Lawyer says motorists claiming cyclists "came from nowhere" is an unacceptable excuse

I have taken to recording my rides on a gopro and keeping on my NAS the offending footage.

This article got me thinking, and when I look at all the footage of drivers not seeing me come from nowhere, they all have one thing in common: not looking even once in the whole time I was behind them in their mirrror: not once, not the rearview nor the side mirrors. So then I looked at more footage and have even been cruising behind cars at a distance where I can see them, I have yet to have even a glance in the mirrors from hours of footgae:

"Cyclist come from nowhere" is driving without due care and attention, a car is a 1-2 tonne weapon, a lorry a higher calibre, and so if you kill someone because you were not fulfilling your duty as a motorist to look, signal, etc. before acting and physically harm or kill a cyclist then I cannot see how it is anything short of "X" bodily harm to manslaughter???

I have a classic piece of footage from the gopro of a light lorry that invaded the cycle lane without looking nor seeing me there just behind him. Fortunately I was on the alert, had seen through his mirror for a few hundred metres that he was paying no attention to any of his mirrors and I evaded an accident. The lorry driver was very apologetic, extremely so, maybe because he saw the camera???. I said it was OK, but he should look next time as that is exactly how cyclists get killed and his reaction was incredible; he went pale white and took a while to move off until the cars behind started beeping behind him. he must have been in his early thirties and never stopped to think that he could kill someone by being careless with a 3.5 tonne vehicle...

We have a situation like the wild west, where ignoramuses of all walks of life are running round with what can only be called a weapon, and no idea the harm it can cause, not just to cyclist but to other motorists and pedestrians. Worse, when the bricks are down they recourse to evading their responsibilities with "the cyclist came from nowhere" which is just plain immoral.

We have got there with drink driving, (at least in the UK) now we have to drive home (forgive pun) that driving without due care or attention is also equally unacceptable, and punishable by law.

But for god's sake, in the meantime, put a gopro or other hd camera and a decent memory card on the list of your next hundreds and thousands you spend on upgrades....

The SMIDSY excuse is nothing more than an admission of guilt of Driving Without Due Care and Attention and should be viewed by courts as such.

along with "I did not see you as you were wearing black"...

I'm sure that the worst offenders of squeeze passes and SMIDSY are BMW drivers, 25 years ago I would have said Volvo but they seem to be pretty good now. What did Volvo do that BMW could copy? Or are BMW drivers just arrogant?

NHS minibus went past me today so close I could have picked up a prescription. On the back it said, "Please donate blood." Think he was looking for donors.

“The most blatant evidence in negligence is usually the statement that the cyclist ‘came out of nowhere’, which is not scientifically possible,”

##Applause###

He's right about driveways being a hazard, I have a lot of close calls with people reversing out without looking.

Another thing is that I live on the corner at the end of my road. When I approach on the way back from work, I have to turn right into my road then immediately right again into my driveway. The amount of people who are also turning right and overtake *as I'm going round the corner* then nearly swiping me as I turn into my drive is really appalling, it got to the point where it's just too much of a risk and I have to take a slight detour so that I come in from the other side of the road.

Drivers need to remember that they have a legal obligation to drive with "due care and attention" and that includes looking before they pull out.

If a driver say they didn't see a cyclist, pedestrian, motorcycle or other driver, it is reasonable question if the driver was actually paying "attention". If they can not show that the other party was exceeding the speed limit and therefore behaving recklessly, they should be charged with driving with without due care and attention.

Well I'm lucky the car drivers on my commute seem to have an awarness of cyclists and give me some respect and room on the road. However I'm constantly having near misses with "school" busses! Today of all days you would have thaught they would be more aware? The thing that annoys me & I guess the car drivers is the road furnature that forces us through the same tight gap.
As for being seen ... flashing lights allover and brightly coloured lycra where's the excuse! There is a good ad campain on the TV at the moment for Motorbikes why is there no cyclist awarness campain on TV?

“In respect of civil claims, liability is not always straightforward as the cyclist may be partly to blame – hence the need to educate both parties.”

No - what is needed is strict liability, or "proportionate liability" - in civil claims, the operator of the larger vehicle carries the burden of proof that the more vulnerable party is to blame for the incident. That is not an automatic "gulity" verdict on the driver, but it removes the need for a vulnerable road user, unsupported by an insurer as the respondent will be, to prove the negligence of the respondent to civil standards of proof.

There is no civil liberties issue here for the motorist. We are not talking about changin the rules for criminal proceedings, where beyond readonable doubt still reigns. We are not talking about significant personal financial loss, as motorists are required by law in any case to be insured for third party liabilities - and driving uninsured is a criminal offence. We are only talking about an estimate £50 pa average increase in premiums (compared with the estimated £90 pa cost of fraudulent "whiplash" claims) and of course greater risk of losing a no-claims discount. The potential for an increase in premiums, and the embarrassment of being fingered in court and perhaps in the local paper, should have some moderating effect on driver behaviour.

It's funny but I experience vehicles appearing from out of nowhere all the time. It usually occurs when I'm on the approach to a crossroads and intend to either carry on straight across or turn right. I've gauged my stopping distance, based on my speed and what's in front of me, and I've positioned myself according to where I'm going (centre of the lane for straight across or to the right of the lane if I'm turning right). Then, out of nowhere, a car appears in front of me. All of a sudden my stopping distance has significantly decreased and I have to slam on the brakes. Turns out it's not a magic car but just another impatient, inconsiderate motorist.

Cars also appear out of nowhere when I'm cut up by motorists overtaking me then turning sharp left or when they try and overtake me when it's not safe/practical to do so. The roads seem to be overrun with vehicles that appear out of nowhere.

I've decided that for mid-week training rides the safest time to ride is post morning school and work traffic and pre-lunch, less cars in a rush helps. This means there are more trucks and vans vs cars, but less in general. Eye contact and riding assuming that they've not seen you when backing out or turning left from a minor road has saved me twice in the last few days.
@fiftyacorn, the I'm coming anyway attitude does frustrate me, often they'd not do it if there was a car coming towards them, but squashing you into the gutter seems to be fine in their eyes. The chicane contraflows on barking essex border come to mind particularly for this sort of behaviour. Better ones have a pass thru lane for cyclists.

The biggest problem is drivers have the attitude 'screw you - im going anyway' - you see it at any traffic lights where cars jump thru on red, or lanes where they will squeeze past you rather than waiting 2 seconds til its safe to do so. Then when an incident happens - they quote the above excuses - and are waived thru by the courts