Really close call

Dcully

So i came within a foot of disaster just 30 mins ago and it was partly my own fault.
Basically i was almost home from my spin coming into town on main road to Monasterevin when a woman came from a side road to my left [Kildangan/Athy road if anyone knows it], plenty of vision almost too much as most drivers myself included often take this in 2nd or 3rd gear and dont come to a stop such is the good vision.
This woman had no intention of stopping completely such was her speed ,i know this turn off so well so i was on the brakes when i saw her approaching,i thought she saw me so i came off the brakes as i was on main road and had right of way etc but as i kept an eye on her she didnt stop only to slam on the brakes no more than a foot from me,seriously it was too close.
I couldnt swerve out to avoid her because i heard a heavy vehicle coming behind me about to overtake me so for a split second it looked like she was going to plough into to me and smash up my already smashed up leg full of metal or worse drive me into the heavy vehicle i could hear behind about to overtake,scarey as hell for a few seconds.

I pulled in to stop straight away up a bit from the junction,at this stage she was still sitting there but eventually drove up beside me wound down the window and said i was very hard to see me as was dressed in black.
Hand on heart while she was in the wrong technically i feel i have to take some of the blame,i was in mostly black gear with white helmet,although i had a flashing red rear light it was of no use to me on this occasion,lesson learned as ill be wearing the high vis gear from now on.
I normally do but since the sun is shining i thought id wear gear i find more comfortable,that decision could have had serious consequences this morning.
To anyone considering going for comfort before high vis,dont! is my message.

ford2600

Dcully wrote: »

So i came within a foot of disaster just 30 mins ago and it was partly my own fault.
Basically i was almost home from my spin coming into town on main road to Monasterevin when a woman came from a side road to my left [Kildangan/Athy road if anyone knows it], plenty of vision almost too much as most drivers myself included often take this in 2nd or 3rd gear and dont come to a stop such is the good vision.
This woman had no intention of stopping completely such was her speed ,i know this turn off so well so i was on the brakes when i saw her approaching,i thought she saw me so i came off the brakes as i was on main road and had right of way etc but as i kept an eye on her she didnt stop only to slam on the brakes no more than a foot from me,seriously it was too close.
I couldnt swerve out to avoid her because i heard a heavy vehicle coming behind me about to overtake me so for a split second it looked like she was going to plough into to me and smash up my already smashed up leg full of metal or worse drive me into the heavy vehicle i could hear behind about to overtake,scarey as hell for a few seconds.

I pulled in to stop straight away up a bit from the junction,at this stage she was still sitting there but eventually drove up beside me wound down the window and said i was very hard to see me as was dressed in black.
Hand on heart while she was in the wrong technically i feel i have to take some of the blame,i was in mostly black gear with white helmet,although i had a flashing red rear light it was of no use to me on this occasion,lesson learned as ill be wearing the high vis gear from now on.
I normally do but since the sun is shining i thought id wear gear i find more comfortable,that decision could have had serious consequences this morning.
To anyone considering goign for comfort before high vis,dont! is my message.

Glad you escaped.

Flashing front light might help. Reflective gear won't do any harm but don't be expecting dramatic change in driver behaviour in similar situation

Most likely the reason she didn't see you was she wasn't looking for you. The human mind is a funny thing.

Have read TRL research paper on how ineffective lights on motorbike are in a similar scenario

ragazzo

Dcully wrote: »

So i came within a foot of disaster just 30 mins ago and it was partly my own fault.
Basically i was almost home from my spin coming into town on main road to Monasterevin when a woman came from a side road to my left [Kildangan/Athy road if anyone knows it], plenty of vision almost too much as most drivers myself included often take this in 2nd or 3rd gear and dont come to a stop such is the good vision.
This woman had no intention of stopping completely such was her speed ,i know this turn off so well so i was on the brakes when i saw her approaching,i thought she saw me so i came off the brakes as i was on main road and had right of way etc but as i kept an eye on her she didnt stop only to slam on the brakes no more than a foot from me,seriously it was too close.
I couldnt swerve out to avoid her because i heard a heavy vehicle coming behind me about to overtake me so for a split second it looked like she was going to plough into to me and smash up my already smashed up leg full of metal or worse drive me into the heavy vehicle i could hear behind about to overtake,scarey as hell for a few seconds.

I pulled in to stop straight away up a bit from the junction,at this stage she was still sitting there but eventually drove up beside me wound down the window and said i was very hard to see me as was dressed in black.
Hand on heart while she was in the wrong technically i feel i have to take some of the blame,i was in mostly black gear with white helmet,although i had a flashing red rear light it was of no use to me on this occasion,lesson learned as ill be wearing the high vis gear from now on.
I normally do but since the sun is shining i thought id wear gear i find more comfortable,that decision could have had serious consequences this morning.
To anyone considering going for comfort before high vis,dont! is my message.

If she couldn't see you from a few metres then it had nothing to do with the colour of your clothes.
She obviously did not see the heavy goods vehicle which was about to overtake you.
What colour was that?

Are you having a laugh?

Chips Lovell

99% of the time, "I didn't see you" = "I wasn't paying attention".

Most people instinctively attempt to avoid assuming blame. If you'd been wearing brighter colours she would have found another excuse.

ford2600

This is not paper I was thinking of but similar

AstraMonti

If she needs you to wear hi viz cloth in the middle of a sunny day to see you then she probably isn't fit enough for driving and you should have reported the incident to the gardai. Ridiculous excuses.

Dcully

ragazzo wrote: »

If she couldn't see you from a few metres then it had nothing to do with the colour of your clothes.
She obviously did not see the heavy goods vehicle which was about to overtake you.
What colour was that?

Are you having a laugh?

As if.

Im not sure how close the heavy vehicle was behind me but it sounded close, it was blue .

Dcully

AstraMonti wrote: »

If she needs you to wear hi viz cloth in the middle of a sunny day to see you then she probably isn't fit enough for driving and you should have reported the incident to the gardai. Ridiculous excuses.

I was tempted to report her as the gardai station is literally 20 yards up the road but i just wanted to get home and sit down.
Im sorry i didnt now.

quozl

If it was a bright day then you may even have been more visible in dark clothes than you would have been in bright yellow. All depends on what you're backgrounded against. That's been covered in a couple of papers out there too. In other words, I agree with the lads above about her just not looking in the right place.

jameshayes

Accident prevention & near miss reflection is a large part of motorcycling, great to hear a cyclist with the same mind-frame.

Chips Lovell

Dcully wrote: »

This woman had no intention of stopping completely such was her speed ,i know this turn off so well so i was on the brakes when i saw her approaching...

Looks like she was also at fault for blowing the Stop sign too.

ZiabR

Glad you are ok OP but from the sounds of your post, it had nothing to do with what you were wearing during the DAYLIGHT. It was that she was not paying attention to the road.

endacl

Dcully wrote: »

I was tempted to report her as the gardai station is literally 20 yards up the road but i just wanted to get home and sit down.
Im sorry i didnt now.

I can't imagine the statute of limitations has expired yet....?

ragazzo

Dcully wrote: »

As if.

Im not sure how close the heavy vehicle was behind me but it sounded close, it was blue .

In that case, congratulations on avoiding her and on your awareness of the impending situation.

Still nothing to do with your choice of clothing or colour of same.

lismore7

Having also had a close call recently, when a small coal lorry decided to overtake me on the apex of a hairpin bend and nearly crush me under his rear wheels as he cut the corner. He obviously saw me but didn't engage brain!!!!
And I was wearing hi vis waste jacket!!!
Sometimes drivers just don't take time to think or double check and if we are caught in their "blind spot", it makes no difference what we wear.
Since taking up cycling 2 years ago, I've discovered we must always be 1 step ahead and alert!...... Will that car pull out? Will that driver stop? Will that car door open just as I pass? is that car going to overtake me on a bend when another car could be coming opposite way???? etc etc

There will always be blind eejit drivers!
Just look at that poor cyclist in England on Saturday, doing a charity spin and got knocked down and killed by a drunk woman driver!!!
Still don't understand why he was cycling at 4am Saturday morning but it's still a sobering thought!!!!

Alf Veedersane

Always expect everyone else on the road to do the stupid thing that you hope they won't.

Safest way to be.

dave_o_brien

Facts
Driver approaches a stop sign at a too high a speed to properly assess the road. Does not stop and begins to move out. Nearly causes a collision with a cyclist and possibly a heavy goods vehicle of some sort. It is bright, sunny and the driver has very clear sightlines.

Conclusion

Cyclist was wearing the wrong colour clothes.

Fault

Cyclist. Obviously.

All joking aside, well done for being aware and responsive enough to take evasive action, but you shouldn't have had to. Your clothing colour is about as relevant as the brand and colour of your bike in making drivers like this one aware of their errors.

touts

I was at the back of our group cycle on Sunday. We were passing through a town and were going at an OK speed but slow enough to react if someone opened a door of a car etc. But we were all well in from the white line and a number of cars had passed us on the main street. At the end of the main street we came into a narrow street that extended for about 30 meters and while we should have probably gone single file at that point we were in it and would be through it before we could get single file sorted. After that street the street widened out again and cars would have no problem overtaking. Next thing I knew this car brushed past me (literally scraped my leg) and started to slowly tey and muscle it's way through the middle of the moving group between the two cyclists. For all the world it was like some guy trying to force his way through a crowd after a match etc except we were cycling. I pounded on his roof at which point he started swearing at me and shaking his fist. Were we in the wrong. Slightly because we were not in single file. But in reality even at single file he could not have got past us on that street as there were a couple of cars coming against us at that point. He was mainly in the wrong but believed as a driver he had a superior right to the road than a cyclist. It sounds like your woman had the same sort of attitude. Sadly many drivers do. Until the guards convict a few for dangerous driving and the media publicise these convictions drivers will not accept that they are only one of many users of the road.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Daylight or not, it's better to wear brighter or reflective clothing along with a front light.

It won't matter who's at fault if you're dead.

tony1980

I only started to cycle to work two weeks ago but I am shocked at some of the drivers out there. I drive myself so I think it helps when I am on the bike with what to look for but the last two mornings I had an issue with a car coming out on to the main road just completely ignored the fact I was there (There were no cars coming), so obviously I didn't matter to fu*k. The first morning, the girl in the car started waving out the window and giving out to me so she obviously hasn't a clue of the rules of the road and the second morning, the girl just broke in time, she obviously hadn't seen me in my big Orange Jacket and lights flashing around me!!

I just expect this now so I try to stick to the bike paths wherever I can and I am very cautious everywhere else!

McGrath5

It always irks me when a motorists uses the "I didn't see you" excuse, by saying that, they automatically remove all blame from themselves. :mad:

Cabaal

McGrath5 wrote: »

It always irks me when a motorists uses the "I didn't see you" excuse, by saying that, they automatically remove all blame from themselves. :mad:

They do it with other motorists as well in fairness,

I didn't see you...when refering to other cars, vans, trucks

Spotted this last week, the women pulled out infront and then reversed into a big white van without seeing it.... :rolleyes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6Mxf3WefY

cdaly_

McGrath5 wrote: »

It always irks me when a motorists uses the "I didn't see you" excuse, by saying that, they automatically remove all blame from themselves. :mad:

It would be so nice if legislation was passed to the effect that any variation on "I didn't see you" is to be interpreted by the courts as an admission of liability. That'd make a huge difference in the attention paid on the road...

Chips Lovell

Has it ever been tested in court, i.e. is it possible that it could already be regarded as an admission of liability?

ford2600

cdaly_ wrote: »

It would be so nice if legislation was passed to the effect that any variation on "I didn't see you" is to be interpreted by the courts as an admission of liability. That'd make a huge difference in the attention paid on the road...

Believe me when I say nothing makes an Insurance investigator cringe than reading "I didn't see" or "he came out of nowhere"

nilhg

DCully, the mistake you made was not turning left and giving Moore Abbey hill a good go......


Seriously though I know the junction well and can understand how the incident (almost) happened, I'll even admit that there have been times that coming off Moore Abbey hill on the bike I did more of a yield than a full stop there myself.

One of the first things that I learned in situations like that is to try and make eye contact with the driver, if I don't get some sort of an acknowledgement of my presence I'll be treating them like a weapon pointed in my direction and taking evasive action.

Glad you're OK, don't let it put you off.

cdaly_

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Has it ever been tested in court, i.e. is it possible that it could already be regarded as an admission of liability?

I don't know if is regarded as such but you hear of it being used as a mitigating factor. Having it in legislation would mean that the court would be obliged to regard it as admission of fault.

bcmf

Glad you didnt come to grief. The 'I didnt see you because of whatever....' simply doesnt cut it during daylight when in charge of a car. If she didnt see you she didnt look hard enough.
During the night/dusk/dawn however is a different story.
I however wasnt so lucky last October. How the fook she didnt see me I dont know but thankfully the van driver right behind saw me otherwise he would have run straight over me.

bambergbike

You obviously couldn't swerve out suddenly into the path of the HGV right at the junction, but could you have positioned yourself squarely in front of the HGV well before the junction while the HGV driver was still far enough back to see you properly? There are a few junctions where cars are so likely to "look and not see" before they come shooting out that I will only transit those junctions in a position very close to the white centre line.

Last year I found myself a front-seat passenger in a jeep explaining to the driver why I don't like cycle paths much. I said that they often made it impossible to adopt road positioning that left me with time and space to react if a driver coming out of a side road and failed to see me, and that the latter was especially likely in the case of two-way cycle paths that leave me effectively cycling across the mouth of dangerous junctions on the wrong side of the road. As we were talking, the driver of the jeep smoothly moved two metres closer to the centre line of the road so that there wouldn't be a collision if a white van driver who was about to pull out from a side road didn't bother stopping and looking properly. And I thought, well, if she's going to take evasive action because she thinks her great big jeep is invisible, why is she so puzzled that I want to have space and time to take evasive action if somebody doesn't see me on my little bike? Hi-viz or no hi-viz.

bambergbike

tony1980 wrote: »

I only started to cycle to work two weeks ago but I am shocked at some of the drivers out there. [...]
I just expect this now so I try to stick to the bike paths wherever I can and I am very cautious everywhere else!

If the bike paths let you skip junctions altogether so that motorists don't need to see you to avoid hitting you that might be a viable strategy. But be super-careful when you're using bike paths that cross roads - the bike path is often the last place motorists coming out of side roads will think to check for approaching (bike) traffic, and if you approach a junction on a raised path on the extreme left of the road, it can be very hard to move out far enough from there to get round cars that come out too far or too fast at side roads. If you're already in the middle of the traffic lane deterring overtakes as you pass a dangerous junction, you shouldn't end up getting squashed between a car coming out and another car overtaking you.