Fcuk all I can do about it . .
petemadoc
Posts: 2,331
Another thread about idiot drivers I'm afraid.
Cycling along 2 a brest on wide country lane today with hardly any traffic. A landrover comes up behind us beeping aggressively. I held my road position on the outside as I didn't want him overtaking me with traffic coming in the other direction. He then came longside hitting me with his wing mirror, then sped up and hit my hip with his trailer. I managed to stay on the bike but I've got a massive bruise on my hip and will probably be off the bike for a week.
Only caught the first part of his reg cos I didn't have my glasses on. Reported it to the police but I doubt they give a toss and nothing will come of it. :evil:
Cycling along 2 a brest on wide country lane today with hardly any traffic. A landrover comes up behind us beeping aggressively. I held my road position on the outside as I didn't want him overtaking me with traffic coming in the other direction. He then came longside hitting me with his wing mirror, then sped up and hit my hip with his trailer. I managed to stay on the bike but I've got a massive bruise on my hip and will probably be off the bike for a week.
Only caught the first part of his reg cos I didn't have my glasses on. Reported it to the police but I doubt they give a toss and nothing will come of it. :evil:
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Comments
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Why do you doubt the police give a toss? :?0
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The guy in the police station wrote down the details on a scrap piece of paper and kept saying
if we create an incident and if we need to get in touch.
Just felt like a waste of time. Hopefully they will prove me wrong.0 -
Why didn't you let him pass? If that was me I'd have just slowed and let him go on his merry way. If he wants to overtake into oncoming that's his/her business. I've learnt its better not to take chances with nob head drivers, sometimes discretion is the better part etc as ligget and sherwen say. Hope you're not too rattled by it.The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Cleat Eastwood wrote:Why didn't you let him pass? If that was me I'd have just slowed and let him go on his merry way. If he wants to overtake into oncoming that's his/her business. I've learnt its better not to take chances with nob head drivers, sometimes discretion is the better part etc as ligget and sherwen say. Hope you're not too rattled by it.
Lesson learnt!0 -
Riding two abreast on any road and refusing to pull in is very likely to get on somebody's tits. Guy's still a knob but your injury could likely have been avoided. Hope you're back on the bike soon.0
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jim453 wrote:Riding two abreast on any road and refusing to pull in is very likely to get on somebody's tits. Guy's still a knob but your injury could likely have been avoided. Hope you're back on the bike soon.
Don't worry I'll be pulling in much faster from now on. I've been trying to hold a better road position recently to stop drivers attempting silly overtaking and it's been working well . . up until now that is. I generally ride in the middle of the lane which stops drivers squeezing past you but then you get pricks like this who are just aggressive.0 -
It's country roads that I get most problems on and that's what most roads are round here.
Ride at the side and cars don't slow down and speed past with at 60+mph often with oncoming traffic. Ride in the middle (or two a brest) and the 1 in 500 driver will do something stupid.
I'm half thinking of just avoiding these roads alltogether0 -
Fairly obvious you should allow drivers to pass, especially on twisty country lanes. Would annoy me too (I don't drive)Say... That's a nice bike..
Trax T700 with Lew Racing Pro VT-1 ;-)0 -
Father Jack wrote:Fairly obvious you should allow drivers to pass, especially on twisty country lanes. Would annoy me too (I don't drive)
Oh so it's ok then. Let's all go around trying to run people down. In fact why not just run over pedestrians too, they're fcuking annoying sometimes.0 -
Just blame the Welsh
Say... That's a nice bike..
Trax T700 with Lew Racing Pro VT-1 ;-)0 -
Father Jack wrote:Just blame the Welsh
It just so happens that it was a Welsh farmer. Probably didn't get his way with his favourite sheep last night
Baaa Baaa :roll:
I'll get my coat0 -
Some of the roads i train on round here are in piss poor condition and tend to ride out of the gutter. I know this is not ideal and may be viewed a tad dangerous but who's going to pay for my trashed rims and or tyres. Been fairly lucky and only got abuse of the odd boy racer0
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PeteMadoc wrote:Only caught the first part of his reg cos I didn't have my glasses on. Reported it to the police but I doubt they give a toss and nothing will come of it. :evil:
The police have available a new computer system that allows the tracing of details using only part of the reg number.
In such a case as yours, and seen as you had a witness at your side, I would have perhaps contacted the police in writing; so if you phoned there is a case for following up your call with something in writing.
Do not be surprised if local plod does not know that riding two abrest is perfectly legal in the correct circumstances. Meaning ... spell it out to them quoting the Highway Code and providing photographs of the section of road you were travelling along. Also give contact details of your chum and photographs of your injuries and damage to bike.
No matter what you were doing on that road it does not give a car driver an excuse for that behaviour.
The next pair of cyclists riding two abrest he might end up killing.0 -
Fairly obvious you should allow drivers to pass, especially on twisty country lanes. Would annoy me too (I don't drive)
No it's not. Especially on twisty country lanes.
Should cars push past horses too? Maybe tractors should get out of their way as they can be slower than bikes?
It is up to the car driver to find a safe place to over take, if there isn't once at that part of the road then they wait for one.
It happens in most other countries in Europe so why not the UK?0 -
You don't have the right to ride two abreast. iirc the highway code allows it where safe to do so. Granted he shouldn't have driven so close to you and he is definitely at fault for that but you don't have the right to block the road either
Highway code
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never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.
Cyclist expect to be treated fairly so they should return the favour to other road users and abide by the rules.
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Cashback on wiggle,CRC,evans follow the link
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/MTBkarl0 -
never ride more than two abreast,
So they were ok then. Two abreast.
What does the highway code say about overtaking a cyclist and on-coming traffic?
The OP does have a right to use the road without other road users driving dangerously and risking him injury, for the sake of a few seconds.
All road users have a right to be there. Car drivers do not have more rights than a cyclist and if it is not safe to pass then they should wait until it is safe to do so. That could be when the OP sees he is waiting and pulls in at a safe overtaking point, or the driver waits until the other lane is clear and it is safe to pass.
As I said before, it works perfectly well in mainland Europe so why not on UK roads?0 -
By don't have the right to ride two abreast I meant you cant do it everywhere all the time.
From my experience of cycling in France drivers generally seem to have a better attitude towards cyclists.
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Cashback on wiggle,CRC,evans follow the link
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/MTBkarl0 -
plankton wrote:Fairly obvious you should allow drivers to pass, especially on twisty country lanes. Would annoy me too (I don't drive)
No it's not. Especially on twisty country lanes.
Should cars push past horses too? Maybe tractors should get out of their way as they can be slower than bikes?
It is up to the car driver to find a safe place to over take, if there isn't once at that part of the road then they wait for one.
It happens in most other countries in Europe so why not the UK?
It works both ways pal, let others pass. And cars give you room.
Can't expect to hog the road for yourself, letting cars trundle along at 20mph whilst you're cycling along with no thoughts but your own.
Exactly the same as a granny driving at 20mph everywhere causing tailbacks.Say... That's a nice bike..
Trax T700 with Lew Racing Pro VT-1 ;-)0 -
Overtaking cyclists into oncoming is totally safe, you can always just pull in on them if you have to :twisted:Cleat Eastwood wrote:If he wants to overtake into oncoming that's his/her business.
Seriously, the trouble with these situations is that what is legally allowed may not be the safest thing to do, and whatever you choose to do may have different risks - which you can't always predict, e.g. they may depend on how aggressive, confident, impatient a driver is, which you can't really tell beforehand.
I had a close shave today when WVM came past fast downhill on a country road on my commute - I never heard him & at that moment I was avoiding a large pothole...
Must have been about 6" from his wing mirror: and as I understand it, it would technically have been his fault for not allowing wobble room & overtaking when not safe to do so, but that's not going to be much comfort to your family is it?
Much as I would like all drivers to respect cyclists, I personally value my life & health more than my rights.0 -
PeteMadoc wrote:Only caught the first part of his reg cos I didn't have my glasses on. Reported it to the police but I doubt they give a toss and nothing will come of it. :evil:
Does the minimum requriement for eye sight not apply to cyclists then? I'd not be mentioning that again if I were you!
If they do find him, he should get done for leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report to police. Can't you pop back and ask how they are getting on with their enquiries?0 -
Does the minimum requriement for eye sight not apply to cyclists then?
No. It only applies to a person driving "a motor vehicle".0 -
Father Jack wrote:plankton wrote:Fairly obvious you should allow drivers to pass, especially on twisty country lanes. Would annoy me too (I don't drive)
No it's not. Especially on twisty country lanes.
Should cars push past horses too? Maybe tractors should get out of their way as they can be slower than bikes?
It is up to the car driver to find a safe place to over take, if there isn't once at that part of the road then they wait for one.
It happens in most other countries in Europe so why not the UK?
It works both ways pal, let others pass. And cars give you room.
Can't expect to hog the road for yourself, letting cars trundle along at 20mph whilst you're cycling along with no thoughts but your own.
Exactly the same as a granny driving at 20mph everywhere causing tailbacks.
Can't agree with you Father Jack. The op stated that he stayed two abreast in order to stop the vehicle from trying to overtake into oncoming traffic. If they had singled out and the land rover had tried to overtake, the odds are that the oncoming traffic would have forced him to move in on the cyclists and potentially kill them. He was riding defensively, and from the description of the situation, he was doing the right thing. The motorist was totally in the wrong . IMHO the motorist should be prosecuted for dangerous driving.
I speak as a sales agent who spends a lot of time driving between appointments in rural Cumbria and Yorkshire, as well as a cyclist who puts all my miles in on rural roads.0 -
Was going to write a lengthy post, but am just going to say I think you should put this in writing ASAP, get the number of the desk jockey who took the initial report, and pursue it to the nth degree. There's just no way the Police should avoid dealing with such incidents, especially when you have a witness with you.0
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If someone had done that to me I'd pursue it as far as I could - if I had the number I would be very tempted to trace him myself and see what he had to say about it face to face.
Like most regular cyclists a bit of abuse from motorists is water off a ducks back but actually hitting you with a vehicle is a step too far.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0 -
jim453 wrote:Riding two abreast on any road and refusing to pull in is very likely to get on somebody's tits. Guy's still a knob but your injury could likely have been avoided. Hope you're back on the bike soon.
"Guy's still a knob" doesn't begin to describe it - he struck the cyclist twice with his vehicle, CAUSING INJURY. The police SHOULD give a toss - the man should be arrested.0 -
First post he says it's a wide country lane with hardly any traffic. If you can't ride 2 abreast on a road like that then you can't ride 2 abreast anywhere. The car should have waited - how long would it have delayed him - all of 5-10 seconds ? If cars want uninterrupted progress then they should ride a motorbike ! The reason a lot of these cars can't get past is because they are so wide anyway - your average supermini now is about as wide as a family estate from 30-40 years ago and this guy was in a large vehicle with a trailer - he's got to expect to slow down now and again.
Yes if you are causing a tailback you single out - I've actually pulled off the road on a couple of occasions where an HGC couldn't pass me and traffic was starting to build up behind - but I've be blowed if I'm going to single out every single time a car has to ease off the accelerator.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0 -
I feel quite frustrated about this really. Just read the latest entry on bike radar about beginners guide to riding in traffic and I quote
"The ‘primary’ riding position is in the middle of the left-hand lane and should be used to emphasise your presence in the road to drivers behind, or to stop them overtaking where it isn’t safe."
This guy deliberately hit me with his vehicle because I didn't move over, he knew he was pulling a trailer that was wider than his landrover and tried to hit me with it successfully, I didn't see the trailer until it hit me. I am actually quite lucky to be alive! It could have ended with me being knocked off and under the wheels of the trailer.
I think I'm gonna go back to the cop station and try to pursue it. I just wish I knew where this twat lived.0 -
LOL
if you write the word 't w a t' on a post it changes it to 'fool'
Ah, well at least that made me laugh! Apologies about my language on this thread btw. I'm just really p1ssed off about it.0 -
TBH Pete I agree with you too.
Theres a legal expectation on the owner/driver of the vehicle behind to make sure overtakes are safe and that they read the road correctly. It is not the overtakee's responsibility to allow overtakes, it is always the person behind.
The fact that you were in two abreast is neither here nor there. You, as two cyclists are no wider or faster than a tractor on most country roads. The fact that he sounded the horn demonstrates in my mind that he premedatated his actions and that the close overtake, nay deliberate ramming, was a revenge act.
My Brother was the vicitm of a deliberate ramming yesterday (on an empty 30mph dual carriageway) and as a result I'm giving him a camera so he can get evidence should it happen again. He was lucky to escape with just a bruised knuckle.0 -
You are doing the right thing in going back to the police. The incident sounds more like an assault than anything else.
Some people see cyclists as fair game and their life and health as having no significance.0
