Near misses - mod warning 22/04 - see OP/post 822

Effects

Was heading to Blackrock from Seapoinnt yesterday evening. Taking the right onto Newtown Ave. I was in the right lane, in between the two right arrows when an oil truck pulled into the left turning lane to overtake me. As he was in the left turning lane the only idea I had that he was going to turn right was his indicator.


I pulled ahead and turned rather than him turn on top of me. Stayed in the centre of the road then for fear he'd try and overtake me on a single lane road. He tailgated me as a result.

Tailgating is fairly common on Newtown Avenue, as is beeping.

mr spuckler

2 this morning, pedestrian stepped out onto the road in my estate as I was bringing junior to creche on the bike, I let out a loud "careful" and he stopped suddenly and apologised profusely. seemed like a nice man, may well have never encountered a cyclist in years of crossing the road in our estate!

then coming through ballsbridge on the junction from landsdowne road to pembroke road, traffic joins from the left and is subject to this yield sign. lady in a Jaguar didn't look my way at any point that i was watching her and was driving right across my path when i had to roar at her to stop. she stopped and waved to acknowledge her error.

it definitely reduces the annoyance levels when people acknowledge that they're in the wrong but would be such a pleasant change for them to take responsibility for not endangering us in the first place!

mr spuckler

mr spuckler wrote:

it definitely reduces the annoyance levels when people acknowledge that they're in the wrong but would be such a pleasant change for them to take responsibility for not endangering us in the first place!

The simple fact is that only a select few are capable of operating fast-moving killing machines without significantly endangering others. I really cannot fathom why it's considered normal or acceptable for almost everyone to have a car and drive them in cities.

mr spuckler

Deleted User wrote: »

The simple fact is that only a select few are capable of operating fast-moving killing machines without significantly endangering others. I really cannot fathom why it's considered normal or acceptable for almost everyone to have a car and drive them in cities.

the strange thing for me is that although i've been cycling for around 30 years and commuting in dublin for about 15 years, it's only now that i'm fully buying into this way of thinking and a large part of that has been to do with discussions and education from this forum.

i say that because it worries me that if it took me so long to reach this conclusion then what hope do we have for people who pretty much see driving as a civil right?

check_six

mr spuckler wrote: »

then coming through ballsbridge on the junction from landsdowne road to pembroke road, traffic joins from the left and is subject to this yield sign. lady in a Jaguar didn't look my way at any point that i was watching her and was driving right across my path when i had to roar at her to stop. she stopped and waved to acknowledge her error.

See also the junction at the Leeson St end of Adelaide Road for getting a similar fright. Can't understand how people can fail to check to their right when yielding to people on their right, but yet I see it all the time!

Can't understand how people aren't checking all around them all the time either for that matter. I mean, in a car you have a bunch of mirrors to help also. And yet, I have talked to people who assume that checking your mirrors regularly is only something for the day of their driving test and never again! :mad:

Next time you're getting a lift from someone have a look at their observation routine to see what they're up to. I got a taxi recently where the driver didn't move his head from a laser gaze out the front windscreen for the whole journey. :eek:

Danjamin1

check_six wrote: »

Next time you're getting a lift from someone have a look at their observation routine to see what they're up to. I got a taxi recently where the driver didn't move his head from a laser gaze out the front windscreen for the whole journey. :eek:

What a pro

papu

Danjamin1 wrote: »

What a pro

A fun one is to inform them that their indicators aren't working, when they say
"what, they are"
you reply,
"well you aren't using them" while tapping your Go-Pro.:pac:

ED E

Taxi men are wonderful people. Always so great. Best drivers on our roads.

I love Sean nos

Observed a couple of near misses this morning in Cabinteely village involving a motorist, who then became a pedestian.

I'm walking to work and I see this lady pull her little black car into one of the much sought after parking spaces on the Bray road. No indicator was used and she kind of dived in, which caught my attention. Not a BMW or an Audi mind, but this was about 07:40, so there was no rush.

There's a chap in cycling gear and a dropbar bike approaching her car from behind. He's making a decent pace, he has seen her and moved out of the door zone with a bit of room to spare. Still not enough because as soon as the car had stopped moving, she hoped out of the car. It happened remarkably fast. Door opens fully and she's out. He moves out even further and thankfully he's now close enough to pass her, because she's off now to cross the road. Didn't look. Oncoming van has to brake (I can tell from the engine noise) and she's still going.

Wasn't wearing headphones. Wasn't looking down. Appeared to be looking in her direction of travel, but there was no one home.

check_six

ED E wrote: »

Taxi men are wonderful people. Always so great. Best drivers on our roads.

They certainly get enough practice to be inanyways!

CramCycle

I love Sean nos wrote: »

but there was no one home.

More and more common alas.

Coming through Bray last night, I am approaching the main crossroads in town. A car is waiting at the lights indicating left, so I just stop behind it. I know the light sequence and it is about to change. A car pulls up beside me as I haven't fully taken the lane. No indicator so he must be going straight on. He must have seen me as he pulled up beside rather than on top of me but I just had that feeling. Light changes, first car pulls off. I push off slowly and as the car beside me lurches forward, faster than required, I see it, indicator on. I sit up as I see the wheel turn. At this point I am where he should be looking. I let a roar and instead of stopping he panics and puts the foot down to clear the corner. Nearly mounts the curb.

Further up the road, approaching the turn for church st. I see a van speeding towards the turn form the opposite direction. It is tight enough whether he should go in front of me or not. I know he is going for it though, he turns early, takes the apex of the turn (if a car had been there it would have been a head on collision). The pedestrian mid crossing though gets the fright of his life, as the vans front bumper misses his knees by microns.

amcalester

CramCycle wrote: »

More and more common alas.

Coming through Bray last night, I am approaching the main crossroads in town. A car is waiting at the lights indicating left, so I just stop behind it. I know the light sequence and it is about to change. A car pulls up beside me as I haven't fully taken the lane. No indicator so he must be going straight on. He must have seen me as he pulled up beside rather than on top of me but I just had that feeling. Light changes, first car pulls off. I push off slowly and as the car beside me lurches forward, faster than required, I see it, indicator on. I sit up as I see the wheel turn. At this point I am where he should be looking. I let a roar and instead of stopping he panics and puts the foot down to clear the corner. Nearly mounts the curb.

I always make a point of turning and looking at both the driver and the indicator when a motorist pulls up behind me like that, it won't necessarily stop someone doing something stupid but I find it helps.

Had a pedestrian with her head buried in her phone step out into the cycle lane in front of me this morning, I swerved to go around her and got shouted at. Idiot.

Saw a lad on a bike having a shouting match with a coach driver in Booterstown the other day, outside Ferris Wheels. A good guess as to what happened would be the coach driver either passed him too closely or started beeping at him for not using the cycle lane. I'd bet on it.

It has happened to me dozens of times. The sooner they remove that useless death trap, the better.

magicbastarder

Where in booterstown? Rock road?

Yeah, at the junction with the DART station, heading towards town.

Annie get your Run

One yesterday and one today, in the exact same spot on the quays (below). I'm in the bike lane and am going straight, the cars want to go left at the lights ahead. Yesterday a woman cut right across me and had I not braked I was toast, of course the lights were red and there was a long line of cars and her window was open so we had a 'chat'. Same conversation as yer man last week 'I had my indicator on' she whined, I reiterated that her indicator does not give her the right of way, she then said 'I didn't know you were going to move out' I said I didn't move out, I stayed in the bike lane which as you can see goes straight on, eventually she apologised and I asked her to be more careful in future. This morning it was a guy, I was on my guard but he came from behind me and as he drew level he started to move over on top of me, I let a roar and another cyclist said something to him as well but he wouldn't roll down his window and he just gesticulated at me to go away.

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Time to remind drivers that their indicators are not some sort of super power that allows them to go where the hell they want never mind who's already in the road :mad: This morning's one really gave me a fright, even though I was watching for it there was a split second where I thought OMG it's gonna happen.

CramCycle

Forgot last night about an audi 4x4/car hybrid pulled out in front of me and another guy. We had been tipping along nicely together coming past the cemetery in Shankhill. He went ahead to take a turn, and we are cruising along without much effort at about 40kmph+. I checked my shoulder and moved out to overtake when the car pulled out. He slowed and swerved left, I hauled on and skidded upto the rear of the car. I let a roar and she just gave this condescending wave of "f*ck of plebs". This actually wound me up more than the stupid maneuver (poor priorities) but I just could not be arsed, no good would have come from the conversation.

check_six

CramCycle wrote: »

I let a roar and she just gave this condescending wave of "f*ck of plebs". This actually wound me up more than the stupid maneuver (poor priorities) but I just could not be arsed, no good would have come from the conversation.

I've had this very same wave accompanied by a facepull that you might expect from a schoolchild saying "duhhh!" from a couple of people taking shockingly inconsiderate right hooks across my path in the last couple of weeks.

(The crushing predictability of these awful manoeuvres prevents me from categorising them as 'near misses', as I was jamming on in advance of the stupidity and had probably a full metre between me and their front bumper when we were both ended up stopped staring at each other in the junction.)

Curiously, they were both Audi driving ladies. Some stats whizz will put my mind at rest regarding correlation, causation, and just plain coincidence, I'm sure.

shootermacg

Just witnessed my first muppet on a bike today. Some pedestrian was walking on the yellow lines in a world of his own. Muppet on a fixie was not going all that fast, decided to cal out dude 3 times before deciding to cycle straight into him. Bit of a shouting match, before muppet on bike headed off.

There were no cars around, so he could have easily just cycled around him.
He could easily have stopped, he had plenty, plenty of time.

The pedestrian got a nice enough little bang absolutely no need for it. I myself often shout at pedestrians who are stuck in their phones etc when crossing the road, but I wouldn't ever cycle into them to prove a point.

So the ratio of muppets on foot, bikes and cars is more or less the same.
The only difference really is in the potential to do damage. It would be nice if we could stop this whole them vs us narrative and just focus on the duty of care.

ED E

Cycle courier perhaps? A few have significant attitude issues.



We all see this stirring up controversy?

amcalester

Are those cyclists are all in a left turning lane but traveling straight on, up the inside of an artic lorry?

Seems a bit dangerous.

Danbo!

ED E wrote: »

Cycle courier perhaps? A few have significant attitude issues.

We all see this stirring up controversy?

Saw it posted on reddit a few days back, most comments in support of the driver which I'd be inclined to agree with. The counter argument was basically "This is the way things work in London". You can see the driver hesitates and doesn't accelerate until he sees what he thinks is the last cyclist to clear the cab. Must be stressful driving one of those yokes around with the volume of cyclists in London.

Aside from the argument of who is to blame, that cyclist is unbelievably lucky to have stayed upright the way he did. Could have very easily ended up under the wheels.

Pinch Flat

Annie get your Run wrote: »

One yesterday and one today, in the exact same spot on the quays (below). I'm in the bike lane and am going straight, the cars want to go left at the lights ahead. Yesterday a woman cut right across me and had I not braked I was toast, of course the lights were red and there was a long line of cars and her window was open so we had a 'chat'. Same conversation as yer man last week 'I had my indicator on' she whined, I reiterated that her indicator does not give her the right of way, she then said 'I didn't know you were going to move out' I said I didn't move out, I stayed in the bike lane which as you can see goes straight on, eventually she apologised and I asked her to be more careful in future. This morning it was a guy, I was on my guard but he came from behind me and as he drew level he started to move over on top of me, I let a roar and another cyclist said something to him as well but he wouldn't roll down his window and he just gesticulated at me to go away.


Time to remind drivers that their indicators are not some sort of super power that allows them to go where the hell they want never mind who's already in the road :mad: This morning's one really gave me a fright, even though I was watching for it there was a split second where I thought OMG it's gonna happen.

That's on my daily commute - I stay center lane there and ignore the cycle lane ever since some ignoramus overtook me, then cut in left nearly taking me off the bike to get to the red light heading to Blackhall place. Apparently, it's up to me to look out for my safety (according to him), so I have. Annoyed a few drivers mind, but feck them.

Lemming

I'm of two minds on that video. Cyclists shouldn't have done that. I assume most did that because it looks like there was either no ASL or the truck was so far over that the cyclists couldn't get in front, on top of there being so many of them. Or they were all just cheeky muppets. Still not right in any case.

Now, that said and done .... a) the truck driver looked on a mission to accelerate to cut them off as quick as he could, so he knew there were cyclists there, and b) several of them passed in front of him before the road narrowed so again he would have been aware of what was going on. So he did what he did to make a point and was acting the b*llocks himself. Legally right, but from both a moral & road-safety point of view he was so out of line as to be circular.

mr spuckler

Lemming wrote: »

I'm of two minds on that video. Cyclists shouldn't have done that. I assume most did that because it looks like there was either no ASL or the truck was so far over that the cyclists couldn't get in front, on top of there being so many of them. Or they were all just cheeky muppets. Still not right in any case.

Now, that said and done .... a) the truck driver looked on a mission to accelerate to cut them off as quick as he could, so he knew there were cyclists there, and b) several of them passed in front of him before the road narrowed so again he would have been aware of what was going on. So he did what he did to make a point and was acting the b*llocks himself. Legally right, but from both a moral & road-safety point of view he was so out of line as to be circular.

it's really hard to say though, we've no idea how bad the blind spots are on the truck...which leads on to why are trucks with such massive blind spots allowed on city streets but that of course is a separate issue.

there was no ASL according to the video. the cyclists were all cycling up the inside of a truck in a lane that no longer existed. he seemed to really hesitate at first before then accelerating, to me it looks like he just couldn't see the dude in red, which brings us back to my first point!

Tomred13

"Cycle courier perhaps? A few have significant attitude issues."

Ahh ED....
why not spend all day in dublin traffic and then you will see what we have to contend with...
As a former fultime bike courier for 5 years, you would lose count of how many times you almost get taken out of it by trucks, taxis, peds, n other cyclists in an average day. Your out on your bike from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm all day in wind rain sleet or snow under time constraints to get to your next pickup or drop off. thats 10hours continous cycling in traffic. You end up getting pretty assertive with foolish behavour on the parts of others. ive had work colleagues killed by dangerous drivers over the years. Its one of the toughest and dangerous jobs you could do.

D

papu

ED E wrote: »

Cycle courier perhaps? A few have significant attitude issues.



We all see this stirring up controversy?

That is silly from the cyclists, the truck driver is right, cycling up the inside of an Arctic like that is asking for a darwin award.

ED E

papu wrote: »

That is silly from the cyclists, the truck driver is right, cycling up the inside of an Arctic like that is asking for a darwin award.

I dont agree at all.

He wasn't undertaking the truck, he was parallel and when the truck hit him he was ahead. Probably poor road craft but if I was holding the gavel Id be puttin 100% blame on the trucker.

Remember its SOP for cyclists to have straight through rights along with buses and taxis on left only lanes. Thats how our cycle infrastructure is designed. London is full of CSs that do that but usually with a "head start" light for the cyclists.

The fact that there were enough cyclists to block access to the ASZ screams add more infrastructure.

Daroxtar

shootermacg wrote: »

Just witnessed my first muppet on a bike today. Some pedestrian was walking on the yellow lines in a world of his own. Muppet on a fixie was not going all that fast, decided to cal out dude 3 times before deciding to cycle straight into him. Bit of a shouting match, before muppet on bike headed off.

There were no cars around, so he could have easily just cycled around him.
He could easily have stopped, he had plenty, plenty of time.

The pedestrian got a nice enough little bang absolutely no need for it. I myself often shout at pedestrians who are stuck in their phones etc when crossing the road, but I wouldn't ever cycle into them to prove a point.

So the ratio of muppets on foot, bikes and cars is more or less the same.
The only difference really is in the potential to do damage. It would be nice if we could stop this whole them vs us narrative and just focus on the duty of care.

That's assault, plain and simple. If he was walking up the street and called someone then just shouldered them out of the way he'd be lucky not to end up in court. Absolute scumbag tbh