Was I too far out?

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Maz

Guru
I don't normally get shouted at by drivers, but on the way back from work I did. I just wanted to get your opinions on if I was in the right or wrong, as I have my doubts. I was on the approach to a roundabout with 2 lanes entry (here it is...I was roughly where the white car on the LHS is). I wanted to turn left. I was about 2m away from the kerb and a car behind me was revving his engine, eager to get past me - he shouted something but I couldn't make it out. Anyway, I held my line and proceeded to make my left turn. When he eventually overtook me, he wound down his window and shouts 'move your ass over!'
Maybe I was too far out for a left turn. What do you think?
 

sheddy

Legendary Member
Location
Suffolk
No.
Presumably he could cope with a horse on the road, so why not a bicycle ?
 
if you'd ridden further to the left he'd probably have cut right across the front of you/knocked you off.cyclists have as much right to be on the road as car drivers,riding further out can be safer than riding in the gutter as nutters can't charge straight past.
 

Cab

New Member
Location
Cambridge
Maz, you were right, the other guy was wrong. Not just wrong, but idiotic, rude, and willing to endanger you. Deserves a good slapping, but he won't get it.
 
Maz,

One way to look at it is, if he is revving, beeping etc at you, then he knows you are there, which is exactly what you want. So it would seem your road position was perfect!!:blush:
 

domtyler

Über Member
As above, in his perfect world cyclists would not exist, neither would there be any other vehicles on the roads to stop him using them as his personal racetrack. The next best thing is to be able to ignore them when they are in the gutter, he couldn't do this and therefore had to vent his anger at you.

Conclusion: A pathetic little jerk, ignore.
 

col

Legendary Member
I think what you have there is a driver thinking you are purposely blocking a lane ,and getting annoyed at being held up.Are you sure you were two metres away from the kerb?Was there an obstuction or pot holes stopping you from being one metre in?Im not saying you were wrong,just maybe a little too far out,which will annoy drivers,especially if they cant see a reason for it.
 

Pete

Guest
The picture shows that this is a fairly large roundabout, more 'by-pass' sized than 'town' sized. Those can be a real menace, when they get to the point where drivers perceive them as nothing more than a series of T-junctions linked up by a curved piece of one-way street where any sort of overtaking is 'fair game'.

I would like to see all overtaking on roundabouts, and the approaches to roundabouts, by anything of anything, put an end to. Except to get past a stationary vehicle or other obstruction. You're only on the roundabout for a few seconds, at low speed, anyway. Why can't the Highway Code be more explicit on this matter? Quite right to hold primary position - that's what I'd do. And a shout from an impatient motorist may be an annoyance, but it never killed anyone. A dangerous overtake, might.
 

squeaker

Über Member
Location
Steyning
Depends

Maz said:
Maybe I was too far out for a left turn. What do you think?
Yep, maybe! For me it would depend upon the amount of traffic level and my speed. At 5mph where the white car is, and in light / moderate traffic, I'd be in the secondary position ~3ft from the kerb. At 20mph and most traffic situations I'd be in the primary position by then. But others are right, the car driver was a twat (but no surprise there).
 

P.H

Über Member
There is no right or wrong, there is priority and choice. You were in front of another vehicle in the same lane, you have priority, your position in that lane is your choice.
I often see all sorts of road users who position themselves different to how I would, sometime this causes me inconvenience, tough.
 
OP
OP
Maz

Maz

Guru
col said:
Was there an obstuction or pot holes stopping you from being one metre in?
Yes. There was a car parked up on the LHS...approx where the purple car is, 2 cars behind the white one.
This road goes from single to 2 lanes on the approach to the roundabout (if you zoom out from the pic youll see). Dunno if that changes the situation or not...
Anyway, I'm over it now - I'm past caring if it angered him or slowed him down, even if I was riding slightly wide.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
Maz said:
When he eventually overtook me, he wound down his window and shouts 'move your ass over!'
Maybe I was too far out for a left turn. What do you think?

I think winding down a window and shouting at another road user whilst driving a motor vehicle is reckless behaviour. Report him.
 
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