Normally don’t have much trouble with folk in their cars but had a well dodgy one last night.
Was cycling up the road on my town bike after going to a night class.
It’s got reflectors/bright lights etc

Was in the Restalrig area of Edinburgh. Big wide roads, about 9pm at night, dark, clear, very few cars about, lots of streetlights.

Was cycling up to a roundabout which has option to go left, or straight on. Was on a slight downhill to it, so probably doing 15mph. No cars about at all apart from…

I hear a car coming up pretty fast behind me. Standard exhaust sound, nothing sporty/modified. I’m in the middle of the one lane, going straight ahead at the roundabout. As I get on to the roundabout he revs up and overtakes me on the right and does a very sharp (tyres squealing) turn across me to the left. I had to slam on the brakes. Guy saw me as well as he was looking at me and gave me the finger.

Didn’t get the reg number or anything, and obviously nothing I can really do about it, but that’s the closest I’ve come to being knocked down through something malicious as opposed to a lack of attention or judgement.

Mr Red Astra – ****!

glad you’re ok OP.

you could maybe see if the road you were on or the road he turned onto had any cctv, traffic cameras etc. you have a rough idea and the make, model and colour of the car.

i’d still report it though just in case anyone else has also reported the same car for something similar

but realistically without a reg plate i doubt there is anything that the police can really do…but thats dependant on them actually being willing to speak to a driver about his bad driving even IF you did get the reg plate.

I had a guy overtake me yesterday that put the on coming car up on the path, gave me plenty of room though which was nice. 😯

At the OP. Move on, sometimes you just can’t mitigate for this sort of arsehole.
Just be glad you were aware of them beforehand.

Yesterday I had a fat woman in a small car brush the side of my leg as she pushed on through a width restriction whilst texting. I may have caught her at the next set of lights. I was less than impressed, she was still texting.

eldest_oab on his paper round yesterday had a car pull out from side junction, so close he swerved out into the road to avoid, and it immediately stopped…
.
…for his classmate and fellow paper round’er to get out of passenger seat to deliver his papers. 😈

I will be seeing the father on Friday when we collect the lads from BB’s. It should provide a nice public opportunity in front of the other parents to ask about his driving…

Mr Red Astra will be a ‘big man’.

Oh yes, the kind that when he does hurt or kill someone through his actions and he hopefully ends up in court will blub and beg and scrape in front of the court “oh, please, I’m just an ordinary guy, I pay my taxes, I didn’t mean to run that guy over, it was just a mistake………..”

Stuff like this really, really annoys me.

Need to edit the video, but that minibus that nearly took me out in the rain last week is spectacular.
that’s a new one -It’s astounding the ingenuity of these **** to constantly come up with new ways of putting us in danger.

I had a guy overtake me yesterday that put the on coming car up on the path, gave me plenty of room though which was nice.

I’m encountering similar to this more and more on my commute – drivers giving me a nice wide berth, seemingly oblivious to the head-on crashes they’re nearly instigating in the process. Very strange.

Yeah, can always legislate against/design for/shout at these idiots until they finally get it.

Then we get a more effective breed of idiot.

Had a similar thing a few months back. Going straight on at a roundabout, got overtaken on the right and then he just cut straight across me. I actually thought that was it, but somehow managed to brake in time.

I didn’t get the number plate but got the company name (it was a van), and the roundabout had cctv. Went to the police station, filed in a form to report it. Never heard a thing about it. Waste of time.

Yep, the same happened to me the other week just outside Cambridge, no cure for the idiots I’m afraid. Just one more thing you have to think about when negotiating traffic.

Our one last night on the tandem-
Downhill and therefore quite fast, 2+2 lane town road with a 30 limit and central reservation. I’m in the inside lane making good progress, probably 25mph.
Little ned runs across and straight at us from the centre of a pedestrian crossing, screaming as he comes. I just had time to think, ‘if we touch him, he’s toast..’ as he disappears out of my vision and behind us. All up, we’re probably between 170-180kg.
crazy…

roundabouts are a right pain, if you go over in the outside lane you get undertaken by people turning right or going straight on, the inside line you get cut up by people turning left.

I’m encountering similar to this more and more on my commute – drivers giving me a nice wide berth, seemingly oblivious to the head-on crashes they’re nearly instigating in the process. Very strange.

Its treating you as a parked car and the on coming traffic has to wait it’s turn. 😕

After hearing on r4 yesterday about the hgv driver who killed the 2 lejog cyclists in 2013 30 miles into their trip, and the devastation on the families, i would try and find red astra man and do something before he does something really stupid.

These people need help.

Guy saw me as well as he was looking at me and gave me the finger.

I try not to worry about the malicious aggresive ones; you probably won’t change their behavior. Type of guy who picks a fight in the pub – tosser.

I’d report it if i had a reg though – police round here sometimes act – and the more it’s reported the more they might actually do something about it.

Sorry as this is a little off topic but it came to mind regarding near misses.

I (my car) was almost rear ended yesterday as I was waiting at some temporary lights which meant the stationary cars were close to a sharp bend. I watched at the car behind me approached clearly too fast, saw the nose dip and braced for a rear end shunt at c25mph. Fortunately the driver realised there was the option of mounting the grassy verge to the left and he managed to just miss me and flew past 3 car lengths on my inside!

Got out and he apologised whilst I reciprocated by thanking him for not hitting me as certain it would have shunted me into the car in front with total damage well over £15k for all concerned.

Instead we couldn’t get him off the muddy verge due to wheel spin so I left him to approach the road repair guys to give him a little tow out and hoping he hadn’t knackered his front alloys over the kerb.

Relieved to be driving off fine tbh. Yes he had failed to notice the one road narrowing warning sign I’d seen but we’re all capable of that and he had managed to minimise the consequences pretty darn well, only just though!

I will be seeing the father on Friday when we collect the lads from BB’s. It should provide a nice public opportunity in front of the other parents to ask about his driving…

Why not just have a quiet word without the public shaming? What do you feel it will achieve that a one-to-one wouldn’t…?

@deepreddave — I have had something similar but reversed — not quite concentrating, country road, small truck up ahead seemed to be parked. I didn’t see (but may have missed) any traffic light signs. As I moved out to overtake truck, it pulled out and reviewed a temp. traffic light that was now at green. Massive brake effort from my first car (Citroen GSA with IIRC discs all round, managed to get away with a bit of a ding in nearside wing where I skipped the back of the truck.. that was > 30 years ago…

This was on a straight rd with a left turn ahead, with rd continuing to the right.

[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFmiSF5v_Qk[/video]

Today I discovered the wonderfully satisfying sound of an impatient driver’s alloys brushing the edge of a central reservation as they squeezed past rather than wait 3 seconds 😆

Agree with other posters, the wide overtake oblivious to oncoming traffic is becoming dangerously common. Not sure I fancy being the collateral damage to that. Best ones I’ve had were the guy who forced the approaching hearse at the front of a funeral cortege to brake hard, and the guy who hadn’t spotted that the oncoming vehicle was an ambulance with it’s blue lights on 😯

Years ago I had some boy racer in an astra gte overtake me so close he clipped my bar end and fetched his own wimg mirror off. I barely felt it if I’m honest.

Also had someone turn left in front of me so close I had to turn left with them or else I was going in to them. I chased him down but when I caught him he turned out that be a she so instead of calling him all the ****ts under the sun I laughingly asked if she’d seen me and her reply was “yes but what was I supposed to do, there was a car behind me”. I wasnt exactly hanging around either. I very politely explained that if she had hit me that that excuse probably wouldn’t wash had I come a cropper…

Today I discovered the wonderfully satisfying sound of an impatient driver’s alloys brushing the edge of a central reservation as they squeezed past rather than wait 3 seconds

Not bad. We were on a Saturday club run when the lady in the Golf decided she could squeeze through the narrowing gap with the central island, despite a line of four cyclists. The double offside puncture meant she was left at the top of Egham hill with some explaining to do.

I have front and rear Fly 6/12 camera lights. I don’t post videos, but they have been useful. One of them has been VERY useful, but we won’t go there today.

I caused a minor incident on Saturday that cheered me up. Coming up a hill in the car, minor road to left. Woman just decides she is coming out of the road and proceeds to pull out almost entirely blocking my lane. I just carried on regardless. She reversed back, straight in to the car behind her.

Most annoying bit is had she not forced her way out is probably have let her go.

Had similar but on the roundabout already and the driver failed to give way. I took avoiding action and he swerved at the last minute. Got it on camera, reported to police Scotland who issued a fixed penalty to the driver for careless driving. Police Scotland were excellent.

@kcal, glad you were OK and we’re all humans prone to error. Just lucky to get away with it or unlucky not to.
Definitely report these drivers for the reason already stated, it might just save someone’s life.
I’m in the throes of buying a gopro style digicam for this very reason…

Here’s my video from last Friday. Doesn’t look much – but the speed this arsehole is going, in the wet, so lucky I looked left down the dual-carriageway and saw him coming. That roundabout is never usually that empty in the morning! Hate to think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t slowed down.
And then 30 secs later we’re at the next roundabout at the same time. Saved nothing by being a ****.

[video]https://youtu.be/Ec75ZLSiLhU[/video]

(Couldn’t get the plate on the HD version cos of the wet lens)

I watched a cyclist get somersaulted ~8 foot into the air the other day, a car turned straight into his path as he was coming at speed down one of the main roads in Sheffield.

I honestly thought I had just watched someone die.
Stay safe people.

Ffs I wish I hadn’t read this thread, I’ve just bought my first road bike today and WAS looking forward to a nice long ride tomorrow!

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmg86CRBBtw[/video]

Not mine but I recently bought something similar

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/panasonic-and-replay-action-cameras-30-and-125

Spank bank aye?

Spank bank aye?

Sadly slightly more morbid. Mine recorded a fatal accident 🙁 .

I’m not a big road user on my pushbike, but the near misses I have had, have all been left turns from a car overtaking me too late. It sounds very common.

A suggestion. I know we shouldnt have to, but I recommend doing a quick “lifesaver” glance over your right shoulder as you approach any situation like a roundabout or just a left junction, or just a position change on the road. There might be times you forget, but the more you do it, the more it will become 2nd nature. It certainly helps for road position movements on a motorbike, and its what I try to teach my son whilst out on the roads on his pushbike.