whoops

[buggi]

oops. was riding along today and a car overtook me. It went around me and as it pulled in i was aware that it hit the kerb in the middle of the road. (you know those little raised kerbs with the yellow lighted bollards on). so anyway, what had happened was that someone had obviously recently had an accident and knocked the bollard off the raised kerb, leaving about 8 or so inches of it still sticking up and the person that overtook me basically didn't see it until the last minute and clipped it with their back wheel as they swerved back in. they were a bit close when they swerved back in.. obviously more worried about their car than me.

only problem was, there was another car following and ...

CRUNCH!!!!

The driver went to give me an even wider berth that the other car, but because of the other car in front suddenly swerved back in, it was actually too late for the next driver to do anything when she saw the kerb, and she hit it straight on. the scraping noise as she drove over the top was horrendous. she pulled in to the service road up the road.

as it happened a cop car went past and i flagged it, but i thought he hadn't seen me, so i pulled into the service road to see if the lady was ok. her son was under the car by this time. there was no obvious damage, but i'm sure when they get it on the ramp there will be. i'm not sure whether she would have a claim off the council about it, it was clearly dangerous and although you could say she should have been paying more attention, actually no, it wasn't like that. If anything, it was the car in front that pulled out first which must have made it seem like the road was clear of bollards at that point. it was just one of those things and i did feel sorry for the old girl, especially as she was about the only one that bothered to give me some room and the first thing she said was "o it's not your fault hun" (which obviously i knew but its still nice to hear). i gave her my number in case she could claim, and then as i was cycling off the cop car came back to look for me so i told them that they needed to phone someone to get it done or put a warning cone up as it was clearly a hazard and could have caused a nasty accident.

bet the woman is well p'd off.

 

[Joe24]

On a club ride not long ago we had a car go to overtake us, he got right to the front of the line of us and he swerved back in too late(but still made the person on the front brake hard) and his back wheel hit the curb.
He had 4 slalom kayaks strapped ontop aswell, wouldnt of been nice if they had come off.
Im surprised he didnt get a puncture either, he did hit it hard. He will probably have a bulge there though.

 

[Noodley]

...she should have been paying more attention...made it seem like the road was clear of bollards at that point...

Never carry out a manoeuvre unless you are certain and can see the road is clear. She did not know it was clear, so the fault is hers.

 

[buggi]

i didn't feel sorry for the first one, he should have it), but i did feel a bit sorry for the woman who followed him. i know i could say she should have waited, but if i had been driving i know it would have looked like there was no obstruction. it was just really unfortunate for her.

 

[Noodley]

i didn't feel sorry for the first one, he should have it), but i did feel a bit sorry for the woman who followed him. i know i could say she should have waited, but if i had been driving i know it would have looked like there was no obstruction. it was just really unfortunate for her.

I see where you are coming from Buggi, but I wonder if she would have followed over a cliff...actually, don't answer that

 

[buggi]

I see where you are coming from Buggi, but I wonder if she would have followed over a cliff...actually, don't answer that

LOL i see your point!

 

[Mr Pig]

There are islands all down the middle of the road I live on and they get whacked all the time. The road is dead straight for over a mile so cars blast along it. The islands were supposed to calm it but they just go around them or hit them.

Funniest one was one night a mate and I were sitting chatting in the front room when we heard a crash! We looked out to see a little Peugeot mounting the light pole on the island outside the house. The guy was unhurt, just very bemused. He said "I live here, I've driven out of this street a hundred times, I have no idea how I did this". He just drove straight into the pole.

I don't think they're a great idea. Seems to me that the more obstacles you put in front of a driver the more likely he or she is to hit one of them. There must be better ways to slow idiot drivers down.

Not that I'm saying the driver here was an idiot, I don't know. I do know how often people just miss me and these blasted islands whilst trying to squeeze past me :0(

 

[Globalti]

Both the drivers described in the OP were driving without due care and attention. The Police should prosecute them.

 

[PaulB]

This isn't bike related but a mad thing I saw was while I was running along the pavement on the downhill side of a flyover and there was a kid speeding along on a skateboard towards me but he lost control. He jumped off with no damage but the skateboard whizzed on. It could have gone into the road and caused mayhem but instead went the other way...UNDER the gap in the railings at the side of this flyover which had a little sort of ramp effect making it take off and fly through the air. There was a pickup truck driving beneath this scene and the skateboard could easily have gone through his windscreen but it missed that and his roof and landed with an almighty bang on the empty floor of his truck! Astonishing, it really was!

 

[Mr Pig]

That is an amazing story. Did the little oik get his skateboard back? ;0)

Years ago I was passing near Dunblane on the dual carriageway and two boys, I'd guess about ten, were on the footbridge over the road waving. Very nice, my kids sometimes do that, so I waved back and just as I did one of the little b******* chucked a stone at the car! What a bang! It hit the top edge of the windscreen and put a little crack in it, maybe about four inches. If it had hit the middle of the screen it could've killed me!

I was furious because there was nothing I could do. No idea were the next exit was or how to get to the bridge even if I did.

Both the drivers described in the OP were driving without due care and attention.

I agree. In fact I'd say the first guy was driving recklessly. Prosecuting the woman who hit the bollard is a bit harsh though I think. Yeah, she should've been driving further back so that she could see and all that but it sounds like she was concentrating on the cyclist at least and a stump of broken bollard could be an easy thing to miss. Friend of mine lives in an estate that has bollards everywhere and they're all scuffed up and broken. They must cost insurance companies a fortune!

 

[Arch]

That is an amazing story. Did the little oik get his skateboard back? ;0)

Years ago I was passing near Dunblane on the dual carriageway and two boys, I'd guess about ten, were on the footbridge over the road waving. Very nice, my kids sometimes do that, so I waved back and just as I did one of the little b******* chucked a stone at the car! What a bang! It hit the top edge of the windscreen and put a little crack in it, maybe about four inches. If it had hit the middle of the screen it could've killed me!

I was furious because there was nothing I could do. No idea were the next exit was or how to get to the bridge even if I did.

When I was at school, we had a talk from a train driver, about safety on the railways (complete with cautionary film about not trespassing on the line or you'll get your feet cut off when you stumble and your laces catch in the rail). I remember he said, if you are going to wave at a train passing under a bridge, do it with both hands - that way the driver can see you're not holding a brick just out of sight...

 

[buggi]

they've got yellow bollards all the way down our road to calm the traffic. it don't work, the boy racers come along at night and just race down the wrong side of the road (people tend to park there cars on one side only so no matter which way the boy racers are going they always take the one side that is clear)

i think it wouldn't have hurt the person who dealt with the initial accident that took out the bollard to put a road cone there in its place as a temporary measure. Seems a pretty obvious solution to me. Yes, both drivers were at fault for not driving with due care, but i'm quite glad both of them had their eyes on me, and not on the broken bollard.

 

[Mr Pig]

it wouldn't have hurt to put a road cone there.

Maybe they did. You know what it's like, the kids just lift them. Usually the council are pretty quick at fixing these things because they know they can claim the cost off the driver's insurance.

 

[spandex]

I have done the same sort of thing when I got back to York from a long cycling trip (8months) I think it was. I was riding down Hull road at night for the first time of being back and I go to turn into one of the side streets and wham straight into one of the new parking bays. I pick my self up and have a look to see what I had hit and I could not get my head round this kerb being there?

 

[Mortiroloboy]

Never carry out a manoeuvre unless you are certain and can see the road is clear. She did not know it was clear, so the fault is hers.

Absolutely, poor observation and bad judgemental skills.= bad driving.

You were lucky not to get 'taken out'.