Why car drivers DO NOT see cyclists

[StuartsProjects]

The lack of arrests of drivers, involved in accidents with cyclists, is in no way directly related to whether the cyclist is partially or even fully to blame for an accident.

Most likley a lot of drivers get away with it due to lack of evidence, but to then assume that because the motorist is not charged the cyclist is therefore at fault is perverse.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

It's easy to see how someone who hasn't cycled for many years, could now have their boots firmly planted in the other camp; experiences and views out of date. The climate of the roads is very different now, vehicles more numerous and too wide.

 

[flecc]

Most likley a lot of drivers get away with it due to lack of evidence, but to then assume that because the motorist is not charged the cyclist is therefore at fault is perverse.

As my posts clearly show I have not assumed that, only mentioned it as supporting evidence to what the cyclists were doing wrong in such as nearside overtaking.

I'll leave you to your bigotry.
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[flecc]

It's easy to see how someone who hasn't cycled for many years, could now have their boots firmly planted on the other camp; experiernces and views out of date. The climate of the roads is very different now, vehicles more numerous and too wide.

If this is a snide reference to me, you are very wrong. I cycled through an over 70 year span into my eighties and for most of the 16 years since this forum opened in October 2006. As experienced members know that included doing reviews and tests for manufacturers which were reported in here, plus appearances at the odd e-biking event. If it weren't for heart trouble I would still be cycling.

And since I've spent the last 55 years primarily cycling and driving in London and the home counties, I think I'm well aware of today's roads climate. Particularly since that driving included trucks, pickups and cars, a breadth of experience obviously lacking in so many posting.
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[Nealh]

From last nights program 25% of drivers deliberately close pass cyclists, an admission of dangerous driving as it is premeditated.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

From last nights program 25% of drivers deliberately close pass cyclists, an admission of dangerous driving as it is premeditated.

This certainly explains my recent and relevant experience of actually cycling on today's roads, not merely recalling memories of cycling years ago, when roads were less congested, and when cars were slimmer. Some of the ever more popular SUVs, are as wide as vans.

 

[flecc]

This certainly explains my recent and relevant experience of actually cycling on today's roads, not merely recalling memories of cycling years ago, when roads were less congested, and when cars were slimmer. Some of the ever more popular SUVs, are as wide as vans.

Little wonder that we've lost so many of our most valuable members, leaving in disgust at the posts of the increasing number of wilfully offensive members.

And why this forum is dying on its feet with hardly any input. Given the immense increase in e-biking over the two years of the pandemic, we should be flooded with input traffic and new members and the forum should be thriving.

Perhaps not surprising though, given that the government believes 12% of all car drivers are also cyclists. Obviously those cyclists wouldn't be impressed with all the anti car driver ranting they would see if popping in here.
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[I893469365902345609348566]

When's the last time you actually rode your pedelec on the road? It's quite a different experience now for cyclists. Drivers are much more hostile than they have ever been.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

You are very recent in this forum so won't have seen all my many posts in this subject, trying to prevent those needless deaths. All carried the details and links and I'm not going to repeat all that hard work.

Have you heard of bookmarks?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmark

 

[flecc]

When's the last time you actually rode your pedelec on the road? It's quite a different experience now for cyclists. Drivers are much more hostile than they have ever been.

Two years ago, though my cycling had been declining for two years before that, confined to utility trips. But all in heavy London and Home Counties traffic

As I've posted a number of times recently, driver attitudes to cyclists have vastly improved so I very strongly disagree with your contention. Ten and more years ago when cycling I would often be verbally abused by drivers, but as cycling increased that became more and more rare.

The last two abuse occasions I suffered were both from cyclists. One because in refusing to ride up the nearside of a truck at lights I'd inadvertantly blocked him from doing so. I moved for him to be silly though, but he still swore just the same. The other because he was so sure he had the right to dictate what I wore when cycling he became very abusive.

Frankly I'm appalled at how unreasonable your attitude is. You recently posted a video showing a car driver behaving entirely correctly in using a centre of the road right turn lane and clearly having seen you, stopping until you passed from the opposite direction before turning.

Your utterly unreasonable spoken response was "I think he was drunk".
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[flecc]

Have you heard of bookmarks?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmark

They are mainly what recipients of information use to be able to return if required.

And past posts are not much use when the links given die after a while and I cant edit to replace a link once 24 hours have passed from posting.

Something that has afflicted my permanent comprehensive post on Pedelec law.
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[I893469365902345609348566]

Frankly I'm appalled at how unreasonable your attitude is. You recently posted a video showing a car driver behaving entirely correctly in using a centre of the road right turn lane and clearly having seen you, stopping until you passed from the opposite direction before turning.

Your utterly unreasonable spoken response was "I think he was drunk".

Speaking for myself, it's important to slow down or stop, when it's clear a driver isn't going to stop, and as I said when I posted the video, he only stopped after I beeped, which you can hear in the video. And he looked drunk (or drugged) to me, grinning with a farway look in his eyes, which isn't visible in the video. He would have trundled slowly past too close in his small engined slow accelerating red car, or I would have collided with him at my original speed, and there was a car behind me. It was after 10pm, when there are many drunk drivers on the roads. When was the last time you cycled at night? It's much hairier between 8pm and midnight.

 

[matthewslack]

I had a long conversation with a police officer this morning regarding the three drivers out of about 20 serious incidents and over 200 total incidents in my recent 5 day, 438 mile trip.

There was some robust discussion to get agreement that it was reasonable to be reporting these few, and in the conversation came an explicit statement from the horse's mouth that the police are no longer in the business of issuing warnings. They are an enforcement organisation.

A shame I feel, as resources are the biggest issue in policing, and most drivers I encounter only need a reminder of or introduction to the highway code changes to rejoin @flecc's decent majority of motorists.

The few I report however, left their ranks or were never there and cannot be left to repeat the danger they unnecessarily, calculatedly and deliberately inflicted on me every time they meet a cyclist on the road.

I feel the protagonists in this thread both/all have valid view points, with some overlap but also like a Venn diagram, bits one has seen and the other(s) has(ve) not.

Back to my tea and chocolate cake...

 

[flecc]

When was the last time you cycled at night? It's much hairier between 8pm and midnight.

Through my whole life I've always avoided cycling after dark whenever possible. Our roads, their lighting, cycle lighting and even motor vehicle lighting have usually fallen far short of the task of truly safe passage for a cyclist.

And as we age, the muscles controlling iris closure slow. That means intermittent brief pools of darkness after each instance of being dazzled, a potential real danger for a small object like a pedestrian or cyclist who could be hit unseen by an elderly driver in those moments.

For that reason and as previously reported in here, I now will not drive after dark under any circumstance.
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[I893469365902345609348566]

As usual, last night's Panorama was too shor and fluffy. Quite a stark difference in standards to 10 years ago.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

I had a long conversation with a police officer this morning regarding the three drivers out of about 20 serious incidents and over 200 total incidents in my recent 5 day, 438 mile trip.

Have you recorded photos only? If so, many video editing programs can import photos as frames, to output at a X fps video. Such incidents should be made available, to widely be seen on Youtube imho. I'd certainly like to see them.

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

It's nice when a robust discussion can be had without certain people trying to attest prominence of some sort through posts citing forum rules, resorting to childish nameccalling, accusing other people of being trolls and bigots, or snide, or behaving in a "Disgusting" manner, or changing the subject, or indeed playing the victim or the age or illness cards, or suggesting they might leave the forum, all the while not providing any evidence for the numbers they so carelessly bandy about. Such attempts at controlling behaviour have no place in a discussion.

 

[matthewslack]

Have you recorded photos only? If so, many video editing programs can import photos as frames, to output at a X fps video. Such incidents should be made available, to widely be seen on Youtube imho. I'd certainly like to see them.

I have gradually evolved from time lapse so that I could keep a permanent record of my tours without taking over an entire data vault(!), via video 1080p and keep highlights only to buying a couple of 512Gb micro SD cards and trying to keep entire video until I get home and archive to a multi terabyte hard drive I have not even bought yet!

I am still learning how to share video clips without selling my soul to big tech, or being swamped by ads as I try to work on my phone screen whilst on the road, and also finding more and more things that the GoPro app can do for me.

I will share clips when I can, but not the drivers I have reported. I might put up stills of those if I can edit out the number plates.

Are the two clips I put up earlier accessible, or being googleish do they only work for Google account logged in users?

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

Are the two clips I put up earlier accessible, or being googleish do they only work for Google account logged in users?

Do you mean these below? I see them as photos, then a blank screen, and I'm not being asked to log in. Blank after loading in the browser because I have VLC's ActiveX component disabled, to avoid getting viruses embedded in videos through the browser. Download of the videos is allowed however, via the three dot dropdown menu on the top right. Those passes are too close, needlessly so and too fast imho. I see this foolish short-sighted driver behaviour all the time. I supposed if someone kills a cylist out in the middle or nowhere with few witnesses, carrying a shovel would be useful, to bury evidence with.

It gets expensive having videos accessible to the world at large on your own server. Big tech is "Free" while they sell your soul.

A bunch of cars, most fine, just one that can't quite manage to give the space that all the others managed.

New video by Matthew Slack

photos.app.goo.gl

Not so good. First the close passing white car, then the black Focus squeezing through against the opposing traffic.

New video by Matthew Slack

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[I893469365902345609348566]

And past posts are not much use when the links given die after a while and I cant edit to replace a link once 24 hours have passed from posting.

Sometimes links will disappear quickly, because the admin of the website linked to, doesn't want the extra traffic due to increased costs. Therefore save the page you want linked to, using the Wayback Machine. Thereafter the linked to information will be there for (allegedly) forever in the Internet Archive. Voila! No need to edit or replace links.

Internet Archive: Wayback Machine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine