My first cycle didn't go to well!!

exercise is the antidote

Hey, only just started cycling, and this morning I had a lucky escape. I was coming up to a junction and I had right of way as I was on the road, and a car was pulling out, I presumed he seen me as he slowed down to a near stop and looked my direction, anyway he pulled out on top of me and hit me.

I'm just wondering is this common occurance for cyclists ? I had HI-vis on.

I thought my bike was fine but on closer inspection the back wheel is buckled . And few scratches on frame but am not to worried about that.

Maximus Alexander

I wouldn't say common, but it's certainly not as rare as it ought to be. Just remember that you're squishy on a bike and right of way won't change that, so always be extra careful. Also, motorists often drive on auto-pilot and won't see you, especially in the morning.

I've been fortunate enough not to have any accidents involving cars on the bike in Dublin (thought I had a nasty one with a pedestrian), but I have had a few very near misses where I could have been in trouble had I not been very alert. Take care out there.

BeerNut

Sorry to hear you got hit. I hope it doesn't put you off cycling.

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

I presumed he seen me as he slowed down to a near stop and looked my direction

Your best bet in that situation is to make eye contact: slow down, assume he's going to pull out, but keep your gaze fixed on his face the whole time.

No Pants

I assume the driver is repairing your bike OP.

eeeee

I hope your ok OP, it's a horrible thing to happen

Have you reported it? If not you should. Also did you get details of the person who hit you? To cover cost of bike repairs and medical bills for yourself.

I didn't when I got hit, and I regret it ever since. I lost my memory for 2 weeks though, this would have hampered my case somewhat I'm sure.

On a serious note though, look after yourself, it's a horrible shock. And do report it.

Harry Angstrom

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Hey, only just started cycling, and this morning I had a lucky escape. I was coming up to a junction and I had right of way as I was on the road, and a car was pulling out, I presumed he seen me as he slowed down to a near stop and looked my direction, anyway he pulled out on top of me and hit me.

I'm just wondering is this common occurance for cyclists ? I had HI-vis on.

I thought my bike was fine but on closer inspection the back wheel is buckled . And few scratches on frame but am not to worried about that.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the cyclist. You'll find that this sort of thing happens frequently when you start cycling regularly. My theory is this:
The motorist sees you, he/she slows down. Then he/she becomes impatient because he/she is losing a precious second or two of his/her day so he/she decides he/she has got enough time to pull out before you pass him/her. By the time they come to this decision, the cyclist is already too close to them and the inevitable happens.

Danjamin1

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Welcome to the wonderful world of the cyclist. You'll find that this sort of thing happens frequently when you start cycling regularly. My theory is this:
The motorist sees you, he/she slows down. Then he/she becomes impatient because he/she is losing a precious second or two of his/her day so he/she decides he/she has got enough time to pull out before you pass him/her. By the time they come to this decision, the cyclist is already too close to them and the inevitable happens.

I honestly wouldn't say it's frequent in my experience, but as above it's more regular than it should be. Don't let it put you off, just try and anticipate the driver doing the obvious thing NOT to do and you'll be fine.

Danjamin1

Also the back wheel buckle should be easy enough for a LBS to fix if it's not too bad, probably about €15-€20 or so to get it done.

helimachoptor

Frankly in those situations i always assume the motorist is going to do the dumbest thing possible and i make my decision based on that assumption

Tenzor07

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

• I had right of way as I was on the road.
• I presumed he seen me
• I'm just wondering is this common occurance for cyclists ?
• I had HI-vis on

.

Welcome to the world of cycling on the roads...

To address the above...

Legally you may have had "right of way", never assume that this will protect you from a collision.

Always make eye contact with the driver, never presume.

Yes.

Hi-vis won't protect you from assuming someone in a car has seen you. Drivers eyes are not practiced in spotting cyclists.

Danjamin1

I find cycling has made me a better driver, I'm more aware of what to look out for, and I know what it's like from both sides so i take that in to consideration when either cycling or driving.

A lot of motorists are not cyclists and vice versa so you'll have your share of incidents, just try and be as aware as you can be and try to anticipate the worst.

check_six

helimachoptor wrote: »

Frankly in those situations i always assume the motorist is going to do the dumbest thing possible and i make my decision based on that assumption

I follow this philosophy pretty rigidly. Happily, I do get regularly amazed and delighted when someone does the sensible thing rather than something stupid.

I don't tend to dwell on this, though, as I begin to despair for humanity a bit!

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Welcome to the wonderful world of the cyclist. You'll find that this sort of thing happens frequently when you start cycling regularly. My theory is this:
The motorist sees you, he/she slows down. Then he/she becomes impatient because he/she is losing a precious second or two of his/her day so he/she decides he/she has got enough time to pull out before you pass him/her. By the time they come to this decision, the cyclist is already too close to them and the inevitable happens.

"Me at junction. Me look."

"Hmm, me see car. Car has wheels. Car move. Me wait."

"Now me see cycle-man. Man only has legs. Man will not move. Man part of pretty scenery. Me go."

*Bang*

"Hmm. Why scenery-man make shouty screamy noises?"

The (scary) thing is that the person pulling out *does* see you. It's just that they don't perceive you as a moving part of traffic. They just see you as static background colour. They know how to gauge the speed of an oncoming car, but they just don't bother to gauge the speed of a cyclist. They probably rationalise any accident by blaming the cyclist for speeding up (from the 0kph they thought they were going at).

The Novacastrian

As others have said, make eye contact, for me it is one of the most important aspects for me to keep safe. Family and friends always ask me 'am I afraid' or 'is it dangerous'? I say yes, but I try and reduce the dangers as much as possible by:
wearing hi vis (contentious issue here)
using lights
making eye contact with drivers
constantly looking over my shoulder
Look at wheels of cars, if they start to move/ turn towards you, take action
my arm is not a 'right of way', it just signals my intent to turn
acknowledging drivers that were aware of my presence - a simple wave
understanding that if I hit a pedestrian or other cyclist it will not only ruin his day, possibly life, but also ruin mine
I am much smaller than a motorcycle, car, van, truck, Luas, etc so I aint gonna take 'em on!

There are more but thats all I can think of right now. Also, sorry to hear about your accident, I hope it doesn't put you off.

ZiabR

Did you get the Reg of the car and report it?

Zen0

I've been cycling through Dublin city centre for 34 years. I had a couple of collisions in the early days. I have not had one in about 30 years. It is possible to cycle safely in the city, but it is completely in your hands. You need to cycle defensively, and never rely on other road users.

Don't let this put you off. Cycling is one of the most rewarding activitiesyou can do.

07Lapierre

The Laws if Physics always outweight the rules of the road.

thejaguar

Sorry to hear about your accident OP. I hope the driver is going to cover any repairs you need.

A few people have said this already, if you want to avoid these type of things you need to stay alert and treat every situation as if the worst is going to happen.

Every once in a while you should blatantly break a red light though - we don't want people getting the idea that cyclists are responsible road users.

Alek

It is possible to cycle safely in the city, but it is completely in your hands.

Quite controversial statement.

Valentine1

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Hey, only just started cycling, and this morning I had a lucky escape. I was coming up to a junction and I had right of way as I was on the road, and a car was pulling out, I presumed he seen me as he slowed down to a near stop and looked my direction, anyway he pulled out on top of me and hit me.

I'm just wondering is this common occurance for cyclists ? I had HI-vis on.

I thought my bike was fine but on closer inspection the back wheel is buckled . And few scratches on frame but am not to worried about that.

Have had the same experience a number of times but have been lucky enough to avoid contact. Many motorists do only a very quick look sweeping either side before pulling out, doing so means they won't see cyclists and motorcyclists. I find a good shout at the driver as they begin to pull out usually gets their attention.

AdMMM

goslie wrote: »

As others have said, make eye contact, for me it is one of the most important aspects for me to keep safe. Family and friends always ask me 'am I afraid' or 'is it dangerous'? I say yes, but I try and reduce the dangers as much as possible by:
wearing hi vis (contentious issue here)
using lights
making eye contact with drivers
constantly looking over my shoulder
Look at wheels of cars, if they start to move/ turn towards you, take action
my arm is not a 'right of way', it just signals my intent to turn
acknowledging drivers that were aware of my presence - a simple wave
understanding that if I hit a pedestrian or other cyclist it will not only ruin his day, possibly life, but also ruin mine
I am much smaller than a motorcycle, car, van, truck, Luas, etc so I aint gonna take 'em on!

There are more but thats all I can think of right now. Also, sorry to hear about your accident, I hope it doesn't put you off.

I'd agree with pretty much all of this, in particular the little wave to acknowledge a motorist waiting for you to go past.

Although just for clarification I assume that by constantly looking over your shoulder, you mean whenever you're about to deviate from your present course?

The Novacastrian

AdMMM wrote: »

Although just for clarification I assume that by constantly looking over your shoulder, you mean whenever you're about to deviate from your present course?

Yes, possibly should have said looking over shoulder as required, changing course, etc.

seamus

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

I presumed he seen me as he slowed down to a near stop and looked my direction, anyway he pulled out on top of me and hit me.

There's your mistake; presumption.

I believe if you've never really done much cycling on the roads growing up (i.e. if you didn't cycle much after the ages of 14/15), and you're coming from a car onto a bicycle, there are a lot of things about road behaviour that will surprise you.

The unwritten rule for cyclists is pretty much the same as the one for motorcyclists:

- Ride like you're invisible

That's not something to aspire to, it's mantra to tell yourself. The only assumption you can make is that nobody has seen you, and is going to act like they haven't.
OK, so to a certain extent that's not true, otherwise you would stop at every junction and wait for traffic to clear. But you need to assume, until you have passed a vehicle or it has passed you, that it has the potential to jump in front of you.

The hows and whys and WTFs can be debated until the cows come home. The majority of drivers are not malicious towards cyclists, they're just human and humans make mistakes. It's rarely a matter of "**** this cyclist, I'm going to pull out in front of him", but more likely plain old stupidiy.
Studies also suggest that there's a cognitive biase that comes into play on the roads too; people tend to only watch out for things which pose a threat to them, i.e. motor vehicles. Bicycles, pedestrians and even motorcycles don't register in peoples', "List of things I need to watch out for".
So when the pattern-recognition engine in someone's brain is processing what they're seeing when they look down the road, they "don't see" the cyclist or motorcyclist because that's not in the list of things their brain is looking for. So they pull out, and bam. SMIDSY.

It's also always worth remembering the mantra that it's better to be pissed off and alive, than in the right and dead. That is, don't aggressively defend your right-of-way. In a car you can get away with this more because if an accident happens, you usually only get some twisted metal and the other guy pays out.
On a bike, you're soft and squishy. A €500,000 payout from the driver's insurance company won't make it any easier for your family to bury you in the ground.
If you think someone is going to violate your right-of-way, let them. If they're a real asshole about it, you can always report them.

Zen0

Alek wrote: »

Quite controversial statement.

That's my experience, in over 30 years of cycling. That's not to say that I don't come across appalling behaviour from both drivers and cyclists on a regular basis. I don't like that behaviour, but I have defensive cycling strategies to deal with it. It's always possible somebody will plough over me from behind, but that's not where I see most of the risk. Are there particular situations where you don't believe you can control the risk, and if so, why do you cycle?

Jabel

As others have said, cycle defensively, control what you can control...and don't wear earphones!

OOPS, You done it again Mr.Magoo

Alek

Are there particular situations where you don't believe you can control the risk, and if so, why do you cycle?

I've hit a left turning driver once, I was on a cycle path and she crossed it just in front of me. I could not predict this as she did not use the indicators until the last moment and braking hard only slowed me enough to survive this. She said she saw me, but wasn't expecting I was that close / fast.

Most dangerous road situation are unpredicted by at least one involved party and you cannot control something you're unaware of or if you have no time to react. Like being hit from behind.

LennoxR

Three things should keep you safe (not high viz by the the way).

1. Be assertive. I suspect you hesitated when you saw the car, making him think you were letting him out.

2. Make eye contact while being assertive. Stare into his face to make sure he sees you.

3. Presume the worst. If it looks like he might be about to do something stupid then he probably is. This doesn't necessarily conflict with points one and two. Stare harder into his eyes, keep going where you're going but also prepare to brake sharply and/or take evasive action if needs be.

# 3 and 1/2, don't do stupid things like run red lights at a junction but if you do ever do this do it assertively so that everyone sees what you are doing and doesn't run you over while you're doing it.

Bloggsie

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Hey, only just started cycling, and this morning I had a lucky escape. I was coming up to a junction and I had right of way as I was on the road, and a car was pulling out, I presumed he seen me as he slowed down to a near stop and looked my direction, anyway he pulled out on top of me and hit me.

I'm just wondering is this common occurance for cyclists ? I had HI-vis on.

I thought my bike was fine but on closer inspection the back wheel is buckled . And few scratches on frame but am not to worried about that.

the 1st rule to follow never assume that they(motorists, pedestrians) have seen you, when I first started I was nervous in heavy traffic due an issue a number of years ago with an 40 ft lorry flying along the Rock Road in Dublin. You could be lit up like a firecracker as some numpty will step out/drive out in front & you'll get the "oh i never saw you" line.

Be careful, but be positive.

check_six

LennoxR wrote: »

2. Make eye contact while being assertive. Stare into his face to make sure he sees you.

Glowering at a driver nudging out into your lane from a side road can work and be effective.

However, one thing to bear in mind, if you make eye-contact with a pedestrian (or salmon cyclist) they will take it as a signal that you are letting them out in front of you.

So make sure you develop a thousand yard stare while passing pedestrians waiting to cross the road. A glance in their direction will set them off, and you will have to brake and manoeuver very suddenly indeed to avoid an accident.

mistermatthew

I often move out to the centre of the lane coming to junctions also, as often if you're close to the kerb the driver may not notice you as you're not where they normally see vehicles.
I also think this is important coming to traffic islands to discourage cars overtaking between you and the island.
Its important to control the road at danger points and then be courteous when not at these dangerous points.

monument

Zen0 wrote: »

Are there particular situations where you don't believe you can control the risk...

Yes, there are.

Zen0 wrote: »

...and if so, why do you cycle?

Because the benefits outweigh the risks. I viewed this to be the case before having solid backing to prove such.

exercise is the antidote

Thanks for the support folks!!


I was un injured so I was happy enough to cycle away but I didn't see that the wheel was buckled until I got home so I never mentioned it to him.I know him to see him, he lives in my area! Should I mention it to him now?!

Edit: I didn't report it folks and don't plan on reporting it.. Feck it it was just a simple mistake. He got more of a fright than me I think.

Zen0

I'm not convinced there are too many situations where you can't control the risk. In the example quoted above, you can never assume that cars in the lane to your right aren't going to swing or veer left. They do it all the time on me, but my speed and road positioning make allowances for that possibility. A good shout also helps in these situations. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've been lucky for over 30 years now, so I'm going to keep doing what I have been doing.

No Pants

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Thanks for the support folks!!


I was un injured so I was happy enough to cycle away but I didn't see that the wheel was buckled until I got home so I never mentioned it to him.I know him to see him, he lives in my area! Should I mention it to him now?!

Yes. Take a quick look at his car insurance too while you're at it in case he doesn't play ball.

CramCycle

AdMMM wrote: »

Although just for clarification I assume that by constantly looking over your shoulder, you mean whenever you're about to deviate from your present course?

I would recommend looking over your shoulder as often as you would glance at your rear view mirrors in a car. You have to be aware of changing circumstances behind you for a variety of reasons even if it doesn't seem intuitive.

elmer

I'd a crash today involving a car overtaking me and then turning left accross the bike lane shortly after(with the indicator on of course ). I'd have to say if I had more sternly presumed the driver was going to do what she did I could have been unscathed from the incident.

I would certainly now agree with the logic of assuming the driver may/will make the worst possible decision in any given situation.

Danjamin1

elmer wrote: »

I'd a crash today involving a car overtaking me and then turning left accross the bike lane shortly after(with the indicator on of course ). I'd have to say if I had more sternly presumed the driver was going to do what she did I could have been unscathed from the incident.

I would certainly now agree with the logic of assuming the driver may/will make the worst possible decision in any given situation.

Standard left hook, take the lane to avoid future occurences