Most recent crash folks, are there any lessons left to learn

bompington

So which bit of me exactly is it you're so sorry you didn't see?

This (900 lumen, flashing) bit?


Or was it the reflective piping on the bright red jacket that would have been reflecting the bright clear morning sunshine back at you?

Or was it the nice wide open bus and cycle lane that I was coming down?

Bugger me, the other guy never once asked me if i was all right (a Scot btw, they're all over the place round here)

Thankfully I saw him, & his white van, pulling out in front of me at the junction - well, some helpful person in the traffic queue the other side of the road flashed him out, I registered this and kind of automatically hit the brakes despite not quite believing that he was really going to go. So I had almost stopped when I hit the side of the van, couldn't quite steer it round the back as I had locked up by then.
No bike damage, no serious injuries, no big deal.

Now I know how argumentative you lot can be, so doubtless some of you will tell me it's all my own fault for coming down the bus (& cycle) lane at close to 30 when the traffic was queued up both ways on the road.

And what is bugging me at the moment is that, well, you could well be right; but I can't escape from the logical conclusion that this means that every time you ride past any car, you have to slow down to a crawl because in the end, no matter what you do, some idiot will drive into you.

I take my hat off to all who commute regularly through city traffic; I have a stretch of about 4 miles (Balbeggie through Scone to Perth for those who know the area) at one end of an otherwise delightful rural ride.
Sometimes I'm surprised that casualty rates for cyclists aren''t higher, when you consider just how may idiotic, careless or even just momentarily inattentive drivers you have to get past.

[/moan]

Anonymous

Och, bad luck barraway pal.

ride_whenever

well he's in the wrong, if you'd have been a bus he'd be splatted.

Pross

So I had almost stopped when I hit the side of the van, couldn't quite steer it round the back as I had locked up by then.

Hmmm, you hit the van - I think you're lucky he doesn't sue you

(Joke for anyone he hasn't seen the smileys!!!! :shock: )

Wooliferkins

It's the age old thing of what you look for. To the motorist it's a bus lane, you're not big and red with Reg Varney behind the wheel so he's not looking for you. Eye contact is always good, if they don't have eye contact with you they probably haven't seen you. If you think the moral right will keep you safe I recommend staying indoors, expect the unexpected. If you cant stop or avoid when someone does something stupid you are going too fast. People pulling out, the door prize, day one cycling hazards we all have to cater for. It's the peds stepping out without looking that I cant pre-empt.

bompington

Wooliferkins wrote:

It's the age old thing of what you look for. To the motorist it's a bus lane, you're not big and red with Reg Varney behind the wheel so he's not looking for you. Eye contact is always good, if they don't have eye contact with you they probably haven't seen you. If you think the moral right will keep you safe I recommend staying indoors, expect the unexpected. If you cant stop or avoid when someone does something stupid you are going too fast. People pulling out, the door prize, day one cycling hazards we all have to cater for. It's the peds stepping out without looking that I cant pre-empt.

Exactly. So we've all got to cycle round at 5mph everywhere...

Wooliferkins

No, just ask the question every time you see someone waiting to come out, Has he seen me? What am I going to do if he pulls out?

ride_whenever

from the sounds of things you didn't brake well enough either. The bus lane shouldn't have any leaves, just a little damp so you can just slam on the front brake and pray! Massive rolling endo's tend to slow you pretty quickly.

verloren

Your post reminded me that the most common feeling I have when I'm forced to slam on the brakes is not panic about whether I'll stop, but bewilderment that I may hit someone who lacks the skills to drive a milk float let alone a car/van/bus.

volvicspar

Bugger me, the other guy never once asked me if i was all right (a Scot btw, they're all over the place round here) Wink

Hope there wasn't any expensive damage to the bike

cee

bompington wrote:

Bugger me, the other guy never once asked me if i was all right (a Scot btw, they're all over the place round here)

in perthshire?? nahhh there cant be that many scots left around there surely....

knedlicky

Good luck in bad luck, I’d say, glad to hear no serious damage to man or beast.
What did the van driver have to say? Presumably with all the traffic, he couldn’t drive off.

I had an incident like this in the mid-90s one Sunday morning when there was very little traffic, and I wasn’t in a bus/cycle lane (there wasn’t one) but in the normal roadway lane. I ended up sprawled in a puddle of blood on the road and after checking I was still alive, and seeing if his car was dented (I don’t think so, in trying to weave to the side of him, I clipped the edge of his bumper, but enough to make me fall) the guy drove off, never to be seen or heard of again. The witnesses, two women about 80 years old, didn’t think to take his number as one hurried to a nearby phone box to call an ambulance and the other bravely stood in the road to prevent me being squashed by the next car to come.

alfablue

I fail to see the relevance of him being a Scot!

alfablue

I fail to see the relevance of him being a Scot!

Anonymous

An ethnic majority in Perth. how about that ?

shouldbeinbed

Glad to hear it wasn't as bad. Good anticipation and knowing the unwritten rule that any pillock flashing his lights instantly negates the road rules and anyone elses right of way.

bompington

cee wrote:

bompington wrote:

Bugger me, the other guy never once asked me if i was all right (a Scot btw, they're all over the place round here)

in perthshire?? nahhh there cant be that many scots left around there surely....

And you're from Edinburgh? Pots and kettles anyone?
Once I was chatting with an American at a party and I mentioned that I was at Edinburgh Uni. He said "is that Edinburgh, England?" I hastily corrected him but it didn't take me long to realise he was more or less right.

For the sake of honesty I should perhaps mention here that I am in fact a white settler, but in the course of the last 25 years or so I've more or less gone native.

teagar

Anyone else find that because you're a fair bit faster than your average commuter (due to all that hard training/sunday riding you do) that cars expect you to be 5 metres further back than you actually are?


Eventually you get to a state of mind where poor drivers only register in the subconcious. Having to stop/move/bunny hop or whatever is just so part of it your brain no longer cares who's at fault.

Limburger

I read in a motorcycling magazine many years ago that the reason car drivers don't see you is because your a mosquito. Or something like that.

Something to do with motion camouflage that makes you seem stationary to the eye and only when you are close do you suddenly appear much larger. This is apparently 'looming'.

Its allegedly quite common among predatory animals (Also mosquito based beasts).

You can break motion camouflage by weaving from side to side or something like that.

Its the reason rabbits freeze in headlights. They try to work out what all the light is about but don't realise its moving towards them until they are roadkill.

Then again, to be fooled by motion camouflage you must actually turn your fat neck to look in the direction of the moving object (cyclist) something your garden variety white van man is incapable of.

Pre-emptive D-Lockings for all WVMs!

rake

bompington

rake wrote:

wash your mouth out bompington.you disgust me.did you go to school. :shock:

:!: :?:
Did you go to the pub? and stay there too long?

Anonymous

bompington wrote:

rake wrote:

wash your mouth out bompington.you disgust me.did you go to school. :shock:

:!: :?:
Did you go to the pub? and stay there too long?

Huh ? Who ees thees Rake ? Is he on prescription thick/irrelevant pills?

NWLondoner

Glad your ok

The car driver flashing their lights to let the van through is as bad as the van driver himself!!!

Have they not read the highway code???

mrushton

Had this happen on the commute the other night. A cyclist whipped past me, thro the red lights I was slowing down for and 200m on he had gone into the side of an oncoming car that had been flashed to turn in front of the stationary traffic. The motorists forget about the cycle/bus lane, assuming the motorist who flashed their light is aware of traffic behind them. Couldn't help thinking tho' that if the cyclist had waited with me he wouldn't have took a trip to hospital

rake

Anonymous

rake wrote:

dmclite wrote:

bompington wrote:

rake wrote:

wash your mouth out bompington.you disgust me.did you go to school. :shock:

:!: :?:
Did you go to the pub? and stay there too long?

Huh ? Who ees thees Rake ? Is he on prescription thick/irrelevant pills?

no im naturally thick. the thickest person on here. im trying to glean wisdom and lessons learned from crashing. i havent had a crash so dont know what i doing.

Your grammar is 5hit as well mate. PMSL.

rake

Stewie Griffin

rake wrote:

is thats at surprise.?thats very nasty on someone learning english.

You started it when you asked Bompington if he went to School :? .

Anonymous

Stewie Griffin wrote:

rake wrote:

is thats at surprise.?thats very nasty on someone learning english.

You started it when you asked Bompington if he went to School :? .

Sorry, true though. What is your parent language, my wife says I'm a cunning linguist.

rake

bompington

rake wrote:

Stewie Griffin wrote:

rake wrote:

is thats at surprise.?thats very nasty on someone learning english.

You started it when you asked Bompington if he went to School :? .

it was tongue in cheek. just in a silly mood. bompingtons first post got me laughing.

I was on my way to school when I was knocked off. Errr, glad you find it funny? :?