Twitter cyclists v Twitter driver video - who's right?

[Driver101]

The cyclist shouldn't have turned without looking, but the driver was closing too fast and had nowhere to pass.

If the cyclist had stopped quickly the driver would have rear ended him with nowhere to go.

[monthou]

Durzel said:

The cyclist didn’t do much more than a wobble that you have to anticipate.

10 seconds to 12 seconds he goes from hugging the edge of the road to more or less primary position. Without looking.
That's not a wobble.

[NGee]

Durzel said:

Driver ought to have hung back a little more to clear the island to the right of him before starting to make the overtake imo.

If the cyclist hadn't suddenly slammed on his brakes, then both cyclist and car would have been well clear of island and hatch markings by the time the car had caught up, it would then have had plenty of time to make a safe overtake.

[NGee]

Driver101 said:

If the cyclist had stopped quickly the driver would have rear ended him with nowhere to go.

The cyclist DID stop quickly and the driver did manage to avoid an accident.

[321boost]

Cant believe some people are blaming the driver I guess you cant fix dumbness

[Foss62]

321boost said:

Cant believe some people are blaming the driver I guess you cant fix dumbness

It seems that you can’t. Considering that any accident between the car and the bike would have entailed the car hitting the bike virtually in the middle of it’s lane - what do you imagine would have been the legal or insurance outcomes here?
It was a really daft place to go for an overtake in the first place. Why not wait a few seconds and allow more clearance? The cyclist made an error but that error was caused by reacting to an accident on the other side of the road. The swerve could just as easily have been round a pothole or an animal running out for example.

[PH User]

I think the driver should have hung back a bit, but what the cyclist did was stupid.

[321boost]

Foss62 said:

321boost said:

Cant believe some people are blaming the driver I guess you cant fix dumbness

It seems that you can’t. Considering that any accident between the car and the bike would have entailed the car hitting the bike virtually in the middle of it’s lane - what do you imagine would have been the legal or insurance outcomes here?
It was a really daft place to go for an overtake in the first place. Why not wait a few seconds and allow more clearance? The cyclist made an error but that error was caused by reacting to an accident on the other side of the road. The swerve could just as easily have been round a pothole or an animal running out for example.

lol

[jmcc500]

Driver should have been planning to be well away from cyclist as he passed, and at a lower speed differential. Cyclist is entitled to travel anywhere in the lane, driver should be more circumspect in my opinion.

[anonymous-user]

321boost said:

Foss62 said:

321boost said:

Cant believe some people are blaming the driver I guess you cant fix dumbness

It seems that you can’t. Considering that any accident between the car and the bike would have entailed the car hitting the bike virtually in the middle of it’s lane - what do you imagine would have been the legal or insurance outcomes here?
It was a really daft place to go for an overtake in the first place. Why not wait a few seconds and allow more clearance? The cyclist made an error but that error was caused by reacting to an accident on the other side of the road. The swerve could just as easily have been round a pothole or an animal running out for example.

lol

Well there’s 321boost’s idiot credentials verified...

The cyclist moved in an unpredictable way, and ought to have been able to hear a car hammering down the road behind him, but (a) age old rule is that if you hit something from behind it’s your fault (because you have eyes in the front of your head and they don’t have eyes in the back of theirs); (b) the car driver’s approach speed to a pinch point with another road user in front of him was way too fast, resulting in him having insufficient time to respond to a sudden change of circumstances.

[monthou]

jmcc500 said:

Cyclist is entitled to travel anywhere in the lane,

What does that have to do with anything?

[Driver101]

NGee said:

Driver101 said:

If the cyclist had stopped quickly the driver would have rear ended him with nowhere to go.

The cyclist DID stop quickly and the driver did manage to avoid an accident.

The cyclist DIDN'T stop.

He didn't brake that hard either. If he slammed the brakes on he'd have stopped in that pinch point and the driver would have rear ended him.

[321boost]

BlackWidow13 said:

321boost said:

Foss62 said:

321boost said:

Cant believe some people are blaming the driver I guess you cant fix dumbness

It seems that you can’t. Considering that any accident between the car and the bike would have entailed the car hitting the bike virtually in the middle of it’s lane - what do you imagine would have been the legal or insurance outcomes here?
It was a really daft place to go for an overtake in the first place. Why not wait a few seconds and allow more clearance? The cyclist made an error but that error was caused by reacting to an accident on the other side of the road. The swerve could just as easily have been round a pothole or an animal running out for example.

lol

Well there’s 321boost’s idiot credentials verified...

The cyclist moved in an unpredictable way, and ought to have been able to hear a car hammering down the road behind him, but (a) age old rule is that if you hit something from behind it’s your fault (because you have eyes in the front of your head and they don’t have eyes in the back of theirs); (b) the car driver’s approach speed to a pinch point with another road user in front of him was way too fast, resulting in him having insufficient time to respond to a sudden change of circumstances.

If the cyclist could hear the car then why behave like an idiot. Goes to show they were not being careful.

(a) Not really if someone comes in front of you without looking at their mirrors or proper observation then it is their fault.
(b) The driver did react to sudden change of circumstances correctly, he saved the cyclist's life here. Kudos to the driver.

[Foss62]

monthou said:

jmcc500 said:

Cyclist is entitled to travel anywhere in the lane,

What does that have to do with anything?

It’s quite important here...If you make a decision to overtake something and that decision doesn’t involve moving across into the other lane then you take on a fair amount of risk that it’s up to you to control.

[monthou]

Driver101 said:

The cyclist DIDN'T stop.

He didn't brake that hard either. If he slammed the brakes on he'd have stopped in that pinch point and the driver would have rear ended him.

When I was about 12 - late '70s - I picked up my first new (as opposed to new to me) bike and set off to cycle home. Half way there I heard a beep behind me. Turns out my dad was following me all the way, watching me swerve out into the road to pass cars without looking. I had the biggest bking of my life (until then) and was told to get back on my bike and use my head.
The driving in the video was distinctly average. The cycling was horrible.

[monthou]

Foss62 said:

monthou said:

jmcc500 said:

Cyclist is entitled to travel anywhere in the lane,

What does that have to do with anything?

It’s quite important here...If you make a decision to overtake something and that decision doesn’t involve moving across into the other lane then you take on a fair amount of risk that it’s up to you to control.

A cyclist doesn't have carte blanche to change direction without looking. Any cyclist who thinks they do is living on borrowed time.
How many overtakes involve going completely into another lane?

[Driver101]

monthou said:

Driver101 said:

The cyclist DIDN'T stop.

He didn't brake that hard either. If he slammed the brakes on he'd have stopped in that pinch point and the driver would have rear ended him.

When I was about 12 - late '70s - I picked up my first new (as opposed to new to me) bike and set off to cycle home. Half way there I heard a beep behind me. Turns out my dad was following me all the way, watching me swerve out into the road to pass cars without looking. I had the biggest bking of my life (until then) and was told to get back on my bike and use my head.
The driving in the video was distinctly average. The cycling was horrible.

The driving is poor.

[monthou]

Driver101 said:

The driving is poor.

Okay.
How's the cycling?

[anonymous-user]

321boost said:

BlackWidow13 said:

321boost said:

Foss62 said:

321boost said:

Cant believe some people are blaming the driver I guess you cant fix dumbness

It seems that you can’t. Considering that any accident between the car and the bike would have entailed the car hitting the bike virtually in the middle of it’s lane - what do you imagine would have been the legal or insurance outcomes here?
It was a really daft place to go for an overtake in the first place. Why not wait a few seconds and allow more clearance? The cyclist made an error but that error was caused by reacting to an accident on the other side of the road. The swerve could just as easily have been round a pothole or an animal running out for example.

lol

Well there’s 321boost’s idiot credentials verified...

The cyclist moved in an unpredictable way, and ought to have been able to hear a car hammering down the road behind him, but (a) age old rule is that if you hit something from behind it’s your fault (because you have eyes in the front of your head and they don’t have eyes in the back of theirs); (b) the car driver’s approach speed to a pinch point with another road user in front of him was way too fast, resulting in him having insufficient time to respond to a sudden change of circumstances.

If the cyclist could hear the car then why behave like an idiot. Goes to show they were not being careful.

(a) Not really if someone comes in front of you without looking at their mirrors or proper observation then it is their fault.
(b) The driver did react to sudden change of circumstances correctly, he saved the cyclist's life here. Kudos to the driver.

(a) wrong.
(b) wrong.

Better luck next time.

[PH User]

monthou said:

Driver101 said:

The driving is poor.

Okay.
How's the cycling?

Not good.