Near miss this morning

Mike400

Went a different route to work this morning, coming down a very long steep downhill stretch. Im in the empty bus lane, feeling smug as im passing a huge line of stationary traffic at about 28mph (I did say its steep!!)

Woman then decides shes too important to wait, and pulls into the bus lane in front of me.

suddenly she spots me and must have panicked as she just stopped dead in front of me. Now had she given it some right foot she probably could have *just* made it clear of me....

Thankfully my discs didnt let me down, but I very nearly fell off / hit her car in my attempt to stop in no distance

I then go from horror to anger as she speeds off without so much as a wave. caught up with her and gave her a ton of abuse such was my anger but she sped off again.

Quite apart from the fact that I dont drive my car in bus lanes, If im in a stationary row of traffic and planning to change lanes I USE MY F**KING EYES

Rant over. I guess I should have seen it coming, especially travelling at that speed beside a lane of stationary traffic. Besides I havent had any near misses in weeks so I guess it was meant to happen

boneyjoe

Horrid stuff. After no incidents for about 2 years, I had 3 in about 20mins last week! Van jumped red light, and speeding drivers (a) didn't see me in a roundabout and (b) left hooked me at a junction. All very close shaves. :shock:

Best to be careful. Regardless of who's at fault, it won't matter a jot if you're dead.

BR 1979

Mate, if you're doing 30mph next to stopped traffic then it's going to happen. You need to be thinking "what if".

No offence.

bunter

I think filtering at speed, or any manoeuvre like this is risky, but at 30mph?

Alinshearah

what type of bus where you driving in the bus lane? :twisted:

RedGT

I always have in the back of my mind if I can do above 25mph then the road must be pretty
clear, but on the downside that means open road/lane which = open space for some 4 wheeled reckless c**t to take advantage of. Any way just be thankful you weren't involved in this incident
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23824669-cyclist-fights-for-life-after-being-crushed-by-bus-in-oxford-street.do

fnegroni

RedGT wrote:

I always have in the back of my mind if I can do above 25mph then the road must be pretty
clear, but on the downside that means open road/lane which = open space for some 4 wheeled reckless c**t to take advantage of. Any way just be thankful you weren't involved in this incident
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23824669-cyclist-fights-for-life-after-being-crushed-by-bus-in-oxford-street.do

It seems a terrible error of judgement by the bus driver: avoiding hitting a car by putting pedestrians and cyclists at risk is stupid.
A car has metal (and more) to protect its occupants!
A bus driver, driving in a bus lane, should know better than that!

prawny

bunter wrote:

I think filtering at speed, or any manoeuvre like this is risky, but at 30mph?

TBF it's not really filtering is it, I'm always on hyper alert in bus/taxi/bike lanes but what would the silly bint have done if a bus has been going down there at 30+mph?

holybinch

Count her teeth I'd say.

Mike400

I agree it probably is risky, but the bus lane is maybe 2 miles or longer, downhill, and it was hard not to push on a bit, especially as I was on the way to work.

I guess I should have known it was likely to happen, but at the same time I could have easily been driving a bus (as was mentioned)

I didnt consider it filtering, as I had the whole lane to myself and I was cycling down in primary position (i.e. middle of the lane)

Oh and cyclists are permitted to use bus lanes over here (and they are signposted to reflect this)

rjsterry

Been caught like this myself a couple of times by impatient drivers on either side fo stationary traffic, bus lane and normal road. I've come to the conclusion that riding at a dramatically different speed from other road users is always going to increase the chances of this happening - You need to think of your stopping distance in the same way as drivers on a motorway. Particularly in a bus lane, or as has been covered at length before cycle lane. Motorist thought process is (I'm guessing) empty bus lane (grumble) - check for bus - no bus: off we go. Checking for something smaller (cyclist or motorcyclist) doesn't get a look in, especially if you are on their left.

amnezia

BR 1979 wrote:

Mate, if you're doing 30mph next to stopped traffic then it's going to happen. You need to be thinking "what if".

No offence.

+1