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Complete moron on a bike

All true.

With reference to the last point - one of the local motorcyclists here (who I knew) was killed on a charity run when a young woman pulled out on to a main road directly in front of him. Standing piece of black humour in the biking community is the standard defence is plead young mum/needs car for work/take children to school/turn on the tears...and of course most likely the bikers fault anyway.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...rash-at-down-syndrome-charity-event-1.2198670

the verdict:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20433828.html
Yep, exact same thing happened with my mate, women in a mini, pleased trauma & mental health etc. Would a bloke in a BMW have been treated the same way? A rather grim aspect of my mates situation was that a policeman called at his wife's door to tell her the news that he was in hospital, he asked her whether 'he was wearing hi-viz clothing'! For the record, he was & it made no bloody difference!
 
Nothing heats a thread up on here more than driving v cycling. Not even cable threads come close…

Especially when it's liberally sprinkled with anecdotal evidence.

Listen to car drivers, they never do anything wrong, but cyclists and bikers are the scourge of the planet and here's why... last year I saw a cyclist crash into a car...... blah blah blah!

Listen to bikers, they never do anything wrong, but cyclists and cars are the scourge of the planet and here's why... last year I saw a car crash into a biker...... blah blah blah!

Listen to cyclists, they never do anything wrong, but cars and bikers are the scourge of the planet and here's why... last year I saw a biker crash into a cyclist...... blah blah blah!
 
All true.

With reference to the last point - one of the local motorcyclists here (who I knew) was killed on a charity run when a young woman pulled out on to a main road directly in front of him. Standing piece of black humour in the biking community is the standard defence is plead young mum/needs car for work/take children to school/turn on the tears...and of course most likely the bikers fault anyway.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...rash-at-down-syndrome-charity-event-1.2198670

the verdict:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20433828.html

To be fair it is an easy mistake to make - and "accidental" may be the correct verdict. My minivan (Mazda 5) has a horrible blind spot due to the A pillar, though it's not as bad as my previous car (Vauxhall Zafira). I have to constantly remind myself to move my head back and forth and have a really good look, because a pedestrian or cyclist can so easily be hidden behind the A pillar at a junction.

I think it's a serious safety defect in many modern cars, due to the windshield rake and the stringent rollover roof crush requirements.
 
I always look over my shoulder & move into middle of road when approaching a side junction. This makes me more visible to potential car approaching junction & also keeps me safe if they over step the give way lines. I try to think like a car driver when cycling, 2nd guess behaviours & bad habits.

Car drivers don’t always appreciate it when cyclists do this, see it as hogging the road when they are merely avoiding hazards. Minor road imperfections which are unnoticed in a car are far more evident when cycling.
 
I always look over my shoulder & move into middle of road when approaching a side junction. This makes me more visible to potential car approaching junction & also keeps me safe if they over step the give way lines. I try to think like a car driver when cycling, 2nd guess behaviours & bad habits.

That's what I was taught on my cycling proficiency test in 1979. Made sense at the time and still does now.

Sadly my ostrich has no truck with this.
 
To be fair it is an easy mistake to make - and "accidental" may be the correct verdict. My minivan (Mazda 5) has a horrible blind spot due to the A pillar, though it's not as bad as my previous car (Vauxhall Zafira). I have to constantly remind myself to move my head back and forth and have a really good look, because a pedestrian or cyclist can so easily be hidden behind the A pillar at a junction.

I think it's a serious safety defect in many modern cars, due to the windshield rake and the stringent rollover roof crush requirements.

I have been guilty of not spotting a motorbike on a roundabout in our old Meriva due to that self same thick A-pillar problem too. Was approaching the roundabout ready to take the first exit (at the 9 o'clock position) and even though I checked what was on the roundabout and the approach roads, I nearly missed a motorcycle on the roundabout hidden by the A-pillar for at least a good 20-30 yards of the approach. As I got closer to the roundabout, the bike even though the bike was moving round the roundabout, the closing angles were such that the A-pillar blocked sight of the bike through a fairly larger arc. Wasn't a close call as such, but certainly a learning experience.

With reference to the earlier fatality though - I'm still surprised that there wasn't deemed to be a clear case of causing death by dangerous driving (or at the very least a careless charge ) with a large degree of blame allocated to the car-driver for poor or non-existent observation ? No such thing as an accident, and all that..
 
Especially when it's liberally sprinkled with anecdotal evidence.

Listen to car drivers, they never do anything wrong, but cyclists and bikers are the scourge of the planet and here's why... last year I saw a cyclist crash into a car...... blah blah blah!

Listen to bikers, they never do anything wrong, but cyclists and cars are the scourge of the planet and here's why... last year I saw a car crash into a biker...... blah blah blah!

Listen to cyclists, they never do anything wrong, but cars and bikers are the scourge of the planet and here's why... last year I saw a biker crash into a cyclist...... blah blah blah!
…and don’t get me started on bloody pedestrians!
 
I wanna move to the Netherlands. Nobody wears a helmet on a bicycle over there. No need. Car drivers and motorists in general have more respect and awareness.
 
PS This turned up today by UPS. Finally. After 9 weeks of waiting.

tPptiXS.jpg
 
I suspect like many I’m a pedestrian, cyclist and driver and I get all the comments about perspectives and as ever Andrew C’s sage words from his experience.

sadly, when a cyclist I try not to take a chance. In good weather I still have flashing front and rear lights and wear a helmet to try and take away any excuse from a culprits insurance lawyers. I’m probably in the minority of having third party insurance too, one of the benefits of joining the British Cycling Federation, it’s only £40 per year and you usually get it back in vendor discounts.

in poor or darker weather I then add this side light to the bike
https://brightside.bike/product/brightside-bike-light-sale/

I switch the rear light to my Lezyne which projects laser lights beside the bike
https://ride.lezyne.com/products/1-led-23r-v104

And I’ve just bought one of these (or more accurately signed up to the Indiegogo perk) which should be here in the next few weeks and cheaper than this page
https://livall.co.uk/product/livall-evo21/

But I don’t kid myself that the police would necessarily act (sorry Andrew), courts would prosecute or that equality would be shown against someone who takes me out, as others have said.
 
I was in Arnhem in the Netherlands and was nearly taken out by a bike with no lights on. Asked my Dutch gf about it and she said 'yeah, nobody has lights cos they just get nicked'.

She then came over here and borrowed my bike to come and meet me after work. She arrives looking a little flustered and said cars were sounding their horns and shouting at her. Turns out she'd been riding down the Belgrave Middleway in Birmingham (dual carriageway ring road, used for the Super Prix circuit many moons back) on the wrong side of the road.
 
That roundabout story reminds me so much of the last time I ever owned a pushbike. 30 years ago. I'd been banned from driving for 12 months (short story long - do not try to outrun an unmarked Lotus Carlton police car at 6am on an empty dual carriageway - you will get done - do you know what speed you were doing sir? err. 134mph? Oops)

So I had to get a pushbike. Living and working in Dover at the time. The main roundabout off the docks was a total minefield of negotiation. Always someone going the wrong way round it. How the eff I ever survived that for a year I'll never know. Never mind having to climb Shakespeare Cliffe on the way to work everyday. I did get quite fit doing it though. Thighs like Gerd Muller I had.
 


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