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AIBU?

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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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5
PocaMiseria · 03/04/2019 14:27

Some one way streets are two way for cyclists though! There's one in my small town and at least one in the big town next to me.
If it's a one way for all vehicles fine. And I teach my Bikeability students the difference in signage so they know.

It's definitely one way ONLY: I do know the difference - and have had to defend my corner when on a pushbike in the town centre (where we have a zone which is priority for cyclists and pedestrians and cyclists are allowed to ride "the wrong way" up the street unless it is specifically forbidden by the unmistakeable red circle with a pushbike in it), against motorists who obviously don't...and who have started shouting at ME... so much so that I took to carrying a copy of the relevant rules in the basket of my bicycle.

arethereanyleftatall · 03/04/2019 14:30

I think every car driver should be made to go for a bike ride on a road bike. (The ones with narrow wheels). Just half an hour and you will see why a cyclist does all they do. Why they hold centre position, why they ride 2 abreast, why they have to avoid pot holes, why you need to give them a wide berth when passing in a car. Yabu.

Sirzy · 03/04/2019 14:32

I think every car driver should be made to go for a bike ride on a road bike. I agree. And spend time out with a HGV driver too to realise why things like trying to pass them on a roundabout isn’t wise!

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 14:34

@PocaMiseria my Bikeability students will know the difference! You wouldn't need to tell them. Wink I've explained if they don't want to take the longer route, they must dismount. (Using the correct dismounting procedure of course! Grin)

bridgetreilly · 03/04/2019 14:35

It's ALWAYS your responsibility to check that a side road is clear before you turn into it. YABU.

museumum · 03/04/2019 14:36

I've lost count of the number of times drivers have shouted at me "What are you doing in the middle of the fucking road?"
The answer, is always - "turning right!" It should be bloody obvious.

If i'm in the middle of the road close to the white line i'm waiting to turn right, if i'm in the middle of the lane so you can't get past it's because i'm going straight over and don't want to be bullied into turning left by you coming round me and turning left. Just wait, the five seconds it takes me to move off.

purpleboy · 03/04/2019 14:36

ACIS middle of the road is different from middle of the lane! The cyclist was in the wrong

SciFiScream primary position is the middle of the lane not the middle of the road!

The cyclist is on the white line in the middle of the road, he is very clearly in the wrong position, but I would also agree from your diagram you would of cut the corner, so both at fault.

floribunda18 · 03/04/2019 14:37

I think a defensive driving course should be compulsory, and every ten years after passing your test.

buzzbobbly · 03/04/2019 14:37

In OP's diagram it shows a blank T junction.

But in later posts she refers to him actually going straight over to the station?

If it's not bollocks so, where is the station/entrance on this diagram and secondly, where does OP think bike should have been positioned if not centrally?

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)
Yabbers · 03/04/2019 14:41

Your fault. You shouldn’t cut corners when you turn.

Yabbers · 03/04/2019 14:42

he is very clearly in the wrong position
Not if he wasn’t turning left. Which he wasn’t.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 14:42

@purpleboy I took middle of the road to mean middle of the lane due to all the other discrepancies in the OPs post.

ScreamScreamIceCream · 03/04/2019 14:47

OP it doesn't matter where the cyclist was when you turn into a road it is your responsibility not to hit another road user.

Many roads I drive, cycle and walk down there is only room for one vehicle regardless of type due to parked cars on both sides of the road. This means if that vehicle is a bike or even someone on their scooter in the road by not looking properly when turning you risk hitting them regardless of where on the road they are positioned.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 14:48

@purpleboy though there are several occasions where it would be legitimate for the cyclist to be on the other side of the road I would hope it would not be this near a junction!

(One is avoiding hazards on the road, another is avoiding the door zone of a parked car - particularly relevant with a big car/small road combo)
The cyclist might even have been filtering to an ASL (advanced stop line) though I hope not if a busy junction.

What if it had been a pedestrian in that exact space on the road? I think we'd all agree the driver was in the wrong.

So still wrong even if a cyclist. The road wasn't clear to turn right into.

Mildmanneredmum · 03/04/2019 14:50

Car drivers turning right should stop just past the "crown of the road". Then when completing the manoevre there is no risk of hitting any vehicle on the opposite side of the road.

LadyRannaldini · 03/04/2019 14:55

Looks like you were clipping the turn, happens here all of the time. He was on the correct side of the road and if you nearly hit him then you weren't.

BuggyWanker · 03/04/2019 14:56

@Scifiscream they weren't in the primary position if they were on the white lines in the middle of the road. They should have been in the centre of their flow of traffic. The old ROSPA guidelines used to state they should be on the white lines - Bikeability had moved cyclists from there to the middle of their flow of traffic.

BuggyWanker · 03/04/2019 14:59

As shown in this diagram from Cyclecraft

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)
arethereanyleftatall · 03/04/2019 15:00

It's actually quite scary op that it didn't occur to you why he might be in the middle of the road as he approached a t-junction.

buzzbobbly · 03/04/2019 15:05

BuggyWanker The old ROSPA guidelines used to state they should be on the white lines - Bikeability had moved cyclists from there to the middle of their flow of traffic.

Is that pedantic point really the hill you want to die on in this thread?

OP didn't look properly and turned carelessly, thankfully to no real damage this time.

If bike had been 2' further on his side, OP may well have just cut even more off the corner than she already did.

purpleboy · 03/04/2019 15:06

Yabbers see attached. He was in the wrong position. No where does it state you should be in the middle of the ROAD when turning right, only the middle of the LANE.

SciFiScream don't disagree she was in the wrong, but so was the cyclist.

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)
DontCallMeCharlotte · 03/04/2019 15:10

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

Drivers already do. It's called the driving test.

But a cycling test or at least a course like BuggyWanker's Bikeability course should be mandatory for cyclists.

I would say YANBU OP but none of us can be sure because we weren't there. You are going to have to update the diagram to show were the station is though Grin

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 15:21

Oh I agree about being in the primary position no disagreement there @BuggyWanker or @purpleboy so many holes in OPs post though so easy to assume (and you know what they say about assumptions!) that the cyclist wasn't actually in the wrong position and the OP is trying to cover up their mistake.

There are reasons why the cyclist might have been on or across the whistle lines (I gave a few ideas before now) and while "wrong" if you swap the cyclist for a pedestrian there's no disagreement the driver shouldn't have completed the manoeuvre until the road was clear.

The road wasn't clear.
The driver shouldn't have completed the manoeuvre until the road was clear. The car might even had right of way! But if no space to move into then patience is in order.

Never mind the position on the road they were on a crossroad and driver was turning right, cyclist would have to wait until moving. Drawing doesn't indicate a cross roads though, only a t-junction (but again cyclist would have to wait) so if chalky kept going that's as much as, if not more worrying, than road position.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 15:22

I don't know how cyclist became chalky in my post above. 🤷🏼‍♀️

RedForShort · 03/04/2019 15:25

Hardly matters which way the cyclist turned or didn't turn after the OP almost knocked him down does it?

He could very well have abandoned his right-turn and go to stop for a bit to get over the shock of a near miss.

Where he eventually went is totally irrelevant, whether he:

Was 'pretty much on the white line'
or
'wasn't just to the right of his lane though. He was partly in mine.'

The OP should have looked down the road she was turning down. Then she'd have seen him and noted him, acknowledged it hazardous to turn and so waited.

Also if we're taking the diagram as gospel the OP turn in puts her the the middle of the side road. She's too far right.

Ultimately the OP is at fault here. (If it had been your child, or even any child, stood on the white line OP would you have turned or waited?)

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