Biggest Threats to Cyclists?

Norman_Castle wrote: »

^ I hope I could stop at that speed. I checked today, 18 mph is normal for me on that road. 99% of my rides will be at probable 8-10 mph. I was doing 25mph because I was aware of the car behind and was trying to avoid slowing them. I know if I had braked the car would not have any time to react.
I had a similar problem this weekend. Another daft woman trying to overtake and undertake. Six feet behind me at 25-30 mph for 1/4 mile. This time it was just a distraction as I had 8 feet of car behind me. Some drivers have little interest in driving safely.

Ever get the feeling you're a distraction to some, like a fly to be swatted out of the way ?

AndyBSG wrote: »

Lorries are without a doubt the single biggest risk to any cyclist.

Last year 106 cyclists died in Britain as a result of an accident involving a vehicle, a record high, and 25 of those deaths were caused by HGV's.

So they were responsible for roughly a quarter of all cyclist deaths despite HGV's only making up 4% of the traffic on the roads.

I agree that HGV's are a threat to cyclists but not because of the way lorry drivers drive, more the fact that lorries have huge blind spots and cyclists insist on riding down the inside of lorries whilst at lights. Lorry pulls away, turns left and takes out the cyclist.

I think alot of cyclists are there own worst enemy. For the record I am both a cyclist and a car driver, I also have a class 2 HGV licence but am not using it for a living anymore

Very interesting debate here.

I am not a cyclist in a long while but want to get back into it at some point. From a drivers POV ignorant and inattentive cyclists are a concern (as are drivers of the same ilk). I have had cyclists ride right onto a roundabout without checking if anything was coming. I honked my horn and he seemed surprised to see me!

Marco_Panettone wrote: »

Yes, some cyclists ride up the inside and put themselves in danger. However, many of the cyclists killed by left-turning lorries (in London, at least) have not. Drivers wildly underestimate the speed of cyclists and the time it takes to overtake safely. They underestimate how quickly they can make a left hand turn. If large vehicles do not indicate it is impossible to know they are wanting to turn, and when they swing to the right before moving left it opens up a wide, apparently safe gap for unwitting cyclists to get caught in.

Agreed - there was an incident near me a couple of months ago where it seems an HGV made a left turn from the right hand lane, across the path of a cyclist in the bus lane to his left. It remains to be seen whether the driver indicated, but in this case neither party was really 'in the wrong' as such - the driver couldn't have been in the bus lane, and the cyclist couldn't have known that the driver was going to turn. Good Dutch-style bike paths and restricting HGV movements at the busiest times are really the only way around this issue - training and awareness campaigns aren't enough.

Marco_Panettone wrote: »

As for the vehicle that scares me the most - skip lorries.

Hell yes. Any vehicle that's paid by load is likely to be driven dangerously. Also rental vans, where the driver may not be used to driving a van, foreign reg coaches, and tour buses. Just stay the hell away at all times!

liz545 wrote: »

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Hell yes. Any vehicle that's paid by load is likely to be driven dangerously. Also rental vans, where the driver may not be used to driving a van, foreign reg coaches, and tour buses. Just stay the hell away at all times!

And anything towing. People seem to forget they've got something on the back, overtake (giving plenty of space) then pull back in once the car or cab has cleared the bike, but not the trailer. So you have the trailer coming closer and closer as the back wheels 'straight line' to the front. Last thing that did this to me was an oil tanker - I was literally just about to throw myself onto the pavement as the end of the trailer passed me - must have been mere inches from me by then. Not nice.