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I think on the basis that this has happened multiple times involving different drivers then there is something a bit more fundamental going on that dozy drivers not looking properly before they pull out. Clearly the design of the junction is a factor here. People don't generally go out in the morning to knock cyclists off their bikes or pull out on them on purpose. Have you been communicating with the local council on this? If you are struggling with this junction then you can't be the only cyclist that has had problems there, so given there have been multiple accidents the council has to take action.
At junctions look out for street furniture that may block those comming out of junctions view. Consider the shadow of these items. Adjust your position when you notice these items. Industrial BV estates can be bad for this
Well done for keeping on. It sounds like you're lit up enough. I don't have crazy traffic to deal with, but one thing I don't think has been mentioned and I find helpful is to make sure you've got the driver's eye contact. Until that point be slowing/prepared to stop on the basis the idiot will blank you. Riding in primary position helps, but I also feel moving across the lane can help you move out of the potential blind spots of A pillars and stand out a bit more.
Only one response so far has mentioned sound (screaming), unless I've missed another?
OP have you considered fitting something like the Hornit cycle horn?
Clearly the design of the junction is a factor here.
It was four different junctions, one incident per junction, one incident per month over four months.
From personal experience* I'm inclined to put OP's experience down to the increasing frequency of careless driving combined with a 'luck of the draw' to have happened in a cluster.
* I cycle a regular 16-mile grocery-run , mostly without incident but do have the odd driver pull out/cut me up, usually as I approach T junctions turnjng left onto main roads at a busy time of day. Drivers turning right sometimes cut the corner, across the broken lines in the centre of carriageway, not looking, missing my (stationary) front wheel by inches. Yet last week this same ride saw:
1. Me descending Madresfield Rd approx twenty mph, past the cemetery (!), Middle-aged overweight man in silver Golf heading up the hill on other side of the ride decided to cut across me and into a driveway. He checked his mirrors, but didnt look at me. It was daylight but I also run a hub-powered front LED that is always on. I now ride so defensively I watch the faces of nearly every driver so I saw what he was about to be doing and hit my brakes early. He still just missed me.
2. Ten mins later, on cycle-path (not shared but parallel to pedestrian path) a runner decides to change direction both into and across my lane, narrowly missing a collision. His head was down, he made no sign of having seen me.
3. Entered another cycle-path, am rounding a bend very slowly as bush obstructing view, another on oncoming cyclist rounds the bend unseen and we nearly collide, both bailing off the path to the same roadside verge to avoid collision.
So, three near-impacts on one journey where normally there would be zero to one. This is the way chance works sometimes. But chance frequency doesn't excuse careless and or dangerous road users, and I do perceive that carelessness and self-centredness on the roads is on the increase, ormaybe ot was always that way and the massive increase in traffic makes it so much more obvious?
The lack of indicating and general awareness though is becoming a problem for me as a vulnerable road user. When someone cuts me up in the car I just hit the brakes and shake my head. When on the bike I am usually too shaken to shake my head. Some days you ask yourself 'am I just in invisible'? No, you're not invisible, the roads are just full of cockwombles and today is wombling day. Watch their eyes, cover your brakes, take a longer safer route faster, or the current route more slowly (slow down and eyeball drivers when approaching junctions) if you're feeling the fear for good reason.
From RoSPA:
Human error is the main contributory factor involving cyclist collisions. Driver/rider error was the most frequently reported reason for the incident involving 71% of all reported accidents in 2016
In collisions involving a bicycle and another vehicle, the most common key contributory factor recorded by the police is ‘failed to look properly’ by either the driver or rider, especially at junctions.
‘Failed to look properly’ was attributed to the car driver in 57% of serious collisions and to the cyclist in 43% of serious collisions at junctions.
Other common contributory factors attributed to drivers are ‘poor turn/manoeuvre’ (in 17% of serious accidents involving a cyclist) and ‘careless, reckless, in a hurry (17%).
Cyclists are more likely to suffer serious injuries when a driver is judged to be ‘impaired by alcohol’, exceeding the speed limit’ or ‘travelling too fast for the conditions’.
Just had a thought, the bike I ride has drop bars and the lights are mounted near to the stem. I occurs to me that the lights may be partially obscured by the hoods and my hands, particularly if viewed from the side? Is there such a devise that could lift the lights up a bit somehow? Also, hi-viz/reflective bar tape?
^
stem-cap fitting accessory bar?
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessories/mounty-space-bar-ii-stem-cap-fitting/
or a stem-fitting one may be better (replaces spacers) if you have spacers installed
I have seen bar-mounted accessory-bars also, worth looking around.
ie
*Edit - oh there's loads of them you just have to browse all four pages: https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accessory-fitting-brackets/?page=4
Curious that the 57/43 figures add up to 100. Might check those later.
[i]Malvern Rider wrote:[/i]
2. Ten mins later, on cycle-path (not shared but parallel to pedestrian path)
You're splitting hairs a bit there - the only path I can think fitting that description after going down Madresfield road is the one heading to Morrisons. Sure there's a line down the middle, but I don't think most pedestrians have any idea they're supposed to be one side of the line - it's a shared use path for all practical purposes, a bit of paint on the pavement doesn't make a dedicated cycle path (personally I only use that if on a unicycle - on a bike I'll ride on the road as it's a lot less hassle). I certainly can't think of a single cycle-path around here which isn't shared - I'd love to be enlightened!
"
Human error is the main contributory factor involving cyclist collisions. Driver/rider error was the most frequently reported reason for the incident involving 71% of all reported accidents in 2016
In collisions involving a bicycle and another vehicle, the most common key contributory factor recorded by the police is ‘failed to look properly’ by either the driver or rider, especially at junctions.
‘Failed to look properly’ was attributed to the car driver in 57% of serious collisions and to the cyclist in 43% of serious collisions at junctions.
Other common contributory factors attributed to drivers are ‘poor turn/manoeuvre’ (in 17% of serious accidents involving a cyclist) and ‘careless, reckless, in a hurry (17%).
Cyclists are more likely to suffer serious injuries when a driver is judged to be ‘impaired by alcohol’, exceeding the speed limit’ or ‘travelling too fast for the conditions’."
This might be the case, but looking at the aviation industry for example, almost all air crashes are due to pilot error but the aviation industry doesn't' just sit there and just tell pilots to be more alert. They look at the circumstances around the pilot and what is causing that error, what is drawing the pilots attention, what might be causing confusion. And they always do something about it, make a change, to eradicate specific things that contribute to the pilot making poor decisions.
It is exactly the same in this circumstance. If the OP has been knocked off his bike multiple times by different drivers then it is not simply a fact of drivers being dozy....something is actively drawing their attention, distracting them. Something about the junction design, something about how traffic is moving on the road, something that the driver deems more important is diverting their attention from a potential up and coming cyclist. Drivers are obviously making poor decisions at that junction....why is that?
There is no such thing as an accident that is 100% the fault on one thing. They are always the result of multiple factors that on their own wouldn't cause an accident, but when occurring concurrently cause an accident. There are always other contributing factors and you're only gong to make things safer by identifying each and every one of those contributing factors and eliminating them.
The rider can only do so much, they can only influence things that are within their control, but so much is outside the control of the cyclist which is where, sometimes other factors have to be studied and considered.
Sounds like the OP is doing all he can in trying to make himself more visible, but it is having no effect. Maybe a noise or horn of some type might work, but in modern insulated cars with decent sound systems there is no guarantee drivers will hear the sound. So the OP has 2 choices...he either peruses different approach i.e. get the council to look at the junction and see if there is anything they can do to make it safer (install traffic lights maybe? or reduce street furniture or slow traffic down around the junction), or he takes a different route to avoid the junction. Obviously carrying on getting knocked off his bike is not an option.
You’re splitting hairs a bit there – the only path I can think fitting that description after going down Madresfield road is the one heading to Morrisons
That's the path, along Townsend Way. I'll own to joining you in hair-splitting there, aracer 😉
I always consider pedestrians and animals first when sharing paths (even when clearly demarcated) not just good manners but they are vulnerable and so am I. They can also be unpredictable, as was this runner who crossed the line/my front wheel in a brainfart/not-looking moment.. Although these (parallel) paths are clearly marked cyclists and pedestrians both on the path surface and on repeater signposts - I still slow when passing peds. There's bags of space, but as per OP, any amount of visibility makes no difference to the wholly oblivious
Have you considered having a small light facing back at you - not in your face obviously but to illuminate your torso?
I saw someone with that once and they really stood out. Never did it myself
wobbliscott
Again, per OP, it was four different junctions, one incident per junction, one incident per month over four months. This is similar/in line with my experiences in general with road-users not paying careful attention at junctions, any junctions. Obviously some are poorer visibility than others due to any number of factors, but IMO carelessness + traffic volume is increasing. Hence eyeballing every single driver, slowing slightly and covering my brakes every junction. I never used to do this all the time but times have changed and now I do.
I also got T-boned doing 25mph in my car along a high st approaching a village. Passenger door was hit by another car, driver of which was exiting a side-road to my left. Two pedestrians on the other side of the road refused to be witnesses as 'didn't see or hear anything'. Invisibility factor again! It was daylight. But I was driving a black car... 👀
[i]Bez wrote:[/i]
Curious that the 57/43 figures add up to 100. Might check those later.
I'm utterly amazed that the cyclist was found to be at fault 43% of the time there - seems distinctly dodgy given anecdotal experience.
I often move out into the middle of the road so that cars joining from side roads can see me better.
Failing that, this makes enough noise to get even the laziest driver's attention: