially large vehicles, in traffic, for this precise reason. Could have bben nasty. Both cyclist and car slammed brakes on, and to their credit, neither got shirty either. Bet both were shook up, though...

 

[Eat MY Dust]

When I first starting commuting by bike (about 5 years ago) I did this and went right over the bonnet of the turning car! Spectacularly I landed on my feet!

 

[ianrauk]

See this a lot with numpty cyclists.

Happened to me once... never forgotten.. never again...

 

[Arch]

Saw this nearly happen this morning (see pic)
I was on the bus, bus stopped in slow moving traffic to allow car to turn right into side road. Cyclist going at a fair whack undertook bus, and damn near collided with car at point indicated by "yikes!" on my diagram. Personally I never undertake especially large vehicles, in traffic, for this precise reason. Could have bben nasty. Both cyclist and car slammed brakes on, and to their credit, neither got shirty either. Bet both were shook up, though...

Love the diagram, esp the starburst around the 'yikes!'

Yeah, if I filter I generally steer well clear of long vehicles, and I'm always on the lookout for stuff turning across (or if I'm turning out into traffic, and a driver lets me, or I see a little gap in a tailback, I always double check for a cyclist filtering down the side...)

 

[shunter]

Surely that is the 'Oh sh*t' point

 

[Gooch]

I always make sure I overtake on the outside. It's amazing how many people ride through traffic on the inside and then wonder why incidents like this happen.

 

[shunter]

I always make sure I overtake on the outside. It's amazing how many people ride through traffic on the inside and then wonder why incidents like this happen.

Sometimes it is more dangerous to overtake on the outside unless you are a motorcycle.

 

[Gooch]

Really? I've never found it so. You wouldn't undertake in/on any other vehicle so why do it on a bicycle?

 

[thomas]

Even when overtaking on the outside it's not definitely safe in slow moving traffic. Definitely the better option though!

 

[yenrod]

Saw this nearly happen this morning (see pic)
I was on the bus, bus stopped in slow moving traffic to allow car to turn right into side road. Cyclist going at a fair whack undertook bus, and damn near collided with car at point indicated by "yikes!" on my diagram. Personally I never undertake especially large vehicles, in traffic, for this precise reason. Could have bben nasty. Both cyclist and car slammed brakes on, and to their credit, neither got shirty either. Bet both were shook up, though...

Thats one of the worst things that !

But it helps to as Fnaar says - to not go on the inside in the 1st place.

But its easy to get carried away.

 

[Downward]

You get this a lot where cars let other cars pull into junctions without checking for bikes over/undertaking. Mostly with buses round here they don't leave you any room to undertake which is probably a good thing all round. But you could easily replace bus with car for the same scenario. I bet most of us going at speed get caught out with cars letting others in/out of junctions.

 

[HLaB]

You sometimes get similar where a totally empty, wide bus lane goes down the side of a busy traffic queue. As a cyclist you've got to be aware this happens and be ready for it. I'd make the decision based on the circumstances but if there's a slightest doubt I err on the side of caution and just wait.

 

[shunter]

Really? I've never found it so. You wouldn't undertake in/on any other vehicle so why do it on a bicycle?

Yep, there's a main road I travel on, single lane each way, traffic slows to standstill in sections and then quickly speeds up. Between the two opposing lanes of traffic there is a hatched area with dashed lines with frequent breaks for opposing traffic to make right turns.

The hatched area is used by motorcycles for overtaking but would be a death trap area for cyclists to get caught in.

Have yet to see any commuting cyclists overtaking - they always undertake for this 2 mile section with the odd overtake to get past a large vehicle blocking the 'undertaking lane !'.

I travel this route on bicycle and on motorcycle and would say that the rules of one vehicle does not automatically apply to another.

 

[Maz]

When I first starting commuting by bike (about 5 years ago) I did this and went right over the bonnet of the turning car! Spectacularly I landed on my feet!

You must've been a cat in a former life!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I always make sure I overtake on the outside. It's amazing how many people ride through traffic on the inside and then wonder why incidents like this happen.

There was a thread on this very forum fairly recently where someone had done exactly that and then posted the resulting helmet camera footage as if it was all the car driver's fault.