[Closed] cars still over taking when your signalling right ?

TandemJeremy

gazc - sit up and stare at the driver of the car behind until you are certain they have seen you , registered your presence and are going to leave room for you to pull out.

i'm quite sure he saw me alright, if he didn't, i'd probably be in the hospital/morgue right now instead of writing this. the point is he chose to ignore me NOT that he didn't see me, but thanks for the advice anyway. i'll make sure to ask my doctor about getting my eyes transplanted into the back of my head when i next see him 😉

ps: i do agree making eye contact does work with motorists, especially at roundabouts/junctions. just unfortunately when cars are speeding up from behind its not that easy...

I've had people overtake me despite being in the middle of a road lit up like a christmas tree with my arm stuck out to the right like a bloody barrier and they still overtake rather than just take teir foot off the load pedal. MORONS

I find it very irritating when cars refuse to stop on round abouts to give way.

Or keep coming right towards you and stop a few feet away, rather than waiting at the white line on their turn of the round about.

There are a lot of fools in our society, can't see that changing any time soon.

Eye contact with drivers is everything! Looking over your shoulder while signaling right, while there about to pull out in front of you on a roundabout etc.
I think one of the problems in cambridge is that all the motorists assume that all cyclists ride like students and are surprised when they see someone signaling and using the roads properly.

true story:

- look behind and see a car gradually approaching me

- signal right and gradually moved to right of lane, signalling all the time. car now behind me, going slow. lights 2 metres ahead amber

- stop at light which has just turned red as pedestrian crosses. Right turn 10metres ahead. Car now stopped, waiting behind me. I look round at driver - he's seen me. I continue signalling right for the duration of the red light

- green light. I set off still in right hand of the lane. With right turn 5-10 metres ahead, again signal right until I reach the turn. car still slowly behind me

- no traffic head so stop signalling, put hand on bars and immediately begin turning right

- car decides that now is the perfect time to overtake me on the right (he's going straight on)

- knocks me off on the wrong side of the road

- c0ck

This thread makes me wonder if some people actually leave their keyboards and ride round in some kind of fantasy world of their own invention.

Note to self: stick to MTB threads

Eye contact with drivers is everything!

DezB don't be too insulted by the course recommendations (altho it does sound patronising), I've been commuting a long time but a friend who does the courses pointed out that despite not gutter riding, I was still too close to the kerb. Tempted to do one myself, a refresher every now and then is probably a good thing for everyone. Like say a driving test every 5-10years would be a good idea too.
Waits for flaming.

Too late mate!
Funnily enough, I checked yesterday and the cycle lane actually finishes before I start checking to turn right! It's one of those useless across-the-junction cycle lanes. So I'm actually well positioned on the road side of the double yellows when this twonk hits my hand.
Still probably my fault for not being the super-skilled-ride-along-looking-backwards-highly-trained-roadie-**** that seems to frequent this place.

think that irrespective some drivers have already got it in their heads that they are overtaking you and even if you get eye contact and are clearly signalling they just continue on their merry way (not a reckless intent just like the drivers that don't notice a truck about to change lanes on the motorway and drive into the trucks blind spot - its just not in their reasoning)

also think some drivers believe that when you look back at them you are acknowledging that you've seen them and so it is ok to pass you

its pushy pushy rude individuals who are in too much of a hurry

they would be the same whatever they are doing, driving is just one outlet

no point in getting stressed about it

I would agree about making eye contact with drivers, its the best way to get an idea of what they're up to. You can pick out the considerate ones and the ones who are studiously trying to ignore your existence whilst they save that vital 2 seconds on their journey by cutting you up. If you're going so fast in traffic that you can't look over your shoulder you haven't got enough room around you, or you're in too much of a hurry.

Dez - I ride in a city most days and have done for decades. I[u] always[/u] Sit up and stare at the driver behind until they acknowledge my presence or go past and will not pull out into the traffic flow until one has

By doing this you change from " a bike" to " a person" to them and they give way to you. The ones that don't want to give way to you you have seen and let go past.

I have never had the situation you describe happen to me. I would have either seen they are the type to do this and not pulled out or would have forced them to acknowledge my presence

So I'm actually well positioned on the road side of the double yellows when this twonk hits my hand.

Sounds much too close to the kerb to me.

Perhaps others have developed or found techniques that you have not thought of to reduce hazards and increase car drivers awareness of them.

The point of this thread is that despite being lit up like Sellafield on a bad day, obeying every rule of the road to the letter, looking into their eyes like Kaa hypnotising Mowgli, the ****s still think "nah, it's only a cyclist, I'll overtake anyway"

I've had this at mini roundabouts a few times, pillocks trying to save 2 seconds by cutting in front of me

IMO a lot of drivers simply feel uncomfortable sitting behind a cyclist, figuring that if they're in front a rear-ending (ie bike into car) is going to hurt less than the other way around.

Spatial awareness is often the problem - many drivers are not sufficiently capable of appreciating the speed of a cyclist and what that means for any overtaking manoeuvre. I see this all the time.

Of course, there's a not-insignificant minority who are simply boorish, ignorant, aggressive, stupid, irrational asshat morons who feel in some way threatened by the presence of a cyclist ahead of them and cannot bear to yield in any way.

[i]Spatial awareness is often the problem - many drivers are not sufficiently capable of appreciating the speed of a cyclist and what that means for any overtaking manoeuvre. I see this all the time.[/i]

True - most manoeuvres aren't malicious or deliberately dangerous on the part of the motorist, they simply have no clue as to how to handle a cyclist. 12mph seems to be accepted as a typical cyclist speed (if my average went anything near as low as 12mph, I'd be considering another form of transport!) so they simply don't consider that cyclists might actually be doing 25mph. I've had people overtake on downhill stretches or coming up to pinch points in the road; it's not malicious, their thought process is simply "cyclist, I MUST get past NOW!" and then they're surprised and sometimes offended when I overtake them straight back.

There's still a school of thought in this country that the motorist is hard done by, has spent tens of thousands on a car, more thousands on the test, the insurance, the MOT/VED, the fuel and therefore has some sort of right to roads as portrayed in car ads, the joy of the open road etc.
Until that entrenched mental attitude changes and a bit of education kicks in, nothing will change.

[i]Sounds much too close to the kerb to me.[/i]

I seriously cannot f&(*ing believe the CYCLISTS on here are still thinking this ONE-OFF event in 7 years of riding the same route, was MY BLOODY FAULT.

You have no idea how close to the kerb I am in relation to the width of the road! <Rest of post deleted.>

That right turn one happens more than anything else IMO. White van man gave me an earfull this morning as he swerved round me. Even more angry because he was "forced" to drive over the centre of the road with approaching traffic because I was 2 Metres from the kerb. The other bad one is then they tend to underpass. Once a stream of them start to accelerate up the inside then it can get quite scary sat next to the white line. I try to find the spot where no-one can get past either side, but it doean't always work.

My wife does the school run on our tandem. I've just bought her TWO of those silly (but brilliant) lollipops. They are fitted now the very ends of the stoker handlebars, and my little girl pops them out [i]both sides[/i] in traffic, and folds them back on the paths. It makes them a metre wide and has helped a lot.

Tell em you know sheldon that should sort it 🙂

Why do drivers in general refuse to slow to cyclist speeds, and give way to cyclists when turning right?

Fuel costs.I think alot of it is down to the price of fuel. I really do . Having to slow from C.42mph to 15mph , wait then accelerate up to the stationary queue wastes valuable fuel.

Time. People leave for work at the last possible minute as most people detest their jobs, and getting stuck behind a cyclist for 30 secs will ( in their minds ) make them late for work.

Driving peer pressure / bullying. Some drivers fear retribtion from the queue of vehicles behind them for holding up traffic whilst waiting for a cyclist . The bloody cyclist has no right to be in the way, he does not pay road tax ( 1935 i know) therefore a cyclist can be overtaken on right hand corners , approaching red lights etc. Otherwise the driver of the white Citrown Relay thats positioned 6" from the woman in front will get road rage, so best to dispense with the cyclist by overtaking on a blind corner rather than annoy white van man.

Distractions. Radio on or MP3 on LOUD , mobile phone chirping away etc. I see lots of people texting whilst driving, people driving on the phone at 0530 in the morning. Who are they phoning at 0530 FFS? All this flow of information stops the thought process as to how to deal with the idiot wobbling all over the road at walking speed in front of them, so all they do is steer round the idiot and if a bus comes round the corner then the cyclist goes in an ambulance.

Safety. Modern cars turn into bouncy castles in the event of an accident. Car safety is a major marketing feature nowadays with Ncap ratings being used. This makes drivers feel invulnrable therefore the bus coming round the corner wont hurt at all.

Brings us back to turning right . TJ makes full eye contact with the driver behind whilst riding along at 25mph in a town . Recipe for riding into the back of a queue of stationary traffic.
Dezb should have riding lessons . and not use the cycle lane . ever .
Maybe a big mirror on a stick is the answer , like a traffic wardens lolliplop?

[i]The highway code states that when overtaking a cyclist you give them the same room as you would a parked car. Does this happen? Pffft NEVER! [/i]

I certainly would not drive as close to a cyclist as I would to a parked car.
- Person opens door on parked car, loses door and maybe leg - their fault.
- Cyclist 'moves' right and I run him down - my fault.

The key to been given space is trying to get the other drivers to believe that they may come out worse, either financially or physically. This is something I learnt while m/c in and around London and the SE. And in this case a big FO bike use to help.

dez - I wasn't blaming you. I was attempting to make helpful suggestions for ways of avoiding this happening. Your description of where you were on the road sounded to close to the kerb to me. Maybe it wasn't.

DezB, this experienced cyclist took Bikeability training:

http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-cycle-training-session.html

I'm not saying you are a crap/indifferent/good rider or nuffink so relax, OK? Just read the article.

Drivers get away with this kind of behaviour because they can - they're big and made of metal, we're small and break easily. If cyclists routinely carried firearms they wouldn't do it.

had a car hooting at me the other day because i was on the road and he could not go straight past.

Good work there Sofaking.

Minimal effort from you but a fair old response.

My worst case of road rage was a few years ago now. When trying to turn right on my morning commute, something I had been doing at the same spot for years. Looking behind me the traffic was moving slowly, my hand had been out for a few seconds anyway, so any car would have had plenty of warning that I needed to turn right.

The driver behind decided he was going to overtake, even though I was almost across forcing me onto the pavement at the opposite side of the road. He wound down his window and the abuse I got was shocking, this luckily was in front of 4 pedestrians, one of which was a young child. This driver couldn't go anywhere as the traffic lights had turned to red and he was now in a queue.
I ended up crying, with all of the witnesses saying they would give evidence if needed. We managed to find a nearby mtb police officer, who took my report very seriously. In the mean time the car driver (who had all his mates with him at the time) had driven off.

It still makes me nervous making a right hand turn because of this idiot.

KOS wind it in

Sofaking, surprised a car could get along side you as you are do phat.

[i]Brings us back to turning right . TJ makes full eye contact with the driver behind whilst riding along at 25mph in a town . Recipe for riding into the back of a queue of stationary traffic.
Dezb should have riding lessons . and not use the cycle lane . ever .
[/i]

🙂
Almost opposite my right-turn is a left turn, if I was looking backwards at approaching cars, I would be unaware of anything appearing at and maybe coming out of that left turn. That would be rather f&(*ing stupid.
There is only one perfect way to avoid the knock on the hand: remove the driver that did it from the road.
SimonE. Forgive me if I don't follow your link, but I've had enough of this!
Yes, well done Safaking. Did you get an answer?

Looks like your all back with some service now

X

🙂

I am not at risk of riding into the traffic in front. Its only a matter moments and you can keep diverting your attention between front and rear.

IMO it is absolutely essential to do this and I do it all the time. It does two things -you can see when the driver has acknowledged your presence and you can see the drivers that won't and the other one is it alters you from " a bike" to "A human" in the eyes of the driver.

Decades of urban riding I have never had this happen to me. Observation, making eye contact, riding assertively are the key factors.

[i]There's still a school of thought in this country that the motorist is hard done by, has spent tens of thousands on a car, more thousands on the test, the insurance, the MOT/VED, the fuel and therefore has some sort of right to roads as portrayed in car ads, the joy of the open road etc.
Until that entrenched mental attitude changes and a bit of education kicks in, nothing will change. [/i]

James for president!!!

Personally I'd kneecap all those drivers who think they can treat cyclists badly because they think they...

a) Won't be able to catch back up with them.
b) Are all jessies.

I have personally reverted quite a number of drivers opinions on the above two matters. It is however a large world with an apparently infinate number of bell ends in charge of motor vehicles.

They're jealous is what it is.

I easily keep up with traffic on my rush-hour commute. I overtake queues, leaving the cars to my left, I stop at red lights, I don't ride curbs (often anyway) and I still get where I'm going before they do.

My bike cost about £600, I didn't have to pay VED on it and, averaged across the year, it costs me about £1.50 a week in brakes, chains, batteries, bearings etc. Corse they're p*ssed off.

Forgive me if I don't follow your link, but I've had enough of this!

You are forgiven, my son 😉

That's a pity though, you might have learnt something. The author did, I did, and we've both been riding on the road for a while.

Until that entrenched mental attitude changes and a bit of education kicks in, nothing will change.

Agreed. Drivers are sold the dream of the open road, they get attitude training from Clarkson and their superior skills from watching F1 on the telly.

The [i]love[/i] of the car (not just its practical value) as well as the sense of invulnerability when confronted by a poxy cyclist, means that the 2,222 people who were killed on the road last year doesn't register for the headline writers - compare that with those who died in Afghanistan. And then there are the 24,690 who are seriously injured. That's a lot of injures, and we're not talking a graze or fall from which you get up and ride off.

I like the bit about not signalling left when turning left . It seems wrong , but when you think about it as inviting an oncoming car to join you at the apex of the turn it makes sense.
The car behind will heave a sigh if relief that their journey is no longer being held up and they dont have to engage brain to overtake the poxy bike infront, and the oncoming car will have his journey delayed by 20 secs / till the next gap appears.

dez; genuine question.

you seem so defensive; do you genuinely believe that you would learn nothing from training?

i would love to do some but it is not free in my area...

Highway Code, Rule 74

If you are turning right, check the traffic to ensure it is safe, then signal and move to the centre of the road. Wait until there is a safe gap in the oncoming traffic and give a final look before completing the turn.[b] It may be safer to wait on the left until there is a safe gap or to dismount and push your cycle across the road.[/b]

Signalling does not give you the [i]right[/i] to pull into the line of traffic overtaking you. It's a pity more motorists (and especially bus drivers) aren't aware of that either.

Shall I keep this going?
[i]
dez; genuine question.
you seem so defensive; do you genuinely believe that you would learn nothing from training?
i would love to do some but it is not free in my area...[/i]

First tomthumb's question. "So defensive": not really. The thing that pissed me off, was not the fact that someone should recommend training, but that someone should recommend training BASED ON the one event I recounted; which was a perfect example of poor observation, courtesy, road positioning etc etc by a car driver.. I saw what the bloke who hit my hand looked like and he even looked like an idiot.
Maybe I would benefit from training. I don't know, but it's not something I can fit into my life at the moment and it's definitely not essential.
My safety record speaks for itself. (sounds a bit up my arse, but its true)

SimonE's link - just read it. The only thing I don't do is cover the brakes all the time. Just like road positioning, signalling, speed, and all the other things - it depends on the conditions at the time, where I am, what's around, weather, what's on the ipod .... 😉

i forgot to mention in my initial post that i was riding in France

8)

sofaking - Member
i forgot to mention in my initial post that i was riding in France

Oh like that's important? I mean like, they only drive on the other side of the road like.... 🙄