[Soul_Glo]

I don't want people to bash cyclists in here. I want to know how we can help or improve as drivers or what cyclists can do to stay safe. I am both a driver and a cyclist - I cycle on weekends to have a break from all the motorway driving and enjoy a local country park where no cars are allowed.

I nearly hit a cyclist today who flew across a busy T junction. He had no helmet, no high visibility clothing, no lights (heavily overcast) and, I think he was cycling too fast without even looking.

My M sport brakes kicked in and he came off his bike. No contact was made between my car and his bike. He spoke little English. Was in floods of tears. I felt so bad for him for some reason. If he had not reacted to me then he would have guaranteed met his creator from other traffic in his path. I offered him first aid (put that first aid course to use I thought) but he refused. When I offered to call the Police he said "no police" so I am guessing he was not legal. There was a Halfords nearby and I have a friend who works in the bike hut who gives out freebies so I asked him to meet me there but he shrugged as if to say he did not know what Halfords was. So I spoke broken English: "I help you. I fix bike." He hugged me and said "thank you." I asked him to wait so I could park up and take him to Halfords but by the time I had parked he had shot off into the distance. I think deep down he had put himself and others in danger but my therapist self took over and there was empathy overload.

No one stopped. No cars at all. Not even a passing pedestrian.

I called my wife to explain to her why she might find me grumpy today when she comes back from work and she said he did not want my help and to let it go.

I feel like I have even so much death on the roads in the last two years. I have seen a school kid play chicken and it ended badly when he was flying in the air and pronounced dead at the scene, seen a mother and baby killed by a Police car chasing another driver... seen men go up on bonnets and bounce of windscreens to come back down and bounce off the pavement... when will this shit stop?!

[jnismith]

Fucking hell sounds like you have had a shit year. If it’s any consolation, I one ran over a 5 year old kid who ran out from behind an ice cream van. Luckily he was ok but he did dent my bonnet!

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by 37psi

I don't want people to bash cyclists in here. I want to know how we can help or improve as drivers or what cyclists can do to stay safe. I am both a driver and a cyclist - I cycle on weekends to have a break from all the motorway driving and enjoy a local country park where no cars are allowed.

I nearly hit a cyclist today who flew across a busy T junction. He had no helmet, no high visibility clothing, no lights (heavily overcast) and, I think he was cycling too fast without even looking.

My M sport brakes kicked in and he came off his bike. No contact was made between my car and his bike. He spoke little English. Was in floods of tears. I felt so bad for him for some reason. If he had not reacted to me then he would have guaranteed met his creator from other traffic in his path. I offered him first aid (put that first aid course to use I thought) but he refused. When I offered to call the Police he said "no police" so I am guessing he was not legal. There was a Halfords nearby and I have a friend who works in the bike hut who gives out freebies so I asked him to meet me there but he shrugged as if to say he did not know what Halfords was. So I spoke broken English: "I help you. I fix bike." He hugged me and said "thank you." I asked him to wait so I could park up and take him to Halfords but by the time I had parked he had shot off into the distance. I think deep down he had put himself and others in danger but my therapist self took over and there was empathy overload.

No one stopped. No cars at all. Not even a passing pedestrian.

I called my wife to explain to her why she might find me grumpy today when she comes back from work and she said he did not want my help and to let it go.

I feel like I have even so much death on the roads in the last two years. I have seen a school kid play chicken and it ended badly when he was flying in the air and pronounced dead at the scene, seen a mother and baby killed by a Police car chasing another driver... seen men go up on bonnets and bounce of windscreens to come back down and bounce off the pavement... when will this shit stop?!

Our roads are very safe, you're pretty unlucky to have seen those incidents happen in the last 2 years, I've not witnessed anything like that in over 30 years and nearly 1 million miles of driving to have seen 3 deaths real time in the last 2 years is rare I would have thought. Dreadful scenes to witness so maybe some counselling could help?

As for the near miss, yes it can shake you up "what might have been" etc.. but it didn't, so no harm no foul, you offered help he didn't take it so you have to leave it there.

And it won't stop it's called life and risk/accidents/idiots/mistakes etc...are part of it I'm afraid.

[robbiep]

I've seen one cyclist do a very similar thing - a small-ish roundabout (proper, not a 'mini' roundabout, a cyclist came flying onto it, and went straight into the front wing of a Mondeo. Cyclist died - a broken neck due to the impact with the road. The female driver was understandably distraught. Both myself and another driver had a near-perfect view of the whole thing, and we were both called to give evidence at the inquest where she was formally absolved of all blame.

[Soul_Glo]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Our roads are very safe, you're pretty unlucky to have seen those incidents happen in the last 2 years, I've not witnessed anything like that in over 30 years and nearly 1 million miles of driving to have seen 3 deaths real time in the last 2 years is rare I would have thought. Dreadful scenes to witness so maybe some counselling could help?

As for the near miss, yes it can shake you up "what might have been" etc.. but it didn't, so no harm no foul, you offered help he didn't take it so you have to leave it there.

And it won't stop it's called life and risk/accidents/idiots/mistakes etc...are part of it I'm afraid.

Central London roads and North West London. Crazy here. I had CBT for when the school kid went. I ran over and felt no pulse. That was probably the hardest. Yes it is life unfortunately.

[Watsey]

I've never owned or ridden a large engined motorbike, only a DT80 for a year before I had a car, but I actively look out for bikers. Generally they ride within the rules of the road and are aware of the consequences of their actions.

Until I was 18 I cycled everywhere and was very aware that the cyclist is the 'little guy' on the roads. Put yourself in the wrong place and it's adios muchachos.

These days I am far less tolerant of cyclists because the standard of riding is atrocious. There's a prevalent arrogance and indifference to the written and unwritten rules - they are, sorry to say it, a scurge.

A few months ago I was driving to my in-laws with my wife and children in the car. Approaching a fairly large roundabout there was 5 or 6 cyclists ahead of us (you know, Lycra everywhere; weekend warriors). All bar one of the group went straight ahead, the other carried on past that exit and was aiming for the next. The road ahead was clear so I pulled out to overtake.

Suddenly the lone rider, who must have doubled-back using the wrong side of the road, shoots through my blind spot straight across in front of our car and then slams his brakes on, in front of us, to rejoin the group. I have no idea how we didn't hit him.

A long blast of horn. What reaction did we get ? He looked over his shoulder and casually told us to fuck off.

That sort of attitude is everywhere. Add to it poor/no lights, no helmets, jumping red lights, poor lane discipline, lane blocking due riding in peletons, etc, and I have little sympathy for those that get injured.

That's not the response you were looking for, but if cyclists don't respect those around them they can't expect much back in return.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by 37psi

Central London roads and North West London. Crazy here. I had CBT for when the school kid went. I ran over and felt no pulse. That was probably the hardest. Yes it is life unfortunately.

Just awful and will colour the reaction to cyclist incident, so completely understandable.

[kzg1969]

i hit a scooterist in Naples. He swore at me in italian (waste of time!) and then got back on and rode off!!!!

[ajfoggy]

I do a fair bit of cycling and have been knocked off and too be honest I wouldn't have had an issue apart from the guy was on his phone, on the way to work as a bus driver......

It certainly made me think twice about cycling and still does every time I go out. I've had all sorts of issues since I got knocked off as well but nothing can be done about that.

But as a driver I can understand how easily it can be done. The most dangerous place for a cyclist from my point of view is approaching a junction where cars are coming out or crossing. Particularly roundabouts where drivers just to look hard enough to the side and only look for cars. Guilty myself and try to remind myself to pay attention.

But there are also too many knobheads riding bikes that don't pay attention and don't ride theirs bikes like they would drive a car. Same people that drive their cars like knobheads.

Another thing i'll never do again is ride my bike wearing black. A massive mistake that a lot of people make everyday.

[DB118D]

I've hit one, albeit at low speed, and knocked him off.

I was heading to the shops, came upon a line of stationary traffic. The traffic moved, I indicated checked my mirrors etc, and went to pull in to the parking space, until Team Sky came ripping up my nearside and got knocked off.

He bashed his elbow and shoulder, and buckled a wheel, and then claimed my insurance for personal injury despite him ignoring an indicating vehicle and putting himself on the wrong side. The insurance company's lawyer settled with him which I didn't really agree with given the circumstances.

EDIT: I cycle, but stick to mountain biking due to the risk factor on a road bike

[Wolverine]

I've been hit twice as a cyclist in identical incidents (from opposing directions relative to the traffic flow).

1. Was 'right-hooked' by a long wheelbase Iveco van which turned into a side road from the queue of stationary traffic that I was overtaking on the RHS (which is the correct side to overtake on, despite common perceptions). No signal. £500 damage to the bike. Superficial injuries.
2. Was 'right-hooked' again by an older woman turning right into a side road from the oncoming lane of traffic. I was 1st in the line of three riders. £150 damage to the bike. No injuries.

I have nearly hit a few cyclists in my time as a motorist (and as a commuter cyclist), nearly all in the dark, due to;

1. Poor Lighting
2. Poor cycling
3. Poor clothing
4. Non-compliance with the rules of the road.

My cycling was never perfect as there is always the compromise between staying safe and staying within the rules. More often than not, both are achievable however there are the odd occasions where it becomes clear that you either stay within the rules or you stay alive. I was a cycle commuter for 5 years and completed 200 miles a week and only had 2 noteworthy incidents. I cycled almost exclusively on main roads due to the better street lighting and width of the roads.

In both cases where I had been taken from atop my saddle, not one car stopped to help. Both cyclists did in my second spill but mostly the motorists were too concerned with trying to drive around me, my bike, my water bottle, the contents of my bag, my GPS and any other debris that ended up in the road to stop and help.

What a number of people don't realise is the harm they may come to from poor cycling decisions. Even worse is the apathy of the drivers that don't care what harm you may come to from their poor driving.

As with everything there is a balance but my experience as a cyclist has made me much more aware of cyclists and how they may or may not behave when I am driving.

[....,,,,..,,..]

The thing is we have shit motorists and shit cyclists.

Now, either those shit cyclists are also shit motorists, or we have decent motorists that suddenly become utter cocks once they get on two wheels and done Lycra.

When living in Cambridge they opened a guided bus way, they also put a nice smooth track beside it.

It was now time trial City from StIves to Cambridge.

No problems but these Lycra fuckwits ignored pedestrians walking on the same path, one 4 year old girl was nearly killed, a friends daughter was knocked over by one Lycra fuckwit, who unfortunately made the mistake of not stopping and apologising AND coming back the same way.

He lost his nice expensive bike, a couple teeth and his cycling shoes, it's a long walk home in bare feet...