Near Miss of the Day 607: Driver pulls out on cyclist going downhill

Jenova20 wrote:

Captain Badger wrote:

hirsute wrote:

I had a cyclescheme email today telling me to use lights front and rear at all times !

I love PPE as the first choice of risk control.

I particularly like being reminded to make myself visible. The number of times I've left the house with my cloaking device still engaged.....

Signed

JTK

If it's anywhere like where i ride, you'll no doubt have seen the occasional cyclist at night, without lights on, and dressed head to toe in black clothing...Organ donors on wheels...

I SEE them all the time - and a lot of motorists in comment threads seem to complain about SEEING them too.

Although I suspect most sighting are of them coming the other way and only being picked up a few seconds distant.

Jenova20 wrote:

If it's anywhere like where i ride, you'll no doubt have seen the occasional cyclist at night, without lights on, and dressed head to toe in black clothing...Organ donors on wheels...

The funny thing is, the number of drivers who will tell you that so many cyclists don't have lights and wear black, making them invisible; they saw dozens of them last night. 

Even funnier is that they can't see a cyclist dressed head to toe in fluourescent yellow lit up like a christmas tree.

eburtthebike wrote:

Jenova20 wrote:

If it's anywhere like where i ride, you'll no doubt have seen the occasional cyclist at night, without lights on, and dressed head to toe in black clothing...Organ donors on wheels...

The funny thing is, the number of drivers who will tell you that so many cyclists don't have lights and wear black, making them invisible; they saw dozens of them last night. 

Even funnier is that they can't see a cyclist dressed head to toe in fluourescent yellow lit up like a christmas tree.

In the winter months I usually see a a couple of idiots a week driving around without their headlights on. They must realise their lights aren't on - it's just stupidity.

Funnily enough that was the exact word I used to describe the driver of a car who did that to me last week.....

Waiting for a phonecall/email from Northumbria police in response to the camera footage submitted to them.  I full well expect the driver to get a Fixed Penalty Notice.  But until then I am not allowed to share my footage on social media.....

TriTaxMan wrote:

Funnily enough that was the exact word I used to describe the driver of a car who did that to me last week.....

Waiting for a phonecall/email from Northumbria police in response to the camera footage submitted to them.  I full well expect the driver to get a Fixed Penalty Notice.  But until then I am not allowed to share my footage on social media.....

Good luck on that - get up on teh site when they've confirmed.

Waiting for a phonecall/email from Northumbria police in response to the camera footage submitted to them.  I full well expect the driver to get a Fixed Penalty Notice.  But until then I am not allowed to share my footage on social media.....

Another glimpse into a paradise almost unimaginable to Lancashire cyclists- you won't get any phone call, email or any other response here- except one 14 days after the offence to say it's 'now too late to process'. They won't respond to cars crashing through red lights at 50, so footage of some car pulling out just in front of a cyclist would have Lancashire TacOps crying with mirth- if they could be bothered to look at the video. This is Astra ML60 YMP not bothering with any of this red light nonsense

100% if they hadn't seen the cyclist, they would have pulled out right after the previous car passed them. But they clearly saw the cyclist and just thought it would be fine to pull out in front of them

If the driver had gone after the first car, it would have been a safe manouvre for both. I have seen it mentioned before that blinking lights rather then permanently on ones can actually cause misjudgements of speeds of the cyclist. I suspect the driver initially thought the cyclist was coming faster, then realised he wasn't, got annoyed and went when it was dangerous because he had wasted precious seconds.  (or noticed other cars were coming so waiting might have meant even more seconds wasted on his journey.)

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

 I have seen it mentioned before that blinking lights rather then permanently on ones can actually cause misjudgements of speeds of the cyclist. I suspect the driver initially thought the cyclist was coming faster, then realised he wasn't, got annoyed and went when it was dangerous because he had wasted precious seconds.  (or noticed other cars were coming so waiting might have meant even more seconds wasted on his journey.)

I have never fully bought into the Flashing Lght causes misjudgement of speed theory. I suspect it is the result of a laboratory experiment. It may be a real effect if the cyclist is a long way away on a dark road, but in this case he was close to the emerging driver and would have been fully visible without the light.

No excuse - just totally bad drving

Yep agree with that:  it's a valid point when riding in the dark, as your only point of reference disappears.  But when the light is reflecting off signs in the daytime, that's a bright enough light to see, and the bike is perfectly visible to get a fix on it. No excuse.

Thanks for the explanation - No Points of Reference!

A quick search turned up a paper based on the visibility of snow ploughs in New York State

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

If the driver had gone after the first car, it would have been a safe manouvre for both.

That would have been about 3 seconds before they actually went - I doubt the presence of the cyclist had any input in the drivers actions.  3 - 5 seconds is about how long it takes most motorists to set off when the traffic lights turn green - especially the ones that don't use their handbrake and just sit there rocking back and forth (or inching forward) on the clutch the whole time the lights are red.