In defence of motorists

[2old2care]

Whilst driving last night, I was coming down a road cars parked on both sides, a couple of cars ahead of me and some cars coming towards me, hence a bit of squeezing through. I then noticed the cars ahead of me (about 50m) overtake a cyclist.

The road in front of me was now clear, i.e. no oncoming traffic, so coming up to the cyclist I gave him plenty of room as I prepared to overtake, about 200m down the road a car turns into the road and starts to head towards me.

I then realised the cyclist was going a lot faster than I had anticipated; the road was a slight downhill gradient so he was probably doing 22-25mph. I was probably only going 5mph faster than him. Hence me putting a bit of a squirt on to make sure I can pull in in-front of him at a safe distance.

Did think if I was the cyclist I wouldn't have been too happy but in my defence when I started the overtake the road ahead was clear!

The driver of the car that turned into your path should have in my opinion, seen that there was a cyclist with a car about to overtake and not put you both at risk by pulling out and narrowing the road.

 

[martine]

The driver of the car that turned into your path should have in my opinion, seen that there was a cyclist with a car about to overtake and not put you both at risk by pulling out and narrowing the road.

Yes but it works both ways...the driver perhaps shouldn't have overtaken with a junction in range.

It's a classic serious RTA on a rural road...driver commits to overtake and then is confronted by a vehicle pulling out of a side turning ahead.

Driving is all about sharing the road space and teamwork so that everyone gets to where they want with the minimum of risk to all.

Anyone here read 'Mind Driving'? It's a brilliant book about driving not from the technical aspect but all about the psychology of what makes a better driver. I reckon it applies to cyclists as well...if your tempted give it a read.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Yes but it works both ways...the driver perhaps shouldn't have overtaken with a junction in range.

It's a classic serious RTA on a rural road...driver commits to overtake and then is confronted by a vehicle pulling out of a side turning ahead.

Absolutely right. My final word on this is that it's all very well for the OP to say "but there was no hazard when I started the overtake", but in actual fact, the very presence of a junction should be treated as a hazard precisely because of what happened in this instance. Never mind, we all make mistakes occasionally: the important thing is that we learn from them.

 

[mickle]

Whatever, I'll leave you to all die of heart attacks brought on by stress of the battle for the great cycling God in the sky. You would never talk to each other like this if you were in the same room, unless very drunk.

We are all in the same room and we are all very drunk - where the hell are you??