Ride buddy wipeout

hambones

It happened last night. My regular ride buddy was over at Highgate Hill doing some hill repeats. I would normally be with him but with the house to myself this week I've had other things to do

He'd just done his first climb and was heading back down following a sporty number. The said car apparently pulled to the left and my mate assumed (wrongly) he was turning left. This, however, was not the case! The car did a U-turn leaving my mate to brake hard but not enough to prevent him slamming into the driver's door. One very battered friend left stricken on the road, thankfully right outside Whittington Hospital A&E!!

He was discharged this afternoon - thankfully no bones broken but lots of bruising and a damaged left knee meaning he's not expecting to be riding again for some considerable time

I wish him the speediest of recoveries and am relieved it wasn't far worse. Bike's a goner of course (carbon frame didn't appreciate the impact, nor did the new Mavic Carbone wheelset!).

bunter

sounds nasty. Who, if anyone, would you say is at fault here? cyclist for making assumptions or driver for not signalling clearly & poor observation?

spasypaddy

glad hes alright mate, glad you werent with him

merkin

I would say the driver for failing to check properly before , effectively, turning right. If however he was indicating right then the cyclist would have to shoulder some, or all, of the blame for overtaking when it is not safe. I always try to make sure I indicate when driving as all vehicles have blind spots and in the real world we all make mistakes so if I fail to spot someone at least there is some warning of my actions.
Glad he is not more seriously hurt, must have given him an awful fright.

gb155

Gotta be the driver for turning into oncoming traffic !

zanes

merkin wrote:

I would say the driver for failing to check properly before , effectively, turning right. If however he was indicating right then the cyclist would have to shoulder some, or all, of the blame for overtaking when it is not safe. I always try to make sure I indicate when driving as all vehicles have blind spots and in the real world we all make mistakes so if I fail to spot someone at least there is some warning of my actions.

+1. Hope your buddy heals well. By the sounds of it the driver legged it?

woodford2barbican

no signals? motorist's fault - and he obv did not use his mirrors first on moving left or on swinging right. motorist's fault again.

ConsciousPilot

Seen that sort of maneouvre a few times. I call it a "lorry turn"

xraymtb

woodford2barbican wrote:

no signals? motorist's fault - and he obv did not use his mirrors first on moving left or on swinging right. motorist's fault again.

Partly depends on the width of the road though?

Unless there are two lanes on your side and the driver was in the left lane, then overtaking on the right without knowing for certain the other cars intentions isnt a very smart move. He could have been moving left to avoid something in the road or slowing down due to an accident ahead. If the road was two lanes (or parked cars and a lane) and the driver moved into the left and slowed down then passing in the outer lane would be fine.

Granted the car should have indicated before turning right but the vehicle behind always has to take responsibility for keeping a safe distance to the vehicle in front and overtaking in a safe manner.