Unnerving and (partly) my fault

[RWright]

You are allowed to filter in the opposite lane with traffic coming towards you in their own lane? You do that here and you are probably going to the magistrate's office if you don't get killed first. The taxi could have given you more room but it looked like you were making a big mistake being in his lane to start with.

 

[BentMikey]

There was nothing wrong with your filtering so stop thinking you had a hand in the cabbies utter tosserness.

QFT!!!

 

[2Loose]

You are allowed to filter in the opposite lane with traffic coming towards you in their own lane? You do that here and you are probably going to the magistrate's office if you don't get killed first. The taxi could have given you more room but it looked like you were making a big mistake being in his lane to start with.

How does anyone over take if not able to use the oncoming lane? Or is overtaking reserved for motor vehicles only?

 

[Mallory]

Taxi driver = a**hole end of

 

[sabian92]

You are allowed to filter in the opposite lane with traffic coming towards you in their own lane? You do that here and you are probably going to the magistrate's office if you don't get killed first. The taxi could have given you more room but it looked like you were making a big mistake being in his lane to start with.

So much for the "land of the free", eh?

In the UK filtering is legal, and there is no specific traffic offence of being on the wrong side of the road. If it is safe and I can see down The road I always cut corners to straighten them out in a car. Nothing illegal about it.

The taxi driver was a moron, end of. Did you see how much room he had on his left?

 

[Radchenister]

Yep, Taxi driver is an @rse!
What did you expect though?
I always try to remember there's the rules of the road but also try not to forget the rules of the jungle ... doesn't make it right but perhaps forseeable that self appointed 'expert' might aim to 'sort you out' and probably best avoided if possible IMO.
...but to keep the karma balance I will admit to likely doing exactly what you did and then would be similarly mulling over whether it is worth the risk whilst at leisure.
Best chalk it up as experience and note that bouncing off someone's bonnet is not really a viable long term debating technique.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning

I am going to be the dissenting voice here, whilst agreeing that the taxi driver didn’t drive well, you are clearly in the wrong here and are trying to us the letter of the law to pass the blame to the taxi driver.

You were in his lane and required him to make a change of direction to avoid hitting you, you had started to pass a row of stationary or slow moving cars with no realistic route to return to your own lane for quite a distance in the event of there being an oncoming vehicle.

To state that he is too far to the right of his lane would require that you had seen all the obstructions that the taxi had to avoid to the left of him, such as a cyclist on his left, or an obstruction in the road from the road works and determined that there were none BEFORE you moved out into his path.

I might have seen this differently had I not I watched the clip to the end where the coach starts to pull out for the road works, yet you deliberately ride into his blind spot knowing that he is changing direction and will force you further into the other lane and into the path of the red car or if you are unlucky hit by the coach.

Bye

Ian

 

[Cycling Dan]

Good morning

I am going to be the dissenting voice here, whilst agreeing that the taxi driver didn’t drive well, you are clearly in the wrong here and are trying to us the letter of the law to pass the blame to the taxi driver.

You were in his lane and required him to make a change of direction to avoid hitting you, you had started to pass a row of stationary or slow moving cars with no realistic route to return to your own lane for quite a distance in the event of there being an oncoming vehicle.

To state that he is too far to the right of his lane would require that you had seen all the obstructions that the taxi had to avoid to the left of him, such as a cyclist on his left, or an obstruction in the road from the road works and determined that there were none BEFORE you moved out into his path.

I might have seen this differently had I not I watched the clip to the end where the coach starts to pull out for the road works, yet you deliberately ride into his blind spot knowing that his changing direction and will force you further into the other lane and into the path of the red car or if you are unlucky hit by the coach.

Bye

Ian

The only directional change he made was moving further right to come into conflict.
There were no obstructions and also the taxi visibly moves right to come into conflict with this cyclist.

 

[Slaav]

The only directional change he made was moving further right to come into conflict.
There were no obstructions and also the taxi visibly moves right to come into conflict with this cyclist.

Here goes..... (Tin hat on)

The Taxi driver was a bit of an 4rse but then what did or do you expect? Professional driver? Professional 4rse in my view

HOWEVER, you do not (IMHO) have a 'RIGHT' to drive or cycle at oncoming traffic in the opposite lane as it is more convenient for YOU....

Having said that, let me repeat - the taxi was a bit of an 4rse! Changing position to make it more difficult for you is just plain SYNT behaviour. Would be tempted to straight arm his wing mirror but that will get you two things, in trouble and a sore hand.

Filtering is much more common on a motorcycle and I thank God I was trained to ride one. I had two chaps training me, one a M'Cycle cop and the other a courier. They both 100% agreed on one thing - if you have an accident, chances are you are going to get very hurt! Ride defensively but that did not mean no filtering.

Filtering is, in my view, a 'bonus' and not a 'RIGHT'. If there is space to do so, I do. If there is not, I don't. If others make it easier for me, great. If they don't they are not automatically SYNTs.

The taxi is still an 4rse though and I cannot understand why he didn't make a courteous move to his left and make life easier for you. Ah yes I do, he is an 4rse!

Hope not too argumentative....

 

[addictfreak]

The only directional change he made was moving further right to come into conflict.
There were no obstructions and also the taxi visibly moves right to come into conflict with this cyclist.

So the fact the cyclist was on the wrong side of the road doesn't matter?

I agree the taxi driver was an arse.

 

[lozcs]

Has anyone mentioned the taxi driver was an arse?

 

[Easytigers]

Soooo glad that I don't have to commute in an urban area!

 

[sidevalve]

Just wondering if it had been the taxi on the wrong side of the road would that have been OK ?
Filtering is quite legal and as pointed out the white line is a broken one and may be crossed BUT despite the fact that the taxi driver might have been an arse HE wasn't on the wrong side of the road.
Sorry but however you bend it those are facts and believe it or not at least some rules do apply to cyclists as well as car drivers.

 

[gaz]

I might have seen this differently had I not I watched the clip to the end where the coach starts to pull out for the road works, yet you deliberately ride into his blind spot knowing that he is changing direction and will force you further into the other lane and into the path of the red car or if you are unlucky hit by the coach.

Perhaps before you comment on something it might be a good idea to watch the full video.
Whilst the coach is moving slowly, it's clear to see that all traffic in front of it is stationary and they have their brake lights on.

As such, a good cyclist who has an ability to read the road and other traffic will safely make progression past a set of stationary / soon to be stationary vehicles with relative confidence that a. the coach isn't going to push them further into the traffic and they will be able to see when traffic ahead is about to move and predict if such a situation will arise. At which point they could make the decision to either slow down/stop or speed up to make it out of the potential situation you describe safely.

 

[RWright]

How does anyone over take if not able to use the oncoming lane? Or is overtaking reserved for motor vehicles only?

Would you overtake in that situation in a car? That was riding on the wrong side of the road.