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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think maybe the cyclist was in the wrong...

95 replies

PinkSnowAndStars · 08/08/2017 15:27

Someone I know through work posted this video on Facebook of him being cut up by a car. I've watched it... and I actually think the cyclist is in the wrong. The roundabout splits into 3, he's in the very clearly lined left lane, yet wants to go straight over...

Opinions please!! I genuinely watched it thinking the car driver would be in the wrong!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=sAeK45NjF4E&feature=share

OP posts:
threedayrule · 08/08/2017 18:17

Looks to me like the cyclists lane is a left turn into the left hand lane only lane. The car is in a lane which turns left into the right hand lane of that dual carriageway or goes straight on.

Car should have indicated but cyclist was in totally the wrong lane.

threedayrule · 08/08/2017 18:22

Just seen the car is indicating. Definitely the cyclist in the wrong although he won't accept it. He should have indicated to change lanes and pulled in behind the car. That's what I would have done. You can't just go straight in from a left turn only lane.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 08/08/2017 18:22

But the car isn't indicating.

hula008 · 08/08/2017 18:27

I just felt uneasy that the car and reg number have been put online
I hardly think they can have much of an issue as they drive round all day with their reg number on display (I hope)

I think I know this roundabout and it's one where both left and middle lanes are left turn only so both the cyclist and car driver should have been cautious

RebootYourEngine · 08/08/2017 18:29

I dont know who is wrong but i think that the car driver isnt entirely innocent. Why didnt they just stay behind the cyclist until off the roundabout and then overtake them. The car looked like it was going quite fast.

hula008 · 08/08/2017 18:30

Okay I've just rewatched the video and it's a different roundabout!

Original poster
PinkSnowAndStars · 08/08/2017 18:31

Hula - the roundabout is in the middle of aylesbury next to the theatre.

OP posts:
fannydaggerz · 08/08/2017 18:38

The cyclist was in the wrong.

Technically both the left hand only and middle lane can be used for left turns as it is going into a double lane road. The cyclist was in the left hand only land and didn't go left.

LakieLady · 08/08/2017 18:41

As the cyclist was in the left-hand lane, the car driver was entitled to have a reasonable expectation that he was turning left as well.

The car driver clearly signalled his intention to turn left.

The cyclist had plenty of warning of this, and should have slowed down and filtered behind the car to get into the correct lane to go straight on.

Cyclist in the wrong imo, unless he was signalling his intention to move over into the right-hand lane, in which case the car should have slowed down and let him go first.

museumum · 08/08/2017 18:48

I'm a cyclist and I agree it looks like the cyclist is wrong and car right.

THIS is exactly when and why cyclists should be in "primary position" on the road and not hug the kerb.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 08/08/2017 18:48

Seriously, why do people keep saying the car is indicating left?

TicketyBoo83 · 08/08/2017 18:53

As I understand it the road markings show 2 lanes for left hand turn, 1 for right. No straight on option. So car was in correct lane, turned left into the correct (right hand side) lane and the cyclist was in the wrong.

THIS IS WHY MOTORISTS HATE CYCLISTS!

(or is it just me?)

MaisyPops · 08/08/2017 18:54

THIS is exactly when and why cyclists should be in "primary position" on the road and not hug the kerb.
Yup. Cyclist should have moved further out and made their intension clearer.

But you and I both know that riding anywhere other than in the gutter gets a certain group of drivers and MNers suitably irate because they might lose a couple of minutes in their horrifically important busy lives.

MaisyPops · 08/08/2017 18:56

TicketyBoo83 the Cyclist was going onto a cycle path straight on. Where are they meant to go if nowhere on the road is supposed to be OK?

(Feels like this links back to 'reasons quite a few cyclists don't bother with some cycle paths in towns' - something which got attacked on another thread because they should use them all the time, even if poorly designed according to some, AND not use them at all because they go too quickly. Oh and they shouldn't be on the road either according to others)

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 08/08/2017 18:58

No, tickety, the middle lane does not say left turn only. It is actually left or right from that lane (there is no exit straight on apart from for cyclists just to add to the confusion).

If the car had just waited a couple of seconds there wouldn't have been an issue. Maybe if drivers weren't so impatient they wouldn't get cross with cyclists either.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 08/08/2017 19:03

If you pause the video at 5 seconds you can see the car already in the lane the cyclist wants to use. Maybe that's why they weren't in the correct lane. I would personally have held a stronger position to discourage this from happening, and I would have pulled in behind the car when they took the middle lane, but the situation is still caused by the car driver.

Iwantawhippet · 08/08/2017 19:11

The car turned left immediately after (almost) overtaking the cyclist. I've had a few cars overtake me on my bike and then immediately turn left. As the cyclist is in the driver's blind spot the driver turns left and cuts them up. I think that the driver here didn't see him.

From the cyclist's perspective, even if the car was indicating, he couldn't see it because it was right next to him.

As the cyclist was entitled to use the left hand Lane on the round about, the driver was driving badly.

scaryclown · 08/08/2017 19:16

Cyclist in wrong.
In left hand only lane.
Car in middle lane with all options available.
Car is also in quasi bike overtaking move.
Leaves entire left hand full lane for bike to turn left, turns from the straight on lane to take the right hand lane of the two lane exit. That's normal.

Me on a bike would either hang back to allow overtake before or on island and perhaps consider nominal move to rhs of left turn lane with gentle rhs signal to cars behind. Or watch car very closely expecting at best a cut I to your lane as you go straight or a left turn.
Me in a car would either hang back move behind cyclist or indicate left on round about watching cyclist, or go straight on as soon as I thought cyclist going straight on and sort it out later.
Not signalling was uber-unhelpful though.
I think the cyclist knew damn well it was an incomplete overtaking manoeuvre and should really have hung back

scaryclown · 08/08/2017 19:17

As my dad always said, better to be alive and wrong than right and dead

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 08/08/2017 19:19

But scary, the driver didn't leave room for the cyclist to go straight on.

OverOn · 08/08/2017 19:22

The car was indicating left, you can se the light blinking
I think the driver assumed that the cyclist was going left as he was in the left only lane, and that by indicating the cyclist would know that the car would also be turning left.

Driver was at fault though for trying to go left at the same time as the cyclist - he should have slowed down and got into the left turn lane properly (rather than half in the lane as on the video)

Gabilan · 08/08/2017 19:26

I really wish more people read and understood the Highway Code. Rule 77 states:

You may feel safer walking your cycle round on the pavement or verge. If you decide to ride round keeping to the left-hand lane you should
be aware that drivers may not easily see you
take extra care when cycling across exits. You may need to signal right to show you are not leaving the roundabout
watch out for vehicles crossing your path to leave or join the roundabout.

The UK's roads are poorly designed and create conflict. But people confidently asserting that someone is wrong without actually knowing the damn rules in the first place are half the problem.

whatsthecomingoverthehill · 08/08/2017 19:26

It isn't indicating! Look at the front lights and wing mirror, no flashing. What people might be seeing is the brake lights and a bit of water on the camera lens.

Landsendmum · 08/08/2017 19:27

"Seriously, why do people keep saying the car is indicating left?"

Because it was indicating, just look again at the video, the car's indicator is clearly visible.

nocake · 08/08/2017 19:30

I'm a cyclist and I think the cyclist was wrong. I would have been in the next lane, right in the middle of it to make it very clear where I was going. But anyone who uses this to reinforce a hatred of cyclists is a twat. Some people drive badly but I don't assume all drivers are bad so you shouldn't assume all cyclists ride the same as the one you've seen.