Where am I going wrong

[markharry66]

I have been commuting for best part of 10 years through southeast london starting to wonder where I am going wrong.

I commute down the bottom of downham hill and onto bromley road heading up to mc donalds drive through.

Monday morning - car reversed out of drive way on to main road against flow of traffic and proceeded to drive agsinst the flow almost taking me out didnt look didnt care.

Monday afternoon on way home from work car reverses out from parking spot drives again against flow of traffic to move over to opposite side of the road almost taking me out.

This morning car reverses out and spins out full pelt almost taking me out I am in central position have fluro on and lights is it something I need to do to be seen or should I now be watching every drive way with a car in it in case it reverses out in to the main road.

 

[Salty seadog]

You're doing nothing wrong unless your superpower is invisibility.

It is those drivers in the wrong . Stay aware. You know what you're doing.

 

[davidphilips]

Seems like just bad luck, but if it continues think of a camera and reporting the careless/dangerous drivers? Some times i find i can cycle for years and never have a near miss then there are times when i go out and every bad driver seems to have a go at me? Joys of cycling.

 

[Drago]

Doesn't sound like you're the person doing anything wrong.

 

[I like Skol]

I always thought I could spot every stupid move and react before it got serious, and then I came around in an ambulance, halfway to A&E, with a broken neck and fractured skull. Turned out I had been on the receiving end of a stupid move and hadn't even seen it coming.

Sounds like you are just having a bad run. All you can do is keep your wits about you and assume everyone is trying to kill you (has always worked well fior me until now)!

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

It's because they don't give a shoot. It's getting more common.
I wouldn't be surprised if accident statistics started showing an increase in head-on crashes.

 

[ianrauk]

That's the drivers of Downham for you.
Downham is where both myself (twice) and one of my work colleagues have been taken out by errant car drivers.

 

[DCLane]

Bad driving appears to be on the increase - certainly around Dewsbury/Bradford/Leeds on my commute it's worse.

Red lights are optional, speed limits a minimum and as long as they didn't hit you close passes are fine.

 

[mjr]

You're doing nothing wrong. They are.

That said, I don't use fluo or lights in daytime because it reduces contrast with the backgrounds I cycle past, especially on sunny days, and I use a camera and report the worst ones. I have a loud bell but I think I'd be shouting at the dozy farkers reversing out into traffic.

And yes, you need to watch out for reversing lights emerging, plus steer clear of driveways. People rightly criticise cycleways that cross too many driveways, but driveways are also a danger on carriageways - most are basically badly-designed rarely-used mini T junctions that cyclists should mostly ride through in primary position aka take the lane. Even when there's a good distance between the driveway gate and the carriageway, some shoots seem to treat that as a run-up so it's only really a chance to see them coming. They are in the wrong but it'll still hurt me more if we collide.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

In Penistone there's a lot of kerbside parking so a lot of roads become single lane. It's normal practice to drive straight at anyone passing parked cars whether they have anywhere to pull in or not, regardless of priority.
In Barnsley most lights get jumped by at least three cars.

I could go on but I start to bore even myself. No one will do anything about it.

 

[Drago]

And when the government or dibble do try to do something about it they're decried in the tabloid media as conducting a war on the motorist, being unfair or unsporting, punishing motorists for the sake of profit, or generally wasting time not catching burglars, and a gullible public-at-large nod their heads sagely.

The sooner the fossil fuel runs out the better.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I've got to the stage where I think there should be a war on the motorist.

 

[raleighnut]

I've got to the stage where I think there should be a war on the motorist.

There's a few 'self-entitled nobbers' on bikes too that RLJ and ride directly at people etc. though, something to do with the 'F you' society that seems to dominate these days.

 

[mjr]

There's a few 'self-entitled nobbers' on bikes too that RLJ and ride directly at people etc. though, something to do with the 'F you' society that seems to dominate these days.

Yeah, but at least they're relatively harmless compared to even a careless motorist.

Despite that, I still think it would be good if we had a few more 'self-entitled nobbers' on bikes that RPG. It might make motorists look properly before driving at one of us

 

[davidphilips]

I've got to the stage where I think there should be a war on the motorist.

Think there may be one already, even when driving a car its very easy to come across other drivers that treat there vehicles like weapons of aggression.

Often think when passing accidents between 2 cars where it looks like its just some damage to there cars (pockets and insurance) that its only by good luck that a cyclist was not involved, metal cars can be fixed or replaced but as cyclists even a low speed impact against a one ton bit of metal and glass can be life changing.