Anyone struck a cyclist while driving?

[dfthe1]

Anyone struck a cyclist while driving?

I have. Not a pleasant experience for anyone. About 10 years ago, I was driving through a university campus late at night, at about 20mph. A cyclist was ahead of me at about 10mph and I went to overtake. No other traffic, no turnings, junctions, or dropped kerbs.

As I drew level with the cyclist, he suddenly veered right into my path, without looking or signalling. I braked but hit the bike and the cyclist landed in a sitting position on my bonnet.

I got out, checked he and the bike were ok, which they were. He was apparently intending to bunny-hop the kerb and ride down a footpath.

The next day, I reported it to the police and my insurers. The cyclist hadn't made a claim, but my insurer treated it as though they had and sent out a claims investigator to my house and those of my 3 passengers. They froze my no-claims discount and my premium the next year was through the roof -- despite no-one ever making a claim. And I had a buttocks-shaped dent in my bonnet for ever more.

I'm confident it wasn't 'my fault'. The cyclist turned into me without looking and was making a manoeuvre I couldn't realistically have predicted. But had I been going faster, or I had struck him differently and he had fallen under my car rather than on it, it could have been a very different story. Either way, I and my passengers would have been fine.

I wasn't 'a cyclist' at the time, but it made me think very differently about how I drive when close to cyclists and to respect their vulnerability.

Any other experiences?

 

[Tommy2]

My mother once had a cyclist go over her bonnet.
He admitted it was his fault but she was distraught.
She pulled up to a roundabout and stopped, checked nothing coming then set off, he came flying from the right (she was already in the round about before he was) he admitted he was going far too fast (had a car been coming from his right he would have been dead)
as the entrance to the roundabout is off a bend so he was not visible until he was at the roundabout, how long do you sit at a roundabout with nothing coming before you pull out????
Think she got a telling off for driving without due care, surely the cyclist had a duty of care to slow down so as not to run into a vehicle already in the roundabout!?!?!?

 

[iateyoubutler]

I haven`t (touches wood...) but I would be devastated if I ever did. As a cyclist, when I am in the car I will go really out of my way to avoid/protect anybody on a bike.

I`ll go out of my way for other cyclists a lot more than I will for other cars

 

[redvision95]

+1 for dashcams, I always have some sort of camera running whether it be on the motorbike, in the car or on my handlebars on the bicycle. You just never know what could happen.

Unfortunately, I have hit a cyclist. We were going through some country lanes in North Wales as a bit of a shortcut as traffic was really bad on the main road. Came to a junction where there was a sharp bend a few feet further down. Couldn't see much, Wound down my window and couldn't hear anything coming so pulled out. That's when I had the shock of my life, next thing I knew there was a cyclist on my bonnet. Luckily it was very low speed, He wasn't hurt and the bike only had a slightly buckled front wheel. After making sure he and the bike were OK, I loaded his bike up in the boot and took them to the nearest bike shop to have his front wheel trued. Gave him my details but me or my insurance, never heard a thing from him. I drove around with a dent in my wing and bonnet for months, never bothered fixing it.

 

[KnackeredBike]

I have, totally my fault. Went to pull out on a very wide roundabout, missed that there was a cyclist riding right along the outer edge, hit the brakes before impact but collided at low speed nonetheless. Profuse apologies, bike in the back of the car, lift for the cyclist back home, more profuse apologies and ask him to let me know how much it costs to repair.

Call next day to bike shop, pay the bill over the phone, all sorted.

Every time you make a serious mistake when driving or cycling you learn from it and I now give two very good looks before pulling out at a roundabout.

 

[Slick]

Remind me never to cycle anywhere you lot drive.

 

[Drago]

No. Came close once, but I'd spotted in advance all then signs she didn't know what she was doing (seat massively too low, flatfooted on the pedals, helmet perched on back of the head, right in the gutter, head fixed dead ahead) so I was mentally prepared. When she turned right without looking, just as I was readying to overtake, I was already in a position that gave me plenty of room, and I was poised on the controls.

I muttered under my breath and let her complete the turn.

 

[redvision95]

Remind me never to cycle anywhere you lot drive.

Luckily I don't drive much anymore.... only when my partner can't be arsed.... then again that's all the time.... forget I said anything

 

[adamangler]

Has anyone struck a driver whilst cycling ? That's the question.

Never had the chance myself but come across a few that I would like to slap if they had stopped long enough rather than drove off shouting obsenitcys

 

[gbb]

I so very nearly did a few years ago...approaching a roundabout in the dark, lots of traffic on it then a gap...I started to go and something caught my eye....not a cyclist but a shadow in the shiny tarmac. I held back....and right in front of me passed a fella on a bso. So very very close only that shadow on the road saved him, he might as well have been invisible.

 

[keithmac]

I haven't, and credit to my wife while she's been driving I've pointed out how much room a cyclist needs and she's taken it all on board.

She's probably a better driver than me now!.

I was behind an old boke riding up/ over a bridge at 3mph not long back (I had the caravan on the back), tough shite to the drivers behind who would have been sieving at the caravanner if it's not safe then we have to wait..

 

[HLaB]

Fortunately not although I nearly did 15 years ago (god I'm getting old). I was waiting to turn right in a pool car when a bus coming the other way pulled into a bus stop making the way clear, 'NO', somebody will undertake the bus between that half foot gap just as they are opening the doors. Fortunately I don't accelerate fast and had time to brake. If the cyclist carried on doing that I doubt he'll continue to be lucky (I hope I'm wrong ). Stay Lucky Folks !

 

[Dayvo]

Not yet, but it's on my bucket list!

Nope, and I always wait/give plenty of room when overtaking.

 

[iateyoubutler]

Has anyone struck a driver whilst cycling ? That's the question.

Never had the chance myself but come across a few that I would like to slap if they had stopped long enough rather than drove off shouting obsenitcys

I did end up in the boot of a parked car once - I wasn`t looking ahead of me and the boot of the car was open, bike hits bumper and I end up in the boot.......................................

Very red faced I got the hell out of there!

 

[Globalti]

My Dad did back in the 60s, an old chap came out of a side road straight in front of his car, went though the windscreen and bled to death on my parents' laps. He'd gashed his neck open on the wing mirror. His bike had no lights, no brakes, he was drunk, quite deaf and had poor eyesight and had been warned many times by his family not to ride back from the pub. The Police checked every single safety point on my Dad's car but luckily it was all in good order; which is why I have always been punctilious about keeping my car in good order. In the end no blame was attached to my Dad but it shook him up very badly indeed and after that he would always flinch when he saw a cyclist.