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Complete moron on a bike

Nearly got taken out by a moron pick-up driver this morning.
I was on my scooter with Mrs cj, travelling at the speed limit ( because I was going through a built up area It's only 30mph/50kmh ), said pick-up was coming from the opposite direction and obviously didn't want to wait to turn to his right across my lane. ABS, diving for the kerb side of the road and beeping like a looney, the moron finally realised he didn't want to kill us after all and stopped a whisker from disaster.
It was a great shame the bike-cop that had been on my tail a little before was no longer there.

The general standard of driving here is quite abysmal though, with one of the highest road fatality records in the world, even after massaging the stats. :(
 
Martyn Miles said:
I don’t know about cyclists, but there are plenty of morons driving Audis.
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They were in BMWs, then they realised that Audis had a much better image (remember the Audi adverts circa 15 years ago?), and not wanting to be associated with the image BMW drivers had at the time, they all bought Audis, and gave them the same image. About ten-twelve years ago, they had all moved to VW Passats. I don't do the motorway driving or anything like the miles I used to these days, so I have no idea what these idiots are driving now.

In reply to the OP, glad you and the idiot on the bike are ok. It's not nice to hit someone, even if you weren't to blame.
 
there are some around - years ago I was sat stationary, brake-on at at red light. When I heard and felt a thump from behind. A cyclist had hit me square in the back.

His brakes were disconnected, I saw all the loose cables when I got out. Cyclist walked off unhurt, buckled front wheel. I was left with a £2k bill that I had to pay out of my own pocket.
 
robs said:
Did you report it to the police? Have a dashcam? Take photos?
My first thought (in this shitty world) is that you'll be expecting an insurance claim..
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Yep. My brother knocked a teenager off his bike on a pitch black country lane; no lights, reflectors / reflective clothing. I have seen the dashcam footage and the cyclist was completely invisible. My brother of course stopped, made sure the kid was alright (he was fine), informed the police, his insurance company etc, who all agreed he had no case to answer. He is now being sued by the boys father via civil court.
 
farfromthesun said:
Yep. My brother knocked a teenager off his bike on a pitch black country lane; no lights, reflectors / reflective clothing. I have seen the dashcam footage and the cyclist was completely invisible. My brother of course stopped, made sure the kid was alright (he was fine), informed the police, his insurance company etc, who all agreed he had no case to answer. He is now being sued by the boys father via civil court.
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If the police and insurance company say your brother had no case to answer, and he has dashcam footage to prove his case, I would be very surprised if the boy's father's legal action will be successful. Stressful for your brother all round.
 
Rcook said:
They were in BMWs, then they realised that Audis had a much better image (remember the Audi adverts circa 15 years ago?), and not wanting to be associated with the image BMW drivers had at the time, they all bought Audis, and gave them the same image. About ten-twelve years ago, they had all moved to VW Passats. I don't do the motorway driving or anything like the miles I used to these days, so I have no idea what these idiots are driving now.

In reply to the OP, glad you and the idiot on the bike are ok. It's not nice to hit someone, even if you weren't to blame.
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I'd say they will soon be signing PCP finance deals on the fastest EV's they can get their hands on. What could possibly go wrong :) :)
 
gintonic said:
there are some around - years ago I was sat stationary, brake-on at at red light. When I heard and felt a thump from behind. A cyclist had hit me square in the back.

His brakes were disconnected, I saw all the loose cables when I got out. Cyclist walked off unhurt, buckled front wheel. I was left with a £2k bill that I had to pay out of my own pocket.
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Ouch, I bet that stung, I see no shortage of morons driving cars, riding bikes or cycling every time I'm out on the road although I particularly dislike the groups of cyclists 'hogging' the whole of the lane riding 2-3 abreast.
 
Darren L said:
Ouch, I bet that stung, I see no shortage of morons driving cars, riding bikes or cycling every time I'm out on the road although I particularly dislike the groups of cyclists 'hogging' the whole of the lane riding 2-3 abreast.
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It's perfectly OK as far as the Highway Code is concerned, and it's probably safer for the cyclists to do that, as it means following cars have to wait for a safer opportunity to overtake, rather than 'squeeze' past with no clearance.
For the avoidance of doubt, it annoys me too, but there we are.
 
farfromthesun said:
Yep. My brother knocked a teenager off his bike on a pitch black country lane; no lights, reflectors / reflective clothing. I have seen the dashcam footage and the cyclist was completely invisible. My brother of course stopped, made sure the kid was alright (he was fine), informed the police, his insurance company etc, who all agreed he had no case to answer. He is now being sued by the boys father via civil court.
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If the police did not provide a report to the cyclist, any civil claim is unlikely get very far in those circumstances. While there is no requirement for reflective clothing, front and rear lights are certainly a legal requirement after sunset, so lack thereof would be regarded as contributory negligence. However, if the cyclist's father claims the bike had lights, your brother would need to rely on the dashcam footage to prove otherwise.
 
Nero said:
It's perfectly OK as far as the Highway Code is concerned, and it's probably safer for the cyclists to do that, as it means following cars have to wait for a safer opportunity to overtake, rather than 'squeeze' past with no clearance...
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Correct, riding two abreast is supported by the Highway Code. The CTC strongly advocates for riding two or three abreast to reduce the risk of dangerous overtaking by motor vehicles. I'm a keen cyclist and car enthusiast. Adding a few seconds journey time to minimise the chance of causing injury to a fellow human being seems perfectly acceptable to me.
 
Somafunk said:
As someone who rides a bike and drives a car it’s the morons who drive a 1.5t vehicle that I’m more concerned about.
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The potential to do serious damage in a car is far higher, which makes poor/aggressive driving totally intolerable… I do see proportionally more poor behaviour from two wheeled vehicles though… driving through Cambridge on Monday was an experience, quite a few electric scooters about, had a chap in a suit (not a kid) suddenly cut across a lane in front of me, no signal, not even a shoulder check for his own safety… and another come down my left side in a left turn only lane just as the lights went to green, cut me up as I was about to turn (he was going straight on), these two incidents happened within five minutes of each other.
 
Darren L said:
Ouch, I bet that stung, I see no shortage of morons driving cars, riding bikes or cycling every time I'm out on the road although I particularly dislike the groups of cyclists 'hogging' the whole of the lane riding 2-3 abreast.
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it did, but it is impossible to do anything. All road users have the potential to inflict untold misery and damage on other road users, and i think they should all carry insurance. If that was me hitting another car - then my insurance would have sorted it out, and i would be penalised later by being categorised as higher risk with increased premiums.
 
Mongeddavid said:
...a cyclist on a kind of trick bike thought it would impress his mates if he went round said roundabout the wrong way. He may have have got away with it but as he was travelling pretty fast he could not maintain the apex he was aiming for
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I'd say this kind of idiot was more off than moron. As for 'complete', I doubt that'll last long.
 
Cyclists are allowed under the Highway Code to ride two abreast, it is often safer.

Cars have compulsory insurance due to the potential harm & damage they cause in the huge number of accidents they are involved in & cause. This does not apply to cyclists, the irony being that if more cyclists do have insurance then the humble motorist will see his/her premiums rocket.

As ever there is false equivalence between cars being delayed by 10-15 seconds & putting actual human beings at risk. Strangely you rarely, if ever, see motorists close pass horse riders, blare their horns or shout aggressively at them.

There is a difference between being a cyclist & just a person on a bike messing about.

Last weekend I was close passed & beeped aggressively by a car travelling through the Chatsworth estate. This just sums up the mentality; said driver could have just used the A6 if he was in a hurry.

The most negligent cyclist will cause less damage than the most careful motorist.

Hope I have covered everything. I also drive a BMW.
 
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