Knocked off on Monday by a old chap in a very large car(old school BMW) on the school run, kids on pavement 2X (5yr olds) and I am next to them but on the road just to act as a barrier, car overtakes me as another car approaches side wing impact sends me onto the kerb narrowly missing the kids!!!.Daughter is hysterical and my first thoughts are to calm her down I,m uninjured and the chap stops about 50 yards away walks back pleading his innocense, other car driver remonstrates with him as he nearly collided with him.Told him very politely that he should give a cars width when passing and thought nothing of it, I get home and find out a chap has been killed just outside Kendal so i decided not to rant off on here about my trivial collision.
But on my commute to work this morning I was being very carefull as it was icy so I have my normal Royal Mail Hiv viz jacket on thick gloves and a wooly hat not to mention my very bright chinese lights.Cycling down (15mph)estimated a two lane one way system (Highgate) a chap decides to pull out on me as he leaves a culdesac and does not see me no time to brake and we collide sending me into his wing mirror and on to the other lane.
Luckily the car that was in that lane braked in time and got out shouting I,m a medic dont move!! I am wheezing this stage and trying to catch my breath as I am winded and did as i was told.Eventually i say im getting up as the road is a bit cold but she isists and rings for an ambulance which i tell her its a bit overkill.Ambulance turns up with the police and I am moved to the side as traffic is building up and I kid you not people are beeping their horns!!!!.Statements are taken and he is breathalized which was clear and details are swopped he apologised saying I just did not see you!there were a few parked cars but I cannot believe he looked.I now have a poorly bike and hopefully nothing else but bruised ribs from the wing mirror but I thought I was a good defensive bike rider but doubts are now being sown at the competancy of a lot of drivers out there.
Police ask we if I want to make it official which I say no and ask them just to give him a warning on his observation skills something I am now regretting as I sit here in pain with a trashed bike, nothing to bad but will be claiming for front wheel carbon forks and gear/brake levers hopefully the frame is ok Ti sabbath and I have my union solictors on the case.
Well thats my gripe for the day so you guys/gals on the road be carefull!!!
Please excuse my grammer, punctation and spelling. 😕
Rich
glad you are OK, i am not sure I would have had your reserve and not made it official!
not sure I would have had your reserve and not made it official!
Depends on your view of what the justice systems there to do. If it's to act as a deterrant (look for the cyclsit or it's 5 years as big Bubbas man-bitch) then everyone should be punished. Altenatively you could view it as revenge (haha, you now get to spend 5 years ebing Big Bubba's man-whore). Or the third way, it's to teach him a lesson/give him time to think, which if he's already said sory is unlikely to be of any use as he'll probably now follow the highway code to the letter and never hit another cyclist again.
Guy coming too fast round a blind bend on a single lane road came much closer than I would like to my 8 year old on the way home from school.
We'll be discussing riding wide on such corners in order to give yourself a bit more time/room to duck in in similar circs, complete with diagrams, later. It's quite hard to teach your kids to consider that everyone else on the road is potentially lethal until proved otherwise though.
I always ride incredibly (painfully) carefully round town (touch wood) these days as I'd rather be over-cautious and alive than morally right and dead.
Ah yes, the age old 'I didn't see you'.
I was filtering through traffic the other day when a car in front grabbed my notice. For some reason I didn't like the look of it and slowed down somewhat. Then the door opens and a lady staggers out to find me stopped right in front of her. She apologises and utters those (im)mortal words 'I didn't see you'.
Funny how people say "I didn't see you" rather than "I didn't look for you" isn't it...
Had a small victory on the way to work the other (frosty) morning. Rode past a car that was stopped at a T junction whose driver couldn't see through the tiny scraping he had made on the windscreen. He followed me to the next stop sign, at which I stopped in front of him, turned round, got him to open his passenger window and said "shall we just wait a while until you can see through that windscreen?". Then I waited in front of him for a good few minutes until his windscreen had cleared enough for him to see through. Don't think he or the drivers waiting behind him were too happy, but hey, better that than him wiping me or someone else out.
Funny how cyclists nebver want to press for charges afgainst errant drivers when they could have been seriously injured, and most transport companies and shops press for charges when somebody doesnt pay their fare, or walks off with a bar of chocolate.
Glad youre ok,
Frosty where you are this morning was it? Bet he hadn't cleared his windows properly if he was just leaving a cul de sac.
Anyway hope you're ok. Same thing happened to me a few years ago and I did make it official. Very little came of it though. Got everything damaged sorted through the other parties insurance. They were quite relieved when I was uninjured and "only" wanted £200 to cover broken bike bits and damaged clothing.
Hope you make a quick recovery.
I honestly believe people are cutting it finer recently. Despite now having a bright and reflective cover for my courier bag and bright flashing lights I find cars/lorries are coming closer, pushing through gaps etc.
I had a big Viridor skip sit behind me revving the other day then gave me a blast of the horn when he overtook and a near miss when a lass entered the roundabout too early...
Healing vibes Rich...
Hope you aren't hurting too much mate. In answer to your question- People are just so bloody stupid.
most car drivers i think have subconsciously trained themselves only to react to vehicle headlights or brake lights. they just don't see anything else or at least they do see it but it means nothing to them. 🙁
I'd be careful, its the third you've got to watch for...
Earlier this year I had the same kind of week, almost knocked off three times - one time he just pulled out from a left turn straight in front of me - maybe normal for a cycle, but this is what I ride:
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And imagine with a full set of lights on, plus had another m/c following me.
tbh Made me go buy (and wear) a dayglo - which I'd avoided for the previous 30 years of m/c-ing.
Are you gonna get a stage one 😆 suppose one way to get xmas off 😉
Hope you get better soon!
All bikes need these:
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Muppet more than likely went to work after the collision and just did some prep then home so no sick days yet feeling it now though even with ibrolieve on will see what tomorrow brings.Day off on Monday so will have time to rest.
Glad you're ok and hopefully you'll get a bit more than just your bike repaired.
globalti - nice idea with the horns but only limited use. You would not believe the number of people who pull out on me driving one of these with lights flashing AND sirens.
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I had the same driver pull out in front of me twice in 800yards.
I was coming down a hill, 30ish mph, he emerged from a road to my left,turning to his left, I saw it coming and fortunately there was nothing in the other lane so I swerved around him and pulled in again in front of him. I turned right at the bottom, then left then right and he emerged from the road to my right in front of me (having done right, second left, then making a right turn) I stopped and gave him an ear-ful.
Anyway, back to the OP, these come in phases, this followed a near-miss with a bus leaving a bus-stop right in front of me and a stupid old man who overtook then pulled in and nearly had me in the hedge when he realised there was a parked car on our side of the road and a car coming the other way. He then had a go at me for being on his inside! He got the biggest ear-ful (politely, but I wasn't going to let him passed until he said sorry. He only conceeded when I got a mars bar out of my pocket and made it clear I was in no rush)
They do seem to come in threes, so keep your eyes open now. Touch wood I've no problems for the last few weeks.