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FL07 KVG - bad white van driver alert
Wed, 05/09/2007 - 10:22 — David Goodwin
While cycling to work this morning on the Hewell Lane (along side the A448), some stupid van driver decided to get a little too close for comfort, and managed to knock my elbow with his wing mirror. There was no oncoming traffic, that I remember, so he had no excuse for not overtaking properly.
I gestured in an impolite manner at him as he drove off into the distance, but I doubt he would have seen me considering his left wing mirror was now folded in.
I'm annoyed that he didn't make any effort in slowing down (or overtake safely to start with).... and considering I heard (and felt) the knock of him hitting me over my ipod, he should have. Would he have stopped if he'd managed to make me fall off?
Which brings me back to an age-old question, on the road in question - should I cycle in the middle of the carriageway (3-4 feet from the curb), forcing traffic to overtake only when it's safe... Or should I cycle about 1-2 feet from the curb (where I normally am) which allows people to overtake even if there is oncoming traffic?
Over the last year (or so) of cycling along this road, this is now the second case where something's been hit (before it was another car) while I've been cycling along it. I've obviously seen numerous instances where people overtake on corners and the like, giving me barely enough room to move.
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Cycle Craft
I would strongly recommend reading Cyclecraft (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyclecraft-Complete-Enjoyable-Cycling-Children/dp/0117037400/)
Dammit - I was about to
Dammit - I was about to recommend CycleCraft - I'm on a cycling/commuting forum over at bikeradar.com and it's the recommended manual for cycling the roads. But to boil it down to just this situation, I believe the received wisdom is that:
1. When it is unsafe for drivers to pass _without_ pulling over into the other carriageway - for instance on narrow roads, or when approaching multi-laned junctions, you should adopt the "primary position" (namely in the middle of the carriageway)
2. If it is safe for overtaking within the carriageway, ie the carriage is quite wide, then you can adopt the secondary position (ie a couple of feet from the curb).
Note that you should also be riding far enough away from parked cars that opening doors shouldn't cause you to swerve. Also, cycle lanes can sometimes try to force you cycle in unsafe areas, and often mean that cars don't bother to pull out to overtake at all. Cycle lanes are not compulsory, and you should only use them where it is safe and convenient to do so.
HTH ;)
In this case, the road is a
In this case, the road is a normal B road - i.e. one lane in both direction with white dashes inbetween. There are corners and hills, so visibility isn't that good... however, the stretch of road concerned is about 1/2 a mile long, and at either end are 30 and 40mph zones.
It sounds like you're suggesting I move more into the middle of my carriageway, which is probably the only solution.
Pain.
David,
I must say that most drivers in the UK are blissfully ignorant of cyclists. I was knocked of my bike 8 years ago and broke my left femur and my arm - and luck to be alive. Only a year later, I was driving along my road, with cars parked on the kerb on the other side of the road. Instead of letting me drive past (on my side) an oncoming car decided to pull out - leaving about 4 feet gap between him and the cars on his side of the road, but unfortunately only 1 foot of road for me to cycle on. The only problem was that he managed to reduce the foot gap and I literally had to jump on my bike onto the verge (I was possibly slightly paranoid, but the driver had swerved towards me to go round the cars). It's a disgrace and drivers should be educated better. It's stopped me from cycling completely now - it's a great shame.
re pain
Thankfully for me, there are very, very few cars parked on the roads I cycle on.
I guess it all boils down to whether drivers should be re-tested every few years, which I think would be a good idea.... (but not exactly a vote winning proposal for a political party!).
Your iPod??
"I heard (and felt) the knock of him hitting me over my ipod"
You weren't being a naughty boy and listening to your iPod while biking along now were you?
yes, I cycle and listen to my ipod (shuffle)
Yes, guilty as charged.....
I get through quite a few podcasts in this approach (and also listening to it while running in the morning).
I'm not really sure why I _shouldn't_ or how it can be any different to a car/van driver listening to their in car|van radio.....
(It's not like I can easily look over my shoulder each time I hear a car come along, as doing so normally makes me swerve a little ... which is probably a bad thing if someone's thinking of overtaking).
Cycling with headphones in?
Hi,
Cycling with earphones in is not to be recommended. Your sense of hearing as a cyclist is a very useful extra sense that car/van drivers don't have/need.
Who knows maybe you would have heard the van suddenly revving higher and at least be a little more prepared for the overtake. Maybe he honked his horn?
Here's a story of a cyclist killed whilst listening to her ipod ( ok the source may not be that reliable but it makes a point ) http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16700518&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=killed-by-her-ipod--name_page.html
Unfortunately as cyclists we have to take more care and responsibility for our safety than perhaps other road users so anything that inhibits safety is not a good idea.
Also I think the point about cars and vans is that they are not supposed to use headphones either. They can have their radio turned up to block all outside noise but no earphones.
Regards,
Simon
van driver
yes i agree ,van drivers are complete dickeds,im going to shoot the next one that pisses me off.
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