Electric cyclist down in Bristol..

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BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
I just cannot believe (for whatever reason) that i would have hit the back of the car in that way.

Jonny, me old china, I must confess that I'm less sceptical than you because once I was in a very similar situation to locker, and I did manage to avoid the 1-2. Why? Because I was going up Loampit vale, and slowly, much more slowly than locker here, but it was a very close call. That's why I'm not at all certain I could have anticipated and avoided this collision were I in his place, and why I'm so sceptical of those claiming they could have.
 

EssexRider

New Member
Location
Brentwood
[QUOTE 1757456, member: 9609"]I presume you would see nothing wrong in reporting a burglar?
Remember "car drivers doing things wrong" quite often leads to people being Killed or seriously injured, it often puzzles me how people, and especially the police, weight certain crimes.[/quote]

Yeah but im not gonna go round waiting outside someones house waiting for a burglar to come am i...

If i see it report it... not go out looking for someone to do something wrong like a daffodil
 
Hit the brakes it's easy, trying to carry momentum by attempting an undertake is poor riding. Can't handle an electric bike? Give it up.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
Jonny, me old china, I must confess that I'm less sceptical than you because once I was in a very similar situation to locker, and I did manage to avoid the 1-2. Why? Because I was going up Loampit vale, and slowly, much more slowly than locker here, but it was a very close call. That's why I'm not at all certain I could have anticipated and avoided this collision were I in his place, and why I'm so sceptical of those claiming they could have.
Unless you're there you never get a true sense of how things would pan out.

I had something similar to me happen to me in Fulbourn village (I was traveling towards the camera). Due to the nice easy left I could dive between the 2nd & 3rd bollards to get a safe space, had there not been the raised section I've been up against the kerb & on the deck. I was doing about 15mph. I certainly had a few choice words to say about the person who did it.
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
Jonny, me old china, I must confess that I'm less sceptical than you because once I was in a very similar situation to locker, and I did manage to avoid the 1-2. Why? Because I was going up Loampit vale, and slowly, much more slowly than locker here, but it was a very close call. That's why I'm not at all certain I could have anticipated and avoided this collision were I in his place, and why I'm so sceptical of those claiming they could have.

That's a fair comment, hence my "for whatever reason" bracketed point, which relates to AL78's take on the view of a cyclist. Perhaps I do wish to deny that I could possibly find myself in that situation...perhaps not.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
Yeah but im not gonna go round waiting outside someones house waiting for a burglar to come am i...

If i see it report it... not go out looking for someone to do something wrong like a ****
For me the cams get turned on & I go riding/driving. If anything of note happens I'll think about saving it. If someone does something which is stupid/dangerous enough I'll go to the police with it. The thing is because my cams are recording "the driver of vehicle blah cut me up badly & was driving in a very dangerous manner" holds a lot more weight when they can actually see what transpired (especially when overlaid with data logger information)
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
[QUOTE 1757510, member: 9609"]I wasn't suggesting for one second that I dislike electric powered bikes, I think they are a brilliant idea.
I was suggesting that cyclists on electric bikes should be more aware that their speed is likely to confuse some motorist, and they should be even more expectant than other cyclists that cars and buses may pull out in front of them. They just look wrong, a sort of optical illusion on two wheels.

Not that I am excusing the woman in the original video, I hope she is prosecuted. But her comments were interesting "But I seen you, you were down there" (or something like that) I guess to her she presumed you were going at a speed akin to an average cyclist and she had plenty of time. Pity you hadn't been in a suped-up steam roller.[/quote]

+1 on that
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
[QUOTE 1757510, member: 9609"]Not that I am excusing the woman in the original video, I hope she is prosecuted. But her comments were interesting "But I seen you, you were down there" (or something like that) I guess to her she presumed you were going at a speed akin to an average cyclist and she had plenty of time. Pity you hadn't been in a suped-up steam roller.[/quote]
To me it also calls into question how much observation she was doing. I'd assume it's along the lines of: See cyclist, nothing else, now look around the corner... and around the corner... and around the corner. *horn* Oh what's that sound? *thud* WHAT? The cyclist moved! Cyclists often get treated as stationary objects or moving at maybe 5mph at most. So even someone traveling at 15mph catches drivers out. In all honesty 15mph isn't that fast.
 

Bman

Guru
Location
Herts.
Hmm. Thats a good point actually.

Maybe car drivers are more likely to underestimate the speed of a larger bike when its being ridden by an older, larger rider (No offence Locker), compared to a cyclist on a road bike in full lycra kit?
 

Linford

Guest
I know it is a shameless hijack, but as PTW's are being discussed, I thought I'd post a pic of the bike I'm on today (2011 Suzuki GSXR750). Not mine, just borrowed it for a couple of days to do a photo shoot tomorrow (needed a good clean first though so I brought it into work). Probably the best handling m/bike I've ridden in 30 years of PTW riding :becool:

420386_10150656270798704_589918703_9052084_206334604_n.jpg
 

lulubel

Über Member
Location
Malaga, Spain
Re: drivers not realising how fast cyclists are moving.

My commute to work in Cornwall included a main road descent where I regularly exceeded 30mph. There was a minor road on the left where buses joined the main road, turning right. If you were driving a bus and you saw a cyclist coming down that hill, you'd think you had time to get out. As both bus driver and cyclist, I could see it from both perspectives, and I remember a colleague saying once, "I saw a bike coming down, and was about to pull out. Then I realised it was Louise, and I didn't."

I suspect my own crash a few weeks ago was due to the driver misjudging my speed, although I don't know what he said to the police afterwards.

I don't really know what my point is here. It certainly is not that we should start riding slowly because it's what drivers expect. Maybe we need to be more aware that drivers will - not might - do stupid things because they don't realise how fast we're going.

That said, I don't think I would have got out of that situation any better than the cyclist in the clip did. If I couldn't stop before I went in the back of her, I would have tried to avoid her by going down the left, where she appeared to have left space for me, exactly as he did.
 

Linford

Guest
Lilubel - I don't think you should ride slower due to other road users misjudging your speed, but (we) should be more on our toes and be ready to stop when you pressing on.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
Hmm. Thats a good point actually.

Maybe car drivers are more likely to underestimate the speed of a larger bike when its being ridden by an older, larger rider (No offence Locker), compared to a cyclist on a road bike in full lycra kit?
I don't think a lot of motorists actually have a clue about how fast a cyclist is going. Seriously I had a bit of a set-to with a driver who overtook me then pulled in while I was about level with his rear door. He had been following me for a good 1km or so with me keeping up to the car in front & started to overtake when the speed limit when up from 30 mph to 40 mph. He tried to jink the car around me as though I was almost stationary barely behind his B pillar, his daughter in the back screamed at him. His excuse was he didn't realise how fast I was going. Like WTF?!
 
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