Out for a quick spin on my SS, mixture of road and bridleway, from the house straight down the hill, car comes out from the left hand junction plenty of room but as there are speed bumps I’m on his tail in seconds even freewheeling, keep a couple of metres behind. He suddenly slows down, i thought because of upcoming speed bump and traffic island with mini roundabout afterwards. I go to overtake, nice hope hub clicking away loudly, and then he turns right into the local cost cutters and into my path with no indication. My quick road skills, honed after years of dodging cars, allow me to brake heavily and pull alongside him at 45 degree, stopping about 2 inches form his open window.
Cue mouthful of abuse from him and” didn’t you know what i was doing?y reply,No you didn’t indicate. Then i rode off, of course he decided he wasn’t turning right after all and follows for afters. Pulls into the next junction calling me a f******* W*****. I smiled shrugged and rode on, quickly. He got stuck at next junction and gave up following.
Needless to say i finished my loop ten minutes quicker than normal.
First time I’ve never sworn back either, but he looked a right meathead.
Don’t think i was wrong to overtake though, he didn’t indicate or use his mirrors. Am i right?

Sounds like you were both wrong.

jam bo’s nailed it. You made a wrong assumption, he didn’t indicate. He gets more nobber points for following you down the road though

Wasn’t expecting to be in the wrong on this one!! Guess i wouldn’t have done it in the car.
So i shouldn’t go for a run past his car in the dark with my car keys in my hand then?

He obviously wanted a date, where you wering lycra.

Lot of surpressed homosexuality in meatheads.

No Lycra, baggies on tonight, but apparently i have nice legs!!
Maybe he’s banging one off at the thought!!!!

his fault.
but you could be a little more careful – you might have anticipated what he was doing.

Personally I would have stayed behind him. Always assume car drivers are unpredictable idiots. You live longer that way.

Look at their mirrors too see if they are looking at you (oh and to spot if the drivers a knob). Even though they are in the wrong it won’t be of any use when you’re in hospital. 😛

He should have used his mirrors (seeing you), indicated ( you would have seen that) and then both of you would have made a move in full awarness of what was going on. So technically he is in the wrong.

However, My personal rule number one is assume all other road users have not seen me, then plan my move accordingly. It has served me well.

22% of drivers don’t see you

Wouldn’t have happened if you’d had gears 😉

So i shouldn’t go for a run past his car in the dark with my car keys in my hand then?

A squirt of DOT brake fluid may make a prettier pattern…

Of course I am joking, and when he wakes to find his car covered in mineral oil, he’ll just be really confused…

Very easy to get drawn in to who can be the biggest Ar5e comps. so trying not to sound self rightous.
so.. Warning signs, we need to spot them and act accordingly.
“car comes out from the left hand junction plenty of room but as there are speed bumps I’m on his tail in seconds even freewheeling”
If he had pulled out of you when you were in a car it would have been a poor move.
If a driver makes one poor move theres a fairly good chance another will follow shortly. Don’t put yourself in their accident.

IIRC you do not have to indicate if there is nobody else on the road. Indicating is to signal your intent to other road users.

So assuming he did not see you and assumed there was nobody about not indicating is perfectly valid.

OK its poor observation on his part. If you are not aware that someone is there then carrying out the manouvre would be acceptable. But its not great practice.

Should err on the side of caution and assume motorists will do silly things, he is a bigger knob for chasing you, you made an error of judgement, he failed to see you.

Who is the bigger knob, not labeling anyone but try staying out of hospital. Whenever I get buzzed past on the road I just thank my lucky stars. Never really had an altercation, yet!

IMO he was the one who failed to observe the highway code, and is clearly more of a dick by following and swearing at you (why would he rather do that than get his shopping??)
But from his initial move driving straight into road when you were coming towards him, tells you his driving skills are poor. In those instances, best practise is sod your rights, just stay well away…
If I do overtake drivers who I think are likely to make daft move, I give them lots and lots of space…
Sorry to hear your ride was spoilt by yet another narrow-minded angry idiot!

Wait on here, his window was open and you didn’t lob his keys in the nearest bush? I don’t understand…

Mirror …. Signal….manoeuvre.

It’s not hard

Just assume they’re all out to kill you and act accordingly.

I gave up swearing at people who wrong me on a bike years ago, now I just give them a Paddington Bear-esque hard stare and they get the message. At least I hope so.

IIRC you do not have to indicate if there is nobody else on the road. Indicating is to signal your intent to other road users.

So assuming he did not see you and assumed there was nobody about not indicating is perfectly valid.

OK its poor observation on his part. If you are not aware that someone is there then carrying out the manouvre would be acceptable. But its not great practice.

If you’re going to not indicate because there’s nobody else on the road, then you have to be sure there’s nobody else on the road by for instance using your mirrors to check. Assuming there is nobody else on the road without actually checking isn’t a valid reason for not indicating. Driving fail.

Driver 100% at fault in this instance, but as others have suggested it’s no good being dead right.

but as there are speed bumps

so how fast were you going? 😀

Dont think I would overtake a slowing car near a right hand junction whatever I was driving/riding.

Having said that when the mistake happened, him not indicating and you being a plum, the correct next step would have been a rye apology from each of you at a lesson learn’t and continued on your merry way.

Had you been walking thats what would have happened, still not sure what it is about the psychology of roads that makes these situations escalate so easily.

If he pulled out in front of you, there is a chance he didn’t see you. You must assume so and then ride in such a way as he knows that you are there. Make yourself obvious in his rear view, don’t dart about, so you are missed if he glimpses in his rear view.

For you the clue was that he pulled out on you, after this you should be hyper aware of the type of driver you are dealing with and adjust your riding style accordingly. If you come up on him all of a sudden and for him its a surprise, this can trigger a nervous and aggressive response.

Be aware, adjust your riding style, and remember that cyclists are not always seen.

Both in the wrong really. Someone (even if he is a dick)suddenly slows in front of you in a built up area and you decide to overtake! Not really the wisest of moves.

Yup i was nearly killed by a bus last night as well the guy just did not look in my direction and carried on onto the roundabout disc breaks saved my life yet again!

Even the car opposite looked at me in terror felt like saying you should have been where I was lol

I just stopped rapidly and watched the bus driver not once did he look in my direction too big a **** rush, like everyone else on the roads these days. 🙄

IIRC you do not have to indicate if there is nobody else on the road. Indicating is to signal your intent to other road users.

This is rather bizarre advice as it assumes you’re fully aware of all road users. Indicating gives some chance to the pedestrians or vehicles you haven’t seen. I don’t understand why it isn’t the rule to do it anyway. Not least it embeds it in muscle memory so it is always a natural thing to do.

You did exactly what I would have done. And have done. Roads with speed bumps are a pain in the arse, well, not the roads, but the morons in their cars who still think they have the right to pull out, overtake etc bikes, just because they are in a car. I’ve started riding my road bike on a gravel track just to avoid the speed bump road on my commute.
Didn’t last night and ended up nipping onto the pavement to undertake some pillock who went past me between bumps then held me up. ARGH!

TO those who are saying both are in the wrong – what if the car hadn’t pulled out in front of the bike in the first place eh? Now who’s in the wrong?

simons_nicolai-uk – Member

This is rather bizarre advice as it assumes you’re fully aware of all road users. Indicating gives some chance to the pedestrians or vehicles you haven’t seen. I don’t understand why it isn’t the rule to do it anyway. Not least it embeds it in muscle memory so it is always a natural thing to do.

The idea behind only indicating if it would be of benefit to someone else is that it forces you to think about your indication and not indicate if it could be misleading.
I personally think it is better to check your indication will not mislead and then indicate even if there is nobody there to indicate to, in case you have missed someone. That way you are still thinking about the process but allowing for anyone you may not have seen.

Both methods are better than indicating on autopilot though. 💡

I wonder if the OP indicated his intention to overtake? 😈

Personally I would have stayed behind him. Always assume car drivers are unpredictable idiots. You live longer that way.

+1

They’re knobs. Even if they aren’t, treat them as such. They all do something stupid every now and again.

Oh, and indicating. I always indicate. The whole point of indicating is so people know what you’re up to whether you know they’re there or not. It’s far more important that people you don’t know are there, know what you are up to as this very specific instance shows.

We all make mistakes on the road from time to time, cyclists are hard to see even for those of us who are on the lookout. It costs you nothing, just do it.

He should have indicated

You could have guessed he would turn, but I suppose you thought he was slowing down for the speed bump, quite reasonable assumption IMO.

These sort of roads are annoying because drivers feel they need to zoom past you between the bumps, then they slam on the brakes and hold you up. It is part of the ‘it’s a bike – therefor I must go past’ mentality. They will do this even if you do the road end to end faster than them.

Well done for keeping your cool, you won because of this.

Having had time to think about it and read peoples comments i shouldn’t have overtaken, its one of those roads where you go a lot faster on a bike due to the speed bumps.
I’m also aware that i tend to think of all drivers as out to kill me when on a bike, so i ride aggressively (not dangerously, there is a difference). Anyway lesson learnt.
I reckon he’s the sort of driver who will try it on again next time he sees me (there is only one road out from where i live and he’s local) so will probably get some more verbal. I will smile politely, or could be excuse to get that go-pro camera “i need”.

llama – Member

These sort of roads are annoying because drivers people feel they need to zoom past…between the bumps… It is part of the ‘it’s a bike i could go a bit quicker – therefor I must go past’ mentality.

it goes both ways.