The Poplar High St collision

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reohn2
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Re: The Poplar High St collision

Post by reohn2 »

mjr wrote:Oh and I haven't mentioned it, but I'm surprised the cyclist didn't seem to attempt an emergency turn left. I've escaped the odd SMIDSY that way over the years.


In that circumstance s/he would simply not have had chance or hope in hell of avoiding the collision,however slower and with a small dose of anticipation,s/he would have been able to stop in time.

When cycling I'm always acutely aware of my vulnerability,some cyclists just aren't.
I know how that may read but in the present circumstances on UK roads,I take no chances when cycling,but treat the rest of the road users around me as potential unpredictable lunatics and murderers.
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mjr
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Re: The Poplar High St collision

Post by mjr »

reohn2 wrote:In that circumstance s/he would simply not have had chance or hope in hell of avoiding the collision,however slower and with a small dose of anticipation,s/he would have been able to stop in time.

I'm not convinced. They were only doing 8mph when the car came into view and the roads were pretty wet.

I think the best tactic would have been to turn very hard left into the side road, into the gap between car and kerb, and stopped behind the blue car parked in the side road, or run left over the kerb (the entrance to the side road appears to be on a ramp). The cyclist managed to slow to 5mph by the impact and the car didn't get close to the kerb as it turned it because it stayed out to help get around the parked cars.

When cycling I'm always acutely aware of my vulnerability,some cyclists just aren't.
I know how that may read but in the present circumstances on UK roads,I take no chances when cycling,but treat the rest of the road users around me as potential unpredictable lunatics and murderers.

I know what you mean. I've a list of tips compiled by local cyclists that I'll publish soon and watching for other road users doing daft and unusual things is one of them, but many of them are blissfully ignorant. Fortunately, we're blessed around here with lots of helpful motorists like this:
[youtube]Ih70HEFE0TY[/youtube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih70HEFE0TY
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
reohn2
Posts: 45159
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: The Poplar High St collision

Post by reohn2 »

mjr wrote:
reohn2 wrote:In that circumstance s/he would simply not have had chance or hope in hell of avoiding the collision,however slower and with a small dose of anticipation,s/he would have been able to stop in time.

I'm not convinced. They were only doing 8mph when the car came into view and the roads were pretty wet.


These two bold bits are extremely relevant,IMO the cyclist may with a hard left,have even been hit by the nearside wing/front wheel,we'll just have to agree to differ.

The vast majority of drivers like the one in you're video clip are courteous but it's that small percentage that are the problem,the other problem is defining which are which :?
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Vantage
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Re: The Poplar High St collision

Post by Vantage »

Other than slowing down and not cycling like an eejit, I can't see any way that the cyclist would have been able to avoid that bump.
8mph may not seem like much on paper, but it's still a fair old pace from which to stop quickly especially with wet brakes and wet roads, both of which will test the tyres grip. Bring hard cornering into that mix and there's the risk of losing all front grip. From the way the camera tilted just before impact, I'd say the rider knew braking alone wasn't going to cut it at that moment and did start turning to the left.
As much as I don't like to paint everyone with the same brush, most of us have figured out that steering wheel + engine + human = utter chaos and the only way to survive the motorised morons is not being morons ourselves, such as not speeding up the inside and treating drivers like nuclear bombs with faulty wiring.
Bill


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