Near misses - mod warning 22/04 - see OP/post 822

p15574 wrote: »

I feckin' hate when they do that. It's like you don't count, because you're on a bike, therefore you have to yield to their might

Not only that, when they do pull out they always seem to just dawdle along. Put the foot down!

Interesting commute home this evening from Tara street to west dublin.

Pulled out of my office at about 6.45 - always anxious to use the bus lane on the quays before private motorists have a free for all. Anyway went like this

BMW no 1 - 5 series

Obviously aggrieved by my cheek in filtering left while he was stuck at a red, proceeded to bully me all the way up poolbeg st to the quays lots of revving. Used the bus lane then muscled In at the advance bike stop at O’connell bridge. Proceeds up the bus lane, tailgating me and fellow cyclists, then weaves in and out of the traffic and bus land in an effort to gain a few seconds. Passed him stuck at a red further on. Quick head shake at him. A well.

BMW no 2 - x5

Can You are a pattern here? Anyway I was now in Castleknock and came upon this guy parked across the bike advance box and ped crossing at the Filling station in Castleknock. I filed left and of course he couldn’t let it go without close passing me at well in Excess of the 50 kph limit. As he passed me, he did the same to a cyclist in front of me at the roundabout just before the m50 flyover. Passed him within inches despite no traffic coming the other way. Lots of verbal abuse from our x5 driver, who slowed and swerved in front of the cyclist. I witnessed the whole thing - pretty ugly.

He (the cyclist) was visibly shaking and trembling when I got to him. Swapped details and said I’m happy to go as a witness if he reports. Also swapped email address and said I will forward my rear facing camera footage which demonstrated the scummy carry on me by mister x5. Would have missed his own particular encounter as I have a rear facing camera only.

Some absolute scum bags on the roads these days

buffalo wrote: »

There's a small fortune to be made standing on that bridge pulling in drivers taking that left turn.

When are you going to admit that you're exaggerating this issue;


https://streamable.com/ua5v2


The last guy in the Beamer was holding his phone up to mouth for a hands-free call, just to cap it off.

amcalester wrote: »

Doesn’t take a genius to see what the common denominator is, it’s you.

Hah yeah. Using the roads reserved for bmw drivers. The cheek of it

Deleted User wrote: »

I always find it amusing to see the old clapped out ones driven by people who are only driving them because it's a BMW they can afford and not because it was the best car they could have got for the money

Give me and odd numbered model Audi any day of the week.

Ah here, I wouldn't be championing buying an Audi in the middle of a discussion about ignorant self-entitled driving

Eamonnator wrote: »

I used be a BMW driver, but I'm all right now

The clinic helped you?

Coming up through Swords Main St this afternoon, this lady in a jeep pulls out across my path while I'm doing about 30kph. I let an almighty roar and probably some expletives that had several people looking around.

While I struggled to stop my bike fishtailing all over the place, she carried on her merry way to stop at the lights 50 yards up.

I pulled up and knocked on her passenger window, said "Did you not see me Madam?" She just shakes her head blankly and says "I didnt see you". I told her she very nearly took me out. She didnt even seem aware of the crash she had nearly caused by her lack of attention.

Anyway, I just asked if she could pay more attention next time and rode off. What else can you say ?

Went for a spin out to the parents in Enfield - cycling both ways on the Maynooth/Dunboyne road had so many close passes around all those nasty bends, a few overtakes were dangerously close to oncoming traffic, one to the point where the other car had to stop and pull in to avoid them, had me F'ing and blinding for the first time since I started cycling, couldn't believe it, it was like watching attempts at natural selection all for the sake of a couple seconds saved.

Think I'll try to avoid the road as much as I can in the future, has me left a bit shook tbh.

Really hope none of the drivers ever have to look someone in the eye and explain that they maimed/killed a loved one all because they wanted to shave a couple seconds off their journey.

Emmet Chubby Memory wrote: »

Similar experience in swords recently. "I didn't see you", followed by "I gave you plenty of space" and finishing with "why don't you use the path" :rolleyes:

Duckjob wrote: »

Coming up through Swords Main St this afternoon, this lady in a jeep pulls out across my path while I'm doing about 30kph. I let an almighty roar and probably some expletives that had several people looking around.

While I struggled to stop my bike fishtailing all over the place, she carried on her merry way to stop at the lights 50 yards up.

I pulled up and knocked on her passenger window, said "Did you not see me Madam?" She just shakes her head blankly and says "I didnt see you". I told her she very nearly took me out. She didnt even seem aware of the crash she had nearly caused by her lack of attention.

Anyway, I just asked if she could pay more attention next time and rode off. What else can you say ?

Must be something in the water this week. I was coming past Swords Business campus heading towards Applewood yesterday and taking the lane as it's a poxy little stretch for close passes. Can feel a car starting to creep past me, not too close but not ideal. Turned to give the driver the aul "Ah come on pal" look only to see her already staring at me like ive 10 heads. She completes the overtake and next thing her hand comes out the window and gives me the middle finger. Caught up to her less than 50 meters down the road at the red light she was racing too. Amazingly she was not so brave when we were face to face. Only a young one so no shouting or anything from me. More bizzare than dangerous.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/slow-cyclists-more-likely-to-be-involved-in-accidents-on-the-roads-a3145856.html

Cycling slowly increases the risk of being involved in an accident by three-fold, research has found.
A study by the University of Westminster found that faster riders were treated with more respect by drivers and were overtaken less frequently.
But slower cyclists were found to be more vulnerable to near-misses. Riders travelling at 8mph or below were found to be involved in a higher number of traffic incidents than those cycling at 12mph or above.
Women were found to be more likely to be involved in crashes than men, in part due to lower average speeds of cycling.

This is why protected, separated cycling infrastructure is the only sensible way to go. If he'd risk hitting his skirts on nasty metal bollards or a kerb, he wouldn't be at this.

Also: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bike-lane-cycling-road-safety-driver-deaths-fatalities-a8934841.html

Bike lanes save lives of drivers as well as cyclists, study finds
Cars slow down and those behind wheel are more aware of surroundings in areas with good cycling infrastructure, research reveals
Installing protected bike lanes reduces deaths not only for cyclists but for drivers too, a major study of road safety has found.
Researchers noted that in cities which invested in high-quality protected space for bikes, there was a dramatic reduction in fatalities among all road users.
Drivers were more aware of their surroundings and more willing to slow down in areas that had extensive cycling infrastructure, the report from the University of Colorado Denver and the University of New Mexico found.
(snip)
Researchers looked at road fatality rates in 12 large US cities with high rates of cycling. In Portland, Oregon, they found that as the number of people using a bike to get around rose from 1.2 per cent to 6 per cent between 1990 and 2010, the road fatality rate dropped by 75 per cent.
With added bike lanes, fatal crash rates dropped in Seattle (by 61 per cent), San Francisco (by 49 per cent), Denver (by 40 per cent) and Chicago (by 38 per cent).