Lucky to walk away - Romford Cyclist Video

[Origamist]

The driver started the turn across his path very slowly and very early... it wasn't inevitable but he maintained his speed and never altered his direction while he approached the junction. There were a couple of other cars earlier in the video that had started to emerge from side junctions which both stopped late across the kerb line and he didn't vary his speed or line for those either.... I'd be a riding with a greater awareness of visible hazards than he was.

Yes, I'm sure a skilled and dexterous rider such as yourself is very adept at avoiding collisions - particularly the ones you watch on YouTube. Pat yourself on the back and have a double-choc cookie on me.

 

[Archie_tect]

Just my opinion O, no need to ram it down my throat with both fists.... mind if that was you I can understand why you'd be upset. I'm just glad the rider wasn't seriously hurt.

...but thanks for the biscuit.

 

[Arjimlad]

Can a woman be a cockwomble? I ask merely for information, as Lady Bracknell would say.

It's a word I greatly admire for the combination of stupidity and *rseyness it implies.

I don't see why not.

Is Buttwipe perhaps less specific to one gender over another, however ?

Either way, she was a complete imbecile and should give up driving until better observation & concentration skills are both acquired and demonstrated.

 

[ManiaMuse]

The driver started the turn across his path very slowly and very early... it wasn't inevitable but he maintained his speed and never altered his direction while he approached the junction. There were a couple of other cars earlier in the video that had started to emerge from side junctions which both stopped late across the kerb line and he didn't vary his speed or line for those either.... I'd be a riding with a greater awareness of visible hazards than he was.

I agree, I would have probably positioned myself slightly further to the right for the two cars which encroached into the cycle lane from the side roads before the crash. I think he could have also been a bit more central at the junction where he got hit because there was a car creeping from the side road (again), and I try to scrub a bit of speed if I think I could be 'pinched' by cars on both sides.

Not to excuse the driving though, I don't think he could have reasonably expected the car to turn across his path. If you are going to make a lazy turn then you really need to make sure the road is clear, 100% the driver's fault. But it it is always worth being vigilant about how visible you are to traffic from all directions and where hazards may suddenly emerge.

 

[Tim Hall]

Can a woman be a cockwomble? I ask merely for information, as Lady Bracknell would say.

Point of order: It was Algernon, not Lady B, wot said it.

It could be said that you don't quote accurately - anyone can quote accurately - you seem to quote with wonderful expression.

 

[Origamist]

Just my opinion O, no need to ram it down my throat with both fists.... mind if that was you I can understand why you'd be upset. I'm just glad the rider wasn't seriously hurt.

...but thanks for the biscuit.

My pleasure - I'm very generous with virtual cookies, less so with the gooey, sugary real thing...

The problem with these ex post facto statements is that you really don’t know what you would have perceived, when you would have perceived it, and how you would have reacted in the same circumstances as the rider in the OP. However, I do know that it is reassuring to believe that such incidents can be avoided with a bit of extra road savvy – such as feathering the brakes, weaving like a snake, taking a different road position, etc., because the alternative is the uncomfortable realization that cyclists are very often at the mercy of incompetent humans driving heavy machinery and there is a limit to how much you can reasonably do to avoid a collision.

 

[Archie_tect]

I like the weaving like a snake idea!

 

[Ganymede]

I don't see why not.

Is Buttwipe perhaps less specific to one gender over another, however ?

Either way, she was a complete imbecile and should give up driving until better observation & concentration skills are both acquired and demonstrated.

Buttwipe is indeed less gender-specific, but I wonder if it delivers the full subtlety and implication of incompetence. In addition,I'm afraid that, for me, the use of the word "butt" is a little too transatlantic. Let's stick with "cockwomble across the board.

Point of order: It was Algernon, not Lady B, wot said it.

It could be said that you don't quote accurately - anyone can quote accurately - you seem to quote with wonderful expression.

Curse you Mr Hall, you're right and I'm wrong. I will do the decent thing and lock myself in the study with a bottle of whisky and a loaded revolver. As a professional person who has appeared in that play TWICE (admittedly not in that scene, and longer than 30 years ago), I am too ashamed to show my face.

 

[Origamist]

I like the weaving like a snake idea!

It's a tactic that can help to disrupt motion camouflage (the unoriginal simile is mine though).

 

[Southside Mike]

Hard to imagine that the collision could have been avoided by cycling differently and the idea that an air horn he didn't have time to operate would have helped seems daft.

BUT, I do think there is a reasonable chance that a flashing front light would have made a difference. I use an Exposure Trace which pulses rather than flashes for commuting day or night. I'd rather spend money on a light than a camera, as the latter won't prevent the accident

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Hard to imagine that the collision could have been avoided by cycling differently and the idea that an air horn he didn't have time to operate would have helped seems daft.

BUT, I do think there is a reasonable chance that a flashing front light would have made a difference. I use an Exposure Trace which pulses rather than flashes for commuting day or night. I'd rather spend money on a light than a camera, as the latter won't prevent the accident

I don't think anyone sees it as a choice between a front light or a camera, that's a false dichotomy.

We can take whatever measures we see fit to increase our visibility to others yet some drivers will still pull out. As in this case, they'll be all nicey nicey until they see the bill (or the Bill) then change their story. The OP's camera has meant that he wasn't left with a huge bill to replace a wrecked bike, and yet another driver has been prevented from cynically shifting the blame to the victim.

GC

 

[raleighnut]

Buttwipe is indeed less gender-specific, but I wonder if it delivers the full subtlety and implication of incompetence. In addition,I'm afraid that, for me, the use of the word "butt" is a little too transatlantic. Let's stick with "cockwomble across the board.

Curse you Mr Hall, you're right and I'm wrong. I will do the decent thing and lock myself in the study with a bottle of whisky and a loaded revolver. As a professional person who has appeared in that play TWICE (admittedly not in that scene, and longer than 30 years ago), I am too ashamed to show my face.

I hope the revolver is only to stop some scruffy vagrant from stealing your Whisky, some of these actor chappies will stop at nothing for a free snifter.

 

[Ganymede]

I hope the revolver is only to stop some scruffy vagrant from stealing your Whisky, some of these actor chappies will stop at nothing for a free snifter.

Or it could be this revolver?

 

[raleighnut]

Or it could be this revolver?

View attachment 51718

Nice decanter, yanks would pay a fortune (well a fair bit) for that, more suited to a Tennessee Sippin Whiskey

 

[Ganymede]

Nice decanter, yanks would pay a fortune (well a fair bit) for that, more suited to a Tennessee Sippin Whiskey

It's actually tequila inside. Imagine.