so maybe I’m paranoid but it does seem that more and more motorists are intentionally flashing other vehicles so they turn into a junction when they know a cyclist in passing on the inside lane, even in a cycle lanes. Assume they would get away with any involvement.

how do you know they know?

The bloke on the telly gives me a look.

I guess it’s just a hunch, based on that I’ve usually passed the said vehicle in traffic so they’ve scene me previously and usually motorist aren’t regularly that courteous to each other. It’s probably my paranoia.

Irrelevent of wether a motorist flashes, its encumbent upon every driver to ensure that watever they do is safe and legal. Flashing is actually taboo, according to the highway code. However, many of us do it.

I wouldn’t be to paranoid I get periods like that when I drive thinking “is everyone a moron” and thats when I am in my car.

Saying that, I believe someone tried to kill me in their car the other day, edging out from th right on a mini round about as its my right of way, nearly went in the side of them.

Mind you I might kill them, 220 pounds at 25mph. LOL. Certainly leave an impression.

Munro I agree. Whats that about “eye contact”. Read my eyes, if I am on my bike and you make eye contact with me it says “stay there moron”.

walking kids to school similar cars will stop and flash others to pull out but then pull away straight at you if you try to cross road in front of their stationary vehicle – a lot of drivers aren’t really considering other road users – not deliberate indifference just inconsiderate ignorance

Why would you be passing on the inside other than being in a bike lane ?

If you flash someone out / across at a junction and they hit someone at that junction, ‘I was told’ that you’re then responsible (whole / part?) as you ‘confirmed the way was clear’. I’m not sure if this is legally correct, but was told by a colleagues who had passed the advance drivers test.

Filtering along a cycle lane on the left of cars in a queue is a dangerous place to be – often cars let a gap open and flash a driver across to turn in front of them. Neither will be checking for a bike coming up the inside. I was side-swiped once doing this and learnt the hard way. Bad driving, bad road positioning from the rider – or crap road markings that don’t enhance a cyclist’s safety? I’d go with crap road markings, like advance stop areas.. and a dose of the first two.

If you flash someone out / across at a junction and they hit someone at that junction, ‘I was told’ that you’re then responsible (whole / part?) as you ‘confirmed the way was clear’. I’m not sure if this is legally correct, but was told by a colleagues who had passed the advance drivers test.

This is 100% nonsense.

The bloke on the telly gives me a look.

while there might be an element of paranoia I’ve had plenty of drivers start to overtake me or just finished overtaking then braked and flashed someone ahead to pull out infront of us, ie definitely know there is a cyclist next to them but flashing anyway. Certainly daft if not actually malicious.

Why would you be passing on the inside other than being in a bike lane?

stop start/heavy traffic where cars are moving but not much faster/slower than you, not always practical to pass on the right. Plenty of places on my commute where I pass a car they pass me I pass them etc etc with in a minute or so. Do I have to indicate, move right, overtake then move left again every time, thereby crossing the path of traffic twice each time? No, I’ll filter. Other places I’ll be in the flow of traffic others I’ll be going down the right of the long queue of cars.

Flashing lights is to warn of a potential accident. The car who flashes another car out could use the defence, “I slowed/stopped to let him out, but then the cyclist appeared so I flashed the other driver to warn him of an impending accident……”

Why would you be passing on the inside other than being in a bike lane ?

Inside for bikes, outside for motorbikes, both for scooters and mopeds, that’s the un-written rules, isn’t it? Joking apart on my commute into London passing on the inside of congested traffic is normally pretty safe, the cycle lanes come and go.

Flashing your lights is for no reason other than alerting other road users to your presence. Hence the insurance scam of being “flashed” out of a junction, then being driven into by the car that flashed you. You don’t have a leg to stand on, because it doesn’t mean “I’m letting you out”.

I always have that on the motorbike, overtaking (or just sitting in the faster lane at ‘ahhhem’ 70mph) you pass a row of cars in an inside/slower lane, and one of them starts indicating just as you’re 99% sure your passing through their mirror’s blind spot…………

Do you:
a) gas it and either hope they’ve seen you or you’re passed them before they do something stupid or not see you.
b) do half an emergency stop and drop your speed to match theirs untill they pull out, but for the sake of argument you’ve not checked your mirrors in the last few seconds since pullignout to overtake and can’t hand on heart say that a car at the back of the line didn’t pull out and is now 6″ from your number plate.
c) keep at a constant speed, hope your horn is loud enough, and pray that your number isn’t up quite yet.

As a motorbikerist, cyclist and car driver all flashers are ignored under all circumstances. I go when I know it’s safe for me and other road users. I don’t care if this means you have to wait 10 seconds longer for your bacon roll Mr van driver behind me.

Hell, I don’t even believe people that are indicating they are coming off a roundabout, they often lie, or just don’t understand how to indicate on a roundabout.

Streakers however, well that’s different. I stop and take pictures.

Flashing of lights should be done to warn other road users of your presence and that you’re not stopping.

Unfortunately, it has become corrupted in this country (UK) to signal someone to ‘pull out’.

The law is quite clear on the matter and hence the ‘insurance scam’ noted above.

It is a sad matter of fact that the general standard of competency that most road users employ (regardless of the mode / method of transport) on the public highway is very low.

Few (both numerically and in percentage terms) have an honest idea of their skill level.

It’s not about groups of people like car drivers or cyclists. It’s about people. The inattentive bike rider oddly enough becomes the inattentive car driver.

I cross a busy road on my commute, two lanes in both directions. While stood in the middle on the traffic island with my bike I often get people in one lane stopping and flashing me to go.

Very polite. But they look quite upset and confused if I refuse to take them up on it, due to the other lane of cars hurtling up their inside.

The interesting thing is that no matter what the main purpose of any forum I’ve visited, whether it be motoring, cycling or any other subject you care to mention, whenever driving ability is mentioned everyone seems to know the best way to drive.

So, where are all the bad drivers, maybe they should just join a forum and we’d all be ok?

Flashing your lights is for no reason other than alerting other road users to your presence.

This.

It can be interpretted as drawing your attention to the fact that they have not begun moving, and have let a gap open up so as to let you turn right, or drawing your attention to the fact that they are slowing. It is not an assertion that it is safe to do anything.

As for riding in a city I always assumed everyone was always about to do the most dangerous and stupid thing possible at that given moment. As such i survived 6 years cycling across Leeds.

Many times I’ve found I’m overtaken inadequately and then the car, now just in front of me, jams on the brakes leaving a massive space ahead and to the left side of them (because they haven’t pulled back over yet) and I psychologically carry on moving to overtake down the left, because jamming on my brakes and locking up seems just too dangerous, realising shockingly that they are attempting to let someone cross ahead of them at a junction without regard to the cyclist in their wake they’ve failed to overtake safely.. It happens so many times that I feel a good proportion of near misses I have are caused by this.

Frankly, this is a symptom of bad driving seen in motorway driving where a car comes up behind in a more right lane from you, overtakes you and then pulls into your lane without adequate space, chewing up the space you’ve left between yourself and the car in front of you. On some roads I’ve had this happen over and over in a single stretch of road and I think this error is very similar to what is happening here, that motorists are failing to complete overtaking manoeuvres correctly.

They’re not complicit. They’re genuinely too stupid/distracted to realise the consequences of their actions. Same as people who overtake and turn left. The vast majority are not deliberately trying to run you off the road or get you killed, they just don’t realise.

I’ve had it before with people overtaking then stopping to let someone out or screaming past only to come up to the back end of a queue of traffic. They just see cyclist and think “I must get past NOW, the cyclist MUST be slowing me down” without any idea of planning ahead.

If you flash someone out / across at a junction and they hit someone at that junction, ‘I was told’ that you’re then responsible (whole / part?) as you ‘confirmed the way was clear’.

This is 100% nonsense

Good – it seemed daft. However I don’t actually care either way, I don’t drive, hence I’d not checked that one 🙂

But they look quite upset and confused if I refuse to take them up on it, due to the other lane of cars hurtling up their inside.

I’d push my bike infront of their car and then patiently wait for someone in the second lane to offer to let me cross 🙂

Mrdestructo always an unnerving situation when the car you have been keeping pace with suddenly disappears backwards from your peripheral vision…..oh dear I’m suddenly on my own here and that car wants to pull out 😯

Yes ultimately it’s upto the person pulling out to look where the hell they are going but the flasher* should bear some responsibility, they might not have pulled the trigger but they did leave the door open**

*braking to let someone out is fair enough, braking and flashing when you know there is a vulnerable road user next to you is not on.
**I happen to like mixing my metaphors.

Driving on a motorway or dual carigeway, some idiots falsh their lights to let the driver of LGV,S Or buses that its safe to come back in, but what happens if you flash the same driver, and he has something hanging off his trauiler, a flat tyre, or no tyre etc etc, and he pulls in crushing you.

Never flash them in, they have the training and the mirrors and if in doubt they will allow extra space.

but what happens if you flash the same driver, and he has something hanging off his trauiler, a flat tyre, or no tyre etc etc, and he pulls in crushing you.

You’d be flashing them differently.
Lorries/buses etc pulling in/out is usually long – short flash combination (that’s what lorries use to each other, I’m just copying that). I’ll ALWAYS flash lorries in or out if it’s safe for them to make the move.

Something hanging off a car/trailer etc is an urgent flashflashflashflash which I’ve done before when the roof-mounted bike on the car in front of me tilted off at an alarming angle.

I’ll ALWAYS flash lorries in or out if it’s safe for them to make the move

So how does the driver know its safe to reverse into a tight loading bay, or overtake a cyclist or vehicles that dont flash their lights/

Because they use their skill and knowlege of the vehicle length, not because somebody teyve just overtaken wants to be their freind.