Near Misses Volume 2 (So close you can feel it)

doughef

magicbastarder wrote: »

what the poster was doing was perfectly legal in both cases.
'out past the yellow line' means he was in the lane - you complain he was 'in the road' - on what planet is it wrong to cycle in the road?

and how is one cyclist supposed to overtake another? on the footpath?

He should of looked behind him rather than pulling out in front of a car . Cars are dangerous lads

doughef

RobertFoster wrote: »

I daren't look at mine sitting in the driveway in case it tries to attack me.

Just don’t cycle out in front of it .
You should be fine.

doughef

magicbastarder wrote: »

FTFY

Just don’t get in their way and you’ll be fine

micar

doughef wrote: »

He should of looked behind him rather than pulling out in front of a car . Cars are dangerous lads

Cars aren't dangerous........it's the people who driving them who are dangerous.

How was it the first motorist gave him plenty of space but the second didn't.

You don't overtake a cyclist overtaking another cyclist.....it's that simple.

All that motorist had to was slow down and wait until it was safe to overtake.

On the second clip....where should the cyclits be......cycling on the yellow line.

Your defense of the motorists is utterly pathetic.

doughef

micar wrote: »

Cars aren't dangerous........it's the people who driving them who are dangerous.

How was it the first motorist gave him plenty of space but the second didn't.

You don't overtake a cyclist overtaking another cyclist.....it's that simple.

All that motorist had to was slow down and wait until it was safe to overtake.

On the second clip....where should the cyclits be......cycling on the yellow line.

Your defense of the motorists is utterly pathetic.

Cyclist shouldn’t have been overtaking when a car was coming behind him.

Cars are dangerous. Motorist was probably in a hurry. Possibly didn’t have time for the silly little cycle man taking over the road- illegally

eeeee

ironictoaster wrote: »

New cyclist here. This thread scares the ****e out of me! Still a bit nervous on the road but getting better. I get extremely paranoid when I hear a car behind me just about to speed past me even in a well marked cycle lane.

Hang on in there. Most drivers are fine. Take your time, hold the lane (don't pedal in at the kerb) and look about you. This thread is a compendium of badness, there's lots of goodness too.

It's safer than you think!

If you based your opinion on cycling safety on just this thread you'd never cycle. It needs to be looked at in the greater context. Most posters are coming to report a bad day on the bike and we don't have those every day thankfully, you remember a bad driver quicker than 100 good ones that never register with you, as it should be

What you can do though is learn from some of the posts like the last tweet and the person mentioning taking the lane. Easier for some than others to be assertive on the road but you will learn from experience and grow in confidence.

breezy1985

ironictoaster wrote: »

New cyclist here. This thread scares the ****e out of me! Still a bit nervous on the road but getting better. I get extremely paranoid when I hear a car behind me just about to speed past me even in a well marked cycle lane.

99% of days are fine or maybe someone will annoy you with their driving but not endanger you

I commute through Limerick city and outside of certain roads during rush hour the streets are quiet and pretty safe and even during rush hour I rarely have problems

breezy1985

Stark wrote: »

Anyone recognise the *****?

https://twitter.com/rohal_/status/1291763711015882753?s=19

Clearly no accident he was trying to run you off into the side road. Glad your ok and did anyone stop to assist?

breezy1985

ironictoaster wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I am really enjoying it overall. The sense of freedom is great. Probably the best thing to come out of this pandemic for me.

Just out of interest what kinda cycling you doing. Rural or urban and fitness or commute?

VonLuck

ironictoaster wrote: »

New cyclist here. This thread scares the ****e out of me! Still a bit nervous on the road but getting better. I get extremely paranoid when I hear a car behind me just about to speed past me even in a well marked cycle lane.

I've been cycling daily in Dublin for the past 15 years and have only ever had two 'bad' incidents. One was where the passenger in a stopped car opened the door without looking. Thankfully I stayed on my bike (although the bike was almost vertical), but ended up breaking my brakes! The second one was a woman who just walked out onto the road without looking and I absolutely floored her. Even though it was her fault I could feel everyone's eyes piercing through me.

If you take the approach that you're invisible to everyone and behave with that in mind you should be fine.

AndrewJRenko

Fairly classic near left hook today;

https://streamable.com/5k9b2f

I was just lucky that I was far enough forward for him to see me through the window at the last moment, because he certainly wasn't checking his mirror and didn't bother indicating before crossing the cycle lane.

The other cyclist told me that he nearly ran up my arse when I jammed on.

micar

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Fairly classic near left hook today;

https://streamable.com/5k9b2f

I was just lucky that I was far enough forward for him to see me through the window at the last moment, because he certainly wasn't checking his mirror and didn't bother indicating before crossing the cycle lane.

The other cyclist told me that he nearly ran up my arse when I jammed on.

I can never understand why motorists don't think....."where is the cyclist that I pass 18 seconds ago?"

I think some believe they are passing a stationary object that they no longer need to consider

breezy1985

ironictoaster wrote: »

Fitness really or just cycling just for fun. I cycle around Blanchardstown, Castleknock and Phoenix Park.

Don't know much about the first 2 but phoenix park sounds like fun

kenmm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Fairly classic near left hook today;

https://streamable.com/5k9b2f

I was just lucky that I was far enough forward for him to see me through the window at the last moment, because he certainly wasn't checking his mirror and didn't bother indicating before crossing the cycle lane.

The other cyclist told me that he nearly ran up my arse when I jammed on.

I tend to back off a little or get a head if it looks like I am going to be in a vehicles blind spot (you pretty much were as you hit the junction). You can't trust indicators (or lack of them).

micar wrote: »

I can never understand why motorists don't think....."where is the cyclist that I pass 18 seconds ago?"

I think some believe they are passing a stationary object that they no longer need to consider

Some people just arent that observant. Its a skill all road users need to practice.

AndrewJRenko

kenmm wrote: »

I tend to back off a little or get a head if it looks like I am going to be in a vehicles blind spot (you pretty much were as you hit the junction). You can't trust indicators (or lack of them).

Absolutely agree on the indicators - I saw this coming and was prepared for him to cut me up, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

kenmm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Absolutely agree on the indicators - I saw this coming and was prepared for him to cut me up, so it wasn't a huge surprise.

Don't take this the wrong way then - but why be right in the blindspot? And what was the exchange after. The guy made a mistake and immediately apologised. None of this defends sloppy driving of course, but a gesticulation after an incident just reinforces the 'Angry asshole cyclist' stereotype and more likely to lead to a confrontation further down the line..

I say this for the benefit of to the new cyclists here - that this is a classic incident that on first glance may put someone off cycling, but on closer inspection, there was no danger and tbh the risk could be even further reduced by easing off a little - especially in Ranelagh which is a known busy section, with many distractions for drivers and cyclists alike to contend with.

DelBoy Trotter

kenmm wrote: »

Don't take this the wrong way then - but why be right in the blindspot? And what was the exchange after. The guy made a mistake and immediately apologised. None of this defends sloppy driving of course, but a gesticulation after an incident just reinforces the 'Angry asshole cyclist' stereotype and more likely to lead to a confrontation further down the line..

I say this for the benefit of to the new cyclists here - that this is a classic incident that on first glance may put someone off cycling, but on closer inspection, there was no danger and tbh the risk could be even further reduced by easing off a little - especially in Ranelagh which is a known busy section, with many distractions for drivers and cyclists alike to contend with.

I’d thank this post multiple times if I could, it’s bang on the money

DelBoy Trotter

magicbastarder wrote: »

it's a gesticulation, you can't tell from the video whether it was angry or not. the first appears to be a 'you what?' gesture and the second is a open handed, palm out gesture which i certainly wouldn't interpret as angry or aggressive, i'd often use it myself as an acknowledgement or an 'ah, it's grand' gesture?

But what is the actual point of putting yourself in that position when you know what’s about to happen? Being safe is a lot more important than proving you’re in the right

kenmm

magicbastarder wrote: »

it's a gesticulation, you can't tell from the video whether it was angry or not. the first appears to be a 'you what?' gesture and the second is a open handed, palm out gesture which i certainly wouldn't interpret as angry or aggressive, i'd often use it myself as an acknowledgement or an 'ah, it's grand' gesture?

I didn't say or interpret it as angry, how could I?

But others might. And it's a stereotype for many people.


Anyway, the main point was, why not pull back a bit / read the road further ahead, especially in small busy streets.

kenmm

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

But what is the actual point of putting yourself in that position when you know what’s about to happen? Being safe is a lot more important than proving you’re in the right

Unfortunately it took me far too long to realise that!

breezy1985

kenmm wrote: »

I didn't say or interpret it as angry, how could I?

But others might. And it's a stereotype for many people.


Anyway, the main point was, why not pull back a bit / read the road further ahead, especially in small busy streets.

If the van indicated I would say ya hold off but I dont think he did and we cant be stopping at every junction just in case

DelBoy Trotter

buffalo wrote: »

Because if you hang back and stay out of the way, the driver will sail on oblivious that they came *this* close to running someone over due to their sloppy driving and lack of observation. And they'll never realise that.

And next time the driver ends up interacting with a cyclist in the same way, that cyclist might not be so prepared. And what might happen then?

if you're prepared for it, you can show them that they need to be more alert and careful.

So you think correcting people on the road when you have also made a mistake (putting yourself in that position when you know it’s going to happen) helps? I certainly don’t. There’s a difference between taking your lane when it’s safer for you and will make motorists realise it’s a bad time to overtake, and going up the inside of traffic which you know is turning left just to prove a point (again bringing it back to my original point that it’s better being safe than trying to prove you’re right)

breezy1985

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

So you think correcting people on the road when you have also made a mistake (putting yourself in that position when you know it’s going to happen) helps? I certainly don’t. There’s a difference between taking your lane when it’s safer for you and will make motorists realise it’s a bad time to overtake, and going up the inside of traffic which you know is turning left just to prove a point (again bringing it back to my original point that it’s better being safe than trying to prove you’re right)

He didnt go up the inside of traffic he was in a lane and the driver should check if the lane is free before proceeding. If it was 2 lanes of cars and the van crossed the left lane without checking we wouldnt be having this debate

DelBoy Trotter

breezy1985 wrote: »

He didnt go up the inside of traffic he was in a lane and the driver should check if the lane is free before proceeding. If it was 2 lanes of cars and the van crossed the left lane without checking we wouldnt be having this debate

I certainly would be having the same debate if it was as you described above. There’s no debate that the van shouldn’t have crossed the left lane. But the cyclist was in the blind spot knowing what was about to happen, just to prove a point. He had the option of keeping himself safe, but chose not to slow down a bit to keep himself safe, as he wanted to prove a point. If the cyclist was in a car, in the blind spot and had copped the van about to turn left across them but didn’t slow to keep themselves safe as they wanted to prove a point, I would say the exact same thing to the car driver

breezy1985

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

I certainly would be having the same debate if it was as you described above. There’s no debate that the van shouldn’t have crossed the left lane. But the cyclist was in the blind spot knowing what was about to happen, just to prove a point. He had the option of keeping himself safe, but chose not to slow down a bit to keep himself safe, as he wanted to prove a point. If the cyclist was in a car, in the blind spot and had copped the van about to turn left across them but didn’t slow to keep themselves safe as they wanted to prove a point, I would say the exact same thing to the car driver

The van didnt indicate so how do you know he is turning left?

DelBoy Trotter

breezy1985 wrote: »

The van didnt indicate so how do you know he is turning left?

How do you know he wasn’t turning left?

And just to point out, the poster of the video already said they saw it coming

AndrewJRenko

buffalo wrote: »

Because if you hang back and stay out of the way, the driver will sail on oblivious that they came *this* close to running someone over due to their sloppy driving and lack of observation. And they'll never realise that.

And next time the driver ends up interacting with a cyclist in the same way, that cyclist might not be so prepared. And what might happen then?

if you're prepared for it, you can show them that they need to be more alert and careful.

I’d thank this post multiple times if I could, it’s bang on the money.

AndrewJRenko

breezy1985 wrote: »

If the van indicated I would say ya hold off but I dont think he did and we cant be stopping at every junction just in case

I’d thank this post multiple times if I could, it’s bang on the money

Chiparus

kenmm wrote: »

I didn't say or interpret it as angry, how could I?

But others might. And it's a stereotype for many people.


Anyway, the main point was, why not pull back a bit / read the road further ahead, especially in small busy streets.

If someone pulled across form the ouside lane of a dual carriage way to make a left turn without indicating , forcing you on the inside lane to brake , would you beep your horn?

kenmm

So that got rather silly, fast.

You all know a cycle lane in one of the busiest bits if road in central Dublin is not the same as a dual carriageway.
Different set of observational skills. If it were like a dual carriageway then what are you comparing it to? Traveling at 60/70 mph (therefore you are illegally undertaking) or slow moving traffic, but unlikely to have a sharp left turn. The analogy doesn't work for me.

To answer the 'slow down for every junction'. No that's nonsense. To excercise a bit of caution in a busy city centre (maybe the top 5 busiest section of Dublin?). Yes. To read the road ahead and not pass a van or larger vehicle on the inside near a junction (especially one that was obviously busy as there was slow moving traffic entering the junction) yes.

Do I advocate not gesticulating towards somethone making a mistake. I do that a lot less too and my cycles are generally more relaxed. What are you doing otherwise? You are not there to teach every driver or road user the error of there ways.


On top of that prevention is better than the cure. But please, feel free to completely miss that point and carry on with petty arguments.

kenmm

buffalo wrote: »

So you think letting people continue to make poor decisions without even minor consequences (drawing their attention to it) helps? I certainly don't.

The next time they make that same poor decision, the consequence could be much greater - potentially fatal for someone. Left hooks are the most frequent killer of cyclists in Ireland, or were at one point. HGVs usually responsible for the deaths, I can only imagine how many smaller vehicles caused injuries.

You can't stop people making bad decisions.


You can't teach lessons from the side if the road. You are more likely to p!ss people off. Ironically because a lot of the time they won't admit fault in the first place.
That's a double irony in this case because the van driver immediately took full responsibility and secondly, well this thread and learning lessons...

I've said my piece. It was a gentle suggestion to practice reading ahead a bit more. We have probably derailed the thread enough. I'm not getting dragged into it anymore at least.

kenmm

magicbastarder wrote: »

what's the takeaway so? don't even give a conciliatory gesture?

Ok.. dragged in one more time..

Don't even be in the dangerous position in the first place.

If something unavoidable happens, then I reserve the right to tell them to f right off.

breezy1985

kenmm wrote: »

So that got rather silly, fast.

You all know a cycle lane in one of the busiest bits if road in central Dublin is not the same as a dual carriageway.
Different set of observational skills. If it were like a dual carriageway then what are you comparing it to? Traveling at 60/70 mph (therefore you are illegally undertaking) or slow moving traffic, but unlikely to have a sharp left turn. The analogy doesn't work for me.

To answer the 'slow down for every junction'. No that's nonsense. To excercise a bit of caution in a busy city centre (maybe the top 5 busiest section of Dublin?). Yes. To read the road ahead and not pass a van or larger vehicle on the inside near a junction (especially one that was obviously busy as there was slow moving traffic entering the junction) yes.

Do I advocate not gesticulating towards somethone making a mistake. I do that a lot less too and my cycles are generally more relaxed. What are you doing otherwise? You are not there to teach every driver or road user the error of there ways.


On top of that prevention is better than the cure. But please, feel free to completely miss that point and carry on with petty arguments.

People on here are always goin on about missing the point when people disagree as if we are too stupid to get what is being said.

We get the point you are making we just think its a dumb one

kenmm

breezy1985 wrote: »

People on here are always goin on about missing the point when people disagree as if we are too stupid to get what is being said.

We get the point you are making we just think its a dumb one

Well it didn't appear that way when people are banging on about irrelevant situations (dual carriageways, wtf) and teaching people how to drive.

But if you do get the point (ie don't put yourself in danger) and you either think that is dumb or it doesn't apply then fair enough.

I only originally posted because I thought this was a non event and a pretty dumb position to be in (the inside of a van at the corner of a junction).


Edit: and since we just had a new cyclists posting immediately before, I would say that I would advise anyone to practice better observation skills and not put yourself in this position. To me that's common sense.

breezy1985

kenmm wrote: »

Well it didn't appear that way when people are banging on about irrelevant situations (dual carriageways, wtf) and teaching people how to drive.

But if you do get the point (ie don't put yourself in danger) and you either think that is dumb or it doesn't apply then fair enough.

I only originally posted because I thought this was a non event and a pretty dumb position to be in (the inside of a van at the corner of a junction).


Edit: and since we just had a new cyclists posting immediately before, I would say that I would advise anyone to practice better observation skills and not put yourself in this position. To me that's common sense.

I dont think not putting yourself in danger is dumb I think stopping at every junction in case some van that is in a different lane and doesnt indicate might feel like turning is dumb. I also think victim blaming is dumb which is what you are doing

You are twisting facts again he was not on"the inside of a van at the corner of a junction" he was in a seperate lane and done nothing wrong by proceeding.

kenmm

breezy1985 wrote: »

I dont think not putting yourself in danger is dumb I think stopping at every junction in case some van that is in a different lane and doesnt indicate might feel like turning is dumb. I also think victim blaming is dumb which is what you are doing

You are twisting facts again he was not on"the inside of a van at the corner of a junction" he was in a seperate lane and done nothing wrong by proceeding.

"He was on the nearside side of a van, in a cycle lane as both the bike and the van were approaching a junction" - does that description fit better? - we are really splitting hairs now.

I didn't say approaching every junction. It's Ranelagh and one of the busiest sections of road in Dublin city. Context is key and forms part of good observational skills. Also, the van was slowing for something, so I would be a little more aware in this situation - it was clear as day something was about to happen and the poster even stated he "saw this coming".

We are going to have to agree to disagree. There is no victim blaming, it was a gentle, polite suggestion to maybe hang back a little in this specific incident. No offense intended, I have no clue why this is causing such a stir.

The cyclist didn't do anything wrong as in illegal, but a little more awareness in these situations is always helpful.

kenmm

randomname2005 wrote: »

But consider rush hour where there is a queue of slow moving traffic. Are cyclists supposed to slow down and ensure they are not in every driver's blind spot at every junction?

Of course not, my comment was intended for this specific clip where there was moving traffic through a busy section (with a bit of hesitation and another cearly busy junction ahead).

Start/stop traffic is a different situation entirely (as is vehicular traffic on a dual carriageway).

randomname2005 wrote: »

I think the more realistic approach is to encourage cyclists to cycle cautiously, being aware that scenarios like this are likely to happen and they need to be ready to react to it like this cyclist did. Maybe cycle with hands on the break levers most of the time in areas like this? Remind novice city cyclists that you can't cycle with your head down looking straight ahead. You have to expect that the pedestrian will step out in front of you, that the driver will turn without looking or indicating, that the parked car door will open.

All of that is good cycling, definitely.

The approach I take is to practice all these skills, focus more about myself and what I can do better and not what other people should have done.

TheChizler

breezy1985 wrote: »

You are twisting facts again he was not on"the inside of a van at the corner of a junction" he was in a seperate lane and done nothing wrong by proceeding.

Just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons it's occasionally pointed out in this forum that a cycle lane has no legal distinction as a lane in it's own right and some would consider it part of the same lane. :cool:

Chris871

I had a nearly identical incident about 6 weeks ago, unfortunately it wasn't a near miss in my case. I was left hooked by a jeep that didn't indicate.

A few takeaways from my incident, Never rely on an indicator, Ease off in congested areas & Read the road better(avoid that blindspot).

Oh & most importantly as someone has mentioned here before, if you are unlucky enough to have an accident, make sure the other party isn't an ***hole

kenmm

magicbastarder wrote: »

in a situation like that, i'm happy enough to take the lane and insert myself into traffic, but it's not something i suspect a nervous or novice cyclist might be comfortable doing, so i'm hesitant to recommend it.
plus, the fact that the cycle lane is now wanded would make that more fraught.

however, if a cyclist was to have to sit behind a slow moving van in a junction-heavy area like ranelagh, lest the van driver do something stupid, kinda removes one of the benefits of cycling in that not getting stuck in vehicular traffic is one of the attractions of it.

anyway, the van driver was an idiot, he'd clearly passed several cyclists and was not moving nearly fast enough to clear them before swinging left. and it's not as if AJR was melting along at 40km/h.

So is the conclusion from this (apart from the van driver Fu(king up, which is obvious) that as a cyclist, there is nothing to learn from such incidents? It's a question. I'm asking because from any incident (near misses especially) I always look to see what can be learned.

AndrewJRenko

kenmm wrote: »

"He was on the nearside side of a van, in a cycle lane as both the bike and the van were approaching a junction" - does that description fit better? - we are really splitting hairs now.

I didn't say approaching every junction. It's Ranelagh and one of the busiest sections of road in Dublin city. Context is key and forms part of good observational skills. Also, the van was slowing for something, so I would be a little more aware in this situation - it was clear as day something was about to happen and the poster even stated he "saw this coming".

We are going to have to agree to disagree. There is no victim blaming, it was a gentle, polite suggestion to maybe hang back a little in this specific incident. No offense intended, I have no clue why this is causing such a stir.

The cyclist didn't do anything wrong as in illegal, but a little more awareness in these situations is always helpful.

There was no lack of awareness or observation. I knew exactly where the van was, and I was aware there was a chance he would try to left hook me.

I was also away that I would be coming up by his window before he turned, so there was a good chance he would see me there.

I counted 14 junctions on that stretch of Ranelagh today, from the canal bridge to the top of Sandford Road. Am I supposed to hang back at each of the 14 junctions, just in case a driver decides to turn on a whim, without observation or looking at mirrors? And what about every driveway or business entrance, probably about 100 of them on that stretch - am I supposed to hang back at each of those also?

I'm not going to spend my life tugging my forelock and asking permission from the drivers of Dublin to continue my journey if that's OK with all of them thanks very much.

kenmm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

There was no lack of awareness or observation. I knew exactly where the van was, and I was aware there was a chance he would try to left hook me.

I was also away that I would be coming up by his window before he turned, so there was a good chance he would see me there.

That to me sounds worse, that you saw an avoidable conflict and decided to force it.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I counted 14 junctions on that stretch of Ranelagh today, from the canal bridge to the top of Sandford Road. Am I supposed to hang back at each of the 14 junctions, just in case a driver decides to turn on a whim, without observation or looking at mirrors? And what about every driveway or business entrance, probably about 100 of them on that stretch - am I supposed to hang back at each of those also?

I'm not going to spend my life tugging my forelock and asking permission from the drivers of Dublin to continue my journey if that's OK with all of them thanks very much.

There are no more words for this. This is taking it to extremes. Good luck and I genuinely hope you are not going to be one of the cyclists I will read about that was caught out by poor road positioning (In my opinion, obviously. I respect that you disagree).

breezy1985

kenmm wrote: »

That to me sounds worse, that you saw an avoidable conflict and decided to force it.



There are no more words for this. This is taking it to extremes. Good luck and I genuinely hope you are not going to be one of the cyclists I will read about that was caught out by poor road positioning (In my opinion, obviously. I respect that you disagree).

You mean caught out by a driver turning without checking or indicating but again you choose to blame the cyclist

kenmm

breezy1985 wrote: »

You mean caught out by a driver turning without checking or indicating but again you choose to blame the cyclist

By the cyclists own admission, that didn't happen. No one was caught out, it was foreseen.

It can't be both a case of being fully observant AND being caught out completely unaware.

I am not "blaming" anyone, Its not an us Vs them situation. I only (originally) asked if it was wise to be in the blind spot at an obviously bad time (hesitant driver, busy road, etc). I don't know why this has caused so much resentment?

EDIT II: Remember - I originally posed the question on the back of a new person being worried at the amount of clips that show how dangerous cycling can be. One way to increase safety is by being aware of such situations. AJR was aware of this situation and proceeded anyway. A novice may not have been so aware and therefore it's wise to point out that proceeding blindly (AJR Didn't proceed blindly) isn't the only option and sometimes holding back in order to merge (as a merging would have to have happened due to the illegally parked car up ahead, another point no one seemed to care about - i.e. if the van was going to continue as would be implied by the lack of indication, a merge would happen. If it was me at that point, I would have merged behind the van, passed the junction and parked car and then sprinted off into the sunset, no issues all happy).

Again - this whole incident was a non-event, but looks worse. The guy made a mistake and instantly put his hand up. The consequences could have been much worse, but they could have passed with less of an incident as well.

breezy1985

kenmm wrote: »

By the cyclists own admission, that didn't happen. No one was caught out, it was foreseen.

I am not "blaming" anyone, Its not an us Vs them situation. I only (originally) asked if it was wise to be in the blind spot at an obviously bad time. I don't know why this has caused so much resentment?

Im not saying us v them Im saying its the vans fault but you keep wording it to blame the cyclist. Only 2 things should happen in this situation the driver should check his mirror and indicate no one else done wrong so stop saying the cyclist needs to change his behaviour. No car driver would be asked to do what you are telling this cyclist to do

blackwhite

Certain folk are intent on seeking out a confrontation where-ever they can.

Language such as

I was aware there was a chance he would try to left hook me.

tells you all you need to know. Everything gets viewed through the prism of "us v them" - and does nothing except make the environment more toxic for everyone else. Everything is an intentional attack in his own little personal war.


I commute a lot of the same roads at that poster, and have nowhere near the level of near misses, aggressive encounters with drivers or other such incidents.
I've learned to cycle assertively and, when needed, will make myself heard by drivers (or other road users), but I don't feel the need go seeking out a row every day either.

kenmm

breezy1985 wrote: »

Im not saying us v them Im saying its the vans fault but you keep wording it to blame the cyclist. Only 2 things should happen in this situation the driver should check his mirror and indicate no one else done wrong so stop saying the cyclist needs to change his behaviour. No car driver would be asked to do what you are telling this cyclist to do

What are you on about? What equatable situation is there with cars? Very few because cars rarely have to put up with one ****ty lane beside another lane. EDIT - Also - I am pretty sure when I took driving lessons, there was quite a lot about being aware of blindspots, unpredictable situation in build up areas and distractions. Being aware is all I am asking of anyone.

The van obviously made a mistake, 100%, no dispute. But at this point we have a situation where a cyclist continued up beside the van after (rightly) predicting or being pretty sure he was about to left hook him. Being in the right doesn't always mean it the safest option. Or am I wrong?

kenmm

blackwhite wrote: »

I commute a lot of the same roads at that poster, and have nowhere near the level of near misses, aggressive encounters with drivers or other such incidents.
I've learned to cycle assertively and, when needed, will make myself heard by drivers (or other road users), but I don't feel the need go seeking out a row every day either.

Strong assertive riding, reading the road well ahead AND acting appropriately. Every encounter is a learning opportunity as far as I am concerned. But somehow I have become the villain here. I want more people to cycle and also to enjoy the experience, not be put off by worrying how dangerous it is or being met by drivers who are wound up to the point the see a target on cyclists back.

5CHULZY

2 close passes by buses today in the space of 100m. First bus overtakes me on north strand road heading towards the 5 lamps. Not the worst of close passes but as we stop at the lights, he has now moved over from bus lane into normal traffic lane, I let him know i wasnt happy and he gestures to me to peddle faster. So with that I take out the phone and take a picture of the front of the bus, just to let him know that I might report him. Wasnt going to bother any way as too much hassle.

While this is going on another bus pulls up behind me in the bus lane and must witness the alteration because as the lights go green, he then proceeds to overtake me with no intention on moving over to give me space. It was quite clear it was an intentional punishment pass for his colleague.

So now I have decided to report both drivers and request cctv footage.