Near Miss of the Day 107: Driver pulls out on cyclist using cycle lane designed to improve rider safety (includes swearing)

Dave the Driving Instructor wrote:

Very poor driving indeed, waiting until he was practically on top of her, to pull out. That's why you must never beckon someone out, both drivers completely at fault. A simple look would prevented the near miss.  Crap infrastructure with careless driving not a good mix at all.

Here's a simple trick to ensure you don't go over the line, use the middle of the right mirror to line up with either the kerb or the line to your right.

There's no evidence the driver of the other car did anything wrong - we can't see if he/she "beckoned". If not, they were actually following the Highway Code to the letter: "In slow moving traffic ... allow access into and from side roads" (Rule 151).

hawkinspeter wrote:

The driver clearly didn't look sufficiently. She was in a bad position (across the give way double broken lines) presumably to make it easier for her to join the traffic.

She broke rule 172 (assuming that the cycle path is considered part of the main road which can be verified by the position of the give way lines on the side road):

Rule 172 wrote:

The approach to a junction may have a ‘Give Way’ sign or a triangle marked on the road. You MUST give way to traffic on the main road when emerging from a junction with broken white lines across the road.

The markings here help nobody though. A user behind the give way line would not see very far up the cycle lane, and the part they could see would have been clear when they crossed the line. 

After that they should have waited for the cyclist, I agree; however the risk to the cyclist was obvious.

zero_trooper wrote:

the car seemed already committed to pulling out due to a considerate motorist (the black car).

Absolutely irrelevant.  It is the responsibility of the driver crossing the give way markings, and therefore crossing the 2 lanes (cycle lane and main lane) to ensure it is safe to do so.  Just because someone pauses and allows a gap to open does not excuse a driver from actually ensuring it's safe to make the move.

Sitting with her car nose across the cycle lane blocking a lane to traffic is not how she would have been taught to drive.

zero_trooper wrote:

Top marks for a brief video! However, I would like to have seen a few seconds earlier, as the car seemed already committed to pulling out due to a considerate motorist (the black car). No consideration from 'Rob the Commuter', on her like a shot! The perils of urban cycle lanes I presume.

The driver still has a duty of care to make sure it’s safe to pull out, in my view, but they weren’t helped here by the car offering the road up. Poorly designed road very much part of the issue.