What cyclists have to put up with..

[garrence]

"Momentary lapse of judgement" I wonder if the same would apply to a momentary lapse of judgement with a samurai sword?

 

Hmmm the thing you posted is about a truck driver not noticing a bike passing on the left. Passing a truck on the left is bloomin' dangerous on a bike because the driver is very likely to not notice and might turn left and behead you.

 

However there is a wealth of articles about legal outcomes of vehicles maiming cyclists in the Case Studies section on CTC's Stop SMIDSY site that you might find interesting. One recent one has the driver jailed for 12 years. (I've put that in bold to help it's deterrent effect!)

[Tony]

Hmmm the thing you posted is about a truck driver not noticing a bike passing on the left. Passing a truck on the left is bloomin' dangerous on a bike because the driver is very likely to not notice and might turn left and behead you.

 

It certainly can be as I've pointed out previously but she was in a cycle lane where she should reasonably have expected to be safe - sadly not often the case with our badly designed roads. Perhaps the council should also be in court on a corporate manslaughter charge?

[garrence]

It certainly can be as I've pointed out previously but she was in a cycle lane where she should reasonably have expected to be safe

 

I doubt an on-road lane will ever be "safe". Less hazardous seems the most realistic to hope for.

 

Cycle defensively. Drive defensively. Expect others to make mistakes and plan your evasion tactics ahead for when they do.

[hard2miss]

I saw a cyclist in all the gear go straight through a red light near the bottom of Jenkin hill and he had no regard or care for me or the person coming toward him on the other side.

 

He just looked me in the eyes as I braked and not a thought for the car on his left that could have taken him out.

 

I love cycling and would be the first to defend the bike against the car owner but what I saw and how close this incident was made me shudder.

 

Its not all one sided as I first thought this lot.

 

If your reading this mate, your damn lucky from both cars and I despise you for nearly have me run you over, you had the bike and the kit but not the brains.

[mattleonard]

I think the majority of drivers and cyclists are great. But there are a few of both who are absolute idiots. There's a couple of cyclists I've seen who switch carriageways to avoid the "considerable" time it takes to cross the road at the end of their journey or turn right properly - and I think cyclists who go through red lights are not doing the rest of us a favour.

 

On the other hand I've encountered my two worst experiences of drivers in the past fortnight. One guy in a van cut me up whilst crossing Granville Square in two lanes and took exception when I later overtook him, going through a red light in order to pull alongside me and shout at me how I was putting myself and other road users' lives at risk.

 

Then yesterday there was a guy who thought his Nissan Primera qualified as a bus and didn't need to observe the speed limit and zoomed along Queens Road. Now for one thing I felt sorry for all the law-abiding drivers who were queueing up patiently, and I was confess that maybe I was also feeling a bit mischievous. So when I got to the traffic lights I thought I'd use the bus lane and pootle along at a more sensible pace myself in front of him. Now it happened that there was a cycle lane too, but as it's not mandatory for cyclists to use it and there were no buses or taxis behind me so I decided not to. At this point he switches to the other lane, winds down his window and starts shouting at me about the Highway Code and how I must use the cycle lane, then swerves violently back into the bus lane and the cycle lane in an attempt to knock me off my bike. He failed, although I had to pull up sharp in order to avoid falling off.

[hard2miss]

You did right mate, you should have told him to **** off and took his reg, let the police work out who knew the highway code or not.

 

I think it should be legal evidence if someone had recordings of bad driving,that way we could all have dash/handlebar cams.The amount of people in a world of there own on phones is astounding to say its illegal.

[sccsux]

I'm sure YouTube can't wait for that thrilling footage.

 

Proving sarcasm can work in the written form:D.

[TimmyR]

I've decided to start going through red lights in a car as well as on a bike so people can stop getting so upset by cyclists doing it.

 

 

 

 

Joking of course.

 

 

 

Or am I?

[spindrift]

 

Look at the blank expression on the woman's face:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4K9zdbj8QA

[WalkleyIan]

Sorry to bump this thread again, but there been some news.

 

Remember the youtube video of the van driver throwing a bottle of orange juice at a cyclist? I Spotted an interesting update today. Wonder if this is the first case of a successful prosecution based on helmet cam evidence?

 

UPDATE: the video embedded here was taken down for a while because the driver was reported to the police and the video uploader didn’t want to prejudice the case. However, he has today (15th September 2010) got in touch to reveal that the driver was cautioned for assault and charged with driving without due consideration: he received five points on his licence and had to pay a fine. Ride with a camera to record similar transgressions!