how many times per month do you avoid a potentially serious accident with a car?

kumate_champ07

tonite I was going up by the central bank towards trinity college and a security mini van pulls up along me and then turns across to make a sharp left turn, the idiot wastalking on his phone and stopped just in time, I hit my brakes.

I went on and looked back and he looked shocked, he then procedes to complete his left turn down a narrow street. I then stopped my bike and went back to follow him down the street, just as I was making my way after him a foreign pedestrian stops and makes a gesture with his hand of someone talking on the phone, he saw the guy too.

the van stopped halfway down the street and I knocked on his window and he rolled it down, I was relatively calm but shocked to see him still talking on his phone. I told him off in a non aggressive manner and and he was lucky I didnt report him. we shook hands and he promised to be more careful.


now Im wondering am is it just me or do all city cyclists experience this regular danger? Ive been knocked down alot the past year and had some lucky escapes, is it a matter of time before I get seriously injured or even killed through no faut of my own??!

for the record I had front and rear lights, high vis jacket and 1 week old tyres with high vis strip that makes them very visible.

Roadtoad

I roar at them about once every 200km of urban/suburban trips, usually to stop an incident becoming serious, or to make them aware of my dissatisfaction. Perhaps I'm occasionally heard, perhaps sometimes the driver realises its not bike-rage, that I might have a point.

Truck and busses get the roar too, with less expectation of being heard.

kumate_champ07

today was the first time I actually went after an offender. what about when cars are stopped in traffic and taking over the cycle lane, I normally go around them to the right, does anyway knock on their window to point out they are obstructing the cyclists lane? some drivers do it out of spite I think

kumate_champ07

Im not sure which direction this thread wil go but but I just want to see how many other cyclists out there are escaping death on a regular basis. I think once a year is too many(thats if you are a safe cyclist obeying the rules of the road and being aware of traffic around you), whats it like in other citys around the world?

greener greene

A taxi turned left across me on Aungier street today, I hit the breaks and pulled left just enough to avoid him. He then rolled down the window and said "no harm done!". Was too startled to tell the f***er off.

Edit: However it's fairly rare I encounter anything seriously dangerous. Usually just pedestrians stepping out without looking.

tomasrojo

If I were close to having a potentially serious accident once a month, (or more!) I'd either change my routes comprehensively or give up cycling.

kumate_champ07

tomasrojo wrote: »

If I were close to having a potentially serious accident once a month, (or more!) I'd either change my routes comprehensively or give up cycling.

It mostly happens in the city centre, actually 99% of my problems are there!
and it doesnt matter if you are doing everything right because someone else can be doing everything wrong.


the only thing I could try to avoid is rush hour traffic

kumate_champ07

a question for those that picked seldom.

do you cycle in the city often? what kind of routes do you use and what times are you on the road?


I would cycle in the city centre every day, maybe other people who ride the same areas and times as me have similar stats?

thebullkf

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

tonite I was going up by the central bank towards trinity college and a security mini van pulls up along me and then turns across to make a sharp left turn, the idiot wastalking on his phone and stopped just in time, I hit my brakes.

I went on and looked back and he looked shocked, he then procedes to complete his left turn down a narrow street. I then stopped my bike and went back to follow him down the street, just as I was making my way after him a foreign pedestrian stops and makes a gesture with his hand of someone talking on the phone, he saw the guy too.

the van stopped halfway down the street and I knocked on his window and he rolled it down, I was relatively calm but shocked to see him still talking on his phone. I told him off in a non aggressive manner and and he was lucky I didnt report him. we shook hands and he promised to be more careful.


now Im wondering am is it just me or do all city cyclists experience this regular danger? Ive been knocked down alot the past year and had some lucky escapes, is it a matter of time before I get seriously injured or even killed through no faut of my own??!

for the record I had front and rear lights, high vis jacket and 1 week old tyres with high vis strip that makes them very visible.

i know its slightly different,but as a cyclist i don't cheat death often.

As a motorcyclist though its every. single. day.

seriouly and i have Sam brown belt.arm hi vis bands.hi vis leg clips.
reflective PPE. An actual headlight!!

and yet motorists/pedestrians seem oblivious.

One thing i notice every time though is the amount of cyclists who ignore traffic lights.....seriously i dunno how there's not more deaths.

and idiots without a light:rolleyes::rolleyes::mad:

anyhows,sorry. rant over:)

Beasty

thebullkf wrote: »

i know its slightly different,but as a cyclist i don't cheat death often.

As a motorcyclist though its every. single. day.

seriouly and i have Sam brown belt.arm hi vis bands.hi vis leg clips.
reflective PPE. An actual headlight!!

and yet motorists/pedestrians seem oblivious.

One thing i notice every time though is the amount of cyclists who ignore traffic lights.....seriously i dunno how there's not more deaths.

and idiots without a light:rolleyes::rolleyes::mad:

anyhows,sorry. rant over:)

Back on topic please

Beasty

thebullkf

Beasty wrote: »

Back on topic please

Beasty

i did answer it in my first line.

Beasty

thebullkf wrote: »

i did answer it in my first line.

I know - that's why I said "Back on topic";)

thebouldwhacker

I nearly hit a dog the other week, other than that I wouldnt say I have come home saying I was lucky to have made it in many years, on the other hand I have nearly knocked down stupid cyclists, hell today I was cycling through a green light and a rlj cyclist nearly hit me, I think people are dangerous not the mode of transport.

Civilian_Target

I would say about once every two months or so. Basically, once every 1000km. But I guess that makes it nearly 20,000km since the last time I've actually had an accident with a car, so the conversion rate from nearly is low

Most recent, I was being overtaken by a bus, at a junction, and someone swerved in front of the bus... so he swerved on top of me! I saw the front of the bus pointing in and took a flying leap out of my saddle onto the pavement! Both myself and the bike survived, and the bus driver apologised and gave me his details.

ED E

Depends on how you class this, but I have infuriating incidents on a weekly basis.

For example on my way into TCD(:D) on the 19th of October(Thank you facebook) I was rolling down past Tesco Rathmines when some idiot dove in front of me to enter the car park. Slammed on the brakes and slowed enough for him to pass instead of going over the roof of his little sh1tbox. That afternoon an idiot on the phone on the east side of The Green came straight out into the yellow box in the bus lane as I was passing. The path was clear and I was sure he would have seen me. Just missed him by diving right, him slamming on his brakes to leave him covering 3/4 of the box. He just drove off while being saluted by middle finger.

Commuting to Rathgar and commuting to D2 are two very different things:mad:

phlegms

Constantly getting boxed off by buses pulling in at bus-stops, you'd think they'd slow down ever so slightly to let me get a bit of head room..

themandan6611

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

a question for those that picked seldom.

do you cycle in the city often? what kind of routes do you use and what times are you on the road?


I would cycle in the city centre every day, maybe other people who ride the same areas and times as me have similar stats?

i'm a seldom

cycle into dublin city centre 6 times a week, from drumcondra to st stephens green (either by ballybough, parnell st, eden quay or north strand, pearse st)- go in at 7.30am and home at 5.15.

go slow as hell and never daydream:)

Barrya

i am a seldom, but i live and work in the south Dublin suburbs so the likelihood might be less. My saving graces are that I assume I am invisible, meaning I don't even get close enough to that potential left turner the OP spoke of, and I assume that if for some reason I have become visible, that motorists want to kill me, and i can expect the most reckless behavior conceivable.

I am seldom surprised by driver/pedestrian behavior, and I rarely have run-ins.

Harrybelafonte

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

a question for those that picked seldom.

do you cycle in the city often? what kind of routes do you use and what times are you on the road?


I would cycle in the city centre every day, maybe other people who ride the same areas and times as me have similar stats?

I try and avoid the city centre these days. I used to go through on ways to and from work, but had a few close ones in the evenings, then had a few in the morning so just skip it completely now. But as someone said earlier, it was mostly pedestrians.

sumone

I've found that riding assertively, getting well into the lane to stop left turns across me etc, and keeping my eyes on the drivers around me helps keep me out of potentially serious areas. There are still stupid drivers (and cyclists) to watch out for but keeping a watch on the driver rather than the car helps.

I've been going along the N11 for the last few weeks since changing job locations and I've noticed a vast improvement in Dublin Bus drivers since I was on this route before. Quite a number of times drivers have slowed down to allow me get past a stop before they pull in and passengers come piling off without looking.

alentejo

I have really noticed the city center during the evening rush being dangerous! Mixture of dark nights, bad weather, leaves, poor road surfaces and really heavy traffic.

If cycling you need to assume that every driver is an idiot and expect that they will do exactly what you dont want them to do!

Need to be careful out there.

Lumen

It's a bit of an odd question, since whatever your mode of transport you are constantly "avoiding potentially serious accidents". The issue is perhaps whether that process is particularly more challenging on a bike compared to, say, a car. It is, but that's to be expected since you're slower and less visible than other vehicles, and the idiocy of others is more irritating when you aren't protected by a metal cage.

FWIW I have found commuting by bike in Dublin is much less scary than commuting by scooter in London. Six months of that and I couldn't take it any more - the novelty of the adrenalin rush was eventually replaced with a sort of grinding fear of imminent death. By contrast, cycling in Dublin is merely "stimulating".

In any case we can't change the world, we can only change ourselves.

xoxyx

I was only thinking this the other day. I reckon I'm going to die in a bicycle accident. The number of times I've come across drivers going the wrong way on a one way street near where I live is insane. And cycle lanes? What's cycle lane? In the city centre, cycle lanes are for taxis to squeeze in to let their passengers out. And please... Bus drivers... Don't squidge me onto the footpath when you're turning a corner beside me. Twice I've had to hop off the bike and pull it onto the path to avoid being tipped over!!! I love cycling around and it's so handy, but it's a deathwatch sport in Dublin city anymore.

Idleater

My answer to the topic is either seldom say 1 time per month where a truck or bus misjudges the overtake and pulls into the side (genuinely beyond my control) and up to say 10 potentially life endangering per journey but are somewhat within your control.
Obviously how you deal and learn after every incident improves you ability to foresee these in future. Similarly, what I now class as say annoyance, may scare someone so much to dump the bike in the shed.

rp

As the poll so far shows, cycling is far from dangerous. There were stats posted somewhere on this forum indicating that on average, you'll be involved in a serious accident once every 97 years (depending on distance) - and if you're are above average (not hard to be), even less.
Ways to be above average include:

• Be visible (lights, hi-viz/reflecto)
• Be where motorists are looking (not hugging the kerb)
• Anticipate what others will do (cars, bikes, peds)
• Position for turns well in advance, don't compromise your road position
• Do not rely on others obeying the rules of the road for your survival
• Don't break the rules of the road yourself, except:
• Avoid (most) cycle tracks like death himself is stalking them
• Don't feel you have to correct others, just take avoiding action and continue on your way with a smile
• Think back over a trip or a weeks commute, figure out how to do it safer, focus on any near misses - what could you have done different?

seamus

Lumen wrote: »

FWIW I have found commuting by bike in Dublin is much less scary than commuting by scooter in London. Six months of that and I couldn't take it any more - the novelty of the adrenalin rush was eventually replaced with a sort of grinding fear of imminent death. By contrast, cycling in Dublin is merely "stimulating".

+1
I gave up riding a motorbike in Dublin because I no longer needed it to commute, but I was relieved at the time because I had developed this ominous certainty of my impending death. I reckoned that (going by past experience), some mong was going to cut across me while I was doing 100kph on an N road, and it would be game over.
I do miss it now, but I also remember that smoldering fear underpinning every journey, which sucked the fun out of it.

I've had more accidents on the bicycle, but that same fear isn't there, probably due to the speeds involved.

I think the problem here is categorising your near misses. As Lumen says, every incident is potentially serious. But there's a fine line between an annoying/frustrating incident and one which was a geehair away from putting you under the wheels of the vehicle.

I probably have 3 or 4 annoying incidents per day, but very few pant-stainers. One month I did manage to have to two collisions and one very close call, but I hadn't had anything serious for months before that. And I haven't had anything serious since.

If you watch out for the key conflict points and be prepared for everyone else - drivers, cyclists and pedestrians - to do the most utterly moronic things you can imagine, you'll rarely come a cropper

techieelectric

About once a day there's an incident where a car does something silly or I can see is about to and it's up to me to avoid the accident.

I had an interesting incident with a bus the other day, not in what happened but in that the driver and guards maintained he was right cutting me off and grinding me into the footpath cos the bike lane had a dotted line. According to the driver that meant he had right of way cutting me off and a passing guard who saw the argument said I should have used 'common sense' to stop as the bus pulled in, not really an option cos the bus had overtaken me on the outside and was pulling in on top. Bit of a difference between their perception of the law and mine, mine being that the dotted line meant the bus could pull into the cycle lane as long as it wasn't cutting off/nearly killing someone who was already in the bike lane. Anyway more my fault for using the cycle lane, I usually try and stay a few feet out of it so no one can pull left across me.

Idleater

techieelectric wrote: »

a passing guard who saw the argument said I should have used 'common sense' to stop as the bus pulled in...

Exactly the same thing happened to me yesterday, but the bus wasn't pulling into a stop, he was just annoyed at me being in front of him and he not able to pass due to the queue of cars in the "normal" driving lane.

In the heat of the moment I considered the usual of telephoning traffic watch for a hit n run but by the time I passed him trying to merge 100 m up the road I figured I had made my point with a thankful (:rolleyes:) wave that inferred that I knew what he did, he knew what he did, I was passed, and well, he wasn't

To quantify my previous post above, In the 15 years of commuting (first into Dublin and now to Swords), I have been T-Boned once by a Jeep coming out of a side road, and I T-Boned a Junkie that walked out from infront of a vehicle (blind to me) at Heuston Station.

Both instances required new front wheels. After that, it's all shouting at myself and others.

rp

techieelectric wrote: »

I had an interesting incident with a bus the other day, not in what happened but in that the driver and guards maintained he was right cutting me off and grinding me into the footpath cos the bike lane had a dotted line. According to the driver that meant he had right of way cutting me off

My understanding was the dotted line makes the cycle track non-mandatory for the cyclist, but for motorists does not (legally) change the status of the track in any way: they may not drive on it, even if their left indication *is* on...
Do you have the guard's name/station? It would be worth dropping by with a copy of the ROTR and asking for clarification, as the his/her interpretation seems incorrect.

tomasrojo

z_topaz wrote: »

And please... Bus drivers... Don't squidge me onto the footpath when you're turning a corner beside me. Twice I've had to hop off the bike and pull it onto the path to avoid being tipped over!!! I love cycling around and it's so handy, but it's a deathwatch sport in Dublin city anymore.

You should, if at all possible, not let bus drivers pull alongside you at corners. The choices are to take the lane (carefully move out to near the centre of the lane) as you approach the corner, or to stop and let the bus go round the corner before proceeding. Same goes for trucks.

Or pick quieter roads. This is a very good option, I find.

As for cycle lanes, they are, whatever the law says, not going to be for the exclusive use of cyclists any time soon. Treat them as you would the side of the road, except that you're more likely to find a taxi driver driving up them the wrong way trying to pick up a fare, or park outside a building.

tomasrojo

rp wrote: »

My understanding was the dotted line makes the cycle track non-mandatory for the cyclist, but for motorists does not (legally) change the status of the track in any way: they may not drive on it, even if their left indication *is* on...
Do you have the guard's name/station? It would be worth dropping by with a copy of the ROTR and asking for clarification, as the his/her interpretation seems incorrect.

"Mandatory" cycle lanes are exclusivey for the use of cyclists. "Non-mandatory" can be driven in by motorised vehicles.

Strictly speaking, all cycle lanes are mandatory (in the usual meaning of the word) for cyclists in that you have to use them in preference to the main road where they're provided.

Bizarre vocabulary, but there you go.

rp

tomasrojo wrote: »

"Mandatory" cycle lanes are exclusivey for the use of cyclists. "Non-mandatory" can be driven in by motorised vehicles.

I couldn't find any place in the ROTR where that is stated - page #?

tomasrojo

rp wrote: »

I couldn't find any place in the ROTR where that is stated - page #?

http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/pedal-cyclist.html

A mandatory cycle track is bordered by a continuous white line on the righthand side. It is only for bicycles and motorised wheelchairs, so no other drivers may use it or park in it.

The definition is in a statutory instrument rather than the rules of the road. I'll see whether I can find it.

Regardless of all this, you can't pull alongside someone and then turn left on top of them. So the bus driver, if he did this, was in the wrong. If the cyclist were behind the bus, saw the bus indicate left and still tried to undertake, the cyclist would be in the wrong.

tomasrojo

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1998/en/si/0274.html

5) A prohibition on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 36 (2) (m) shall not apply to a vehicle parked in a cycle track, on the right hand edge of which traffic sign number RRM 023 has been provided, while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of such parking.

tomasrojo

(6) A restriction on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 37 shall not apply to -


(a) a vehicle to which sub-article (3) applies;


(b) a vehicle parked at the edge of a roadway while a passenger is entering or leaving it; or


(c) a vehicle parked while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it, for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of the parking.".

RRM023 is the cycle track with the broken white line.

poochiem

i'm not voting as I can't say how many inicidents I avoid nor how serious they are. However, looking back at a normal week of commuting

...had a young woman try to beat me from the Rte red light on the N11 to the first gateway, she didnt beat me but decided to try to pull left anyway and force me to come to a standstill or collide with her passenger window. very bizarre situation.

The following morning a middle-aged woman in a large black 4x4 thought better of letting me use the cycle lane coming towards donnybrook church, she kept pressing me until I was going to be crushed so I punched her door, she stopped...and waved at me! seems she was aware I was there just thought better of giving me space.

Car driver on kevin st shaved my right handlebar with his wing mirror (that's too close in my book).

A JCB with its front bucket down has raced the bikes off the red lights on the canal twice this week, in the wet, really really dangerous. I had my front tyre blow out on the canal yesterday, if it had happened in front of the JCB I dread to think what would have happened.

99% of the bad driving/cycling is in the city centre but you kind of switch on to it and expect things to go wrong. Taxi ranks means they will open their doors in front of you in the 'mandatory cycle lane'; if there's a left junction expect oncoming cars to come blindly through the gap in the traffic across your lane; pedestrians will step off the path at junctions and where the footpath is busy to get around spanish students; dogs are always on leads long enough to jump under your wheel; a parked bread van or lorry never sees you coming behind and that door swings open at head level.

funkyjebus

Way too many tbh. Just last night a taxi van passed me out on pearse st but was way too close and started pushing me into the construction wall there before trinity going towards town, so i gave him a non aggressive knock on the side of this MPV and he pulled over (and stopped as there was traffic ahead). I was then in front of him and stayed middle road as i would be going right across the lanes soon. He beeped and told me to move over, I wagged my finger saying no.

Next i know he is trying to over take me in half a lanes worth with a car parrell to me on my right (pavement on my left), but there is no room and he is nearly touching my tyre, so i turn around and shout f**k off as im freaked out and taken by supprise by this maneuver. But he smiles (wtf:mad:) and tips my wheel, so i end up punching his bonnet about 15 times while still trying to control by bike turned around at him in order to make him back off. I then stay in front of him till i turn he slow down and call me a d**khead, i stop (safely beside the path)and tell him Ill be reporting him to the Guards and the taxi reg, he laughs and says 'oh what will they do a slap on the wrist' and off he goes into the rain.

I never come across someone who so intentionally tryed to knock me down.:(

Have yet to report it am gonna see if there is some cctv looking at the location on monday.

wersal gummage

commuting since feb this year - dublin city centre to suburbs (6 milesx2 per day) plus 100km+ spins on sats.

have not had ONE near miss yet (i've jinxed myself now for sure!). i put this down to being a qualified advanced motorcyclist if anyone is interested. it is all about anticipation. expect everyone to do the stupid things they DO, and you will not be surprised WHEN they DO.

its not about having the right of way - its about staying alive! if you think someone may pull out in front of you - make sure you are travelling at a speed that allows you to stop if they do pull out etc - rather than being nearly run over and cursing them - you should have anticipated there was a possibility it would happen......

this way of cycling/driving actually makes life a whole lot less stressful on the roads too:)

the 'system' is set out in this book - which is for motorcyclists - but i apply the very same principles on the bicycle and it works for me:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorcycle-Roadcraft-Police-Handbook-Motorcycling/dp/011341143X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289061105&sr=8-1

poochiem

wersal gummage wrote: »

it is all about anticipation. expect everyone to do the stupid things they DO, and you will not be surprised WHEN they DO.

^ all good advice except you've been lucky in one respect, there are people out there deliberately targetting cyclists - read the message prior to yours - I had to report someone who threatened to run me over in a van simply for being in front of him at a junction. you can't expect that.

techieelectric

rp wrote: »

My understanding was the dotted line makes the cycle track non-mandatory for the cyclist, but for motorists does not (legally) change the status of the track in any way: they may not drive on it, even if their left indication *is* on...
Do you have the guard's name/station? It would be worth dropping by with a copy of the ROTR and asking for clarification, as the his/her interpretation seems incorrect.

No I don't have the name or station, was just impatient to get away and frankly doubting whether I was right at all by the time the guard was finished talking, only when I thought about it later did I realise what nonsense he'd been talking. His other point was that the roads were there first and the cycle lanes only arrived after so cyclists were therefore obliged to defer to other road users.

wersal gummage

poochiem wrote: »

^ all good advice except you've been lucky in one respect, there are people out there deliberately targetting cyclists - read the message prior to yours - I had to report someone who threatened to run me over in a van simply for being in front of him at a junction. you can't expect that.

for sure. however that thread, in my reading, has some road rage elements to it and i would like to hear the taxi mans version before passing judgement to be honest - banging cars and shouting F off at drivers, even if their driving is less than ideal, is not the way forward.

breezy1985

ide say i narrowly avoid 3 or 4 crashes with cars a week mostly from cars pulling out of or into parking lanes.Left turners would be 2nd and oveertaking at inappropriate times 3rd.

The only actual crash i had was when a van turned left into me and i hit his side door and it drove me into a lamp post.I walked away but the bike was written off.A*****e didnt even stop would he have been as discourtious if i was a car or pedestrian i wonder.

I also have 3 or 4 near collisions with illegially crossing pedestrians every month

Lumen

breezy1985 wrote: »

I also have 3 or 4 near collisions with illegially crossing pedestrians every month

As as I understand it there isn't really anything illegal about crossing the road when you feel like it.

If you're cycling in a built up area you need to be going slow enough to stop when someone steps out.

tomasrojo

poochiem wrote: »

^ all good advice except you've been lucky in one respect, there are people out there deliberately targetting cyclists - read the message prior to yours - I had to report someone who threatened to run me over in a van simply for being in front of him at a junction. you can't expect that.

There are some, for sure. But most of it is just mouthing off. Very, very few motorists will run you over deliberately. To do so, they would have to have lost all self-control. It may happen, but it may happen to anyone on the road (witness that poor Englishman bludgeoned to death).

Best not to escalate any conflicts. Pulling into the side of the road and letting boors and gougers continue on their way is often the best thing to do, I find.

But intimidation is an increasing problem, and I find it more offputting than incompetent driving. Incompetent driving is, by and large, something you learn to anticipate. But the two worst incidents I've had on the road were both simple (and amazingly disporportionate) intimidation. But that's two incidents in about twenty-five years of commute cycling. Hardly once a month.

Cyclecraft by John Franklin is probably close in content to the advanced motorcycle course mentioned above. The public library system has older copies.

I also have a PDF of an old cycling safety leaflet the Galway Cycling Campaign did. It's a round-up of some of the key points in Cyclecraft. If anyone wants a copy, PM me.

tomasrojo

techieelectric wrote: »

No I don't have the name or station, was just impatient to get away and frankly doubting whether I was right at all by the time the guard was finished talking, only when I thought about it later did I realise what nonsense he'd been talking. His other point was that the roads were there first and the cycle lanes only arrived after so cyclists were therefore obliged to defer to other road users.

The Garda is wrong on all salient points.

And even if the bus had right of way, right of way does not confer the right to muscle other road users out of the way. Nor does it exempt anyone from paying due attention to other road users when performing manoeuvres.

As I said, the only scenario I can think of where the cyclist would have been in the wrong would be if the bus were already signalling left and the cyclist decided to pass on the inside anyway.

Incidentally, regardless of rights and wrongs, if a bus is close beside you and you're approaching a bus stop, slow right down or go a lot faster. Preferably the first, usually. You have to anticipate that the bus will pull in and that the driver may not have seen you.

CramCycle

funkyjebus wrote: »

i stop (safely beside the path)and tell him Ill be reporting him to the Guards and the taxi reg, he laughs and says 'oh what will they do a slap on the wrist' and off he goes into the rain.

I never come across someone who so intentionally tryed to knock me down.:(

Have yet to report it am gonna see if there is some cctv looking at the location on monday.

As soon as you report it to the Gardai, report it to the carriage office and see how happy he'll be when they try to take his plate of him.

sleepyholland

I find a sharp blast of my referee's whistle keeps pedestrians out of my way.

ThisRegard

Lumen wrote: »

It's a bit of an odd question, since whatever your mode of transport you are constantly "avoiding potentially serious accidents". The issue is perhaps whether that process is particularly more challenging on a bike compared to, say, a car. It is, but that's to be expected since you're slower and less visible than other vehicles, and the idiocy of others is more irritating when you aren't protected by a metal cage.

Agree with this. Anyway, I don't want to answer the question as I'm afraid I'll jinx myself but when I drive I seem to have more incidents than I do on a bike.

Someone mentioned getting boxed in by buses, I find that when I hear one come behind me and there's a bus stop ahead, a glance over the shoulder and you can see if the indicator is on, moving out into the road usually stops the driver trying to go around you.

manwithaplan

It's a rarity for me. I cycle from Killester to the north city centre every working day and I can't remember the last time I came close to having a serious accident. I see drivers, cyclists and pedestrians doing stupid things all the time (and I occasionally have done them myself) but nothing that has put me in any real danger. I'm not particularly cautious but I have been commuting to and from the city for a long time and I think my spidey senses are probably fairly well developed by now.

Oldlegs

alentejo wrote: »

If cycling you need to assume that every driver is an idiot and expect that they will do exactly what you dont want them to do!

I drive the car with the same mindset. "Assume other drivers are idiots and likely to do the stupid thing" Unfortunately I am rarely proven wrong". Difference on a bike, of course, are that the results are potentially worse.

Where possible, I keep an eye INTO the car where possible. If the driver is on the phone, has kids jumping all around the backseat or is turning and talking to passenger I shall assume they are going to do something stupid. This applies just as much when I am driving or when I am cycling.

So back on topic - how many times do I avoid ... (either cycling or driving) - Frequently (a few times each week). Think of the amount of times another driver does something stupid that would have resulted in an accident if you did not respond quick enough.

tomasrojo

The results are potentially worse for cyclists but you also are far better able to avoid collisions. Much more manoeuvrable, much narrower and you can get off the road at any time. You can walk through tricky junctions.

I think the problem with the discussion here is the wording of the question:

How many times per month do you avoid a potentially serious accident with a car?

Is anticipating the bus pulling in avoiding a potentially serious accident? I do this most weeks, so in that sense I should answer 4+ per month in the poll. Similarly for left-hook drivers, careless pulling out at junctions, etc.

But if you think of the question more in the sense of "How often do you think I was lucky to avoid serious injury or death today", the answer, for me at least, is decidedly seldom. I don't even have mild feelings of anxiety during my journey the vast majority of days.