Cyclists in the inside lane

JQ.

From the sounds of it, cyclist is in inside lane overtaking parked cars and OP's brother turns left from the outside lane across the cyclist. Brother is in the wrong. With regard to cyclist's reaction you have to understand that what your brother considers is a minor error, could result in the death of the cyclist, so it was a very serious incident to the cyclist.

I cycle to work 15 miles and there is not a single day when a car driver does not cut me up and almost knock me off (Manchester city centre). And when you don't have 2 tons of steel providing a nice safety cell around you it's pretty scary. What would be a minor bump between 2 cars, could result in me being in a wheelchair for the rest of my life or being dead. I ride with 2 very bright lights at the front and 2 at the rear, a hi-viz jacket and hi-viz wheels, but it still happens every single day. I've recently invested in a 120dB airhorn which is proving quite successful.

I'm not anti-car, in fact I'm quite a petrolhead (cycling keeps the miles off my car at home) and the reality is that actually pedestrians are far more dangerous than cars - usually stepping into the road with their ipod on without looking.

What you have described is a very normal car driver action. Overtake cyclist, once past cyclist, indicate left then expect the cyclist to hammer his breaks on to avoid a crash. You wouldn't do it to another car but it's seen as acceptable to do it to a cyclist.

Right I'm off to cycle home now, hopefully I make it in one piece.

Lum

Interesting point, however I'm curious, if the lane is filled with parked cars and you move out to straddle both lanes, then make your left turn, is the undertaking cyclist still in the right, or does the priority magically change once the car is completely over the centre divider.

What about leaving space for some muppet to open their car door without looking? This should apply as much to cyclists as it does to cars.

tomstickland

From cyclist's point of view what happened is:
car overtakes using right hand lane
car slows down, indicates left and
turns left across cyclist's path

I can see the problem with parked cars in the left hand lane.
Ideally, if car driver had known where they were going they would have pulled in behind the bike and then turned left.


Regarding doors being opened, I tend to leave a 1m gap between cars and the bike.

triggerhappy_2

Right, I haven't explained this very well. I edited my post to reflect the fact that I had mixed up inside and outside lane, so was attemting to clear up any confusion, not to cover up any error (my reason for editing is noted on the post).

I'll try to explain more clearly. Road has 4 lanes, two going in one direction, two going in the other:
←
| ↑ | ↑ | ↓ | ↓ |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
→ | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Lane 1 is parked cars, as is lane 4. Brother and I travelling in lane 2, turning left at the left arrow. Cyclist joins road from left (indicated by right arrow) and travels up the edge of lane 2 behind us. He catches up with us as we are slowing to turn left, eventually ending up almost in the path of my brother as he turns left. At no point had we overtaken or passed him until this incident.

I agree my brother was wrong not to notice him as he was turning, but I think there is fault on both sides, and certainly the reaction of the cyclist following the incident was more than the situation really called for.

triggerhappy_2

JQ. wrote: »

What you have described is a very normal car driver action. Overtake cyclist, once past cyclist, indicate left then expect the cyclist to hammer his breaks on to avoid a crash. You wouldn't do it to another car but it's seen as acceptable to do it to a cyclist.

Right I'm off to cycle home now, hopefully I make it in one piece.

I understand what you're saying and I hope you did indeed make it home safely, but neither of us overtook the cyclist - he entered the road from the left behind us and then caught up as we were slowing to turn.

mikey72

I'll put my hand up now then, I would have nearly hit him too, and if the prat chased me, I'd have hit him with the wheel wrench.
For the record, I don't check my mirrors, turning left, in case some idiot is trying to undertake me.
And before any cyclist tells me I should, tough, tell me after you've hit the car.
If you don't see something that big, with lights, don't depend on me to see you without any, and try to save your life if you don't care.

sequence

mikey72 wrote: »

I'll put my hand up now then, I would have nearly hit him too, and if the prat chased me, I'd have hit him with the wheel wrench.
For the record, I don't check my mirrors, turning left, in case some idiot is trying to undertake me.
And before any cyclist tells me I should, tough, tell me after you've hit the car.
If you don't see something that big, with lights, don't depend on me to see you without any, and try to save your life if you don't care.

Words fail me.

DaveMacD

andygb wrote: »

Have you ever ridden a bike? If so, did you stop at red lights/pedestrian crossings?

Yes, on both counts.

JQ.

mikey72 wrote: »

I'll put my hand up now then, I would have nearly hit him too, and if the prat chased me, I'd have hit him with the wheel wrench.
For the record, I don't check my mirrors, turning left, in case some idiot is trying to undertake me.
And before any cyclist tells me I should, tough, tell me after you've hit the car.
If you don't see something that big, with lights, don't depend on me to see you without any, and try to save your life if you don't care.

So you'd happily kill someone because you're too lazy to look in your mirrors.

And car drivers wonder why cyclists are aggressive when morons like this are allowed out on the road.

Rolandtheroadie

triggerhappy wrote: »

I understand what you're saying and I hope you did indeed make it home safely, but neither of us overtook the cyclist - he entered the road from the left behind us and then caught up as we were slowing to turn.

The only misinformation I took was I assumed you must have passed the idiot. You didnt.
He was coming up the inside of your brother. I notice a lot of large vehicles these days have signs telling cyclists not to pass on the left. Why? It's stupid.
As a biker, I check over my shoulder whatever way I'm turning. May have seen him, may not have.
Theres another thread about indicating in the middle of the night or when theres no-one there to see it. These people would have been caught the same way (and probably wouldnt have indicated to give the guy half a chance).
Road rage is road rage. You should report this incident to the police. The guys a hazzard to himself and possibly others.