Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

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reohn2
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by reohn2 »

Phil Fouracre wrote:Well that just about sums it up! now, how to rectify the problems, answers on a postcard please :-)


It's simple really.
Be mindful always expecting the unexpected,treat everyone else on the road as potentially out to get you,and you just might stay safe :wink: .

TBH when I watch some of the videos linked to on here I very often find myself thinking 'I wouldn't do that in a million years'.
The one in the OP is no exception.

Whilst on holiday recently I was stood at a junction where I saw four Lycra clad roadies ride down the inside of a left turning bus all were doing about 12 to 15mph there was no cycle lane and it wasn't a particularly wide road either,it's this cross roads in Braunton North Devon ,the bus was turning left coming towards the camera down the inside of the blue furnituer van https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.10846 ... 56!6m1!1e1 .
I stood on nearside pavement looking on incredulous as they sailed past and juussttt squeeezzeed by on the inside,a suicide manoeuvre.
The last rider in line waited behind the bus and we made eye contact then both of us shook our heads in disbelief.These guys weren't kids but looked to be thirty/forty something's who most likely have wives and families waiting their return
Last edited by reohn2 on 10 Aug 2015, 12:56pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

So your experience is different from the cyclist in the OP video.

No great surprise, since we a) cycle more than many and b) analyse lots of these sorts of videos
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by Vorpal »

[XAP]Bob wrote:So your experience is different from the cyclist in the OP video.

No great surprise, since we a) cycle more than many and b) analyse lots of these sorts of videos


c) are more knowledgeable about the Highway Code than many cyclists and drivers
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
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AlaninWales
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by AlaninWales »

reohn2 wrote:
Phil Fouracre wrote:Well that just about sums it up! now, how to rectify the problems, answers on a postcard please :-)


It's simple really.
Be mindful always expecting the unexpected,treat everyone else on the road as potentially out to get you,and you just might stay safe :wink: .

TBH when I watch some of the videos linked to on here I very often find myself thinking 'I wouldn't do that in a million years'.
The one in the OP is no exception.

Whilst on holiday recently I was stood at a junction where I saw four Lycra clad roadies ride down the inside of a left turning bus all were doing about 12 to 15mph there was no cycle lane and it wasn't a particularly wide road either,it's this cross roads in Braunton North Devon ,the bus was turning left coming towards the camera down the inside of the blue furnituer van https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.10846 ... 56!6m1!1e1 .
I stood on nearside pavement looking on incredulous as they sailed past and juussttt squeeezzeed by on the inside,a suicide manoeuvre.
The last rider in line waited behind the bus and we made eye contact then both of us shook our heads in disbelief.These guys weren't kids but looked to be thirty/forty something's who most likely have wives and families waiting their return

Whilst I too "wouldn't do that in a million years", it is hardly the solution that will encourage cycling as a mode of transport from 8 to 80 (or whatever the catch-phrase now is); that sort of cycling needs to take account of the fact that many (even many MAMILS or 20-30 y/olds) will not be enthusiasts researching the latest thinking and training on 'how to stay safe on the roads'. If we want cycling to be an inclusive mode of transport, then we have to stop thinking in terms of every cyclist 'should' be aware of these things.
AlanJ
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by AlanJ »

beardy wrote:
answers on a postcard please


Remove your vulnerability by using a car instead?

Could be at danger from other cars, get a tank. Get through traffic jams quicker as well
reohn2
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by reohn2 »

Vorpal wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:So your experience is different from the cyclist in the OP video.

No great surprise, since we a) cycle more than many and b) analyse lots of these sorts of videos


c) are more knowledgeable about the Highway Code than many cyclists and drivers


And I have an acute awareness of my my own vulnerability,non more so than when cycling in the close proximity of 1 tonne four or more wheeled boxes with powerful engines and potentially uncaring users.

Some people just don't think of the potential dangers to themselves or to others,whether they're driving or riding bikes,or any other activity you can think of.
It's what happens when they aren't held to account for their careless actions.
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reohn2
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by reohn2 »

AlaninWales wrote:Whilst I too "wouldn't do that in a million years", it is hardly the solution that will encourage cycling as a mode of transport from 8 to 80 (or whatever the catch-phrase now is); that sort of cycling needs to take account of the fact that many (even many MAMILS or 20-30 y/olds) will not be enthusiasts researching the latest thinking and training on 'how to stay safe on the roads'. If we want cycling to be an inclusive mode of transport, then we have to stop thinking in terms of every cyclist 'should' be aware of these things.


I'm stating the situation as it is.
I can think of a few ways to make cycling safe for all and encourage it for all as a means of transport,our problem is convincing those who govern of the same things,ie;what chances strict liability,and harsher penalties for criminal driving?
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beardy
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by beardy »

Some people just don't think of the potential dangers to themselves or to others,whether they're driving or riding bikes,or any other activity you can think of.


That is because normally nothing "comes of it" and the actual occurrences on the rare occasions that they happen are dismissed as "accidents".

Going on a forum like this can expose you to all the mishaps of 60 million people (more if you want to draw attention to almost impossibly rare freak occurrences), the actual risk is quite slight for any individual involved.

I have been overtaken on blind bends whilst out on my bike thousands of times, yet none of them actually did hit an oncoming vehicle. The chances are literally "one in a million".
reohn2
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by reohn2 »

beardy wrote:
Some people just don't think of the potential dangers to themselves or to others,whether they're driving or riding bikes,or any other activity you can think of.


That is because normally nothing "comes of it" and the actual occurrences on the rare occasions that they happen are dismissed as "accidents".

Going on a forum like this can expose you to all the mishaps of 60 million people (more if you want to draw attention to almost impossibly rare freak occurrences), the actual risk is quite slight for any individual involved.

I have been overtaken on blind bends whilst out on my bike thousands of times, yet none of them actually did hit an oncoming vehicle. The chances are literally "one in a million".


It must me either I'm a realist or a pessimist :?
Some of these people must be convinced optimists or fatalists :shock:

I reckon a year or two on a bicycle and further year or two on a motorcycle would change a lot of minds about safety and their attitude to it :wink:
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by Vorpal »

The UK is statistically one of the safest countries in the world with regards to the road system. As long as that is the case, it will be difficult or impossible to get significant movement on cycle safety issues. The exceptions will be specific places where there are inordinate numbers of RTCs involving cyclists, and those are likely to receive only local or local network treatment.

The powers that be count 'road safety' by numbers of accidents and numbers of dead; and changing that requires enough impetus to change government bureaucracy and 2 generations of growing motor-culture imperative.

I'm not suggesting that we should stop campaigning for better, but only that change is likely to be slow, small, incremental, and hard-won.
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beardy
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by beardy »

reohn2
I've done a couple of years on a motorcycle and a cycle, I got into many scrapes on the former but I always got out of them in one piece.

So what did I learn? Not to get into the scrapes in the first place or that I was good enough to get out of them? It was often the latter. Those of us who got out OK may well learn how to carry on doing it and those that were less lucky were often no longer seen on the roads!

Nowadays I conduct myself in a way that means I no longer have "surprises" on the road. All part of being a BOF and having insurance premiums that others can not even believe. :D :mrgreen:
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meic
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by meic »

I have never been fond of Taxi drivers but they are professional drivers (professional as in they do it for a living all day every day) and like dispatch riders they do tend to be very good at controlling their machines. They spend so long driving that they are at one with their machine and can react quickly and precisely.

Their pretty poor levels of care and consideration also means they have lots of opportunities to practice emergency maneuvers. :mrgreen:

So, yes ,good driving, in one sense of the expression.
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reohn2
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by reohn2 »

beardy wrote:reohn2
I've done a couple of years on a motorcycle and a cycle, I got into many scrapes on the former but I always got out of them in one piece.

So what did I learn? Not to get into the scrapes in the first place or that I was good enough to get out of them? It was often the latter.

I spent 15 years riding motorcycles,I think it was six of one and half a dozen of the other,but I did develop an acute power of observation and better ability to read road conditions and the actions/potential actions of other road users.

Those of us who got out OK may well learn how to carry on doing it and those that were less lucky were often no longer seen on the roads!

It was with a heavy heart I agreed with my daughter to have to let my granddaughter buy a motorcycle.Due to the actions of another motocyclist who thought himself immortal,and she trusted other road users not to kill her,they are both dead,she was 19,he 17.

Nowadays I conduct myself in a way that means I no longer have "surprises" on the road. All part of being a BOF and having insurance premiums that others can not even believe. :D :mrgreen:

Exactly,though neither of us are immune to the excesses of others,we can only limit the risk.
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reohn2
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by reohn2 »

Vorpal wrote:The UK is statistically one of the safest countries in the world with regards to the road system. As long as that is the case, it will be difficult or impossible to get significant movement on cycle safety issues. The exceptions will be specific places where there are inordinate numbers of RTCs involving cyclists, and those are likely to receive only local or local network treatment.

The powers that be count 'road safety' by numbers of accidents and numbers of dead; and changing that requires enough impetus to change government bureaucracy and 2 generations of growing motor-culture imperative.

I'm not suggesting that we should stop campaigning for better, but only that change is likely to be slow, small, incremental, and hard-won.


I can't disagree with any of that,but what is never considered and can be hard to measure is quality,the quality of travelling by bicycle in close proximity to motors.
That quality can be dire at times and can stop people cycling or prevent them even starting.If the quality were high it may be another matter.
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bovlomov
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Re: Doored cyclist almost run over - good driving?

Post by bovlomov »

Vorpal wrote:The UK is statistically one of the safest countries in the world with regards to the road system. As long as that is the case, it will be difficult or impossible to get significant movement on cycle safety issues.

But we have more than our fair share of obesity and, increasingly, respiratory problems. Perhaps that is what will drive change, rather than road accident statistics.
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