BentMikey said:
No, collisions don't add up like that. Assuming a complete 40->0 collision, then it'd be much like hitting an immovable object at 40. Pete's example seems to be more glancing than that.
Yup, on reflection I think Mikey's right, there. It was certainly a glancing blow in the sense that both vehicles continued in their former direction after impact, the energy of the collision was plainly absorbed by bits of each car being stoved-in rather than changing the momentum of the car as a whole. The oncoming car finally came to rest in the ditch about 10 yards behind me, whereas the overtaking car ground to a halt in the middle of the road about 5 yards in front of me. Neither car appeared to have slewed round noticeably from its original direction of travel, which was just as well for me, if the overtaking car had got into a horizontal spin its rear end would have swung towards me and possibly taken me out.
Bongman said:
I was wondering though, do you know (roughly) what position relative to you, did the first contact take place? 90-100 degrees to your right? But, I suppose escaping unscathed depends greatly on the speeds involved.
Yes, I think it was more or less square-on to me, i.e. at 90 deg. I was in fact looking to the right at that instant (as one often does when being overtaken) and I saw the actual moment of contact.
Globalti said:
Reading your description I simply can't understand how she can have underestimated the amount of room so badly. It's my betting she was chatting on her phone or texting and she didn't spot you until too late then had to swerve to avoid you. Either that or she just hasn't got very good spatial awareness. The Police should prosecute for due care and attention but as nobody was hurt I fear they won't bother. Did the Police check her phone?
I have slept on all this, and now in the light of morning the jitters are gone and what I feel is pure anger. This sort of manoeuvre, the dangerous overtake with not enough room,
happens time and time again, innumerable pieces of video from the cameras of Magnatom and others testify to this fact, but in reality I don't need the video evidence of others: I can see this happening daily with my own eyes. How do we get it to stop!? How do we drum it into these idiots' minuscule brain cells, a
bicycle is another vehicle and cannot just be overtaken there and then anyplace anytime because it is small and insignificant and takes up no road space. The HC is perfectly clear, you overtake a cyclist exactly as you would overtake another vehicle, only when it is safe to do so, and with the same due care and attention to all other road users. Some drivers simply don't have this message. My feeling is,
I want this woman held to account. The fact that she was young, charming, and pretty (slim, petite, short blonde hair, wearing a miniskirt) cuts no ice with me whatsoever. The simple fact was, and the only thing that matters to me,
she had in her hands a 2-ton killing machine and was not controlling it correctly.
Globalti: no I don't think she was using a phone. The solitary police officer who turned up, interviewed first the girl, then the driver of the other car, and finally myself. He also had to arrange for recovery vehicles to be summoned. While he was interviewing the other drivers I stood apart at a distance, as a matter of tact and courtesy. I don't think he asked anything about mobile phones nor examined any. Nor was any breath testing done (there was no sign of alcohol involved anyway).
). Or perhaps I should leave that for others to judge? 
