So nearly died this morning?

NITR8s

So left for work this morning and decieded to take the old peugeot with mudgaurds as was raining(wise choice, not for staying dry but for staying alive).

Went on my way and approached junction to turn right. Noticed recycling lorry was waiting to turn right into the road I am coming from but as it is a two lane i deciede to stop in the middle of my lane waiting to turn right giving the recycling lorry a lane and half to turn.

After waiting for about a minute the traffic clears up and the recycling lorry starts to turn, however he cuts across my lane about a foot away from me and the side of the of the lorry is getting closer and closer as he turns. Realising he is gonna squash me, I shout the F word and try to pull the bike and my self to the left and avoid going under his rear wheels. (This bike has no clip ins so was able to move quite quickly.) The lorry still hits the side of my bike throwing it to the floor, but as I had trainers and no clip ins I managed to stay up.

At this point the driver stops the lorry and leans his head out the conversation goes like this.

Driver: "Its because of the turning circle".
Me: "That doesnt mean you can kill me"
Driver: "I didnt realise you where so far accross"
Me: "Im not, I am in the middle of the correct lane waiting to turn right and I am not even moving".
Driver: No response
Me: "Please can I have your name"
Driver: "Daniel Spate" (I know I have named him, but I dont care)

Basically if I had chosen my bike with clip in pedals, i wouldnt be posting this message on here now.

I have called the council and I am waiting for a manager of the crew to contact me, they have advised that they are taking it serious and need to fully investigate what has happened.

MountainMonster

You would not have died. It is a true shame that this happened, hopefully you will report him to the council?

NITR8s

MountainMonster wrote:

You would not have died.

What if a lorrys wheels ran me over? Your right I might have been lucky and just lost my legs?

slowbike

MountainMonster wrote:

You would not have died. It is a true shame that this happened, hopefully you will report him to the police?

Corrected that for you ...
Its a traffic matter and if the driver cannot reliably work out his turning circle and where he's going to cut across lanes then he's an accident waiting to happen.
I think we can all accept that not all vehicles can turn in the lanes that are marked - especially buses and lorries - but that's why they need special licences to drive them - because they are different to your usual car ...

Pituophis

MountainMonster wrote:

You would not have died. It is a true shame that this happened, hopefully you will report him to the council?

How do you know he would not have died? Have you been run over by a lot of lorries, to know that as fact? :shock:

stueyboy

Glad you're OK. I suspect if you had been in a car, he would have taken more care and not have used that bullsh!t excuse if he had crossed the line either

NITR8s

Just spoke to manager who apologied and advised that this will be investigated when the driver returns and they will follow thier disaplinary action. Asked for a written applogoy from driver, acknowleding what he has done. He has advised that he will give me update on situation following investigation.

I would report to police but no witnesses and no damage so police wouldnt do anything other than record it.

snowley

Glad you're ok and seem to be getting a reasonable response from the council.

Was there any damage to the bike at all? If so, definitely worth a claim.

And the comment above is not necessary!

danlikesbikes

NITR8s wrote:

I would report to police but no witnesses and no damage so police wouldnt do anything other than record it.

But in recording the incident you are doing the right thing. Whilst it might seem trivial & you were not injured, what happens if in a weeks time you are at the same junction and see the same vehicle (it was your commute to work) that clips another cyclist, or you see another incident along that road. If gives the police something to work with & the more incidents that are reported the more of a push you have when it comes to getting changes made to junctions & road layouts in your local area.

May sound a bit OTT but you will be doing yourself & other road users good by getting the info logged.

slowbike

Danlikesbikes wrote:

NITR8s wrote:

I would report to police but no witnesses and no damage so police wouldnt do anything other than record it.

But in recording the incident you are doing the right thing. Whilst it might seem trivial & you were not injured, what happens if in a weeks time you are at the same junction and see the same vehicle (it was your commute to work) that clips another cyclist, or you see another incident along that road. If gives the police something to work with & the more incidents that are reported the more of a push you have when it comes to getting changes made to junctions & road layouts in your local area.

May sound a bit OTT but you will be doing yourself & other road users good by getting the info logged.

Or it may be the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened at that junction/with that driver - and he can now be charged with driving without due care and attention

danlikesbikes

Slowbike wrote:

Or it may be the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened at that junction/with that driver - and he can now be charged with driving without due care and attention

Yep works that way too.

bazzer2

Write everything down on paper - do it now, while it's fresh in your mind. Do this first.

Make an appointment with your GP. Do this just after writing the incident down. (Even if you are 'just shaken up' it's a paraphrase for 'shock' and I'd still advise you to go see your GP)

Is your bike damaged? If so, I'd be calling the fuzz and telling them all about it. Just get a reference number out of them if nothing else. I'm assuming you're not injured in any way other than mentally, so then approach the company who employed the driver and ask for their insurance details. Claim etc.

If it's not damaged and you really are alright (GP said so...) then just go for a stern telling off of the driver.

I had a scrape with a driver for NFT Distribution (they're agency workers for Morrisons in the South West) and I kicked up a hell of a stink, because the driver told me to 'F off' when I asked if he'd actually seen me. I, you, or anyone else do not have to put up with morons' attitudes when using the roads. He was out of order and you will want him disciplined.

Makes me get proper ranty when professional drivers get away with being slobs without considering their consequences.

bazzer2

oh, and screen shot the zoomed in part of the strava ride, quite clearly shows you moving away from the junction where it happened.

fitnesswontlie

Doesn't matter whether he would have died or not it's a disgrace that the driver is even allowed on the road when he can't control his vehicle in the correct way. Your lucky dude and it's good to see you come away from it ok but that doesn't make this matter any less serious i hope he get re trained on his vehicle and if he cant drive better he needs to go work in a shop the moron.

I hate riding in trainers clip ons for life

Ed_tron

Danlikesbikes wrote:

NITR8s wrote:

I would report to police but no witnesses and no damage so police wouldnt do anything other than record it.

But in recording the incident you are doing the right thing. Whilst it might seem trivial & you were not injured, what happens if in a weeks time you are at the same junction and see the same vehicle (it was your commute to work) that clips another cyclist, or you see another incident along that road. If gives the police something to work with & the more incidents that are reported the more of a push you have when it comes to getting changes made to junctions & road layouts in your local area.

May sound a bit OTT but you will be doing yourself & other road users good by getting the info logged.

Yep +1 to this.

Someone threw a large McDonalds milkshake at me from a car when i was on my bike. From a car going in the opposite direction, so was travelling quite fast. I fell off and was unable to get the plates or even what kind of car it was. But I reported it as I wanted it to be logged as an incident. Public policy and policing is often based on stats and trends, so its good to get a clearer picture of the kind of cr@p that goes on.

NITR8s

Spoke to Police, aparently I have to physically go into local police station to report it. Cant see me finding the time to do that.

I wish I had a helmet cam, I could be on the next "war on britans roads 2"!

I know riding in trainers on flat pedals is horrible, especially at high cadence. I cant count the amount of times my feet slipped off the pedals. The strange thing is that today was the fastest commute I have ever done. And it is was on my old 10 speed 10 ton steel bike, with flat pedals and i got hit by a lorry and in the rain. Make Sense of that?

danlikesbikes

Could you not go and do it in your lunch hour? Understand if you can't but you never know the driver might have a record or you could be making that for him & if he does it again the police would have known about the poor driving.

Glad your OK though BTW

goonz

Glad you are ok, have you thought of looking for any cctv cameras that cover that area? Could possibly assist you...

nickel

Glad you're ok, could have been so much worse! I live in wellington and know that junction well, its horrible, especially at rush hour! As Goonz says, the world's end doesn't have any CCTV by any chance?

bazzer2

NITR8s wrote:

Spoke to Police, aparently I have to physically go into local police station to report it. Cant see me finding the time to do that.

Find the time, seriously. I use the same roads you do and I'm sick to the back teeth of the cr*p standard of driving I have to avoid from people who I've previously defended as 'professionals'.

Examples:
Local oil delivery firm (Watson) tanker going round a corner on three wheels as the driver was so interested in making the lights he seemingly forgot that a half full vessel of highly flammable fuel might cause instability. I reported to the fuzz, they took the name of the company, the time, direction of travel and the number plate. I never got a reference, as it wasn't a crime, but I was happy to have it logged.

Non- articulated harcore & stone delivery truck (Towens?) rounding a corner and delivering most of the top three feet of it's load to the middle of the opposite carriageway. Actually caved in a car bonnet going the other way. The fat oik "driving" was arguing with a policeman about who should be brushing all the debris up afterwards too.