Side swipped by a van.

[Riche]

Hey,
Heres the youtube clip. I think the video footage says it all.

[video=youtube;vgeY07jW36w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgeY07jW36w[/video]

I was fuming at this stage.

Then my luck changes when about 2 miles later I see them both turning out of a junction.

I had a few choice words with him. Sorry I have left the audio out but its more than slightly rude.

 

[Riche]

Then they both drive off down the wrong way on a one way street.

[video=youtube;DYmSPl5TobI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYmSPl5TobI[/video]

You can clearly see the youg man adjusting his mirror after it hit me on my arm\back in part2.

The guy in the doorway at the end gave me the tumbs up and said well done mate.

Anyway enjoy.

Rich

 

[martx007]

Looks like either he wasn't looking out of the van at the time or it was deliberate!
Glad you survived!

 

[Blew it]

Perhaps the van driver was annoyed because you were not using the shared pavement to your left. The safe route for cyclists starts at Fish Brother Peugeot and continues beyond Wootton Bassett Rd bridge into town center. That cycling route was created precisely for cyclists to avoid the pinch-point where the van almost swiped you.

Swindon is well known for incredibly bad driving, one should always choose the safe cycling route to keep out of the cage-drivers way.

Stay safe, use the excellent network of safe cycling routes provided, the envy of many other local authorities.

 

[johnc461165]

Email them the videos. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http://cornishpremierpasties.co.uk/&ei=em5zUuzMBMmu7Abro4CIDA&usg=AFQjCNENTJLbF8Wl8moCXI5IKIB6pRnwUQ&bvm=bv.55819444,d.ZGU

 

[banbury frank]

Hi The driver who hit you an the one that went down a oneway street need there licence removed I would take the footage to your local police station before they KILL a cyclist

Frank

 

[tillson]

It looks like the second van deliberately squeezes you into the kerb. Had anything taken place prior to the video clip which might have antagonised him? Regardless of weather anything had taken place, its no reason to put you in danger.

I for one will never eat another Cornish Premier Pasty again. The fact that they are hand crimped means nothing to me now.

 

[jackhandy]

Unfortunately, they're Janners: I occasionally get pinched like that & have learned to command the lane when I realise there's a chicane coming up. Down here our white van men are not always as clued up as they might be & this pair had probably never been out of Cornwall before & were totally out of their comfort zone.

I don't think the squeeze was deliberate, more a case of the guys not knowing where they were going & not seeing "cyclist / pinch point" & reacting accordingly.

The one-way street episode would seem to confirm that.

Doesn't make your trousers any drier though.

 

[RobF]

My guess is the van driver failed to see the pinch point and automatically pulled to the left without regard to what was happening on his nearside.

That doesn't make the driving any less poor.

If you can be bothered, offer the video to the police but don't expect them to take much interest.

They might, but they might not.

 

[flecc]

Definitely take the videos to the police, even if they don't want to take sides on the obvious sideswipe, there's a clear prosecution of both for driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

As for the sideswipe, it's obvious that the younger driver was intent in staying in convoy with the other company van, to the extent of having a complete disregard for any other road users or road signs.

 

[los monty]

Just sent an email to the company notifying them of this thread be interesting to see if they respond makes me feel like I should get a camera.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I think some of you are being too generous with the van driver. It's not a pinch-point. If you look at the front van in the same position as the impact, he's a foot from the white line on the near-side, and he's four or five feet from the curb on the other side. When the second van is in the same position, he's on the white line with 6 feet on the other side. The only question is why? It looks deliberate to me. Did something happen to antagonise him?

 

[Riche]

No previous stuff went on with this guy before that incident, the piece of road leading up to that point is a bus lane so I had no contact with any traffic till the 2 lanes converged. I personally think he was checking his phone or something and let the van drift over to the left although it did feel like it was a deliberate act at the time.
I did report it to the police yesterday morning as soon as I got to work, they said they will investigate and wanted to see the footage, not heard from them since. When I spoke the the police they seem to be more interested in the one way traffic offence than the incident involving hitting me.. Maybe when/if they see the incident footage it will spur them into action? .. who knows ..

As one of the other posters has pointed out there is a shared footpath which I could of used but choose not to due to previous numerous incidents with dogs and dog owners in the park beyond the railway bridge..
And to be fair that is the first time I have had someting like that happen to me in the last 4 years of riding that stretch of road..

Rich

 

[SRS]

Just sent an email to the company notifying them of this thread be interesting to see if they respond makes me feel like I should get a camera.

Just done the same myself. Hopefully a few more posters will also notify them. Lets see if a response comes back.

Looked deliberate to me. If it was not, I'd be interested to know whats wrong with his steering mechanism.

 

[grldtnr]

Possibly the best thing to have done emailing to the employers, now you need to pester them until you get a response as what the employer is going to do about it .
whilst they ae not directly at fault , in my view they are culpable for employees actions.

Hope you don't mind pasties?

Just done the same myself. Hopefully a few more posters will also notify them. Lets see if a response comes back.

Looked deliberate to me. If it was not, I'd be interested to know whats wrong with his steering mechanism.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

As one of the other posters has pointed out there is a shared footpath which I could of used but choose not to due to previous numerous incidents with dogs and dog owners in the park beyond the railway bridge..

Rich

There's no obligation to use the alternative route. I know what you mean about the dangers. I think they're more dangerous than the road. It's pedestrians I have a problem with. They never keep to their side of the path even though it's clearly marked. If you warn them with a bell or horn, they just jump in front of you at the last moment, or if there's two, they go opposite sides, and then, when it's too late, one decides he wants to be on the other side with their mate. If you don't warn them and try to sneak past from behind, the invisible field around your bike causes them to suddenly veer to the side when your're committed to your line to pass. Many of them have phones stuck to their ear and don't look where they're going. One time I saw this gut coming towards me oblivious to the world and wandering all over the place, so I started shouting at him, which gave no reaction. Finally I had to stop because the path was narrow. While I was still shouting at him and stationary, he walked straight into my bike. Then there's cyclists, who have no idea what side to pass, so you come face to face at 20mph, or when you try and overtake from behind, after they've been riding in a straight line, they suddenly start to swerve from side to side like a F1 driver on warm up, always at the point when you're about to pass.

 

[Yamdude]

A clear case of dangerous driving imo.... and its irrespective whether there's a cycle lane or not, cyclists have as much right to use the road as anyone else. Seems to me he wanted to stay behind his colleague in front, at any expense. We all know how impatient drivers can get with cyclists just because they are a lot slower.
With the emails to the company highlighting this vid, the driver will at the very least get a bollocking or maybe even have disciplinary action taken against them. Companies are very hot on the standard of driving from their drivers nowadays, due to huge insurance costs from claims.

 

[flecc]

When I spoke the the police they seem to be more interested in the one way traffic offence than the incident involving hitting me.. Maybe when/if they see the incident footage it will spur them into action? .. who knows ..

I think that's a reasonable first reaction Rich, the offence proven by the video so easily actionable. If they do put them before the magistrates for the one-way offence rather than ticketing them, the younger driver will be probably be dealt with more harshly since he went on to commit the offence even after you pointed it out to him.

So there would be some justice in that, seeing that he was the one who offended against you.

 

[RichB]

Playing devils advocate, there didn't appear to be 'no right turn' signage on the junction prior to that one way street. I know you can't always see everything clearly on these videos so I might have missed it, but it just looks like two lost drivers rather than anything malicious ?

 

[flecc]

Quite possibly lost, but No Entry signs frequently exist without advance warnings of any kind. Drivers are required to take note of and act upon any circular sign with a red surround ring since they indicate a prohibition.