Poor guy got hit by a car that was flashed across his path. I was 3 cars back and not only didn't the two cars in front stop, but they also drove around him as he lay in the road. 😥 I stopped behind him, stuck the hazards on and called an ambulance. He was in a lot of pain and it looks like the car involved had driven over his arm in the process.
Healing vibes.
Nasty. I never flash people out of junctions these days, had too many situations on a bike where car drivers have done it and nearly caused an accident.
Well done for stopping, +ve karma points.
The A6? Gave up on that road years ago. As you said with the healing vibes.
The A6? Gave up on that road years ago. As you said with the healing vibes.
Yup, the A6.
NEVER flash anybody out of a junction. Flashing headlights means "I'm coming on" not "be my guest". I bet this causes more accidents than any other single misunderstanding.
Hope he is ok. Glad someone stopped to give assistance. Healing vibes indeed
Healing vibes.
The cars in front probably didn't wait around as the first one would have been brought into question as he flashed the other car over when a cycle was coming.
I rode past that this morning, didn't get a clear look at what happened as I was trying to avoid a car swerving round the ambulance car. Traffic was mental, back right up down to New Mills but it can't have been long since it happened as I was right down past Lyme Park before the Police and Ambulance passed me going up towards the scene.
Hope the guy is OK, well done for stopping.
did the chap who hit/drove over him stop? it wasn't clear from your op.
The A6 is a horror at the best of times - car or bike.
Healing vibes to the cyclist and, as other have said, well done for stopping.
Not sure about the whole 'flashing' thing. It's still the responsibility of the driver making the manoeuvre to check that everything is safe. If you can't see, you shouldn't rely on someone else
There are times it's needed though - when a car turning right can't actually fit through until the car coming out has cleared for example.
did the chap who hit/drove over him stop? it wasn't clear from your op.
Yes, he did. Just the car that flashed and the one behind that which didn't.
So sad that people are in so much of a rush and caught up in their own lives that they will ignore a human lying in the road that has been hit by a car 🙁
Nice one for being awesome OP, hope the rider isn't too badly hurt.
Flashing headlights means "I'm coming on" not "be my guest"
Well, yes, letter of the law that's what it means, however like it or not most people use it to mean "after you", onus still very very firmly on the flashee to check it's clear of course! I'd go as far as saying that flashing your lights to mean 'I'm here' would be very dangerous in virtually all circumstances!
I t-boned a car at pace years ago in similar circumstances.
I've come a cropper in the past from drivers flashing others through, and I reckon 90% of the near misses I have are a result of it. It should be outlawed IMO, with the 'flasher' receiving a penalty and being held jointly responsible in any insurance claim. I know drivers think they're just doing each other a favour and being polite but the whole point of the right of way laws are that traffic moves predictably and consistently, and that all falls apart the minute you get people re-writing the rules.
and not only didn't the two cars in front stop, but they also drove around him as he lay in the road.
Nice soo nice. Reminds me of the motorcyclist sideswipped and only me and a bus driver intervened. Everyone else gawped or carried on.
Hope the driver stopped or is caught?
I've come a cropper in the past from drivers flashing others through, and I reckon 90% of the near misses I have are a result of it. It should be outlawed IMO, with the 'flasher' receiving a penalty and being held jointly responsible in any insurance claim. I know drivers think they're just doing each other a favour and being polite but the whole point of the right of way laws are that traffic moves predictably and consistently, and that all falls apart the minute you get people re-writing the rules.
Spot on. 12 years as a motorcyclist taught me that flashing is a dangerous practice.
Grim. I hate cycling on that road.
Hope the driver stopped or is caught?
Yes, driver stopped and very apologetci etc. Unlike the heartless b**t**ds who just drove around him.
Flashing headlights means "I'm coming on" not "be my guest". I bet this causes more accidents than any other single misunderstanding.
It means that in the HC but no one uses it to mean that.
It may indeed cause many accidents but not form confusion about what its use means.
IME lights on full means I am coming through whatever get out of my way
What sort of human drives round and then drives off?
Flashing headlights means "I'm coming on" not "be my guest"
I thought, it was just to draw attention to your presence. I don't think it's meant to mean 'I'm coming on' in the highway code.
Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there.
If by drawing attention to the fact that you've stopped with a clear gap meant for someone to drive though, then that's fair enough imo. Even by the letter of the law. It's up to the other car to decide what to do.
Where about's in Disley was it? Come through that way a fair bit and was clipped by a car who pulled out in front of me a few months back at the Ram's Head junction.
@gravitysucks: it was right on that little cut-through road opposite Smithy Garage and in front of NatWest - just before the main crossroads.
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.35897,-2.039002,3a,75y,192.09h,70.82t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1strBXJ15xrhBk8JX2shc1fA!2e0 ]Google Streetview[/url]
About 20 foot from where I was got then. Hope the guys ok. Could easily be a local we know.
I remember being out on my bike one morning and this young lad had driven straight into the back of a parked car at about 30mph. Airbags deployed, front stuffed in etc. The poor sod was sat there with a bloody nose and the engine still running. Not one car stopped to see if he was ok, they just swerved round him.
I turned the engine off and made sure he was ok. He was pretty stunned, but basically ok.
Thanks for stopping to help him, sadly so many pathetic drivers out there who will give you abuse for blocking the road, and protecting the injured person,
globalti - MemberSpot on. 12 years as a motorcyclist taught me that flashing is a dangerous practice.
As is under/overtaking at junctions. 💡
A mate of mine who is a traffic cop said to me once that you should never beckon anyone. A huge number of accidents are caused by it.
Not so long ago near where I live on the juction slip road on the M60 a breakdown/recovery driver was hit by a car and lay dying as countless drivers drove round him to carry on towards Manchester.
That story disgusted me as its a slip road so in a sense safer to get out and intervene. Driving round someone laying prone means someone may not see them and hit the person. You might not be medically trained- but at least block/cover the person with your car from oncoming traffic?
I guess though- it was snowy- people were already late for work.........
Heres a link:
It's funny how upset some people get if you don't take advantage of them flashing you out of junctions. 🙄
I always make the best possible view of on coming traffic before emerging rather than just charging out because someone flashes. Many times I've not gone because I can see other traffic around. And the flasher gets upset that I haven't gone.
I really dislike flashing for this reason and never doing. I also go further sometimes and if I know there is a cyclist filtering up behind me I deliberately block a side road rather than leaving a gap, even if the traffic is stationary and I otherwise would leave room. This is mainly on a road I cycle home from work along, so I know where the trouble spots are.
Aside from the actual risk to me as a cyclist, I also have a niggling feeling about the mentality behind it. As a cyclist I get all forms of abuse and close passes if I hold someone up for a second or two while they wait to overtake me. Even if there's a queue ahead. But if there's someone in a car waiting to come out of or into a side road it's perfectly OK to slow down and flash them through, even though it causes just as much "delay". But it's OK, because that's someone in a metal cage rather than a vulnerable road user...
As is under/overtaking at junctions.
Obviously, I can't comment on the OP's incident as I wasn't there, but that's not necessarily what's happened. I've had 3 or 4 near misses where a car has started to overtake me, then slammed on the brakes while next to me and flashed a car to pull out in front of us. Often because they want to turn right into a side road, and the other car wants to go straight on or right out of that side road. As highgh5 says above, if they've got the time to wait and flash people out then why are they in such a rush to overtake me at a junction?!
I deliberately block a side road rather than leaving a gap, even if the traffic is stationary
I'm not sure this one is a good idea??
it is (not a terrible idea) if you know that a cyclist is filtering in the gutter behind you, it might stop them getting smashed by a vehicle turning right, across their path, into the side road.
at least, that's how i read it...
it is (not a terrible idea) if you know that a cyclist is filtering in the gutter behind you, it might stop them getting smashed by a vehicle turning right, across their path, into the side road.
That's basically what happened this morning. It was poor judgement by the van which flashed the car allowing it to turn right, the lights had already turned green and the flow of traffic had already started to move. So stopping, then flashing the car to turn right led to the inevitable. The cyclist didn't stand a chance and nor the car or the cyclist had any idea the other was there due to the high sides of the van (I think it was a transit or similar).
I get this regulary on my commute, mainly on Travis Street in Manchester. Cars/taxis stopping in the road to allow on-coming taxis to turn into the station pickup area.
Happened twice yesterday, once at the above place and once on [url= https://goo.gl/maps/bzIes ]Stretford Road[/url] when some idiot overtook me then milliseconds later braked to flash a taxi to do a U-turn from the oppposite side. The taxi driver declined her offer thankfully, he wasn't even exiting a junction...
Not enough knob jokes in this flashing thread
I once t-boned a young lass in a beetle who was flashed out of a side street by a bus in the bus lane.
After my car was written off and I got another one, I almost had the exact same accident with her at the exact same place a couple of months later. She'd had her car fixed, but I guess my new one had better brakes than the old one.
i used to live in Disley and commute on my bike along the A6 for a good few years. I had alot of very close calls and thinking back now it was amazing I never got knocked off.
No problem with flashing poeple, as long as the flashee still checks the coast is clear for themselves rather than trust the flasher. Flashing just means "You go first" and not "The coast is clear...no need to check...trust me".
Hope the make a speedy recovery.
It's amazing how many people will flash you through, then get all het up if you then take a few moments to check it's clear beyond them before completing the move.
A mate of mine was taken out by a car in the same circumstances as the OP, guy turned through traffic straight into him (I saw it all as I was just behind him). He got a damaged kidney and liver from that, but on the upside he got enough compensation to fund a round the world cycling trip. Silver linings and all that 🙂
Hope the guy in the OP is ok
bails - MemberObviously, I can't comment on the OP's incident as I wasn't there, but that's not necessarily what's happened. I've had 3 or 4 near misses where a car has started to overtake me, then slammed on the brakes while next to me and flashed a car to pull out in front of us. Often because they want to turn right into a side road, and the other car wants to go straight on or right out of that side road.
Quite so, but I'd wager in most cases the conflict occurs when a cyclist is under/overtaking at a junction. Not something I tend to do in a car or on a bike.
Still amazes me that people drove around the injured chap.
HTF can people do that? 🙁
It's only been my commute from New Mills for 5 months, and I've already seen someone's cycle commute end up in an ambulance. Sadly not many other routes which make any sense (this is not for lack of trying), and that's not because I'm afraid of distance, it's just other ways have some spectacularly unpleasant right turns and properly cramped roads without escape places. When I drive, I admit I never flash anyone out in case of a cyclist and if someone flashes me out I check for cyclists for myself even if it takes a bit more time or means I don't bother turning until it's really clear. When I cycle I do my best to be aware of that kind of thing but we don't exactly have the best of all possible worlds.
Tonight the car in front flashed a van out, totally ignoring the fact the van was pulling a large trailer with a lawn mover on the back, he almost hit the trailer as he then tried to scoot behind the van.
As a professional driver we were told during training not to flash motorists/pedestrians etc .. As stated above it creates confusion and cause accidents..
It's amazing the folks that get wound up when you stop to let them out leaving a gap for them without flashing etc !! 🙄
As others have said, its very rare I flash anyone. My preferred method if I want to let someone out/across is to just take my foot off and allow a gap to open up, if I notice too late and would need to brake then I just don't. Occasionally I will point to make it clear who am I waiting for but only after looking to see whats coming up behind/around me.
This morning I raised a finger off the wheel at a colleague driving the other way, next thing I know a pedestrian about 50 metres up the road has stepped out, it wasn't until they were halfway across and said thanks to me that I realised they thought I had invited them across! No matter as I was doing 20mph and a fair way back but still...
[i]totally ignoring the fact the van was pulling a large trailer[/i]
I get this...my trailer is huge and white and very heavy, its always a difficult decision to go when invited as it takes a long time to get moving (and even longer if I want the horses to stay upright) and its rare that the 'flasher' has taken this into account. I can't really get going out of 1st until its all in a vaguely straight line. Another is slip roads joining the motorway, it can be quite scary when you know the joiner hasn't checked their blind spot and is trying to merge directly behind the van whilst I try to eek out another 2mph to pull the trailer into their view.
I get this...my trailer is huge and white and very heavy, its always a difficult decision to go when invited as it takes a long time to get moving (and even longer if I want the horses to stay upright) and its rare that the 'flasher' has taken this into account. I can't really get going out of 1st until its all in a vaguely straight line. Another is slip roads joining the motorway, it can be quite scary when you know the joiner hasn't checked their blind spot and is trying to merge directly behind the van whilst I try to eek out another 2mph to pull the trailer into their view.
I saw a cracking example of a motorist not noticing / taking into account a trailer.
M6 junction 34 southbound is a horrible on slip as its short and uphill. I was in lane 2 behind a United Utilities Transit with trailer which had a little digger on it.
Some clown came on the motorway from the slip then, indicator on, moved into lane 2 right in front of the Transit which forced him into lane 3.
Obviously this is illegal with a trailer but it really was the only thing he could do else he would have Jack knifed if he had slammed on. The driver who moved out really didn't care that the Transit had a trailer on it.
Flashing headlights means "I'm coming on" not "be my guest"
No it doesn't it means "I'm here" same as the horn does.
Yup peeps should just use their right of way! I've lost count of the amount of dangerous indecision I've seen over the years.
My pet peeve is when someone stops on a dual carriageway flashing you out of a side road (except in stop start nose to tail where it can help), when they have no control over the other lanes, they be stopped and no one else gives a ****.