Nearly got killed today.....!

martty

Hi all, just thought i'd post this and get it of my chest...

Was out riding on the road today, travelling downhill doing about 30mph there was a car stationary at a junction on my left. Yes, I thought this guy had seen me, he was stationary and not moving. Well just as I get about 10m from the junction that guy pulls out on me, I braked really hard (locking back wheel) and skidded onto the other side of the road, luckily the oncoming traffic was quiet and i managed to squeeze between 2 cars and carreered down a side road that had no cars present. :x I had just had a near death experience...! :shock: The bloke driving was about 60 and wearing glasses (should've gone to specsavers)...he didn't look a scally or anything!

A lucky escape I thought, I turned round and carried on my way, partly releived, partly fuming. I thought i'd catch the guy at the next set of lights and have a quiet word Anyway I cycled down the descent thinking oh well, when i saw the guy pull into a local garden centre. I immediately followed him and shouted after him, I don't know if he saw me, but as he stopped I tried to open his car door (to have a chat) and he sped off again, this where it all went a bit crazy....the driver got stuck between parked cars and i approached him again, at which point he drove off pushing me into a parked car, this guy was now driving about 30mph in a garden cenrre carr park. I chased after him but he decided to do a U turn and drove straight at me,,,! :shock:

I couldn't beleive what was happening, the driver, and passenger were laughing as he drove at me, eventually he drove out of the garden centre and I phoned the police, I got his reg and make/model of car. I 've been to the police station to report it and I;m now waiting for a phone call back, will he just get a telling off?

After all this I'm relieved to be alive and glad I managed to get home safe....why can't we have a safer society, I've ridden in Belgium where cycle lanes are everywhere. I feel like not riding on the road for some time but why should these people ruin our sport and lives...

micken

Can't believe that this has been on here for four hours without comment. The guy sounds like he needs taking off the road for his own, and everyone else's safety.

Hope you have some witnesses who will support you.

STEFANOS4784

Sorry, don't usually check this part of the forum but holy mackrell that is absolutely shocking, i don't know what to say but i'll see if i can generate some decent advice from the, usually more intelligent forumites :shock: :shock: :x :evil: :arrow:

bobpzero

maybe should have spoken to him rather than shoutd and wait for him to get out of the car(hopefully there wont be a next time tho). anyways has there been any progress with the police about the matter. hope someone will be able to help properly. guess we are all still absolutely amazed there was a passenger just laughing.

hisoka

Fecking hell that sounds scarey in the end mate!

cee

does sound scary.....

but if i was a 60 odd year old and some random bloke (as far as I might be aware) starts trying to open my car door, I would probably attempt a getaway as well....

Don't get me wrong...im am not trying to defend him...

Maybe the Garden centre will have cctv?

iain_j

bobpzero wrote:

guess we are all still absolutely amazed there was a passenger just laughing.

Putting aside the right/wrong of the incident itself, this it what really shocks me, what i just can't get my head around: the fact that people find it laugh-out-loud funny when something happens to a cyclist on the road. Like my colleague who repeatedly tells the funny story of how she knocked over a cyclist on a driving lesson, and the comedian who drove onto the wrong side of the road towards me and swerved away at the last second, and countless others... I just can't comprehend it.

Horton

Blinking eejit - glad you got his details and passed them on the boys in blue. I nearly got flattened the other night by some c0ck who evidently got bored of sitting in stationary traffic during rush hour, so pulled into the bus lane I was pedalling down. No indicator, just a squeal of his wheels as he pulled out! Fortuinately, I'd given myself enough room to take evasive action and swerved round the car and thank god I wasn't on my road bike because I would never have stayed upright. He then had the audacity to open the passenger side window and shout "don't undertake you pr1ck"... Needless to say I had a few choice words of my own when I caught back up with him at the red light 20 yards down the road, much to the delight of all the pedestrians... My language can never be described as polite but I think I broke the world record for the number of times the words fat and c**t have been used in one breath.

I also pointed out that breaking the law by driving in a bus lane/attempted assault with a deadly weapon isn't the wisest of things to do whilst in your works vehicle with company name in gert big letters written down the side.

I'll be intrigued to know what the police do in your case as he sounds like he's off his head and needs his licence scrapped. It's one thing not seeing you, but then to actually drive at you is plain wrong!

turbodog

Good to know you are alive...

ok, it is silly of you to "have a chat" with the driver at the car park. If someone try to open my door, I would kick the sh*t out of that person.... that would be my natural reaction! Who wouldn't? But there is no excuse to run someone down with a car...

All you can do is report the incident at the police station. You shouldn't be approach the driver unless he stopped to talk about.

From the car driver point of view, it is not easy to see fast cyclists behind via mirrors or windows...hence why i would never ride on uk roads ever...

sonicred007

60 is not that old

Stupid - by that I mean oblivious to other road users - is just stupid though

downfader

Why did you try and open his door ffs? :shock: A polite tap on the window followed by the obligatory "chat" usually suffices... mind you, I'm one to talk after the taxi on tuesday.

mr_hippo

Is anyone else sick and tired of these 'Incompetent cyclist blames motorists' threads?
Martty, you were travelling at 30mph (approx) and you saw a car at a junction. Apart from assuming that the driver had seen you and would stay there until you had gone by, what other action(s) did you take?
As for the door opening incident – that’s akin to opening the front door of someone’s house without permission.
“…this guy was now driving about 30mph in a garden cenrre carr park. I chased after him but he decided to do a U turn and drove straight at me,,,!” All I can say to that is that the car park must have been large and empty and that the car had the same performance as an F1 car.
Please, if you want to have as many birthdays as I have had, learn to cycle in a responsible manner.

baranozhan

when i started reading your writing i felt angry and also lucky.İ.m living in the east side of turkey in a rural area without much traffic.İncluding me there are just 6 people riding mountain bike for sports.People think us as tourists and have great respect and care.They always try to help us offering to eat food and drink tea etc. Also the weather is so cold and usually snowing all winter.İt s dangerous for the pedestrians to walk on the pavement because of the falling of huge ice masses from the roofs.So people are walking on the roads even in summer and drivers are not unfamiliar with them.This habit is like a shield for cyclists here,drivers are always careful for the pedestrians walking on the roads so we don t have any difficulty to be seen.i hope you won t have such a problem again.İ also advice you not to chase a car again it can be too dangerous.

tlw1

The police will only be interested if he was speeding :roll:

Tailend Charlie

mr_hippo wrote:

Is anyone else sick and tired of these 'Incompetent cyclist blames motorists' threads?
Martty, you were travelling at 30mph (approx) and you saw a car at a junction. Apart from assuming that the driver had seen you and would stay there until you had gone by, what other action(s) did you take?

....learn to cycle in a responsible manner.

You cannot possibly be saying that cyclists riding on the main road have to slow down and stop to let cars in from side roads?? In other words "sorry mate I didn't see you" is therefore a valid excuse because the irresponsible cyclist was carrying on the main road assuming he had right of way?

Whilst I would agree whole heartedly that the follow-on business in the carpark was brought on by the OP acting aggressively, it still does not excuse the driver for his criminal and dangerous action

GavH

I'm new to this game so I'm open to the idea that my thoughts here are perhaps not valid but here goes anyway:

Doing 30mph on the road on a bike does not mean you are given any kind of priority over other road users. You must still apply/abide by the highway code etc. The fact this doddery old fart did not see you is just a fact of life on roads, lets face it, it happens to motorists, so someone on an even smaller and thus harder to see form of transport is going to have to expect it even more. I think the OP was right to assume that the car would not pull out at such a moment, but that does not mean to say he should not have at least been prepared for such an occurrence. I'm not condoning the driver though, as I know for a fact I'd have went mental if it had happened to me.

However, chasing the old man and then attempting to gain entry into his car is just plain wrong. Had the OP done that in a car, then blocked a 60 yr old man in and tried to get at him like this, it would be road rage plain and simple and it would not be the 60 yr old getting into any kind of trouble. The fact he chased him down on a bike does not make it any less of an offence in my book, although by the sounds of it, the OP can count his lucky stars that the Police had an less of an interest.

In the short few months that I've been riding I've had cars and lorries cut me up, pull in in front of me with inches to spare, pass me with next to no room despite nothing coming the other way and I've even had things thrown at me out of moving vehicles by passengers. At no point did I think I'd be in the right if I chased any of them down and gave them what for. I think we all agree that the OP is lucky he wasn't killed by the stupid driver. Am I alone in thinking that he should also consider himself lucky that the Police didn't listen to his story and then at the car park bit say: "And then you did what sir?"

mr_hippo

Tailend Charlie wrote:

mr_hippo wrote:

Is anyone else sick and tired of these 'Incompetent cyclist blames motorists' threads?
Martty, you were travelling at 30mph (approx) and you saw a car at a junction. Apart from assuming that the driver had seen you and would stay there until you had gone by, what other action(s) did you take?
....learn to cycle in a responsible manner.

You cannot possibly be saying that cyclists riding on the main road have to slow down and stop to let cars in from side roads?? In other words "sorry mate I didn't see you" is therefore a valid excuse because the irresponsible cyclist was carrying on the main road assuming he had right of way?

All I am saying is that you should be aware of traffic conditions and of what may happen. Would you have done the same as the OP? What would I have done? I’ll let you work that one out!
How I love the phrase ‘I had right if way!’ Let’s transform this to a worst case scenario. Mr. A Cyclist is travelling fast down a hill, a car in the side road comes out so Mr. Cyclist swerves and moves to the opposite side of the road. Driving in the opposite carriageway is Mr. Ford Fiesta who gets – free of charge – a dead cyclist hood ornament! PC Plod breaks the bad news to Mrs. A Cyclist but adds a few words of comfort – “His last words were ‘But I did have right of way’” That will make his wife and family happy, won’t it?
Meanwhile, far above the clouds, at the Pearly Gates Hotel, Mr. A Cyclist is checking in. “You weren’t expected here for over 40 years.” St Peter says. “Well, I’m here now”, says Mr. A Cyclist, “and I did have the right of way!”

downfader

mr_hippo wrote:

Tailend Charlie wrote:

mr_hippo wrote:

Is anyone else sick and tired of these 'Incompetent cyclist blames motorists' threads?
Martty, you were travelling at 30mph (approx) and you saw a car at a junction. Apart from assuming that the driver had seen you and would stay there until you had gone by, what other action(s) did you take?
....learn to cycle in a responsible manner.

You cannot possibly be saying that cyclists riding on the main road have to slow down and stop to let cars in from side roads?? In other words "sorry mate I didn't see you" is therefore a valid excuse because the irresponsible cyclist was carrying on the main road assuming he had right of way?

All I am saying is that you should be aware of traffic conditions and of what may happen. Would you have done the same as the OP? What would I have done? I’ll let you work that one out!
How I love the phrase ‘I had right if way!’ Let’s transform this to a worst case scenario. Mr. A Cyclist is travelling fast down a hill, a car in the side road comes out so Mr. Cyclist swerves and moves to the opposite side of the road. Driving in the opposite carriageway is Mr. Ford Fiesta who gets – free of charge – a dead cyclist hood ornament! PC Plod breaks the bad news to Mrs. A Cyclist but adds a few words of comfort – “His last words were ‘But I did have right of way’” That will make his wife and family happy, won’t it?
Meanwhile, far above the clouds, at the Pearly Gates Hotel, Mr. A Cyclist is checking in. “You weren’t expected here for over 40 years.” St Peter says. “Well, I’m here now”, says Mr. A Cyclist, “and I did have the right of way!”

Completly specious reasoning! When a car pulled out on me in september I was doing about 6mph, I had no way pf avoiding it but by your reasoning I should have stopped at the edge of the junction.

OK the OP, if telling the truth, did do wrong by opening the door, but frankly the driver is majorly at fault for ignoring potential hazards and not checking properly. Right of way is nothing to do with it in the end, safety is the major issue here.

Who is to say he wasnt aware of the traffic situation? I was aware of the driver that hit me, I thought he'd seen me as he stopped at the junction - people can make silly decisions when on the roads and theres often not a lot you can do to stop it.

martty

Looks like we have a difference of opinion across this forum, can I just say thanks to the people who support the fellow cyclist on here.

When riding i always anticipate drivers pulling out of side roads (hands on brake levers ready to slam on). It was through more luck than judgement that as i slammed on (and the back wheel started to skid) that there was a gap in the oncoming traffic for me to get through, otherwsie i would've been on the bonnet /through the windscreen of an ocoming car at 30mph. :shock:

Ok the guy may not have seen me but i suggest he did, he was looking straight at me as i was cycling towards him, y'know what some drivers think, i can pull out before the cyclist gets to me (should we all slow down to accomodate the driver?). I didn't chase him down the road, it was only when i got to the garden centre did i see him, yes, i may have been wrong to challenge him...but bear in mind i had just been very nearly killed.

Too many times have i been taken out by cars, i've been over the bonnet of cars that have pulled out, crushed against railings (when some bloke decided that he wanted some cigars on his way to work), all these incidents have been done by drivers without thinking BIKE!

The police have taken this matter seriously and I've been asked if i'm willing to make a statement against this driver, the fact he drove at me in a car park...maybe not a 30mph but fast enough so you could hear the engine sreaming suggests the guy was willing to inflict harm on me. If this was just a one off incident and the guy made a genuine mistake by not seeing me then fair enough, but laughing at the wheel whilst driving at me in a car park is not on.....if this motorist thinks that's ok then what chance have other cyclists got?

spen666

martty wrote:

Looks like we have a difference of opinion across this forum, can I just say thanks to the people who support the fellow cyclist on here. ...

It should be nothing to do with supporting the cyclist. ~It should be about supporting the person who was in the right and apportioning blame to the one who is in the wrong ( whichever way round that may be)


We should not just blindly support someone because they ride a bike. There as as many pr*cks on bikes as in cars



Marty- I am not commenting on you or what happened in your case

spen666

BTW Marty - be careful about going ahead with this particular matter as on the facts you have outlined, you could also find yourself being arrested and charged with a public order offence.

remember he will no doubt be supported by his passenger in his allegations against you

cee

Marty....

I hear that you were in the right of way, and that we shouldn't stop for everycar at a junction just to see if they have seen us or not (as another person said...it happened to them at 6mph.)

You say you thought he had seen you (I assume because you had eye contact.)...and I totally hear that you were in a state of shock (well, probably fskin ragin!), so perhaps did not behave as you normally would. We have all done something in the heat of the moment.

Trouble is....it is us that come off worst in a fight with a car...I don't know where the rights/wrongs of it all come in when the penalty is so high.

I really don't have an answer for this one....it does sound really scary and glad you came out alive.

martty

Spen666

What could i be done for....(trying the door handle on his car) I can't see this as being an offence but i'm no expert in civil or criminal law?

downfader

martty wrote:

Spen666

What could i be done for....(trying the door handle on his car) I can't see this as being an offence but i'm no expert in civil or criminal law?

Its not that simple... its the fact you said there was a passenger who could side with the gent in question. Perhaps you need to go to the garden center and ask about their cctv and see if they can help (I understand you're allowed a copy by law under certain circumstances and I would imagine this is one)

Also check out the corner where it happened - any cctv there facing the junction? Perhaps something is on record there too, but you'd need to be quick as firms and councils will over write the files/tapes after a small period.

If there is anything on video it may back up your story... ofcourse it may also make you look like an aggressor so if it goes to court you may need character witnesses...?

This sort of thing is why I use a video camera when I cycle.

mr_hippo

martty wrote:

Too many times have i been taken out by cars, i've been over the bonnet of cars that have pulled out, crushed against railings (when some bloke decided that he wanted some cigars on his way to work), all these incidents have been done by drivers without thinking BIKE!

So you have been 'taken out by cars too many times'? Is it bad cycling, bad driving or bad luck? It's not too late to write to Santa and ask for a copy of 'Cyclecraft'!

martty

mr hippo

thanks for your support and advice in this matter, it's much appreciated

xpc316e

martty, if these near disasters keep happening around you on a regular basis then perhaps you really do need to examine the way you ride. Like most drivers, it seems you do not like having any of your skills brought into question. Mr hippo made a very valid point, but you chose to see it as a personal attack - it ought to have made you think deeply about your standpoint.

You ought to be aware that about 75% of crashes happen at, or near, junctions. At those junctions, there is rarely any doubt of who has priority, but the crashes keep on happening. Bear in mind that the car driver you came up against may have seen you, but failed to judge your speed properly. He is only human after all, and by your own admission you were doing 30mph - for most drivers that is well above what they'd expect a cyclist to be doing.

I am not making excuses for any party, nor condoning their actions, but it is the nature of humans to make errors. I exhort you to learn from this incident, and develop a riding style that might just lengthen your life, instead of cutting it short. If you expect drivers to pull out in front of you (and behave accordingly), then on the odd occasion when they don't do so, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Treat the whole experience as a valuable lesson, and try to see that the car driver did not set out to deliberately kill you.

number9

This should be treated as attempted murder, perhaps also it should be in commuting?

Let us know what the cops say, there may be CCTV footage?

xpc316e

number9 wrote:

This should be treated as attempted murder,

On what basis would you propose treating this incident as attempted murder?

number9

RTTF

xpc316e

Short of any witnesses stating that the driver wound down his window and leant out, shouting "I am going to kill you" as he drove at the cyclist, there is no evidence whatsoever of an attempted murder. Going to the Police alleging this kind of thing is not going to get them on your side, is it? If you feel the need to get them involved, state the facts as you see them and let them decide how to proceed and on what charges.