Shocking Piece of Driving ...

dee4life2005

Just had this on my facebook feed. Anyone else seen it yet?
I've seen loads of poor overtaking in my 4.5 years of cycling ... but this is a new one on me ... and reminds me of the video of the guy using the cycle path to overtake some cyclists on the road, that was doing the rounds a few months ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_TxH0IEr6Y

thanksfully there was no pedestrians using the pavement.

andcp

Know the road, and if the cyclist had 'only' been in the secondary position (or even in the gutter) the driver would not have been able to pass safely. Please tell me this has been reported?

kingstongraham

Holy crap

dee4life2005

According to the comments, the footage was passed on to the local council safety guy ... and the police. Don't know what they made of it, hopefully taking it seriously.

Briggo

2 sides to the story?

Was the cyclist holier than thou at the time prior to the video captures...

He's all the way to the right of the lane to stop any chance of overtaking, then moves to the left when he sees the car undertaking using his mirrors. Was the cyclist purposefully blocking the driver prior, can't tell but I wouldn't entirely judge the whole situation on 24secs of biased video.

Agreed the car shouldn't have undertaken like that, pure stupidity but theres usually a reason someone is driven to do something like that.

bobmcstuff

Briggo wrote:

2 sides to the story?

Was the cyclist holier than thou at the time prior to the video captures...

He's all the way to the right of the lane to stop any chance of overtaking, then moves to the left when he sees the car undertaking using his mirrors. Was the cyclist purposefully blocking the driver prior, can't tell but I wouldn't entirely judge the whole situation on 24secs of biased video.

Agreed the car shouldn't have undertaken like that, pure stupidity but theres usually a reason someone is driven to do something like that.

According to the posters comments, "FM64 ZMO tailgates on the double white line corner which is why I'm keeping wide. Oncoming traffic frequently straddles the white line which is why I'm holding my lane."

So he was in the primary position ("deliberately blocking" presumably) due to the fact it is a blind double white line corner. All totally reasonable but you can see why a driver might be frustrated - that doesn't excuse driving up the pavement though!

Personally I'd not be riding such a silly wide and low thing on the roads anyway, especially not climbs like that (i.e., busy and fairly narrow/windy) but that's another matter...

paul_onabike

Briggo wrote:

2 sides to the story?

Was the cyclist holier than thou at the time prior to the video captures...

He's all the way to the right of the lane to stop any chance of overtaking, then moves to the left when he sees the car undertaking using his mirrors. Was the cyclist purposefully blocking the driver prior, can't tell but I wouldn't entirely judge the whole situation on 24secs of biased video.

Agreed the car shouldn't have undertaken like that, pure stupidity but theres usually a reason someone is driven to do something like that.

The guy's ride is on a well known ride logging site. He has just come across Swarkestone bridge - difficult to overtake there. Then he went up the hill into Stanton at less than 7 mph, virtually impossible to overtake there. The next bit of road leading up to the point of the overtake is a twisty little bit of road also. I would think that there may be quite a few cars behind him at the time the car overtook, and they would have been there for a few minutes. There is no evidence of him stopping to let traffic past anywhere after the bridge and hill.

These HPV's are more difficult to overtake than cyclists as they use a lot of the carriageway, they have to, for their own safety.

If it is the chap who I have seen previously in the area, then he also has a rear facing camera - Not posted that video though?

cougie

So possibly a shocking piece of cycling too?

letap73

I live near where that incident took place and if thats the guy who I think it is then that guy seriously and deliberately in my opinion winds drivers up - this is spoken as a cyclist who has encountered said fellow "cycling" the opposite way.

cougie

Its just rude to let congestion build up behind - just like tractors pull over to let traffic past - why wouldnt he? I do it in the lanes.

markhewitt1978

So both here and on reddit everyone is blaming the cyclist for having the temerity of using the road. You couldn't make it up.

rick_chasey

The world was better before mass small portable cameras.

kingstongraham

How does any of that make it even vaguely excusable for the driver to drive on a pavement on a blind bend?

fenix

Has anyone actually said that ? I think the driving is ridiculously dangerous.

Even if the cycling is bad (and it's hard to say from what we see here) I can't excuse the driving and I hope action is taken against the driver.

keef66

I don't for a moment believe that anyone is trying to excuse the appalling driving, but we're speculating whether the chap in the pedal powered thing could have contributed to the situation by not taking an opportunity to pull over and let a stream of traffic past. One man's roadcraft and assertive adoption of primary position, while entirely legal, can appear to an impatient driver to be a deliberate attempt to obstruct the traffic.

If I was in that kind of hpv (what exactly is it??) and could only crawl slowly up hills I'd be carefully choosing routes to avoid traffic.

bianchimoon

markhewitt1978 wrote:

So both here and on reddit everyone is blaming the cyclist for having the temerity of using the road. You couldn't make it up.

even cyclists are capable of shoot irresponsible riding

keef66

On my way to work I often encounter an old chap in a recumbent with a flamboyantly large DIY windscreen. The B roads are straight and wide enough to safely pass him in the car, but I have once or twice found him on the A14. This is at rush hour around Cambridge, and the traffic is a dangerous mix of dozy / irritable commuters and sleep deprived foreign lorry drivers not long off the ferry at Felixstowe, and I honestly think he has no idea just how much peril he is in :shock:

Briggo

KingstonGraham wrote:

How does any of that make it even vaguely excusable for the driver to drive on a pavement on a blind bend?

You should learn to read.

kingstongraham

Briggo wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

How does any of that make it even vaguely excusable for the driver to drive on a pavement on a blind bend?

You should learn to read.

What does that mean?

bianchimoon

KingstonGraham wrote:

Briggo wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

How does any of that make it even vaguely excusable for the driver to drive on a pavement on a blind bend?

You should learn to read.

What does that mean?

is that irony?

kingstongraham

bianchimoon wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

Briggo wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

How does any of that make it even vaguely excusable for the driver to drive on a pavement on a blind bend?

You should learn to read.

What does that mean?

is that irony?

It's an attempt at a joke.

bianchimoon

KingstonGraham wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

Briggo wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

How does any of that make it even vaguely excusable for the driver to drive on a pavement on a blind bend?

You should learn to read.

What does that mean?

is that irony?

It's an attempt at a joke.

Briggo

KingstonGraham wrote:

It's an attempt at a joke.

You tried, bless.

kingstongraham

Briggo wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

It's an attempt at a joke.

You tried, bless.

Just re-read your earlier post, and apparently the driver was "driven" to do it by what the cyclist did. That's the bit of justification I objected to.

Hope that helps, chuck.

markhewitt1978

bianchimoon wrote:

even cyclists are capable of shoot irresponsible riding

What? Like cycling up a hill? What are you on?

bianchimoon

markhewitt1978 wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

even cyclists are capable of shoot irresponsible riding

What? Like cycling up a hill? What are you on?

a chair, thanks for asking, what are you on a high horse?

markhewitt1978

So you think someone cycling along a road is irresponsible? I've stumbled into the idiot drivers forum?

bianchimoon

markhewitt1978 wrote:

So you think someone cycling along a road is irresponsible? I've stumbled into the idiot drivers forum?

first of all, nothing excuses the drivers behaviour, my initial comment was in response to

everyone is blaming the cyclist for having the temerity of using the road

If you think his cycling and road positioning are beyond reproach after watching that video, and call people "idiot drivers' for disagreeing with you, you are indeed on the wrong forum, the cyclistscandonowrong.com forum is over there >>

markhewitt1978

There's oncoming traffic, the cyclist is taking a primary position - because overtaking would be impossible at that moment. The car drives on the pavement. Yet the cyclist is at fault! LMAO. It truly astounds me that even on a cycling forum *everything* is twisted to be the cyclists fault. What hope is there outside the cycling community when someone riding perfectly reasonably gets blamed.

thomasmorris

markhewitt1978 wrote:

So you think someone cycling along a road is irresponsible? I've stumbled into the idiot drivers forum?

The driving in the video is appalling. It doesn't matter what the cyclist was doing, nothing can excuse that.

I know the point of the video is the bad driving, and everyone excepts that. However, driving like this does gain some sympathy on many news sites, so it's worth discussing why.

The cycle is going very slow. A few other posters have said they know of the rider, and can understand the drivers frustration (albeit not their actions). If he is regularly riding on the same road at 7 mph, where there are few overtaking opportunities and building up traffic behind him.

Maybe a lot of the comments under these news sites are born out of this same frustration?

I think if you're backing up a queue of traffic the responsible thing to do is to pull over and let the traffic past. Yes, cars should more patient, and yes you are perfectly entitled to be there. But, it takes very little effort for a cyclist to diffuse that frustration and build a bit of good will.

Ultimately, some decent cycle infrastructure would be a lot of help on these roads. Unfortunately, it's easier for councils to put in cycle lanes on wider roads, where there is already space to pass. Where they're needed is on busy A and B roads which are twisty with few overtaking opportunities.

bianchimoon

markhewitt1978 wrote:

There's oncoming traffic, the cyclist is taking a primary position - because overtaking would be impossible at that moment. The car drives on the pavement. Yet the cyclist is at fault! LMAO. It truly astounds me that even on a cycling forum *everything* is twisted to be the cyclists fault. What hope is there outside the cycling community when someone riding perfectly reasonably gets blamed.

You see things very black and white don't you, NOBODY has blamed the cyclists for the driver, driving on the pavement, people have commented on that rider and that he may have a reputation for winding motorists up, that is not primary position, it's a position you take when turning right