phipck Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Ive said before about how complex the culture is regarding cycling these days. Cyclist are generally seen as the scurge of the road by most motorist even when they come accross a sencible, safe, rule abiding cyclist, the driver cant help themselves but perform silly manouvers just to get past. As a cyclist i had considered fitting a camera for recording fun days out, but it seems that more and more cyclists are installing them for other reasons more in keeping with their safety. It seems as a cyclist being insured, road concious and considerate just isnt enough any more, the incident in this video is all too familiar to me, being overtaken too close and far too late, but in my case i wasnt turning left with the van, i was going straight on down the road and he was over taking to turn off. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12334486 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 The cyclist really is bottom of the road food chain, as was the attitude of the van driver. I would be inclined to shove the pump right up his dot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sagitar Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Ive said before about how complex the culture is regarding cycling these days. Cyclist are generally seen as the scurge of the road by most motorist even when they come accross a sencible, safe, rule abiding cyclist, the driver cant help themselves but perform silly manouvers just to get past. As a cyclist i had considered fitting a camera for recording fun days out, but it seems that more and more cyclists are installing them for other reasons more in keeping with their safety. It seems as a cyclist being insured, road concious and considerate just isnt enough any more, the incident in this video is all too familiar to me, being overtaken too close and far too late, but in my case i wasnt turning left with the van, i was going straight on down the road and he was over taking to turn off. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12334486 I don't have any problem with cyclists generally. I give them a wide berth and all is well. I should also say that I have been a member of a large cycling club and have done a lot of miles on two wheels. I could not help noticing in the video clip however, that though the author complains of cars coming too close to him when overtaking, he is not himself averse to overtaking stationary vehicles by riding down the narrow gap between two lines of queueing vehicles. Seeing a cyclist riding in a gap this narrow may be likely to give motorists the impression that this is a comfortable distance at which to pass a cyclist. Not only that, but this kind of overtaking has a bad psychological effect. If, having spent a long time behind a cyclist waiting for a suitable place to overtake, the motorist finds himself back behind the cyclist because the cyclist slides through narrow gaps in the traffic at the next junction, we maybe should not be surprised if the motorist begins to lose patience. I know he shouldn't, but we are talking about human beings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyelcomb Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I could not help noticing in the video clip however, that though the author complains of cars coming too close to him when overtaking, he is not himself averse to overtaking stationary vehicles by riding down the narrow gap between two lines of queueing vehicles. Seeing a cyclist riding in a gap this narrow may be likely to give motorists the impression that this is a comfortable distance at which to pass a cyclist. Not only that, but this kind of overtaking has a bad psychological effect. If, having spent a long time behind a cyclist waiting for a suitable place to overtake, the motorist finds himself back behind the cyclist because the cyclist slides through narrow gaps in the traffic at the next junction, we maybe should not be surprised if the motorist begins to lose patience. I know he shouldn't, but we are talking about human beings. Yes, but that squeezing down the rows of traffic was very specifically on a cycle lane, that to their credit, the motorists had largely left clear. I certainly don't have a problem with cyclists making their way through to the front of queues (or motorcyclists for that matter), but I do object to the occasional difficult group of cyclists that are happy to stay in pairs or more across the road and create much more of an obstacle. I haven't looked again yet, but my first impression was that the van wasn't particularly squeezing the cyclist as it turned left, but its very difficult to judge that from the helmet cam as often the head is not in line with the direction of travel. It looked to me as though the bike could have been further to the left on the bend, but there's no doubt the the van driver turned into a right a-hole. On a slightly different tack, I'll quite often pull out my camera, switch on the flash, stick it out of the window and pretend to take pictures of really bad lanehogging motors and their drivers - you'd be amazed at how quickly they move across to lane 1 when you do that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIH Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Cyclist dude could have avoided the whole situation simply by slowing a little and letting van through long befire they reached the parked car. I have recently taken to cycling so I see it from both sides, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Best to stick to the pavement, it's safer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted February 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Best to stick to the pavement, it's safer! lol and suffer the wrath of the CSO personally i do believe that the cyclist could have made life easier for himself, but the van in my opinion was troublesome before the bend, the driver should have waited untill after the corner to start his manouver. Then with upcoming parked cars the cyclist had the right to be in the possition on the road that he was, the driver was in the wrong for not safely making his manouver. This could have been easily relieved by either the driver waiting till after the bend to overtake or the cyclist conceding his right of way to the van to avoid a dangerous contact. i think Sagitar has the psychology edge covered regards drivers, i too get p**sed off at cyclists who inconsideratly cut in traffic. There is a fine balance to be considered where being hypocritical can easily occur. On the other side, the cyclist, who has a right to use the road, having been victimised will most likely learn to stand his/her ground rather than shy away and let people get away with seemingly minor impoliteness. What happens when a seemingly unstoppable force is met by somone who wants to be an imovable object! I personally cycle as if i were driving, the car behind quickly becomes accustomed to my possition and possible actions, if im slower than the traffic i will move aside to let them pass and typically they respect my efforts and pass safely. I am not a sunday cyclist, they frustrate the hell out of me, especially as i make an effort as a cyclist to share the road safely with other users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phipck Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 thought this might also be quite apt ..... plus funny Please wait a few moments for Video to Load! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Just to add my side, I don't generally get too annoyed about cyclists as a motorist but as a pedestrian I really hate them. In central london I've lost count of the number of times I've almost been run over by cyclists just flying through red lights as I'm crossing on the green man - even worse is when they go the wrong way down one way streets.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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