[Closed] I'm tense!! (Commute content)

I wonder if it was the "Woaaaah!" that made him stop?

On a sidenote, this is probably not what I need to be watching as I am about to purchase my first ever road bike.

Had two guys in a white van intentionally do that to me coming into Tinturn.

30mph off the hill, the guy looked at me, started to pull out enough to make me swerve and brake etc. and then stopped.

They both found it hilarious.

[i]I wonder if it was the "Woaaaah!" that made him stop?[/i]

That was actually "NOOOOO!" !

Sh!t Paul - I would've stopped for that. They don't realise how scarey it is.

Had a similar thing happen a couple of days ago when a taxi pulled out on me (he was on the phone as well, just to add to the cliche) - except he actually 'hit' me, before braking. It was hard enough that my QR actually punched a hole in his bumper, but other than some silver paint on my QR, me/bike was fine. A swearing match ensued, he said I'd be paying for the damage, I said I'd have to speak to accident claims solicitor first or he could poke-it..... at which point he just drove off. Never even undid his seatbelt, the fat-f***.

hardly a life threatening situation, it's a normal occurence, that happens to me everyday.

Kev

This morning you say?

Well according to the date and time on the video, surely you could have just hit 88 mph and gone back in time even futher?

I had a guy pull out on me on the other side on the road but going in my direction, unknow to me however he knew I was there and didn't pull out fully and was driving down the middle of the road so I could undertake him as he got up to speed.

I was taking in some juice from my bottle at the time so as well as some naughty words he got a good spray of energy drink over his windscreen!!

it does happen a fair bit on my commute, I just tend to assume that there is a good chance they will pull out on me so am prepared for it

luckily with the dryer warmer weather my commute wil change to mainly canals on the way in and a sustrans ncn on the way home.

[i]This morning you say?[/i]

Yeah, £16.99 vidcam doesn't save the correct date. I knew some geek would pick up on that 😛

I don't see what the problem was in that video. Everything looks perfectly normal to me.

In fact, that road looks like a pleasure to ride on.

Of course! I'm obviously of a nervous disposition and it was all my fault 🙂

I reckon someting like that happens to me on pretty much every commute, that was just an intake of breath moment. I expect every car to pull across the white line on a side road, and currently they more or less all seem to do so.
On my commute the current top list of cars driven by particularly ignorant motorists:
Joint 1st = Audi/ Seat in terms of deliberate aggression and just general lack of giving a shit
3rd = Anything with a faux-by in the name
4th = Minicabs driven by "gents" with Saddam Hussein moustaches
5th = any car driven by 30s women (actually they're amongst the most aggressive drivers currently - and seem to drive Audi/Seat...)

Looks like a badly positioned sandwich board did not help the situation.

maybe the driver was eating a sandwich whilst holding a can of coke and trying to txt the other half at the same time ? that's what I see most drivers doing who aren't looking where they're going or taking notice of what's around them.

Kev

Do you always video your commute? Probably not a bad idea if stuff like this happens.

Keva - Member
hardly a life threatening situation, it's a normal occurence, that happens to me everyday.

TheBrick - Member
Looks like a badly positioned sandwich board did not help the situation.

aP - Member
I reckon someting like that happens to me on pretty much every commute, that was just an intake of breath moment. I expect every car to pull across the white line on a side road, and currently they more or less all seem to do so.

GlitterGary - Member
I don't see what the problem was in that video. Everything looks perfectly normal to me.

In fact, that road looks like a pleasure to ride on.

That

Position further right to enhance visibilty?
Dunno, not much more you can do about cars that roll up to junctions and don't appear to be going to stop. Yell and swerve/ brake hard. It's not like you are going slowly. I don't know what is behind you though. The sandwich board didn't help either.

Put it down to experience and you know where the hazard is next time.

@DezB

what is your setup on the helmet with the vidcam? And which one do you use for £16.99?

I'd be keen to get one of these for my commute I think!

Cheers

For some reason, BMW 1 series seem to be the most dangerous cars on the road at the mo.

Dunno why, but over the last few weeks I've noticed that they seem to be driven particularly badly.
Do they have poor visibility for the driver or unusually thick pillars?

It's new mini's I find are the worst. But then they are just little BMW's aren't they?

Oh, and Audis.

Hardly life threatening!
Open road, good visibility, plenty of time/space to take avoiding action, question claimed 30+ mph, only just nudged over line in the end.
Sorry.

Happens to me a lot on my commute to work, Wednesdays and Fridays seem to be the worst days for the wazzock drivers to come out!

BMW 1 series seem to be the most dangerous cars on the road at the mo. Do they have [s]poor visibility for the driver or[/s] unusually thick [s]pillars[/s] [b]drivers?[/b]

FTFY

druidh - Member
Keva - Member
hardly a life threatening situation, it's a normal occurence, that happens to me everyday.
TheBrick - Member
Looks like a badly positioned sandwich board did not help the situation.
aP - Member
I reckon someting like that happens to me on pretty much every commute, that was just an intake of breath moment. I expect every car to pull across the white line on a side road, and currently they more or less all seem to do so.
GlitterGary - Member
I don't see what the problem was in that video. Everything looks perfectly normal to me.
In fact, that road looks like a pleasure to ride on.

That

Prat.

** Waves **

[i]what is your setup on the helmet with the vidcam? And which one do you use for £16.99?[/i]

Video is a little bullet cam thing, comes with a bar mount (hence the hideous background noise). Bought from 7dayshop.com, who don't have them anymore, but they can be found on Ebay slightly more expensive.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250769989581&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_3581wt_1139

I'm compiling a fun little video called "Car Driver Asshole". I think you'll like it. 🙂

And to those who don't think it was life threatening - you weren't there. [i]If[/i] the guy hadn't stopped, there was no avoiding a collision. If you don't get scared at stuff like that then there is something very wrong with you and you probably won't live long.
Yes, he stopped. Hence the wording of my OP.

Pretty standard on my commute. Never assume.

Looks like a badly positioned sandwich board did not help the situation.

If you ride that way every day I'd show the people who own the sandwhich board the video and ask them to move it.

Yeah, £16.99 vidcam doesn't save the correct date. I knew some geek would pick up on that

there's a simple fix for this involving specifying the correct date in a txt file of the camera's folder. search google.

You were going too fast an not paying attention if you couldn't stop in time.

Just saying like.

Wouldn't say that's unusual at all (can't judge the speed) but it would have caused me a minor heart in throat moment. By the way plan B might have been turn left and end up in the hedge in the side road, it would have hurt less than hitting the car.

Just out of curiosity what do you wear when commuting? Anything hi-vis / bright. I ride AND drive a lot and there's nothing worse than the bicycle ninja for visibility. Dark clothes + dark bike + small frontal area = not that visible at all.

I now where a hi-vis vest a lot more on the road (especially around rush hours) if I'm on my own and reckon I am having a lot less SMIDSY's. Yes I know it looks pants but its hardly performance reducing.

That's very good quality footage for a £17 Camera, I'm gonna get one of them.

As others have said hardly a big deal, cars over shooting the give way line happens all the time. Hardly an 'I almost died' moment.

Also looks to me like the driver had limited visibility and was simply moving out for a clearer view of the road.

[i]If the guy hadn't stopped, there was no avoiding a collision[/i]

But he did!

Has anyone said 'drama queen' yet?

Looked like you had ample time to brake, or swerve to the clear other side of the road.. but I appreciate that the wide angle lenses on those things can exaggerate space.

luckily with the dryer warmer weather my commute wil change to mainly canals

You must really be expecting quite a dry spell.

A great bike gadget would be a bar-mounted wide angle camera, usb rechgargeable that just records a very high-res (say enough for numberplates?) 2 minute loop. You could hit a big red button after a crash (or it could programme itself to stop recording and save video in case of a large enough impact?) and use it to nobble other party in an accident, and chase them through police if they fail to stop. (Or stitch yourself up in case of your own reckless cycling, 😆 )

This being STW i hope someone will post up with exactly what I just wondered about producing.

I'd agree the sandwich board looks to be a major part of the problem. It's pretty much directly in the driver's line of sight as he approaches the white lines (look where driver's head is vs. the sign in the still) and you being of narrow frontage would have been completely obscured for much of the last few seconds of your film.

A car with a longer bonnet (Mondeo, S-Type Jag, bigger Beember, Vectra etc etc) would have needed to get to where that Beemer's bumper did just to see past the sign.

Definite word with the board's owner and if they don't listen show the local police the video.

Doesn't excuse the driver but you can see how it could happen.

Assuming no following traffic if you had moved over a bit towards the middle of the lane (especially given the curve on the road) you would have been more in his field of vision.

Not criticising just trying to suggest how you might avoid a repeat.

See those things that look a bit like levers that are attached to your handlebars they are called brakes, they are for stopping the bike. You might want to use them when someone looks liek they are gonig to pull out on you. You might also want to be a bit further out in the road too.

I always assume cars are going to do this - doesn't make it OK, but it never surprises me.

Had a couple of close shaves lately, Bristol bus drivers seem to have it in for me.

I would probably have mostly stopped as soon as I saw a bumper peeping out to be honest - I do tend to, just in case.

i agree with garage dweller- move into middle of lane if no following traffic, or even if there is and you are not a low speed hazard. Gives both you and the driver extra vision and time.

Still, STW are doing the usual handing out its opinions feft right and centre criticizing the OP. They must be bored.

report it to the police, could be a kids face next time.

[i]report it to the police, could be a kids face next time.[/i]

You are joking, aren't you?

i'm only ever 100% serious on STW.

😐

^look at my serious face.

Oh that is serious!!

If the car had pulled out you could have just bunny hopped it.