Near accident...who was in the wrong?

[hihihi]

morphix gave me an idea...

obviously, just for entertainment

 

[Mussels]

I'm pretty sure cyclists are allowed to use buses-only lanes as I do it daily and even had police behind me several times on the same road as they use it too regularly to get across town quickly...someone do correct me if I'm wrong here though. It could be the police never bothered to stop me as they were normally doing 60mph and in a hurry!

Not always, the bus lane sign will say if cyclists are allowed in it. If there's no cycle symbol then you aren't allowed, it's very rare for coppers to stop cyclists for it though.

 

[Hugh]

You can't go too far wrong if you treat all other road users as potentially murderous psychopaths

It looks like a lousy junction anyway, but another thing worth trying, if you know what's behind you in good time, is to try and speed up a bit and move further out towards the middle of the road when approaching side turnings - it gives you a bit more room to manoeuvre and also puts you firmly ion the way of traffic behind you, which therefore has to slow down until it's safe (that's the theory anyway).

I've cycled in London for over 30 years and this (some would say aggressive) approach has got me out of trouble many more times than not.

Good luck!

Hugh

 

[mike killay]

I am still trying to find out if it is illegal to use a blue flashing light on a bike.
They are wonderful devices, they slow down speeders and instantly sober up drunks.

 

[Synthman]

I ride in heavy traffic all the time. If I were approaching that junction on my bike with cars behind me, I would be 1-2ft to the right of the dotted/give way line, while covering the brakes if there were vehicles waiting to turn out in front of me.

I had seveal near misses recently.

Riding in the cycle lane one dark evening, line of stopped traffic along side. I was doing top speed and I noticed the passenger door of a car ahead open slightly, close, then open again just as I passed it.

Two cyclists nearly got run over. One pulled out from a side road through oncoming cars then turned right in front of me, then started merging into me without looking. Another was forcing me into the oncoming lane when I was trying to overtake.

Today I nearly hit a pedestrian in a superstore car park. She wasn't looking and I couldn't stop in time, but managed to swerve round her.

To be honest my biggest fears on the road are car doors opening on me, and cyclists and pedestrians who are incapable of looking around before they move.

I also think all bicycles should be fitted with mirrors. I could never ride a bike without them, and I'm seeing more and more cyclists with mirrors on their bars.

 

[Synthman]

I've marked the line in green.

 

[morphix]

I am still trying to find out if it is illegal to use a blue flashing light on a bike.
They are wonderful devices, they slow down speeders and instantly sober up drunks.

I will ask on the UK legal newsgroup for you, there's a lot of legal experts and solicitors post there.

 

[morphix]

Good posts Synthman it does make you think all the dangers we face and accidents we can also cause especially to animals and pedestrians. You really have to be on the ball and keep your eyes wide open don't you. I take extra care but there's always the unexpected things like dogs running out infront of you, a car that suddenly pulls out when its parked (don't you just hate cars parked along roadsides they're a bloody nuisance, you never know if someone is gonna pull out and you always have to go far out around them risking oncoming traffic).

I agree with you about mirrors..I can't imagine how I managed without one for so long. There's been times when its saved me I'm from near misses. For the small cost its well worth it.

Another thing is brakes. I was very naughty and rode my bike on the road today with bad brakes that needed adjusting. Really silly thing to do, your life could depend on being able to stop quickly. I ended up pulling over somewhere safe off the road and adjusting them with my allen key..some old guy aged 80 odd came out to help me!

 

[johnc461165]

To be honest if it had been me I would have stopped at the give way line even if I was in the right, much better to be safe than hit by a vehicle. We all make mistakes, but on a bike we don't have many second chances, on many occasions I take to the pavement to get out of the way even though it's illegal and as morphix says I would be lost without a mirror.

 

[morphix]

I am still trying to find out if it is illegal to use a blue flashing light on a bike.
They are wonderful devices, they slow down speeders and instantly sober up drunks.

Hi Mike, it seems blue flashing lights are not allowed on the road on anything, even bicycles!

Here's the reply I got from someone who seems to know the law:

The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (as amended) apply to all road
vehicles, not just motor vehicles. So yes, that does make flashing blue
lights on a bicycle (or, for that matter, a horse-drawn cart) illegal
unless it is being used for emergency service purposes.

As a general principle, flashing lights of any colour can only be used in
certain prescribed circumstances. These include lights used by the
emergency services (blue, red and green), indicators and hazard lights
(both amber). Only flashing amber lights are generally permitted to be used
by anyone, but even these are restricted to certain circumstances.

There is also an additional permission for flashing lights on bicycles used
solely as position lamps (ie, lights intended to make it easier for someone
else to see where you are). If used, these must be the same colour as
static position lamps - ie, white to the front, red to the rear. There is
no additional permission for flashing lights of any other colour.

Mark

 

[Mussels]

View attachment 2916

I've marked the line in green.

I think there I would move to the right well before the junction just as if it was a right hand turn.

 

[morphix]

I want back to this particular road yesterday (brave or foolish) and filmed it. This time I handled it perfectly and with confidence. It turns out, the road is not as poorly marked or set out as I thought and there is a sufficient area in the middle for cyclists to wait for traffic.

I will upload the video later and post the URL.

 

[morphix]

OK here's the vids I promised..upload took bloody AGES. I mean a whole day! I'm a bit ashamed actually to post this...I ran a red light by accident..made quite a few other silly mistakes too -_-

[video=youtube;9b_n4jgH2dQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b_n4jgH2dQ[/video]

Check out the upturned car in a ditch in this first section of video! I have no clue what happened there, the amount of emergency services on-site for one little hatchback was nuts.

[video=youtube;FJw8Xp6284U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJw8Xp6284U[/video]

You can see the stretch of road which was the topic of this thread clearly at 6:15

 

[Patrick]

This legality of flashing blue lights on bikes came up in thread around this time last year
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/7199-blue-lights-bike-doubtful.html

Only emergency vehicles can use blue flashing lights, and up until the law was amended in 2005 only motor vehicles could be emergency vehicles so not even the police could use flashing blue lights on bicycles.

That amendment also legalised flashing front and rear lights for all bikes.

Patrick

 

[Caph]

I was turning right off a main road on to a side road today and started signalling just as a car had nearly finished overtaking me, then I pulled out to the middle of the road keeping my eye on another car 50m or so behind me. As I was just about to turn right he overtook me on my right.

With my mirror I could see that they'd just made an error in judgement (we all see this on our ebikes don't we?) and underestimated my speed so all that happened was I slowed down, put off making the turn, waited for him to overtake me, then turned right, no problem.

Without that rear mirror I could well have been underneath his wheels since I'd already checked behind me, signalled, manouvered and was about to execute the right turn.

Moral - get a mirror and use it religiously. As another poster has already said it would have been a prang in a car resulting in an insurance claim, on a bike it's hospital time or worse.

 

[morphix]

I was turning right off a main road on to a side road today and started signalling just as a car had nearly finished overtaking me, then I pulled out to the middle of the road keeping my eye on another car 50m or so behind me. As I was just about to turn right he overtook me on my right.

With my mirror I could see that they'd just made an error in judgement (we all see this on our ebikes don't we?) and underestimated my speed so all that happened was I slowed down, put off making the turn, waited for him to overtake me, then turned right, no problem.

Without that rear mirror I could well have been underneath his wheels since I'd already checked behind me, signalled, manouvered and was about to execute the right turn.

Moral - get a mirror and use it religiously. As another poster has already said it would have been a prang in a car resulting in an insurance claim, on a bike it's hospital time or worse.

This has happened to me several times, and I consider myself lucky not to get clipped. As you say without the mirror and your eye on the traffic behind you, could end up in an accident easy. Motorists just come too close sometimes and go too fast past cyclists. It's a pity the government doesn't do something and remind motorists.. especially since cyclists deaths are increasing. Have you noticed too how some motorists get angry if you pull into the middle of road at roundabouts or junctions?! I sometimes get horns sounded at me as they overtake...some seem to have the attitude that cars always take precedence and cyclists shouldn't be in middle of the road

I'm not very confident on roads at all but today i asserted myself and pulled out early infront of a car to make a turn. Kept my arm out to be sure he'd seen and he slowed up and let me turn...I had my hi vis on and it was dark too

 

[mike killay]

Hi Mike, it seems blue flashing lights are not allowed on the road on anything, even bicycles!

Here's the reply I got from someone who seems to know the law:

Pity that.
I did buy a set of lights in Tesco, the rear one is red OK but the front one which looks as though it should be white is lime green when switched on! Quite effective to use it as a flasher on the right hand side of the bars, makes motorists puzzled and take extra care.

 

[mike killay]

This has happened to me several times, and I consider myself lucky not to get clipped. As you say without the mirror and your eye on the traffic behind you, could end up in an accident easy. Motorists just come too close sometimes and go too fast past cyclists. It's a pity the government doesn't do something and remind motorists.. especially since cyclists deaths are increasing. Have you noticed too how some motorists get angry if you pull into the middle of road at roundabouts or junctions?! I sometimes get horns sounded at me as they overtake...some seem to have the attitude that cars always take precedence and cyclists shouldn't be in middle of the road

I'm not very confident on roads at all but today i asserted myself and pulled out early infront of a car to make a turn. Kept my arm out to be sure he'd seen and he slowed up and let me turn...I had my hi vis on and it was dark too

That's what I liked about cycling in Belgium. Most places bikes have priority, you hit one regardless of circumstances, you get the ticket.

 

[ribcageprotector.com]

I would look into alternative routes that run parallel and are quieter / better designed.

I use a cats eye mirror all electric bikes should have a mandatory mirror.

 

[Caph]

I sometimes get horns sounded at me as they overtake

That reminds me of a funny incident at the weekend. I was cycling along the road and was approaching an island crossing which was especially narrow so it was bike OR vehicle. I saw a white van in my rear view mirror as I was approaching and I knew he would go for it even though there wasn't really the time/space but he managed it by swinging his van wildly round the island. It was then that I noticed his mate in an identical van accelerating behind me. It was his method of overtaking that I'd never seen before. He held his hand on his horn all the time that he careered round me to make the ludicrously Grand-Prix-esque cornering of the island. I'd already seen him in the rear view mirror and so combined braking with almost hitting the curb and comfortably avoided being hit but someone without a mirror would not have been so lucky.

It was the casual, almost gamelike, disregard for life which registered most heavily with me, but with my mirror it was just another crazy driver I managed to avoid rather than anything more serious.

To date, I've had van drivers try and come as close as possible to me in oncoming traffic while I'm trying to turn right. Had someone turn left before they'd actually finished overtaking me so I ended up down the same road they were turning down. Had people pull alongside me at a junction when we're both turning left so that I can't actually see when it's safe to pull out. Had people reverse out of their drives almost in to me but just keep going after seeing me and force me on to the wrong side of the road. Had pedestrians walk out in front of me and then keep walking after seeing me and force me on to the wrong side of the road. I could go on but this is depressing me. Just keep looking, use your mirror like crazy and don't get angry. Nothing gets someone madder than getting caught in the wrong!