Near misses

Totalnewbie

After a lovely few weeks it seems the eejits are out again.

Serenely riding the five minute ride from my flat to a meeting point for a ride with Lambeth cyclists on Sat, I was clipped by a massive Bentley-style car overtaking; his wing mirror hit my handlebars.

I managed to stay upright but was furious and screamed at him at the top of my lungs like a madwoman (usually I keep quiet but this is the first time a vehicle actually touched me and I couldn't help it). He kept going. I was already well out from the kerb (there is no room to overtake there when there is oncoming traffic) but obviously I should have been planted out bang in the middle of the lane.

Then this morning a car pulled out on me and I just about managed to stop inches from his bumper due to a combination of not trusting him and very good brakes on the new bike. He kind of smiled and waved me across (he saw me at the last minute and slammed on the brakes too) as though he was doing me some kind of favour, I just glowered at him and carried on.

And a man in Hyde Park shouted at the cyclists that we shouldn't be cycling in the park (yes we were on the cycle path).

el_presidente

getting clipped is nasty & will shake you up

I slapped a taxi last week that was way too close but otherwise have been OK lately. Apart from the car I nearly hit yesterday which was my fault (see other thread)

secretsam

Being clipped...urgh...only once (fingers crossed) many years ago on a bridge in Bristol - XR3i hit my elbow with his wing mirror

Not pleasant, you have my sympathy

spen666

A near miss - is surely a hit?

dirk_van_gently

Anything gets closer to me than 4ft and I am letting my annoyance known.

Highway Code states that Cars overtaking bicycles should treat the bicycle as though it were another car, that to me means at least 6 ft.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070314

spen666

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Anything gets closer to me than 4ft and I am letting my annoyance known.

Highway Code states that Cars overtaking bicycles should treat the bicycle as though it were another car, that to me means at least 6 ft.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070314

The problem with this is two fold: -

a) The Highway code is not law and there is no sanction for ignoring it
b) What exactly does treat a bicycle as though it were another car mean. - there is no guidance on this. I would like to think people interpreted it as you do, but sadly most interpret it differently

Totalnewbie

I suppose I didn't qualify it as a hit as such as it didn't result in an accident and neither me or the bike was hurt, but in reality yes it was a hit.

I've never been up for hitting cars, but if I'd have thought quickly enough I'd have thumped that one, I was so outraged he did something so dangerous. I would also have had words if I could have caught him, but he was off.

I'm thankful I had a really stuffed pannier on the right, or he might have passed me even closer.

Crapaud

spen666 wrote:

A near miss - is surely a hit?

I know what you mean. I was 'hit' by a coach doing around 50 mph a few years ago. Two empty lanes, on a wide bend, I'm 2 feet from the kerb and the coach overtakes with only a couple of inches to spare. The further it passes, the back end of the coach moves over closer and closer, pushing me towards the kerb until my shoulder cleans a portion of the bodywork. At this point I'm right next to the kerb and struggling to keep the pedal from hitting it, as I'm sure that if I go down I'm going to end up under the coach's wheels. Luckily, I managed to stay upright and ran out of coach. But it was only a matter of luck.

The result was only a manky patch on the shoulder of my jersey and in no way reflected the potential danger of the event. At the time I was, literally, frothing mad and ranting incoherently, but everyone I told the story to (non-cyclists) said I was over-reacting and it was a near miss. A hit's a hit as far as I'm concerned!

TheFoolio888

My sympathies go you to you...I've never been hit yet *fingers crossed* but had a few near misses.

The thing that REALLY vexes me with near misses isthat the drivers are always:

a) completely oblivious to the anything that just happened
b) shrug of the shoulders, so what...your not dead are you?
c) screaming abuse at you for questioning their driving ability

dirk_van_gently

spen666 wrote:

What exactly does treat a bicycle as though it were another car mean. - there is no guidance on this.

Seems pretty clear to me:

ScottDougall

I have this happening on my regular journey to the station in the morning - its a rural road and I am thinking that because the cars are travelling faster and I have no chance of catching them at the lights and having a word -- I think they know this - there is one car in particular that makes a close pass every time I see it - I took note of the registration and phoned the police today - I am worried that they will retaliate on the road after the police have a word with them but at least if something happens now there is a recorded history

I dont understand it to be honest the cars that pass me take horrific risks and its only a matter of time before I witness a head on collision going round a blind bend

what is it that makes some drivers so stupid

Eat My Dust

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

spen666 wrote:

What exactly does treat a bicycle as though it were another car mean. - there is no guidance on this.

Seems pretty clear to me:

If a driver was to give you that much room, it wouldn't surprise me for another driver to try and squeeze in between.

ScottDougall

hhahahhaha - so true - they would

BentMikey

Sympathies TN, that's pretty awful. I'm not surprised you feel a tad shaken up.

tardington

Not a good one :shock:

I had a big car come up and leisurely swing sideways into where I would have been if I hadn't braked hard. This was just before a junction, so I got to peer very hard into the (open) drivers window at the red light. It was a fat yank* in a hire car who hadn't seen me, and didn't really give a stuff. And he was about to be off down a bus only stretch of road. :roll:

*sorry but he was!

spen666

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

spen666 wrote:

What exactly does treat a bicycle as though it were another car mean. - there is no guidance on this.

Seems pretty clear to me:

most motorists give cars very little room- I hope they give me more than they give over cars. They pass other cars far to close and far too fast

Cyclegent

Eat My Dust wrote:

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

spen666 wrote:

What exactly does treat a bicycle as though it were another car mean. - there is no guidance on this.

Seems pretty clear to me:

If a driver was to give you that much room, it wouldn't surprise me for another driver to try and squeeze in between.

In London, three cyclists and a motorcycle courier would squeeze in between, and someone on an MTB would try to undertake you.

richardjallen

Yeah its eejit season.

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Anything gets closer to me than 4ft and I am letting my annoyance known.

Highway Code states that Cars overtaking bicycles should treat the bicycle as though it were another car, that to me means at least 6 ft.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070314

I don't like cars passing close either but your post makes me think my threshold far too lenient. Cars frequently pass leaving me little more than a foot. I don't ride in the gutter either. I ride where the left wheel of a car would be.

mrchrispy

if they are close enough to touch/hit then they are too close.

Belv

spen666 wrote:

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Anything gets closer to me than 4ft and I am letting my annoyance known.

Highway Code states that Cars overtaking bicycles should treat the bicycle as though it were another car, that to me means at least 6 ft.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_070314

The problem with this is two fold: -

a) The Highway code is not law and there is no sanction for ignoring it
b) What exactly does treat a bicycle as though it were another car mean. - there is no guidance on this. I would like to think people interpreted it as you do, but sadly most interpret it differently

"Although failure to comply with the other rules of the Code will not, in itself, cause a person to be prosecuted, The Highway Code may be used in evidence in any court proceedings under the Traffic Acts (see 'The road user and the law') to establish liability. This includes rules which use advisory wording such as ‘should/should not’ or ‘do/do not’."
From here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTr ... /DG_070236

You are half right with a): whilst the highway code is not law, failing to comply with it could be used as evidence for a charge of 'Driving without due care and attention'.