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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)

131 replies

ChanandlerBongsLeftShoe · 03/04/2019 13:17

Was driving up the road earlier and made a right turn onto another street.

When I turned into the street, I very nearly hit a cyclist who was riding down the middle of the road (pretty much on the white line).

He got very aggressive throwing his arms up and shouting/ calling me a bitch etc... I went to pull over but he rode off!

I did look before I turned but because of the location of the buildings I hadn't seen him further up the road, riding down towards the junction. By the time I'd turned, he just appeared.

Surely cyclists should not be in the centre of the road?! I would not have nearly hit him if he'd been at the side of the road like normal!

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)
OP posts:
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CosyAsAToasty · 03/04/2019 13:36

Oh I like a diagram. I was just thinking today, 'I haven't seen a diagram on here for a while". Thank you.

Fortheloveofscience · 03/04/2019 13:36

If you’re turning into a side street you’re supposed to look into it before you turn down it, not just steer and hope! YABU.

LovingLola · 03/04/2019 13:37

So you weren't looking and you cut the corner.
I'd have shouted at you too.

CosyAsAToasty · 03/04/2019 13:37

BUT TBH, regardless if the cyclist is at fault, you drive a much deadlier vehicle, therefore, the blame will always be on your part. At least, that's how it works here in overseas Europe, where we cycle a lot, with kids on front back, sometimes middle and to the side of us. Come on over here and learn how to deal with people on 2 wheels.

SharkBaitOoHaha · 03/04/2019 13:40

I don't know. I'm half an half.

From OPs diagram it does look as though they are edging into the left lane as well as their own. And if someone is going along the white lines, they are technically partly in one and the other aren't they? If I walk down the middle of a road I can potentially be hit by cars on either side?

Looks like the corner could have been cut though too so I think neither of you were faultless and both could have positioned yourselves better.

Crustaceans · 03/04/2019 13:40

He’ll be in the next street along by the time we fill the thread, @pudcat.

If you had enough time to carefully observe his position (while making panicky evasive manouevres), you had time to turn so that you weren’t anywhere near him.

It’s very easy to tell ourselves a story where the other person is in the wrong when we nearly seriously injure/kill them.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 13:41

Cycling in the middle of the road is known as primary position or "taking the lane" as a Bikeability instructor I teach my 10, 11 and 12 year olds to do that when the road requires it or when they need to be more noticeable to keep them safe.
If there are speed bumps on the road and they don't want to go over them (the small ones) they should cycle in the outside of them to prevent a car squeezing past them.

You. Were. In. The. Wrong.

Thanks goodness it wasn't a child cycling - correctly as they had been taught.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 13:45

You need to do a course where you learn awareness of other vehicles using the road.

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)
BuggyWanker · 03/04/2019 13:46

Ex bikeability instructor here. If the cyclist was turning right he should have been in the middle of the flow of traffic (imaginary or not) waiting to turn right.

Picture a car waiting to turn right - cyclists front wheel should have been approximately where the cars front number plate would have been.

Having said that, junctions are hazardous areas for a car or bike so you both should have been going slowly, checked around to see nothing was coming, no hazards etc.

As there is no mandated test to complete before riding a bike on the road cyclists do, rightly or wrongly, ride in ways you may not expect. 🤷‍♀️

havingtochangeusernameagain · 03/04/2019 13:51

Dear everyone, the cyclist was in the midde of the road, on the OP's side and wasn;t turning right. He was in the wrong.

This has happened to me a couple of times with a motorcyclist. I turn right (at traffic lights, on green). They overtake the traffic waiting at the red light, on my side. Now I know it can happen, so I am ultra-careful going round the corner.

But personally I think people should stay on the correct side of the road.

All that said, drivers do have a habit of cutting corners turning into side roads.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 13:51

@BuggyWanker doesn't matter what direction cyclist was turning. Primary position can be chosen by the cyclist to feel safer.

Acis · 03/04/2019 13:51

he was in middle, on the white lines (not just to the right of his lane) meaning he would have very obviously collided with anything else driving in the other lane.

Why? It's not inevitable that drivers coming towards him will be on the white line, surely?

Flobochin · 03/04/2019 13:52

If almost at a junction he was placing himself appropriately to turn right.

Car driver be aware!

havingtochangeusernameagain · 03/04/2019 13:52

The primary position is not the middle of the road. It is the middle of your LANE. It does not mean cycling along the white lines (and definitely not the other side of them).

Acis · 03/04/2019 13:52

Dear everyone, the cyclist was in the midde of the road, on the OP's side and wasn;t turning right. He was in the wrong.

No, he wasn't. The OP says that he was on the line and the diagram confirms that.

drspouse · 03/04/2019 13:53

The OP should not have been touching, or over, the white line.
So she would have not been able to hit a bike on his side of the road OR if he was ON the white line.

WhereIsMyTVRemote · 03/04/2019 13:53

Doesn't matter where he turned. If you were on his side of the road you were at fault.

havingtochangeusernameagain · 03/04/2019 13:54

I think a lot of people posting here need to read the Highway Code and I also suggest the excellent book Cyclecraft.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 13:54

@havingtochangeusernameagain no. You are wrong. It's called primary position and the cyclist is perfectly entitled to be there. As motorcyclists are too.
The op states cyclist was in the middle of the road. It's known as primary position and chosen by the cyclist to aid safety and visibility.

Sheesh.

Just pretend every cyclist is someone you love. Then you might be better drivers around cyclists.

AlexaAmbidextra · 03/04/2019 13:55

BUT TBH, regardless if the cyclist is at fault, you drive a much deadlier vehicle, therefore, the blame will always be on your part.

Not true in UK and neither should it be.

havingtochangeusernameagain · 03/04/2019 13:55

The OP says that he was on the line and the diagram confirms that

Which means half of him is on the wrong side of the road. If I were cycling and going straight on at a junction I would be in the middle of my side of the road. I wouldn't go anywhere near the white line unless I was turning right. If I were turning left I would go towards the left of my side of the road avoiding the gutter.

LikeDolphinsCanSwim · 03/04/2019 13:56

Doesn't matter where he turned. If you were on his side of the road you were at fault.

This. Nothing else is relevant.

Dakiara · 03/04/2019 13:56

Depending on whether your arrows were accurate you may have cut the corner with the rear tyre and he was also badly positioned. As always with driving though, you're responsible for double checking as much as you can, to avoid unexpected hazards, given that you've got the more dangerous vehicle.

I expect other road users and pedestrians to be idiots/make mistakes all the time - it helps, though doesn't make for a stress free drive 😩. But it does get to you if people do really stupid things and blame you for them - you end up running it through over and over in your mind about what could have happened. I still remember the cyclist that pulled out of a left hand junction as I was passing it, having presumably expected me to see him planning to not stop at the give way lines down his side road and to move over enough to allow room for him to shoot out (despite the bollards in the middle of my lane and the fact that he had come out of nowhere ignoring the give way lines at around 15-20mph into a 50mph road) I still get het up considering what could have happened and doubt very much that he learned from it. He shouted and shook his fist a lot as I braked and swerved to avoid him. But I became a more wary driver around cyclists as a result of that fool, and somehow (thankfully) missed both him and the bollards, so a positive outcome.

Crustaceans · 03/04/2019 13:57

Tbh, given that (a) she would have been panicking and (b) the cyclist will be in the next borough if he moves any further over since the OP 😂, I’m not sure the diagram or the account are entirely reliable about where the cyclist was.

My ex always used to claim that other drivers were not indicating when he nearly drove into them at roundabouts. He was convinced he was right. He never was; I actually saw that they were indicating. And even if they weren’t, it’s still his responsibility to be sure it’s safe to move.

Sirzy · 03/04/2019 13:58

There does seem to be a lot of drivers who can’t manage to turn without using the whole road!