Mother Nearly Killed Me

Porgy

I live round the corner from a school and in the past two weeks have nearly been taken out twice outside the school - just 30 seconds from my front door.

The first one was a car door, and to be honest I can't work out how it didn;t hit me. the bloke looked sheepish and apologised.

Then this morning a silver Golf parked next to a short cycle lane that takes you past a barrier on the road - often blocked by mothers making sure that little Nigel has a short a walk as possible to school.

In fact - an aside - I assume the barriers are up to prevent traffic going straight along the road therby making it safer for kids who have to cross the street there - except an extremely selfish minority seem to spend their time every morning from 8.30 to 9.00 parking on the bit where it says no parking, reversing, doing U turns, blocking cycle access, general being a major hazard to all.

So this morning - this woman nattering as I am coming along the road - in the middle ready to veer right for the cycle access bit - I see her get in the car as I'm coming along and I'm sure she's seen me - I leave plenty of space just in case she hasn't. suddenly her car is careering towards me, backwards, at high speed.

she stops just in time. I tell her that she should use her mirrors before reversing - no temper - I didn;t shout, I didn;t swear - all perfectly calm.

She started shouting - I could see instant temper loss - "well you should use your...."
There was a pause and I don't think she knew what to say - I was on my way by now, important meeting to make at work this morning.

"....eyes" she suddenly spurts out.

Gosh - use my eyes - that's an idea. I wish she'd thought of that before she nearly reversed into me.

I can't help thinking that if she couldn't see a 6 foot fat bloke on a bike in broad daylight then what would have happened if there'd been a small child crosing the road behind her car. :shock:

always_tyred

I think you might not be advised to try to pass if someone's initiated a 3 point turn. Yes, they should check between each "point" but I don't nip through in a car if there's room either, unless I can see them acknowledge me.

All that said, why don't you contact the school and raise some concerns about road safety and people misusing an area that's marked of for childrens' safety?

Porgy

Always Tyred wrote:

I think you might not be advised to try to pass if someone's initiated a 3 point turn. Yes, they should check between each "point" but I don't nip through in a car if there's room either, unless I can see them acknowledge me.

She wasn't doing a 3 point turn - she was moving from being parked. Illegally.

graeme_s-2

Porgy wrote:

I can't help thinking that if she couldn't see a 6 foot fat bloke on a bike in broad daylight then what would have happened if there'd been a small child crosing the road behind her car. :shock:

And that's exactly why she has to drop little Nigel off right in front of the school gate. Have you seen how busy and dangerous that road outside the school is first thing in the morning!? :roll:

Soul Boy

Another well reasoned argument, got to love it.

As long as their child is safe, surely thats all that matters :?

skyd0g

IMO Her anger is probably an admission of her own guilt.
If you see her again (stationary), possibly remark "and what if I'd been a small child crossing"?

ride_whenever

cycle into her next time, you'll most likely be fine... her car wont be

Porgy

ride_whenever wrote:

cycle into her next time, you'll most likely be fine... her car wont be

I'm not that fat :?

biondino

I thought this thread was an homage to "Psycho".

il_principe

biondino wrote:

I thought this thread was an homage to "Psycho".

I was surprised to see the author wasn't LiT.

always_tyred

Porgy wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I think you might not be advised to try to pass if someone's initiated a 3 point turn. Yes, they should check between each "point" but I don't nip through in a car if there's room either, unless I can see them acknowledge me.

She wasn't doing a 3 point turn - she was moving from being parked. Illegally.

Okay - maybe I don't understand the scenario - there is a part ofthe road in front of the school that has markings to stop parking. People park there, perpendicular to the road, and she was reversing out of the parking space? Where does the U-turn come in if she was reversing?

Porgy

Always Tyred wrote:

Porgy wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I think you might not be advised to try to pass if someone's initiated a 3 point turn. Yes, they should check between each "point" but I don't nip through in a car if there's room either, unless I can see them acknowledge me.

She wasn't doing a 3 point turn - she was moving from being parked. Illegally.

Okay - maybe I don't understand the scenario - there is a part ofthe road in front of the school that has markings to stop parking. People park there, perpendicular to the road, and she was reversing out of the parking space? Where does the U-turn come in if she was reversing?

I didn't say she was U turning - you may have misunderstood the bit where i had a tangential rant about how parents in cars behave generally outside this school.

Stuey01

he never said this woman was doing a u-turn, just that she was reversing.

School run mums i see on my way in are are the most oblivious people around, driving, walking, cycling, whatever - they just don't seem to have the foggiest what is going on around them.

The other day a woman with her two kids dragging along behind her like some sort of tail, just walks across the road without looking. I slammed on the brakes, almost to a stop then steered round.
I'm quite large, it's unlikely she would have missed me had she looked, but that's the thing, she didn't even look. What if I had been a silent Prius or something and just ploughed into her kids?
One sarcastic "don't worry there's no need to look" comment later and she is stood there in the middle of the road screaming at my back. In the road. Still. With her kids.
People are so stupid.

chuckcork

Stuey01 wrote:

he never said this woman was doing a u-turn, just that she was reversing.

School run mums i see on my way in are are the most oblivious people around, driving, walking, cycling, whatever - they just don't seem to have the foggiest what is going on around them.

The other day a woman with her two kids dragging along behind her like some sort of tail, just walks across the road without looking. I slammed on the brakes, almost to a stop then steered round.
I'm quite large, it's unlikely she would have missed me had she looked, but that's the thing, she didn't even look. What if I had been a silent Prius or something and just ploughed into her kids?
One sarcastic "don't worry there's no need to look" comment later and she is stood there in the middle of the road screaming at my back. In the road. Still. With her kids.
People are so stupid.

If you had slammed into her/her kids the attitude would have been why don't you look where you're going :roll: Perhaps a better response would have been to scream sothing along the lines of "f*cking crist" as you pretend to scream to a halt and just about go over the handlebars. If nothing else puts them on the back foot when it comes to an argument.

But personally I'd avoid roads running past schools at opening/closing time if possible, neither the parents or their children have a clue about what their doing, if they can't hear the tractor coming towards them then it doesn't exist.

always_tyred

Trust me - I'm aware of the oblivious school run phenomenon.

Were her reversing lights on?

I don't want to suggest that she wsn't in the wrong, just wondered if there was scope for prudence. I'd initially envisaged a U-turn, incomplete and requiring a reverse. I guess that you did what you could if she hadn't even started when you were passing. I think its prudent not to pass behind a vehicle with reversing lights on, but then sometimes this simply encourages people to pull out infront of you... so I take the policy of making eye contact with the driver... which you say you thought you did.

I'd still contact the school and raise the issue. They won't give a monkey's about your safety, but if the parking is endangering the darlings, they might consider it.

Porgy

Always Tyred wrote:

Trust me - I'm aware of the oblivious school run phenomenon.

Were her reversing lights on?

I don't want to suggest that she wsn't in the wrong, just wondered if there was scope for prudence. I'd initially envisaged a U-turn, incomplete and requiring a reverse. I guess that you did what you could if she hadn't even started when you were passing. I think its prudent not to pass behind a vehicle with reversing lights on, but then sometimes this simply encourages people to pull out infront of you... so I take the policy of making eye contact with the driver... which you say you thought you did.

I'd still contact the school and raise the issue. They won't give a monkey's about your safety, but if the parking is endangering the darlings, they might consider it.

When I started the maneouvre she wasn't even in the car. Suddenly she was in and reversing at speed.

And yes - I was pretty sure she'd looked straight at me when she was getting in the car.

I see what you're doing but I don;t care - the onus is on drivers to check before they maneuovre - I always do when driving. The times I've nearly had some twunt back over me in the Sainsburys car park!! Well - a few times anyway.

Anyway - I remained pretty calm about the whole thing - more worried about the chances of a small child walking along behind the car - quite likely at 8.30 am outside a primary school I would have thoguht. She hadn't even checked behind her.

I would be extrmeemly cautious in this position.


And have I mentioned that she was parked illegally - by a barrier which is marked as no parking jammed right up against the cyclist's access and compromising cyclist's safety.

There wasn't a right way of dealing with this - I reckon if she hadn't nearly got me on the reverse, she would have got me pulling forward afterwards.

always_tyred

Porgy wrote:

I see what you're doing but I don;t care

Don't be so touchy - it was a fair question.

Unless she gets into the car like Batman, something's not quite right with the time line, but look, it was her fault, absolutely.

What I'm trying to ascertain is if there is any scope for reducing your odds of being in the right, but in an accident. I've been doored in the past. The person who did it was in the wrong, I was in the right and I had the insurance payout to show for it. But I learned from the event and I'd avoid it now. See what I'm getting at?

I wasn't there - you may have done everything possible to avoid the incident. But she had time to get in the car, start the engine, engage reverse and pull out in front of you, and you were aware of her not being in the car, and then of her reversing hard towards you. It strikes me as being at least possible to have been aware of the bits inbetween and thereby anticipate the event.

lost_in_thought

Il Principe wrote:

biondino wrote:

I thought this thread was an homage to "Psycho".

I was surprised to see the author wasn't LiT.

Hey, my Mother may be descended from convicts, but she's not remotely murderous.

Porgy, sounds like she was an @rse. I think that some mothers have a biological episode once they've had kids that massively reduces their spatial awareness - the school run mum is a menace.

Porgy

Always Tyred wrote:

Porgy wrote:

I see what you're doing but I don;t care

Don't be so touchy - it was a fair question.

Unless she gets into the car like Batman, something's not quite right with the time line, but look, it was her fault, absolutely.

What I'm trying to ascertain is if there is any scope for reducing your odds of being in the right, but in an accident. I've been doored in the past. The person who did it was in the wrong, I was in the right and I had the insurance payout to show for it. But I learned from the event and I'd avoid it now. See what I'm getting at?

I wasn't there - you may have done everything possible to avoid the incident. But she had time to get in the car, start the engine, engage reverse and pull out in front of you, and you were aware of her not being in the car, and then of her reversing hard towards you. It strikes me as being at least possible to have been aware of the bits inbetween and thereby anticipate the event.

I probably could have noticed her reversing lights if i was expecting the slightest possiblity that she hadn't seen me and that she was going to whip away like that - but I'm liable to the odd lapse of concentration - and the fact that as an autistic person i can become easily confused when a lot of things are going on around me, i would like better assurance, ie, that other road users are looking out for me while i'm looking out for them. and if i have reason to complain i expect at elast an apology and recognistion that they messed up, not instant deflection of blame back onto me.

I suspect that her reversing lights would have only come on a fraction before she reversed - she was very quick - probably in a hurry to get back to the Jackson coverage on breakfast tv.

I may have even noticed her reversing lights first but that's academic as she was reversing so quickly i would have had little time to react. What I did do was stop and wave my arms about and shouted for her to stop. which she did - just in time.

Is that good enough? I would expect less of an interogations from the police to be honest.

Tempestas

People make mistakes, it's human nature and as a cyclist we commonly have to adjust our riding to avoid accidents. Just be glad you reacted in time and avoided an accident.

School drop off parents are a scourge to society and although their child may be safe they endanger others by parking across no parking areas, CCTV would help immensely but the government would rather stick a speed camera up or stick some lumps in the road to slow you down....

Porgy

Tempestas wrote:

People make mistakes, it's human nature and as a cyclist we commonly have to adjust our riding to avoid accidents. Just be glad you reacted in time and avoided an accident.

The problem is not the mistake but the fact thjat when she's challenged reasonably - with no anger - and no shouting and no swearing - she refuses to accept that she did anything wrong.

The highway code is pretty clear about checking before you move your car - especially rversing.

And she was parked on a bit of the road clearly marked to be kept clear.

That's not a mistake - that's habitual illegality which many will see as minor but can result in injuries or death.

Tempestas

Porgy wrote:

Tempestas wrote:

People make mistakes, it's human nature and as a cyclist we commonly have to adjust our riding to avoid accidents. Just be glad you reacted in time and avoided an accident.

The problem is not the mistake but the fact thjat when she's challenged reasonably - with no anger - and no shouting and no swearing - she refuses to accept that she did anything wrong.

The highway code is pretty clear about checking before you move your car - especially rversing.

And she was parked on a bit of the road clearly marked to be kept clear.

That's not a mistake - that's habitual illegality which many will see as minor but can result in injuries or death.

I don't disagree with you at all, but would you rather move out of the way and avoid a collision or just get hit by the stupid driver?

Challenging a woman after her making a mistake is a school boy error anyway

But yeah, sounds like she over-reacted and that is not on, but unfortunately it is more common nowadays.

Porgy

Always Tyred wrote:

What I'm trying to ascertain is if there is any scope for reducing your odds of being in the right, but in an accident. I've been doored in the past. The person who did it was in the wrong, I was in the right and I had the insurance payout to show for it. But I learned from the event and I'd avoid it now. See what I'm getting at?

You miss my main point - a child crossing at that point - behind what looks like a parked car - would not be thinking about brake lights.

What she did was extremely dangerous - and when I challenged her about what she did - the fact that she got angry and deflected the blame back onto me means she won't be dealing with that point either.

I could go to the school but 10 years ago I when i was taking my little girl to school (on foot) my wife and I tried to address this issue consistently for years but apart from occasional clampdowns by the local police and the school very little changed over about 5 years.

If it happens again I'll take the number plate and details and report it to the school - as I don;t have those details this time there's little point.

Porgy

Tempestas wrote:

I don't disagree with you at all, but would you rather move out of the way and avoid a collision or just get hit by the stupid driver?

ultimately i did what i had to do to avoid getting hit - of course.

I may just go another route from now on, though that will put me on the main road which has its own problems.

Challenging a woman after her making a mistake is a school boy error anyway .

Very true

Tempestas

Peaceful routes are my favourite, less numpties to avoid

always_tyred

Porgy wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

What I'm trying to ascertain is if there is any scope for reducing your odds of being in the right, but in an accident. I've been doored in the past. The person who did it was in the wrong, I was in the right and I had the insurance payout to show for it. But I learned from the event and I'd avoid it now. See what I'm getting at?

You miss my main point - a child crossing at that point - behind what looks like a parked car - would not be thinking about brake lights.

Indeed. No, I get it Porgy and I don't mean to suggest that you were out of line. Her reaction was also pretty gauling I'm sure.

I don't see the need to have a reg to report something to the school to be honest - I'd encourage you to drop them a line about the problem in general. It can't do any harm.

tailwindhome

Never understood why people who aren't leaving their kids to school would be driving/cycling past the school. Is there only one road in London?

Secondly to all those who subscribe to the "school run mum's are a scourge to society" school of thought need to wise up. If this is true why do young men have higher insurance premiums? Also a bit of patience wouldn't go amiss, a majority of school run mum are working mothers who have a days work done before you get your hand off your plonker in the morning.

This perception that school run mums leave their kids to school by car because they are just selfish is nonsense pure and simple.

@Stuey - if you had to slam on the brakes you were going too fast past the school, I know there was probably a 30mph limit, but thats just it a limit not a target

@soulboy

As long as their child is safe, surely thats all that matters

I know you were just being sarcastic but yes, to any parent that is the number one priority, above and beyond anything else.

@L-i-T

I think that some mothers have a biological episode once they've had kids that massively reduces their spatial awareness - the school run mum is a menace."

suprised at you, you don't normally post such nonsense.

@Ride Whenever

cycle into her next time, you'll most likely be fine... her car wont be

What?



Sorry if this post is a bit of a rant but I'm sick of the bullshit posts on this forum maligning the non cycling world.

Sorry I forgot we also hate the cyclists too, especially anyone who hasn't been doing it for years, wears hi viz, hasn't our level of bike handling skills, rides a different bike, wears a helmet, doesn't wear a helmet etc etc etc..




(That's been waiting to come out for a long time)

And stop calling people Numpties

fungus_the_muffin_man

Soul Boy wrote:

Another well reasoned argument, got to love it.

As long as their child is safe, surely thats all that matters :?

EXACTLY!

Will someone please think of the poor children

Porgy

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Never understood why people who aren't leaving their kids to school would be driving/cycling past the school. Is there only one road in London?

Let me see - I live in a cul de sac - railway to the south - Bexleyheath and a 5 mile detour to the east - 1/3 of a mile detour and major road to the south.

I haven't got much choice to be honest - plus a lot of them seem to think double parking right outside my house is ok - so I can't avoid it.

Oh - and this road is part of the London Cycle Network - so there's quite a few cyclists going past it as it's marked on the cycle maps, and signs point people twoards it. And unless someone puts up a big sign saying school this way keep out - cyclists will continue to go past it. :roll:

always_tyred

Yes - I pass two, no, three schools on my way to work. I would be able to hike across a field and a railway line to avoid one, take a dual carriageway to avoid the second (which would take me past a fourth, but I'd have to avoid that too I guess) and divert away from a bike route to avoid the third. It would also not be possible to go to the shops next to the third at any time the kid might be dropped off or collected.

I would also not be able to go home, apart from at weekends, since I live next to a school.

Come on now, don't post that and complain about nonsense being posted Wheezy!!

Tempestas

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Never understood why people who aren't leaving their kids to school would be driving/cycling past the school. Is there only one road in London?

Secondly to all those who subscribe to the "school run mum's are a scourge to society" school of thought need to wise up. If this is true why do young men have higher insurance premiums? Also a bit of patience wouldn't go amiss, a majority of school run mum are working mothers who have a days work done before you get your hand off your plonker in the morning.

This perception that school run mums leave their kids to school by car because they are just selfish is nonsense pure and simple.

And stop calling people Numpties

I don't live in London thankfully, Schools also tend to be everywhere in towns and I ride past about 5 on my way in, unavoidable unfortunately, and why should I change my legal route to solve someone else's illegal behaviour?

I actually said school run parents are a scourge to society and probably should not have generalised, not all are bad but the usual ones that stop every morning and block roads are a scourge on society, how's that? they flounce the law to save seconds and this is not acceptable, they should leave more time if they are concerned for their childs and other peoples childrens safety

Numpties is a polite word to describe some people, this is a forum with young users after all