Is it me or the cyclist?

[bettyfreddy]

I've just had an incident with a cyclist who was very angry and is going with his footage to the police. I'm quite shaken by it and it was honestly an accident. I was driving.

So I overtook the cyclist along with maybe 2 other cars in front of me. Carried on driving for around 300 yards and slowed down for the queue at the roundabout ahead.

As I began to move forward slowly - it wasn't my turn to leave the round about, there was a car in front of me - the cyclist shot by me on the left hand side of the car. I honestly didn't see him. He was absolutely cycling at quite a speed. I stopped as soon as I saw him (car in front had gone) and he went in front of my car and started swearing at me.

I didn't move the car, let him go round the roundabout.

I was dropping my son off at pre school which is just round the roundabout so he clearly saw where I was going so came to 'speak' to me. He called me a dangerous driver and he was going to show his footage from his cycling helmet to the police and to expect them to call round.

I apologised and said I genuinely didn't see him. I moved my car forwards at about 3mph probably, he just shot by me. Granted I should of checked my wing mirrors but it wasn't my turn to leave the round about so I was just slowing cruising along.

I can take it if I'm at fault and I really did apologise to him.

Having read the thread properly now i apologise. It doesnt make a lot of sense from the cyclists perspective. The only thing i can summise is that you possibly overtook him and then didnt let him filter into the queue somehow when he was beside you/in front of you. That said if he was trying to do so, surely it isnt a matter of mirrors, more just looking out of the window and seeing him.

Did you 'close the door' on him filtering in. A lot of drivers begrudge making the effort to overtake and then having to hand the space back when the cyclist filters through.

After all that reading, i think you just met an angry cyclist tbh

The new highway code rules give cyclists priority over cars.
You wanted to turn right so did they cyclist.
His position to do this is in the left lane under the new rules.
You should be aware of him and let him pull off first and to basically follow him around the roundabout and let him turn off first.
maybe this was his gripe? You weren't allowing him to pull off because you weren't aware of him? Either way he broke the law by verbally abusing you and its classed as threatening behaviour.

Basically you should have given way to the cyclist at the roundabout and been aware he was there as you'd just overtaken him. New rules are quite confusing

100% this. If you've not long overtaken you should be aware that cyclist is going to be coming up behind you if you're queing and be aware.

It's not uncommon for cyclists to do this, and this is why you should always always check your left side as well as right when turning right. Unfortunately cyclists think you are mind readers and do not have indicators.

No @PortalooSunset, not really. OP said they had another 300 yards before the traffic ahead. plenty of clear road to have overtaken perfectly safely and legitimately, with plenty of room.

There's nothing in there at all that backs up the ridiculous assertion that "If you could see queuing traffic ahead you shouldn't have overtaken the cyclist."

No answer required from me. You've revealed yourself.

Undertaking cyclists have to concede to being at greater risk. Especially when a driver is at a roundabout so will be looking majority right waiting for time to go.

I always check my wing mirrors for cyclists for this reason, but it’s difficult to work out what your supposed fault was without seeing his bike cam footage. I suspect he won’t post anything as it doesn’t actually sound very damning against you.

Once you get the footage I would report that to the police for abusive behaviour tbh.

Cyclists who filter need to do so safely, it is not 100% the drivers responsibility.

If you have to stop after you overtake then you're just doing potentially risky manoeuvres and requiring another pass (or 2) where there needn't be even one.

The cyclist got to the junction first. There was no benefit to passing them at all.

As someone who does a lot of cycling you'd be amazed at the number of dangerous overtakes people do on me. 90% of the time it's not the going past that is too close it's when they come back into the lane they cut in too soon, I thin that happens is they 'consider' the bike is a stationary object and so go past it and then come back in forgetting that the cyclist has moved forwards in that time so the place they are cutting back into is now occupied. The number of times someone has passed more 1.5-2m away and then cut back in so that their rear door/wheel arch ends up only 0.5m away is staggering.

It sounds like you either did a close pass when you went past him (a lot of drivers are very bad at estimating how much space cyclists need) or you drifted left as you approached the roundabout.

Cyclists get angry because when cars do things like that it is bloody scary. Scary in that they know they could be killed.

Yes, this is my experience too. The number of cars who pass too close and move left too soon is huge.

I'm also a driver, so I'm not anti-driver, but most drivers haven't got a clue how scary life can be for cyclists.

Cyclist shouldn't be undertaking. If he wants to filter, he should be doing it on the right hand side not the left.

300 yards is a large distance. Overtaking in a car and then stopping at a roundabout 300 yards away is in no way too close. She didn't just cut in and brake with a few metres.

Sorry but you admit you didn't check your mirrors before moving off, so yes you've done something wrong. The cyclist shouldn't have gone off at you but I'm sure he was already feeling very vulnerable.
I'm both a driver and cyclist and always feel extremely vulnerable when cycling which is why I pay extra attention to cyclists and making sure that I only pass them when it's it's 100% safe and necessary.

Sounds like this cyclist was going fast enough that it didn't save you any time overtaking, you'll be surprised how fast they can go. Much better to hold back knowing you were seconds away from a roundabout.
I've followed cycles for miles along roads (I live in the country and there are no safe places to pass) and been surprised that they're doing 25mph+

The police will tell him to jog on, the entitled twat. I bet he wouldn't have had that conversation if he saw that you were a man.

Exactly. He's not entitled to squeeze past unsafely on the left. He can fucking wait two seconds. Some cyclists won't stop for anything.

Most likely to show up on road.cc if you want to keep an eye out for it

road.cc/show/tags/near-miss-day/143145

Filtering through stationary/ slow moving traffic is perfectly legal on both the left and right.

It's normally more sensible to do it on the right and at walking pace, which it sounds like this cyclists was doing either.

Revealed myself to have more common sense than you? Sounds right.

If you can see traffic queued up ahead and a cyclist is between you and stationary traffic, it really doesn't matter if you've enough room to pass and stop, it's nonsensical. 300 yards is peanuts.

Notwithstanding the fact that the cyclist will have to pass you, as you sit there idling, you'll also burn more petrol accelerating to overtake. You'll also wear out your brakes faster. You'll then potentially burn more petrol accelerating from standstill as being patient may well take enough time to allow the standing traffic to disperse.

None of this is rocket science but eludes so many people who are desperate to form queues.

Filtering through stationary/ slow moving traffic is perfectly legal on both the left and right.

Not always safe though, particularly for pedestrians trying to cross.

In London crossing in stationary traffic (which often pulls across and obscures pedestrian crossings, there should be huge fines for this) bikes and other vehicles left filtering are a nightmare. Have to stick your head round the bus to see if you are about to be taken out by someone trying to get their Strava PB.

Also I said not entitled to, not "it's illegal to". No-one is entitled to overtake, you only do so in any vehicle if it's safe for you and everyone else on the road.

Regarding groups of cyclists, bikes don't take up the same space as motorised vehicles and there's a greater disparity in fitness, cycling speeds etc. So overtaking a slow moving cyclist, when you're riding yourself isn't the same. Obviously.

Plus if you did overtake, you don't need to block most of the road when they meet you at the junction. Those dedicated cyclist boxes, at the front of many junctions are for all riders to side side by side.