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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:
Thread gallery
5
mummmy2017 · 03/04/2019 15:28

The cycle could not turn onto the main road as it was not clear. He was on a side road so has to give way.
The car wanting to turn into the side road has right of way.
So long as the car did not cross the white centre line in the side road then the bike was in the wrong place.
Think about it. The bike was blocking the road....

StitchingMoss · 03/04/2019 15:29

You were in the wrong.

Think bike all the time. It could have been a very different ending.

LakieLady · 03/04/2019 15:29

50:50. Cyclist was too far to the right if he wasn't turning right, OP cut the corner and/or failed to look properly.

PettyContractor · 03/04/2019 15:34

First of all he was pretty much on the white lines, then he was on the white line, then he was partly in your lane. Which was it OP?

There is no contradiction. Unless he and his bicycle are of zero width, being on the line will mean roughly half of him is on the wrong side of the road.

BuggyWanker · 03/04/2019 15:34

@buzzbobbly I absolutely agree that the op should have looked more carefully - I don't dispute that and even pointed out that you should, as a driver, we wary of other road users particularly at junctions.

What I was disputing was another users description of the primary position which is NOT in the middle of the road.

I pointed out that although this is how cycling is taught, not all cyclists take a test and therefore can't always be expected to be in the 'correct' position

ItsBloodyFreezingg · 03/04/2019 15:40

There is no contradiction. Unless he and his bicycle are of zero width, being on the line will mean roughly half of him is on the wrong side of the road

I do have to agree with this. I don't really get the dramatics about the OPs 'contradictions' given that yes, being on or pretty much on the white line would mean that you are partly in the other lane...

buzzbobbly · 03/04/2019 15:44

oh well now we've established a way to blame the cyclist, all is well in the world again. So if OP had hit him, she could easily live with it, I'm sure.

Wonder if we'd have got to this point if it had been a little old lady dithering there; or a child inspecting the tarmac?

mummmy2017 · 03/04/2019 15:47

Maybe the bike was moving, you get bike riders who are prats.

Also as I keep saying it was her right of way off the main road into the side road, this is in the high way code.

ItsBloodyFreezingg · 03/04/2019 15:48

I'm not blaming the cyclist. I'm saying OPs 'contradictions' were not as dramatic as people are making out.

OP likely cut the corner or didn't look properly which she absolutely should have done. I just think people are clinging to something which isn't actually that much of a deal when you look at the post as a whole.

havingtochangeusernameagain · 03/04/2019 15:49

I think every car driver should be made to go for a bike ride on a road bike

I don't disagree with this at all. Not sure it needs to be a road bike, any bike will do, but certainly need to understand why cyclists do what they do.

Although I do find some (male) cyclists (in London) adjust the rules to suit. Car behind? They stay in the primary position. Pedestrian needing to overtake someone on pavement so going into the road a little bit? They then ride as far over in the gutter as possible to make a point to pedestrian.

The cyclist versus pedestrian argument above doesn't work. If I were driving along and saw a pedestrian in the middle of the road I wanted to turn into, I would not turn. But a cyclist moves (much) faster than walking pace and may be some way down the road you are turning into coming towards the end and you would not notice them until you turned.

I'm really not changing my mind about this. Drivers should not cut corners and they should give away to people crossing side roads. But cyclists should not be in the middle of the road especially when they are coming to the end of a road that someone may be turning into.

If you are turning left you stay left. If you are going straight on, you stay in the middle. If you are turning right, you go towards the right but not on the lines.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 15:49

@mummmy2017 it was the drivers right of way, if the road into which the driver was turning was clear. If a pedestrian was in the exact same spot as the cyclist...should the driver have completed the manoeuvre or should they have waited until the road was clear?

lazyarse123 · 03/04/2019 15:52

Haven't rtft but i'm with you op. If he was turning right he should have been on the right side of his lane not the middle. As a driver I am so sick of cyclists doing exactly what they want. In my experience they are mostly arseholes.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 15:55

You don't always take the left side of the road if turning left. It depends on the road conditions. Sometimes a cyclist might take the primary position when turning left to stop a car, also turning left, from squeezing past the cyclist. In fact cyclists are advised to take the primary position to turn left if buses or lorries are near them because the rear of these long vehicles can clip cyclists. I think that's how some cyclist deaths in London have happened- being clipped by long vehicles.
There's some good videos about this on YouTube.

buzzbobbly · 03/04/2019 15:56

This is all getting very much like the thread about horses on blind bends.

There was a poster who was going blue in the face trying to get everyone to state they agreed with her that people shouldn't cross the road behind a blind bend because she wouldn't be able to see them/stop when she was driving round it.

Spectacularly missing the point that people (and horses) are unpredictable and sometimes do stupid, reckless things - and that being right is no good to you if you've just mown down a horse and rider you couldn't stop in time for.

SciFiScream · 03/04/2019 16:01

Oh god my PP about good videos reads really awfully. There's good videos about road positioning. NOT the tragedies BlushBlushBlushBlushBlushBlush
FFS SciFi. Get a grip. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

PocaMiseria · 03/04/2019 16:25

While we've got some experts to hand what about this one?

Car turning from main road into side road (without cutting the corner)
child aged about 12 riding bicycle at speed along the pavement o the main road (on their own)
The child is still on the pavement, the car is turning into the road (because the carriageway it needs to cross is clear.)
Who should stop? Who would you expect to stop? The car... (which is correctly positioned on the road)?
Or the bicycle which is on the pavement but intends to cross the "mouth" of the turn (dropped kerb) and continue along the pavement on the other side?

ivykaty44 · 03/04/2019 16:30

So many drivers cut the corner and can’t understand why other road users get annoyed...

BuggyWanker · 03/04/2019 16:31

I'd say the driver Should be looking out for the cyclist on the pavement. The cyclist isn't necessarily in the right if they shoot out into the road but this is the kind of hazard identified in the hazard perception test when you take your driving test.

ivykaty44 · 03/04/2019 16:31

This motorist didn’t just cut the corner he was driving on the wrong side of the road...which is illegal

RedForShort · 03/04/2019 16:32

The child should stop because the car is mid- manoeuvre. But when driving you need to access hazards. If the child is not going to stop and cycle over the road the car driver will have to stop.

BlueSkiesLies · 03/04/2019 16:34

Also as I keep saying it was her right of way off the main road into the side road, this is in the high way code.

Not if there an obstruction

bridgetreilly · 03/04/2019 16:37

PocaMiseria

Everyone should be exercising due care and attention. But also:

  1. Unless there is a byelaw permitting it, it is illegal to cycle on a pavement
  2. Pedestrians (and I guess, cyclists illegally using pavements) should always check that the road is clear before crossing
  3. Drivers should always check that side roads are clear before turning in.

On 3, you do not normally need to check for pedestrians on pavements, though see my first point about driving with due care and attention, which includes spotting potential hazards such as reckless cyclists on pavements. You should take action to avoid an accident, and especially one in which the other party is vulnerable as a pedestrian/cyclist.

But the child is being really really stupid and reckless and breaking the law and putting their own life at risk. They absolutely should stop. And get off the bike and not get back on it until they've read and memorised the Highway Code.

ivykaty44 · 03/04/2019 16:40

Also as I keep saying it was her right of way off the main road into the side road, this is in the high way code.

Not if pedestrians are already crossing it’s the pedestrians right of way - but so many drivers ignore this part of the Highway Code

To think cyclist caused this near miss not me! (diagram included!)
buzzbobbly · 03/04/2019 16:44

All these clips showing what happens when the cyclist is stationary and the car is moving at snail's pace. You can feel how shocked the cyclists are - that last guy was holding on to a hedge to recover.

Imagine how that feels when the car is travelling at 30-40-50mph past you at close range (so you get the extra wind shoving into you as well), and/or suddenly turns across your path?

BlueSkiesLies · 03/04/2019 16:45

@ivykaty44 jesus christ that driver has to be fucking blind! How do cars plough straight into stationary cyclists on a clear road?!?!!? The youtube comments say that he said he couldn't see because his windscreen clearer wasn't working. And the police just went and had a chat with him. Awful.

Death by car must be the best way left in this country if you want to murder someone and get away with it. Penalty for killing someone with your cat are generally careless driving and a temporary driving ban at the absolute most.