Cyclists joining the road without looking

BYTEr

BYTEr

BYTEr

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2 Oct 2004
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Does anyone else experience this? Where a cyclist wanting to turn left comes up to a junction or roundabout and instead of stopping, looking and waiting for a gap just joins without ever looking to their right

Its not normally a problem as they tend to stick to the kerb and most of the time your not driving right next to the curb but if I was a cyclist I'd never be confident (stupid?) enough to join a new road without as much as looking to my right.
 
See stuff like that all the time, straight through red lights etc. It's like everything though, you get your good and your bad. It's just you notice when someone does something you deem to be stupid.
 
It doesn't bother me if they're close to the curb, ultimately they're vulnerable road users, and should be more careful, but that said, if they want to put themselves in a more vulnerable position it's their choice but will give them a wide berth. If they continue to be careless like that they'll end up getting injured or worse :(

I have been run into a few times by cyclists as a pedestrian who decided to not give pedestrians the priority - so it works both ways.
 
Yup, see it all the time. Along with the ones which hop on/off the kerb without so much as a backwards glance to make sure they're not about to hop into the path of a bus/HGV...

Of course if you happen to hit them when they're doing it, it's your fault... :rolleyes:
 
If you hit them regardless of fault it's going to hurt them a lot more than you... doesn't make it right of course, but let's not forget that this is someone's life we're talking about.

I accept and admit they should be taking more care of their own lives if they decide to take these sort of risks.
 
I don't cycle these days but remember having much better peripheral vision - you can almost see behind yourself when your head is down if you swivel your eyeballs and your ears will corroborate. You don't get any of this in a car.
 
Unfortunatly, this is one of the reasons why I now carry a dashcam in the car. Far too many times I've had cyclists just pull out of junctions straight into my path or swerve right in front of my path to turn right without any prior indication. Touch wood haven't had anything major happen, but I know without any proof to back myself up I'd be seen as the one causing the incident.
 
Freefaller said:
If you hit them regardless of fault it's going to hurt them a lot more than you... doesn't make it right of course, but let's not forget that this is someone's life we're talking about.
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Oh I agree completely, but I hardly think it's fair that if a cyclist decides to come bombing out of a side road 1m ahead of you when you have no visibility, and you hit them, you're seen as the one at fault.

It seems like this knowledge makes the cyclists* feel like they have some sort of immunity, somehow forgetting the fact that getting hit by 1-2 tonnes of metal at 30+ mph is going to hurt a bit, regardless of who's "fault" it is :(

snapdragon69 said:
I don't cycle these days but remember having much better peripheral vision - you can almost see behind yourself when your head is down if you swivel your eyeballs and your ears will corroborate. You don't get any of this in a car.
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The cyclists which do this also seem to be the ones wearing headphones...

* Not by any means saying all cyclists do this, the majority don't, but you never remember the ones who ride sensibly :p
 
I Beeped my horn at a cyclist today, They decided to undertake me and jump a red light.

Good on them for actually stopping and walking the bike back to the line and waiting for the green light. She had a nice.... Bike.
 
Nearly flattened a Polish bloke who just came off the pavement into the middle of the road while carrying his dinner from the chippy, I got called a **** for my troubles too.
 
Yeah I see this a lot. Few examples

1 driving into work, cyclist pulled straight out on a roundabout, I could not move any further right was a few cm from taking the guy out. Get to work and its a guy I work with who comes and has a go at me for nearly hitting him . . . . .

2 cyclists don't seem to think red lights apply to them. While I was walking over a crossing, green light for me to walk, had a cyclist come over the crossing shouting get out the way stupid do you want to get it.

3 seen cyclists go over red lights with police sitting at the same lights. The police do nothing.

4 I've lost count the number of times cyclists have tried to squeeze past me on the left while sitting at lights and bang on the car because there isn't enough room for them to get past. Usually the more serious cyclists seem to do this. The ones in the full gear and £2000+ road bikes.

Not all cyclists. I cycle in summer on dry days. But some just seem to think they are immortal.
 
I always stop and look at junctions when I'm on the bike. It's just plain stupid not to. Oddly I definitely notice more motorists just pulling out at junctions than I do cyclists when I'm in the car.
Some days I honestly think my car has an invisibility drive built in.
 
All the time, they also mount the pavement whenever they like and force you as a pedestrian to go onto the road to avoid getting hit by them.
 
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