Wipeout Part 2 - Car got me!

[lejogger]

And of course: a car with ABS can steer and brake at the same time. A cyclist, not so much.

You're right... As I was on the seemingly endless slide towards the car, the rear wheel was snaking and it was all i could do to not end up sideways before I even reached the car.

 

[vernon]

Fine as a general point. But on this occasion the driver was approaching from the left at a side on 90 degree angle, so all he had to do was look out the window!

You might have been a victim of the last point made in my posting. Although theoretically you should have been visible, you fell within the particular area of the fields of vision that renders oncoming objects difficult to perceive.

I used to be sceptical of the 'legitimised' SMIDSY, called motion camouflage, as documented in Bike magazine until I started to pull out into a main road and a car appeared out of nowhere to my right. It gave me one hell of a shock. My observation skills are very good. They had kept me out of trouble for over thirty five years of road use as a cyclist, motocyclist and motorist yet here was an instance where my observations were negated by motion camouflage and I failed to register the presence of an object as big as a car!

 

[lejogger]

You might have been a victim of the last point made in my posting. Although theoretically you should have been visible, you fell within the particular area of the fields of vision that renders oncoming objects difficult to perceive.

I used to be sceptical of the 'legitimised' SMIDSY, called motion camouflage, as documented in Bike magazine until I started to pull out into a main road and a car appeared out of nowhere to my right. It gave me one hell of a shock. My observation skills are very good. They had kept me out of trouble for over thirty five years of road use as a cyclist, motocyclist and motorist yet here was an instance where my observations were negated by motion camouflage and I failed to register the presence of an object as big as a car!

I guess I was fortunate that the driver did not attempt to use a SMIDSY defence, even if this had been the case, instead taking full responsibility. I suspect it was more an instance of seeing me but not gauging my speed correctly. I'm not dismissing motion camouflage altogether as a theory, I just believe on this occasion it was more of a driving error than psychological/visual phenomenon.

 

[snailracer]

You're right... As I was on the seemingly endless slide towards the car, the rear wheel was snaking and it was all i could do to not end up sideways before I even reached the car.

Were you using the front brake only, the back only or both simultaneously?

 

[lejogger]

Were you using the front brake only, the back only or both simultaneously?

To be honest I wouldn't be able to say 100% as it was all very much an instinctive reaction in the heat of the moment. I would say both simultaneously, but releasing and reapplying to try and get some grip and break from the slide.

 

[snailracer]

I feel I should post that increasing the surface area in contact with the road does not increase the breaking power (unless your tires are sticky like in F1 or something)...

...The limiting factor is not so much the tyre/road interface but the brake pad/braking surface interface. Bicycle brakes are nowhere near as powerful as servo assisted car brakes.

It's possible, with poor brakes. With good brakes, the limiters are usually either the CofG/front wheel contact patch angle in the dry, or the road tyre interface in the wet. Cars win on both of those.

I'm running a cyclo cross bike for commuting atm with mechanical disc brakes. The wheels stopped... the brakes weren't the problem. It was the lack of grip on the road from the tyre...

With most rim brakes, you get different deceleration at high speed vs low speed.

At high speed, the pad-rim interface is the weakest link - brake block compounds aren't really optimized for high speed braking (they soften due to instantaneous heating). Thus, the brakes will seem a bit weak when you first apply them if you are going fast. At low speed, the tyre-ground interface and CofG is the limiting factor.

Disc brakes, AFAIK, will "bite" consistently at both high and low speed, which might be one reason why their users report they are easier to modulate.

 

[cyberknight]

Glad you are ok ,

as others have said it is hard in the heat of the moment but you should have taken details if you can as some damage could manifest itself later due to weakened parts caused by the collision and the driver might try to wiggle out of his responsibility when they find out your repair bill will cost more than what they think i whole bike should cost.

From the OP`s post the other driver was clearly in the wrong as they should have judged your speed correctly and waited, claiming you were going to fast is not a defense as they have to make the same decisions for every other road user traveling at a variety of speeds.

 

[Mad at urage]

Similar thing this morning, coming off a hill at 30mph in the wet, car pulled out in front of me. Fortunately I'd been pumping the brakes all the way down the hill (keeps them dry-ish, so they react more quickly if you need them and gets the brain into the idea of 'pump harder' instead of 'grab'). Managed to slow enough to steer around her.

Apparently she didn't pull out in front of me though - I was "riding three in a row" .

 

[dawesome]

Apparently she didn't pull out in front of me though - I was "riding three in a row" .

Eh? That was seriously her excuse?