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

TheChizler

work wrote: »

If a car overtakes you and you feel anyway unsafe feel free to whack the car as you are in danger. They are required to give you 1 meter space and Michael Phelp's arms aren't even that long so, in my opinion, there can be no complaints. you are letting them know you do not want to be crushed.


If they want to claim you damaged their car let them know you damaged your hand while they put you in danger.


Disclaimer: I know funk all about the law so take your own council and I in no way suggest violence just defense.

As nice as it might feel I'm not going to do that unless there's a good reason, like the driver hadn't seen me or something. This clearly was intentional and they're not about to back off, who knows what they'd do. I don't want the driver to have anything to use against me if it goes anywhere too.

Away With The Fairies

Saw the video posted from Twitter and the driver saying it was the cyclists fault for not getting out of the way. That's absolutely shocking.

It's making me think, I should probably get a camera, just in case.

What kind of cameras do cyclists use for recording videos like that while cycling?

site_owner

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Do PIAB resolve non-medical claims e.g. the cost of damage to the person's bike?

fat bloke wrote: »

I don't think so. I was in such a situation. The system is actually set up in favour of inflated personal injury claims. I found it extremely difficult to get compensated for bike-only damage. In the absence of potential personal injury payout the game wasn't worth the candle for a solicitor

if you have a damage only claim, get the insurance details, call the insurance company and follow their process. its very easy once there is evidence of the collision (photos or video)

if you didnt get insurance details at the scene this is where the garda WILL help. go to them, report the collision and that the driver did not exchange detauls with you. you'll need the registration, and the garda will issue "a lawful request to present" and the driver has 10 days to show up at a station and give their insurance details

tnegun

The stretch is lethal I'd a very similar pass with one of their buses not far from there too. Complained to the company but heard no more about it.
*edit. I was wrong they did reply and said that they took action but going by your video it doesn't look like had much effect! I've attached the snip I took from the video and sent them as he passed in the pouring rain very similar driving.

CramCycle

As a matter of interest, would the HSA be an appropriate body to report dangerous driving by a professional driver if the gardai or company seem disinterested?

AndrewJRenko

CramCycle wrote: »

As a matter of interest, would the HSA be an appropriate body to report dangerous driving by a professional driver if the gardai or company seem disinterested?

I've failed on several attempts to get HSA interested. Anything related to site traffic or parking and you'll be told it is a matter for the Gardai. Or when you do report a matter, they tell you that they can't tell you anything about the outcome for confidentiality reasons. I did an FOI last year which indicated that they did not investigate several deaths involving commercial trucks (which ARE workplace deaths in law). When they did investigate, they tended to rely mostly on the Garda investigation with little independent thinking.

Duzzie

Had my first close call / scary incident on the bike this morning. Was cycling solo along an old national road which has been reclassified as a regional. It has a mix of hard shoulder and hard strips. Where I was, there is a 1m wide hard strip which contained mud and other detritus. It was also a cold morning so there was a risk of ice in untrafficked areas. I was therefore cycling on the traffic side of the yellow line. As I was cycling, a pick-up pulled up behind me and started hooting at me, presumably to get out of his way. I ignored him and carried on my way. He hooted at me at least 5 times. He then pulled along side me, close enough for me to touch his vehicle and started berating me for not cycling in the hard strip. I ignored him but he carried on shouting at me. After a while, I'd had enough and told him to f off. He carried on shouting so I told him to f off again. He then pulled away in front of me, pulled into the hard strip and skidded to a stop. He then swung his door open and I had to swerve to avoid it but carried on cycling. He then drove past me at a close distance and stopped in the hard strip 2 more times, although he didn't open his door on these two occasions. To me, he was clearly trying to intimidate me by passing me in close proximity and then stopping. He then drove off.

As soon as I got to my destination, I went to the garda station to report what had happened. The gard was very helpful and was a cyclist too. He took a very dim view of the drivers actions. I had tried to remember the registration of the vehicle but only remembered part of it. Fortunately the vehicle was branded with a company name so the gard called the company and was able to determine who the driver was based on the partial reg and vehicle type that I gave him. He didn't get to talk to the driver but spoke to the company boss, telling him that he wanted the driver to phone him back. I've not heard any more from the gard but he said that he would call me with an update.

Be careful out there folks. It may be the season to be jolly but it is also the season for idiots on the road.

Duzzie

Seth Brundle wrote: »

I'd recommend either a front or rear camera (or preferably both) to back you up in these situations.

Definitely something that I will be looking into after this morning. A side facing / helmet cam would also have be useful to show the driver shouting at me to get into the hard strip.

micar

Duzzie wrote: »

Had my first close call / scary incident on the bike this morning. Was cycling solo along an old national road which has been reclassified as a regional. It has a mix of hard shoulder and hard strips. Where I was, there is a 1m wide hard strip which contained mud and other detritus. It was also a cold morning so there was a risk of ice in untrafficked areas. I was therefore cycling on the traffic side of the yellow line. As I was cycling, a pick-up pulled up behind me and started hooting at me, presumably to get out of his way. I ignored him and carried on my way. He hooted at me at least 5 times. He then pulled along side me, close enough for me to touch his vehicle and started berating me for not cycling in the hard strip. I ignored him but he carried on shouting at me. After a while, I'd had enough and told him to f off. He carried on shouting so I told him to f off again. He then pulled away in front of me, pulled into the hard strip and skidded to a stop. He then swung his door open and I had to swerve to avoid it but carried on cycling. He then drove past me at a close distance and stopped in the hard strip 2 more times, although he didn't open his door on these two occasions. To me, he was clearly trying to intimidate me by passing me in close proximity and then stopping. He then drove off.

As soon as I got to my destination, I went to the garda station to report what had happened. The gard was very helpful and was a cyclist too. He took a very dim view of the drivers actions. I had tried to remember the registration of the vehicle but only remembered part of it. Fortunately the vehicle was branded with a company name so the gard called the company and was able to determine who the driver was based on the partial reg and vehicle type that I gave him. He didn't get to talk to the driver but spoke to the company boss, telling him that he wanted the driver to phone him back. I've not heard any more from the gard but he said that he would call me with an update.

Be careful out there folks. It may be the season to be jolly but it is also the season for idiots on the road.

Sorry to hear this.

Had an incidence not as bad as this but with company van

I had a search for the director and found him on FB. Photos of him doing races on his bike.

I emailed him and explained the incident.

He came back to advise he was a cyclists (which I already knew) and said he would speak to his employee.

sy_flembeck

Seth Brundle wrote: »

nah, keep it simple.
I've a Cycliq Fly12 on the front bars and it picks up sound just fine (my rear Fly6 picks up too much road & wheel noise). If you need to get a look at the driver, then just turn the handlebars when stopped.

And you get to half blind him as a bonus

wheelo01

Seth Brundle wrote: »

nah, keep it simple.
I've a Cycliq Fly12 on the front bars and it picks up sound just fine (my rear Fly6 picks up too much road & wheel noise). If you need to get a look at the driver, then just turn the handlebars when stopped.

Never seems to miss your swearing mate :D

Thargor

https://twitter.com/dinosofos/status/1344334762333368327

Eamonnator

Former Mountain Bike Olympian,(he was also 4th in the Rás, the year the Russians were 1st, 2nd and 3rd) Alastair Martin, competed in a 10 mile Time Trial at Christmas. It was in Newtownards. He finished in 9th place.
He competed on a Penny Farthing. He has previous in this regard.

Picturing him in full skinsuit, aero helmet and tri bars mounted on the penny farthing

CramCycle

Higher up you go the less dense the atmosphere, probably taking marginal gains to the extreme.

Eamonnator

https://belgianproject.cc/2019/12/26/ian-inglis-wins-ards-ccs-traditional-christmas-tt-10-miles-for-the-6th-time-in-a-row-at-the-ards-peninsula/

If you scroll down, you'll see Alastair in 2019 on his P.F.

Eamonnator

Eamonnator wrote: »

https://belgianproject.cc/2019/12/26/ian-inglis-wins-ards-ccs-traditional-christmas-tt-10-miles-for-the-6th-time-in-a-row-at-the-ards-peninsula/

If you scroll down, you'll see Alastair in 2019 on his P.F.

That's a brilliant shot of him !!!!

micar

Thargor wrote: »

https://twitter.com/dinosofos/status/1344334762333368327

Had a look on Google street view. The road the van went up is two way.

Appalling piece of driving.....skimmed the kerb for cars coming into the main road.

CramCycle

Eamonnator wrote: »

https://belgianproject.cc/2019/12/26/ian-inglis-wins-ards-ccs-traditional-christmas-tt-10-miles-for-the-6th-time-in-a-row-at-the-ards-peninsula/

If you scroll down, you'll see Alastair in 2019 on his P.F.

The winner was on a track bike, fantastic, I want to enter this next year.

MangleBadger

I was out for my lockdown hamster wheel spin yesterday. The road had a shared/dotted line cycle lane which I was in. BMW slightly ahead of me was in and out of the cycle lane so I hung back. They indicated to turn right but decided they needed more room to turn right and decided to swerve left into the cycle lane to initiate the turn. I was close to passing them out in the cycle lane when this happened so had to break and then swerve towards the kerb.
Looked in the window to have a word with the driver but it was a little old lady who was immediately apologetic so I just cycled on.

Thinking about it later was I in the right in this scenario? What are the rules around shared cycle lanes and cars entering them?

CramCycle

MangleBadger wrote: »

I was out for my lockdown hamster wheel spin yesterday. The road had a shared/dotted line cycle lane which I was in. BMW slightly ahead of me was in and out of the cycle lane so I hung back. They indicated to turn right but decided they needed more room to turn right and decided to swerve left into the cycle lane to initiate the turn. I was close to passing them out in the cycle lane when this happened so had to break and then swerve towards the kerb.
Looked in the window to have a word with the driver but it was a little old lady who was immediately apologetic so I just cycled on.

Thinking about it later was I in the right in this scenario? What are the rules around shared cycle lanes and cars entering them?

It's a tough one but truth of the matter is, if she is swerving all over the place, the cycle lane isn't the biggest concern, it is whether she should be on the road at ll. I probably would have done the same but shouldn't have. As for where you were, once you held back, unless they stop to make the turn, I keep holding back as a shocking amount of cars seem to go left before they go right as if they were on a bicycle or were trying to roll the car in slow motion. I always expect it for larger vehicles as they are altering their turning circle so as not to cut in to oncoming traffic as they go around the corner but a regular car shouldn't need to do this.

CramCycle

MojoMaker wrote: »

You typically see it for sudden u-turns alright. Good visual clue....usually.

I always wonder what visual queues we pick up on without realising. My partner thinks its funny when I drive that I talk out loud about what cars are going to do without, to me, any obvious indication. I know some of it is looking at the front wheel orientation, looking through the rear window for head and hand movements, looking at minor changes to speed and so on but I am pretty good most of the time at knowing what's coming and part of me wonders, is it just lowest common denominator is a safe gamble or what is my brain taking in.

beauf

CramCycle wrote: »

I always wonder what visual queues we pick up on without realising. ....

Apart from the usual car modifications, or type of car or van. Often it's driving style and road position. For example if someone does something dangerous, they are very likely to repeat a few times as you follow. Because it's habitual. I know someone who is a late braker. Drives too close, doesn't read the road ahead and is constantly braking hard and last minute.

John_Rambo

CramCycle wrote: »

I always wonder what visual queues we pick up on without realising.

Broken or turned in wing mirrors, padre pio stickers, ANYONE wearing a hat, stickers or emblems to do with country and western music, pink cars, Dire Straits music playing, cars with "amusing bumper stickers", cuddly toys carefully placed on the parcel shelf, cuddly toys carefully placed on the dashboard, little yellow minions placed anywhere, Nurburgring stickers on a diesel Audi, driver with hoody up, pro life stickers, construction hat on show on the parcel shelf, serifed font reg plates, audible fake dump valves noises, most VW Passats, "cancer protecting" pads on seatbelts, beaded seat covers, weird tinted windscreens, small dog on drivers lap, religious paraphernalia hanging from rear mirror.

CramCycle

I also find N plates a warning sign.

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

nurburgring stickers, too.

Actually there is a Ford Focus I pass parked up on my travels done up in full Hoonigan livery that looks like it belongs in the Forza Horizon games. Met it the road a few times and has given me a mile of space when passing.

That said the amount of work I'd say he put into the car he likely didn't want blood or scratches on it

sy_flembeck

For me it's if I see flat caps and/ or long ears in the car in front. It's the full house if the rear shelf also has a tartan rug and/ or a panama hat.

Biiiig warning signs

CramCycle

I had a near miss yesterday, now I won't lie, I seen it coming and was ready to stop. I just knew he was going to do it and cut across me, the two cars in front of him had plenty of time to do so, he did not. He went for it, now I easily avoided it but I made a song and dance. Now people will have looked at me and wondered why, but the truth is, if I changed nothing I would have had to slam on and possibly hit them, I avoided it but if I was a car, they never would have done it.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

Nurburgring stickers on a diesel Audi

magicbastarder wrote: »

nurburgring stickers, too.

Nurburgring sticker on a performance petrol car like a Caterham or a Lotus that's been to the ring is usually a sign of a pretty good driver that will have the cop and skills to negotiate cyclists properly.

Nurburgring sticker on a car wannabe - bad news. Hasn't a clue. "Get out of my way. I may have done the ring. (But didn't)"

breezy1985

sy_flembeck wrote: »

For me it's if I see flat caps and/ or long ears in the car in front. It's the full house if the rear shelf also has a tartan rug and/ or a panama hat.

Biiiig warning signs

Where or in what time period are you cycling

CramCycle

I drove today for a change as I got a text from the kids school saying a box was to be collected and I was not confident that I would make it back on the bike. By the time I got in I had another text saying the collection had been cancelled :rolleyes: Anyway, going along the N11, left hand lane and there is a Toyota Land Cruiser in front who pulls over to the right lane. I can see the cars in that lane turning right about 800m down the road, as they always do. It is one of those weird ones where I am adding up whether the turning lane will be full before this monstrosity gets to it as the right lane is slowing and i just felt that they merged over way later than a car that was turning right typically would have. Lane of traffic was slowing on the right. So I looked in the bus lane as I just had a feeling that they would do what they often do while I am on the bike. Low and behold, she pulled out, and hit the indicator at the same time, thankfully it was predictable so I could accommodate it but lets be clear, technically, the space was not there and if I hadn't been prepared/adjusted she would have hit me side on.

I say this as someone who hands up is not a good driver but f*ck me, the number of people are so unaware of their surroundings while driving is shocking.

beauf

I regret not pursuing it when I got knocked off. I didn't really feel the effects until a good 24/48 hours later and by that time it was too late to get the details, witness's, CCTV required.

lawrencesummers

We live in a country that has some terrible roads.
Roads that are completely over subscribed and not designed for the volume of traffic they hold.

As cyclists we have the right to use almost all of the roads in the country. Even the bad ones.

Out of interest do people avoid these worse roads on their cycle / commute? Do people take the slightly longer route to avoid a more dangerous road?

I know you don’t have to, but surely it’s safer to do so? Where do people stand on this.

CramCycle

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Out of interest do people avoid these worse roads on their cycle / commute? Do people take the slightly longer route to avoid a more dangerous road?

Alot of people do, its certainly noticeable here when someone asks for the "best route" on a long commute.

I know you don’t have to, but surely it’s safer to do so? Where do people stand on this.

I don't unless I specifically want to get a longer spin in. Admittedly much of my commute is not on "bad" roads. It should be noted that in the past, when I was on roads that some consider "bad" roads, it was not the actual road that was bad. I realise that my safety should be top of the list in my head, and this behaviour seems to go against this. The way I see it, if I stop cycling those roads and people become used to getting away with acting like a pr1ck, they will a) continue to do so and possibly hit someone else and b) that behaviour will spread to other areas they drive and soon, there will be no "good" roads left.

lawrencesummers

CramCycle wrote: »

Alot of people do, its certainly noticeable here when someone asks for the "best route" on a long commute.

I don't unless I specifically want to get a longer spin in. Admittedly much of my commute is not on "bad" roads. It should be noted that in the past, when I was on roads that some consider "bad" roads, it was not the actual road that was bad. I realise that my safety should be top of the list in my head, and this behaviour seems to go against this. The way I see it, if I stop cycling those roads and people become used to getting away with acting like a pr1ck, they will a) continue to do so and possibly hit someone else and b) that behaviour will spread to other areas they drive and soon, there will be no "good" roads left.

So your somehow assuming the role of the authorities?

I get that your using roads you can use. I’ve been looking at videos someone has posted a number of near misses on a road that I’m familiar with, a terrible road that has had a number of fatal car crashes over the years and is in dire long overdue need of improvement. It’s not a safe road for cars let alone cyclists IMO.

At all times the cyclist is in the right and the vehicles that are doing stupid / dangerous things are in the wrong, but that’s a road I would never dream of cycling on, and it has a quieter smaller road running parallel to it that I often use.

Does it strike people as foolish to use a terrible road for cycling when an alternative exists?

AndrewJRenko

lawrencesummers wrote: »

We live in a country that has some terrible roads.
Roads that are completely over subscribed and not designed for the volume of traffic they hold.

As cyclists we have the right to use almost all of the roads in the country. Even the bad ones.

Out of interest do people avoid these worse roads on their cycle / commute? Do people take the slightly longer route to avoid a more dangerous road?

I know you don’t have to, but surely it’s safer to do so? Where do people stand on this.

lawrencesummers wrote: »

So your somehow assuming the role of the authorities?

I get that your using roads you can use. I’ve been looking at videos someone has posted a number of near misses on a road that I’m familiar with, a terrible road that has had a number of fatal car crashes over the years and is in dire long overdue need of improvement. It’s not a safe road for cars let alone cyclists IMO.

At all times the cyclist is in the right and the vehicles that are doing stupid / dangerous things are in the wrong, but that’s a road I would never dream of cycling on, and it has a quieter smaller road running parallel to it that I often use.

Does it strike people as foolish to use a terrible road for cycling when an alternative exists?

Roads aren't bad/dangerous/terrible.

Drivers on some roads are bad/dangerous/terrible.

CramCycle

lawrencesummers wrote: »

So your somehow assuming the role of the authorities?

I don't get how you make that leap, I am not pulling people over and fining them for dangerous driving. I am not being assertive and blocking people, I am not delaying them but over the years I have heard people use the excuse, I never expected a cyclist, even though it could have been a tractor, a cow, a pedestrian and so on. Down at my parents place there is no choice but the roads themselves are fine, its just a subset of drivers are dangerous. There are no alternative routes.

I get that your using roads you can use. I’ve been looking at videos someone has posted a number of near misses on a road that I’m familiar with, a terrible road that has had a number of fatal car crashes over the years and is in dire long overdue need of improvement. It’s not a safe road for cars let alone cyclists IMO.

Which road and why did the crashes occur? Where they mainly speed, phone use, lack of observation. Most of these can be fixed with ease via average speed cameras, more enforcement until it becomes the norm. The dangerous thing at the moment is that these behaviours are being passed on to the drivers of tomorrow as normal behaviour. It will take a few years for any measure to have a proper affect and yet we delay in bringing in cost neutral, societally beneficial measures that could be implemented almost immediately.

At all times the cyclist is in the right and the vehicles that are doing stupid / dangerous things are in the wrong, but that’s a road I would never dream of cycling on, and it has a quieter smaller road running parallel to it that I often use.

Does it strike people as foolish to use a terrible road for cycling when an alternative exists?

You really need to give the road or I can't comment.

beauf

lawrencesummers wrote: »

....
Out of interest do people avoid these worse roads on their cycle / commute? Do people take the slightly longer route to avoid a more dangerous road?

I know you don’t have to, but surely it’s safer to do so? Where do people stand on this.

I pick the roads I prefer cycling on. On my commute Is often go the 10 min longer route. I do the same driving or walking.

beauf

lawrencesummers wrote: »

....Does it strike people as foolish to use a terrible road for cycling when an alternative exists?

I'm not sure what your point is. I think your trying to portion blame on the cyclists for poor driver behaviour or even road and junction layout.

CramCycle

I'm still waiting to find out what road this is. None of my "bad" roads have alternatives that don't bring you either on a significantly longer route or on an equally "bad" road. Has anyone considered just giving these "bad" roads a good telling off?

beauf

Think this is against thread rules tbh...

"....Originally Posted by Beasty
Anyone else starting to discuss red light jumping or otherwise trying to change the topic into a discussion of cyclist behaviour can expect mod action

Any questions PM me..."

07Lapierre

Cycling along this road this morning
Car (Hyundai Tuscon) came towards me at what I estimate 60-70kph! Driver made zero attempt to slow down and zero attempt to move over to the left. He made it very clear it was up to me to get out of his way. For a split second I considered moving out to the centre of the road and force him to slow, but thought the better of it and instead “gave him the finger 🖕 instead! :mad:


https://goo.gl/maps/RJ2um26FpXogsut66

ED E

07Lapierre wrote: »

Cycling along this road this morning
Car (Hyundai Tuscon) came towards me at what I estimate 60-70kph! Driver made zero attempt to slow down and zero attempt to move over to the left. He made it very clear it was up to me to get out of his way. For a split second I considered moving out to the centre of the road and force him to slow, but thought the better of it and instead “gave him the finger 🖕 instead! :mad:


https://goo.gl/maps/RJ2um26FpXogsut66

Motorbikers would take his mirror with them

breezy1985

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bora-hansgrohe-riders-hit-by-vehicle-at-training-camp-and-taken-to-hospital/

7 Bora riders hit by a car in a training ride in Italy

Thargor

I was cycling back into our estate at 11am yesterday after a night shift, I was on the road around a big green area and there were a lot of young kids out playing on scooters and bikes. Over on the road on the other side of the green there was a little kid, basically a toddler kicking along on a small balance bike and a Dacia Duster drove up behind him at speed, braked hard about half a car length behind him and started beeping to get him out of the way. I shook my fist at them when they drove past me a second later and they did a "what?" gesture with their hands at me, I was fecking raging, If Id had something to hand to throw at him I would have :mad:

Didnt even wait for him to get up on the footpath, just accelerated past the minute there was a car-width clear, the kid could have easily fallen over under the wheels or anything.

CramCycle

I don't condone capital punishment but I also wouldn't rush to stop someone if they were drag the driver out of the car and give them 40 lashes.

Steoller

CramCycle wrote: »

I don't condone capital punishment but I also wouldn't rush to stop someone if they were drag the driver out of the car and give them 40 lashes.

There's just something about putting kids in mortal danger for your own convenience that engages my lizard brain.

breezy1985

CramCycle wrote: »

I don't condone capital punishment but I also wouldn't rush to stop someone if they were drag the driver out of the car and give them 40 lashes.

Of a bike tyre for irony

We had a similar thing happen in our estate and the kid was so scared they hopped off the bike and ran home. The passenger of the car got out and took the kids bike indoors with him as a punishment.

Unfortunately for the guy, the kids dad is a retired Leinster lock and after a “word” he has promised never to do it again.

Seaswimmer

Aegir wrote: »

We had a similar thing happen in our estate and the kid was so scared they hopped off the bike and ran home. The passenger of the car got out and took the kids bike indoors with him as a punishment.

Unfortunately for the guy, the kids dad is a retired Leinster lock and after a “word” he has promised never to do it again.

Can they talk??