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.

*made that up

@RedWingBoots

So true. I'm learning to ride a motorcycle and filtering is part of the programme. Unfortunately anyone can ride a bike without insurance, reflective protective clothing or knowledge of the law. The max speed on my motorbike is 50 mph approx though!

I've been yelled at by lots of cyclists already for being in a lane designated for bikes, motorcycles and buses

@hoooops Weaving in and out of cars isn't a good idea but
What's that to do with cyclists staying left when going round a roundabout?

Little known fact to drivers:

You should always allow at least 5ft (1.5m) of space, when overtaking a cyclist.

I cycle in London and at least 50% of drivers close pass, which is really dangerous.

I'm not sure if you did this, or nearly hit him while creeping and not looking at mirrors.

@hoooops I didn't say OP was in the wrong. Just that she should have been aware of him on her left. Nothing else. She let him go in front of her and complete the roundabout which she did.

It all sounds very odd - you are driving slowly, in a straight line. You are undertaken by a cyclist (quite legitimately) and then he for absolutely no reason and threatens to report you? I might be a bit cynical having narrowly been knocked off my bike this evening (apparently give way only applies when it's a vehicle not a bike...) but are you sure that's the full story.

Interesting that the sex of your child changed halfway through.

Almost all incidents involving cyclists involve them either making a dangerous/illegal manouvre, or not being seen by other road users. In these instances the cyclist is at fault, including where they are not seen, because their actions (either in terms of how they position their bicycle, riding in a sensible manner for the prevailing road, weather and traffic conditions, or in what they wear) are the cause of their accident

I was on the receiving end of a scarily close pass on way home from work this evening. I was cycling down a well-lit road towards some traffic lights, in primary position because there were parked cars to my left, when a twat in transit van sped past me, less than a metre from my handle bars. I had my lights on and was wearing a bright yellow jacket, a white helmet and a backpack with reflective patches on. I wobbled (as it’s impossible not to when a much larger vehicle passes so close and at speed) but managed not to fall off and land under the wheels of the car behind. I would absolutely love this poster to tell me how it would have been my fault if I had!

I don’t have a camera and I don’t go chasing and berating careless drivers, but I do understand how so many cyclists become radicalised.

OP I just wanted to say that threads about cyclists always get VERY heated and defensive!

Which I do understand as a lot of drivers drive twattily around cyclists and put them in danger.

But in this case it sounds like you didn't really do anything wrong and the cyclist behaved twattily. I would try not to worry about it further. And if the police do contact you (unlikely) just be honest but not too apologetic.

This. At all most left junctions you can drive round the curb a bit in that direction before the stop line/give way line and keep an eye there is no room for someone to zoom past.

Passing a cyclist you need to be two car lengths behind them when waiting to overtake them so as not to pressure them or be in trouble if they stop or slow down. Passing them as others have said it is 1.5 metres.

If you are sure he was upset about the roundabout, which way we’re you signalling at the roundabout OP, left? If so then in an ideal world you would keep glancing in your left mirror and have seen him however I am unsure what he wanted you to do differently? In my view no offence has been committed and no one got hurt so I would just dismiss him as a helmet-cam-happy cyclist! X

Jesus I've never seen a thread with so many people who either can't read at all or can't understand fairly basic English, or just waffle on without bothering.

The OP says:

The cyclist, like me, was also turning right and said he was trying to cut in front of me (which is what he did)

Nothing, that's my point. You posted two photos as some kind of gotcha, all about cyclists being allowed to stay in the left-hand lane when approaching and on their way around a roundabout. But they have no relevance, because it's not what happened.

Fogsarebetterthsnhumans, that's terrible advice

Yes, in front, ie in primary position, not on the kerb. You're the one imagining the lane change because legally no one mentions it

*literally

Questioning people's reading comprehension and imagining a right hand lane exists to support your argument

It's just a mini round about, no seperate lanes or anything like that.

@OneTC bikes filtering would pass on the right. Never the left. Passing on the left is undertaking.

You are incorrect.

As has been pointed out about 50 times itt

It's a legal requirement as a driver to keep up to date with the highway code.

Quite a few people clearly flouting that obligation

Serves me right for not refreshing the page for hours lol

I cycle and wear lycra, not sure why cyclists wearing lycra get more hassle! it's the correct clothing for the sport. I am late 20s and female, obey all road rules, and have two young DC at home. I love cycling but it does feel very dangerous at times. my DH cycles 2x a day in and out of work (wearing lycra), he has lots of lights and a helmet that indicates similar to a car. I often worry, especially now with dark mornings and evenings, that something will happen to him. he's had many accidents with cars, and more near misses than I'd like to remember. his friend recently had a head on collision with a car, open fracture in his arm and hand shattered. they'd both be considered "MAMILs" and are frequently mistreated on the road by drivers, but are nice guys and have young families at home. I wish all drivers would see cyclists as people and not just an inconvenience on the road that is fair game to mistreat. obviously not all drivers, but a significant percentage. sorry about your experience OP, obviously no one can say what went wrong without seeing the footage. but I usually feel compelled to post on these threads that cyclists are just people! yes there are bad ones, but most are not - same as any other group of road user.

Gogohmm, and yet it's mainly the vehicles with insurance that cause the majority of accidents and deaths

When cars do this if I have to get off my bike and up on the kerb to get past them I do so. If my bike happens to scratch the car as I push it past that’s such a shame. Total example of “must get there before you”. There’s a junction near me where cars do this, the junction has a bike box at the front so cars doing this are preventing me from being in a safe place. It is not up to cars to purposefully block the legal flow of bikes. It is up to you to look carefully before moving off. If you left a normal amount of room then cars wouldn’t get scratched. As it is cars which do this to me have a much higher chance of getting scratched