Nearly taken out by a lorry - what more could I do?

[soulful dog]

Similar to what happened to me except I was further along the road and the driver pulled out of the junction and hit me, which has shaken my confidence a bit and even when driving I now find myself tensing up as I'm passing a junction if a lorry appears!

As someone else has already said, you at least were alert enough to notice a potential problem and act to avoid it. It seems blind spots (and drivers just doing a quick sweep at a give way instead of being very cautious) are something you can't really do anything about other than being alert like you were.

 

[Downward]

Hi,

Working late so only just checking.

This was around 8:10. Interesting to hear you go through there. We go through the country park with our kids sometimes, but my main bike has 25 tyres and wouldn't fare well. I might have to try it though on my mountain bike. Do you come out by the stables?

I live off Jiggins lane, and so wonder abouty going up the hill and around down adams hill to the roundabout at the top of clapgate.

Where do you go from and to?

Cheers
Steve

I am coming from the Halesowen Bypass.
Not gone through the Park as I'm on Skinny tyres so any sniff of mud is gonna take longer than Tarmac.
Surely if you live off Jiggins Lane going down Woodgate Lane and cutting through Adams Hill will be quicker ?

 

[cycling fisherman]

This time though I was really very close to the lorry as he pulled upto the junction, there wasn't time or space

This is the problem, you have answered it yourself i am a HGV driver myself but i'm not going to get all you should have done this/you should have done that on you. However...

you do not want to be close to a bus, lorry or any other large goods vehicle for obvious reasons, you want the driver to be able to see you clearly and easily (in his mirrors) if he can't see you in his mirrors then it's not his fault in this case you should have stayed behind well away-out of his way.

then there would have been space and time for any eventuality.

 

[upandover]

Hi Cycling Fisherman,

Apologies if my Original post was unclear, but go back a moment and re-read it please, I think you've mis-read it. I was never behind the vehicle. Good advice, but poorly aimed. Thanks for the thought though.

I have a great deal of sympathy with HGV drivers. A lot of lorry to move around relatively small roads, and yet despite riding through an industrial area, I have very few problems (especially when compared to buses passing too close!)

Downward - it's exactly the same distance actually. I use clapgate by preference on the way towards the motorway briddge (it feels shorter and I get the psychological feel of having covered more ground earlier on) - but I intend to start swapping around.

Cheers

Steve

 

[GrahamG]

I only ever used to use Clapgate Lane if I was heading towards Harborne, purely because I could get close to the speed limit downhill then! Sounds like a one-off incident and like you say the buses are the real pain there.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Stevesparrow - I've had exactly the same thing happen to me, only I was in front of the lorry when it started to move and I knew he hadn't seen me, so I was pedalling like hell to get out of the way and fully expecting him to hit my back wheel ... I've also been close to doing the same thing to cyclists myself - it's very easy for a cyclist to be hidden behind the mirror (especially on newer trucks with big blind spot mirrors everywhere and silly decorative fairings around the mirrors). It's well worth being aware that drivers can't see through their mirrors and sometimes don't check behind them.