Cyclists and lorries on rural roads...

The truck driver was speeding and veered at the cyclist. Criminal negligence or attempted murder take your pick
The cyclist broke no rules, not ideal to be out so far though but that is NO EXCUSE for blaming him, if there was an incident the responsibility lies with the truck driver 100%

First, Mr lorry driver is a raving psychopath. Anyone who makes a conscious decision to ride 40 tonnes of metal that close and at that speed to any other road user, let alone an unprotected one, needs to have their licence posted to the moon.

When I saw the article I didn't realise at first that the cyclist had another cyclist inside, but lets forget that for a moment and focus on cyclist road position in general-

There seems to be a wide spread belief among motorists that cyclists should be over at the edge because that's the "safest place". Sorry to say, but this premise is rooted in complete (but understandable if you don't cycle) ignorance of realities of cycling in Ireland.

For anyone that's genuinely interested in gaining a better understanding about cycling - here follows a genuine 1st person explanation of why cyclists often ride further out in a lane like this:

Once upon a time, I would have ridden narrow roads like this, on the yellow verge line, even with hedges right beside the line.

Being a good little cyclist. Out of the way of traffic. I should be good and safe there right?

Nope.

Many times I could easily meet Mr Psycho lorry driver or one of his cousins coming from behind me in the same direction, who with traffic passing from the other way would still insist on thundering through the gap between me and the oncoming traffic.

I am now left with nowhere to go to on my left (the very edge of the road), and 40 tonnes of lorry thundering past my right shoulder. As it passes I can feel the suck of air pulling me towards the lorries wheels and I spend a few seconds genuinely visualising my wife and kids crying at my funeral in a couple of days time.

So now, after enduring and surviving that terrifying experience a couple of times, I decide now that if I'm on a road like that, traffic needs to pass me like a car - ie. the opposite lane needs to be fully clear and traffic needs to cross over into it to pass me. If its not clear, the cars need to wait - just like they would for a tractor or a slow car.

And you know what? It works - it may sound counter intuitive but it's a lot safer. What's more - I know in advance the good drivers from the bad ones. The good ones, who would have waited to make a good safe overtake are just as happy to wait as they would have done before. If I get an angry honk behind me, I know it's one of the bad drivers that would have probably have squeezed through and put me in that life threatening situation.

Occasionally one of those bad drivers passes and skims past me to "teach me a lesson", but even then, at least I have space on my left to get away from them if the pass is uncomfortably close/fast.

Of course, In discussing relative safety of road position, it must be said that meeting a psychopath like that lorry driver, and all bets are off - you take whatever evasive action is necessary to preserve your life.

We all put our lives in the hands of other drivers not to kill us every day, although car drivers generally have the luxury of not being driven at in this fashion.

Our only means of beating psychopaths like this on our roads is, as a society to call them out for being psychopaths and point the blame squarely at them for creating hugely dangerous situations that don't have to be on our roads If, instead of doing this , we instead continue to focus our attention to the near victims of these crazy people, then those psychopaths continue unchecked in their actions.

donvito99 wrote: »

Is there a code or marker on the back of your full drivers licence which indicates that you are a spa?

Yeah. It says the very same as yours 101

You nearly get run off the road by a negligent driver, and and the lads on boards.ie start labelling you a snowflake

How anyone can spin this as anything but crap driving by someone earning his living as a driver is nothing short of phenomenal

[Deleted User] wrote: »

And this is exactly why that hideous term 'snowflake' became a thing. I drive every day. Almost every day I avoid a situation that could become an accident. I don't try to label other road users as attempted murderers - why? Because I'm not a hysterical fool.

Funny you are replying like a hysterical fool. You can only imagine what that was like if you were the cyclist.........he literally thought he was dead.....I think hysterics are the least that can be expected. Until we change our very stupid attitude that driving like that isn't criminal the roads will remain unsafe and many will not cycle. He was going too fast, was out of control and nearly killed a cyclist....I'm getting hysterical that anyone thinks at any level this was OK.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Take a deep breath. Then please, for the sake of other road users, don't venture out on the roads ever again. We all need to stay calm out there. It's a very dangerous place.

You wouldn't be calm if you were in that situation. Please do not be so blasee with other people's lives. You are absoloutely right though we all need to calm down it's dangerous.

Deleted User wrote: »

In the ditch, like beside the road.

There's nothing on the road.



So why did the driver not just slow down?

V8 Interceptor wrote: »

Cyclist was an arrogant moron on a suicide mission in that clip.

The fact that a driver driving a 40 tonne vehicle invaded the other side of the road at high speed to drive inches past an unprotected road user doesn't even raise an eyebrow, no?

gctest50 wrote: »

DaveyDave wrote: »

They weren't actually cycling two abreast, but people will still give out about them cycling two abreast.
........

They were

And? Cyclists are *always* allowed cycle two abreast, and 3 if overtaking another. Sometimes, when it's safe to do so (for them) they single out to allow *other* traffic (cyclists being traffic themselves, of course) which may have built behind, to pass by. Like an observant farmer in a tractor, or perhaps a campervan or caravan may likewise do - when it's safe to do so.

There is no obligation on anyone to pull over to facilitate passing, certainly not when it is dangerous.