Blind spots

[SometimesSansEngine]

I saw this video and wanted to retitle it on behalf of the uploader "how to sit in someone's blind spot".

I was only about four seconds in when I started to clock what was likely to happen, although I admit I thought the silver car was going to move across two lanes. I was flabbergasted when the rider chose to move left then sit where he did.

20 seconds in and I was looking at the car that is now furthest left and clearly on a one way course to merge, making what the silver car is about to do pretty much guaranteed... yet still the uploader sat there.

Yes the car could have prevented it by doing a shoulder check but why on earth put so much faith in strangers doing one when it's you that will get hurt?

Drop back or get ahead of them. Don't sit alongside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0op01DSlkI4

As usual sharing because it's useful for others as a learning experience.

[Six30]

Bikers a cock , car pulled out in the end cause a car joined motorway from a slip road .

[SometimesSansEngine]

I find it consistently amazing people upload their dodgy riding to youtube. I'd have a lot of respect if they did it to say "this was a cock up by me, here's what you should take away from it" but no, even after editing the footage they'll STILL think they were not to blame in any way.

[Bender]

Completely avoidable, why pull back into middle lane when you can see a car joining, should have pulled ahead there and then, you could see the car getting close to the one in front of it so was likely to pull out, rider just sat.

Knob.

[learningtofly]

Yeah, that was a very predictable outcome. At least he didn’t fall off whist he was gesticulating

[Stu]

I find it consistently amazing people upload their dodgy riding to youtube. I'd have a lot of respect if they did it to say "this was a cock up by me, here's what you should take away from it" but no, even after editing the footage they'll STILL think they were not to blame in any way.

 

This is why I avoid YouTube videos!

People can't see who is wrong and who is right and where they could improve! They are all too quick to pass judgement!

[SometimesSansEngine]

I find it consistently amazing people upload their dodgy riding to youtube. I'd have a lot of respect if they did it to say "this was a cock up by me, here's what you should take away from it" but no, even after editing the footage they'll STILL think they were not to blame in any way.

 

This is why I avoid YouTube videos!

People can't see who is wrong and who is right and where they could improve! They are all too quick to pass judgement!

 

I watch them for me, mostly. Quickly watch the situation, predict what is going to happen, consider what I would have done in that situation (usually... not put myself in that situation...)

Very rarely you can have a grown up conversation with the uploader too. I stumbled on one the other day where the vid was originally uploaded two years ago, and now with the benefit of a lot more riding experience he admitted to me saw how he contributed to it as we traded comments.

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[Bender]

Van pulling off at a junction yea you can see how that could go wrong, should have clear view of junction before overtake, should have held back, put himself in a very bad place.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Bender

[SometimesSansEngine]

Yup, and as I said to him he actually moved across the van which actually masked him for longer. Problem is people equate them seeing part of a vehicle to vehicle should know they're there.

[Guest Richzx6r]

My mantra on this is treat everything moveable or otherwise like it is out to ruin your day.......

[Stocky]

You shouldn't overtake on the approach to a junction, and that's a graphic indication of why.

[Phill]

I'm not even filtering when there's a junction ahead, unless i can clearly see the side road so I can look out for emerging cars.

On the other hand even when you're going straight on a single carriageway and there's a queue from the other way and people still do U-turns in front of you while you're doing 60. . Praise the R1 brakes!

[S-Westerly]

Part of the problem is car drivers generally totally underestimate how fast a bike can accelerate. I'd one the other day coming off a roundabout where the speed limit is 40. About 100 metres up the road on the left there's an access road into Bath university. I saw a car at the junction as I was peeling off from the roundabout come across which was fine, he cleared. Unfortunately the bloody Mercedes behind him did the same when I was probably less than 25 metres from him and doing 40mph. Cue swerving, braking and lots of swearing. In the end I missed him by about a metre and went around his back end. I'd guess we were both at fault - I'd seen him and I'm sure he'd seen me; I then assumed he'd stop. He'd seen me and assumed my speed and acceleration were less and that he'd be safe to cross. Double Oops

[SometimesSansEngine]

Part of the problem is car drivers generally totally underestimate how fast a bike can accelerate. I'd one the other day coming off a roundabout where the speed limit is 40. About 100 metres up the road on the left there's an access road into Bath university. I saw a car at the junction as I was peeling off from the roundabout come across which was fine, he cleared. Unfortunately the bloody Mercedes behind him did the same when I was probably less than 25 metres from him and doing 40mph. Cue swerving, braking and lots of swearing. In the end I missed him by about a metre and went around his back end. I'd guess we were both at fault - I'd seen him and I'm sure he'd seen me; I then assumed he'd stop. He'd seen me and assumed my speed and acceleration were less and that he'd be safe to cross. Double Oops

 

I know exactly the one you mean, off the Globe pub roundabout. I think people look but don't see - they know they usually wait a while so pull up, glance and if they 'see' a gap they go. I've had people do it there so I'm generally covering my front brake.

This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

[Guest Richzx6r]

Part of the problem is car drivers generally totally underestimate how fast a bike can accelerate. I'd one the other day coming off a roundabout where the speed limit is 40. About 100 metres up the road on the left there's an access road into Bath university. I saw a car at the junction as I was peeling off from the roundabout come across which was fine, he cleared. Unfortunately the bloody Mercedes behind him did the same when I was probably less than 25 metres from him and doing 40mph. Cue swerving, braking and lots of swearing. In the end I missed him by about a metre and went around his back end. I'd guess we were both at fault - I'd seen him and I'm sure he'd seen me; I then assumed he'd stop. He'd seen me and assumed my speed and acceleration were less and that he'd be safe to cross. Double Oops

 

I know exactly the one you mean, off the Globe pub roundabout. I think people look but don't see - they know they usually wait a while so pull up, glance and if they 'see' a gap they go. I've had people do it there so I'm generally covering my front brake.

This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

 

Do you not generally ride covering the front brake or is it just me? I have always done it around town after my first off 6 days after starting riding where u grabbed a handful of front brake when I didnt need to and locked the front.

The reason I do it is I feel it either completely eradicates the reaction time or at least lessens it as your fingers are already on the brake lever so when you think I need to brake here your straight on the brakes without faffing about

[SometimesSansEngine]

Part of the problem is car drivers generally totally underestimate how fast a bike can accelerate. I'd one the other day coming off a roundabout where the speed limit is 40. About 100 metres up the road on the left there's an access road into Bath university. I saw a car at the junction as I was peeling off from the roundabout come across which was fine, he cleared. Unfortunately the bloody Mercedes behind him did the same when I was probably less than 25 metres from him and doing 40mph. Cue swerving, braking and lots of swearing. In the end I missed him by about a metre and went around his back end. I'd guess we were both at fault - I'd seen him and I'm sure he'd seen me; I then assumed he'd stop. He'd seen me and assumed my speed and acceleration were less and that he'd be safe to cross. Double Oops

 

I know exactly the one you mean, off the Globe pub roundabout. I think people look but don't see - they know they usually wait a while so pull up, glance and if they 'see' a gap they go. I've had people do it there so I'm generally covering my front brake.

This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

 

Do you not generally ride covering the front brake or is it just me? I have always done it around town after my first off 6 days after starting riding where u grabbed a handful of front brake when I didnt need to and locked the front.

The reason I do it is I feel it either completely eradicates the reaction time or at least lessens it as your fingers are already on the brake lever so when you think I need to brake here your straight on the brakes without faffing about

 

I cover it frequently but in response to a potential hazard. eg car at junction, fingers on brake lever with a slight pressure (not enough to light up brake light)

I feel that this makes me less likely to panic grab. The conscious choice to move my fingers towards the lever is part of my internal strategy of planning to brake and to squeeze rather than grab if something develops.

Some people argue it makes you more likely to grab but I really really can't see how. I've heard it can be frowned upon for the CBT and the DVSA tests for this reason. But I simply can't work that out.

[S-Westerly]

Part of the problem is car drivers generally totally underestimate how fast a bike can accelerate. I'd one the other day coming off a roundabout where the speed limit is 40. About 100 metres up the road on the left there's an access road into Bath university. I saw a car at the junction as I was peeling off from the roundabout come across which was fine, he cleared. Unfortunately the bloody Mercedes behind him did the same when I was probably less than 25 metres from him and doing 40mph. Cue swerving, braking and lots of swearing. In the end I missed him by about a metre and went around his back end. I'd guess we were both at fault - I'd seen him and I'm sure he'd seen me; I then assumed he'd stop. He'd seen me and assumed my speed and acceleration were less and that he'd be safe to cross. Double Oops

 

I know exactly the one you mean, off the Globe pub roundabout. I think people look but don't see - they know they usually wait a while so pull up, glance and if they 'see' a gap they go. I've had people do it there so I'm generally covering my front brake.

This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

 

Do you not generally ride covering the front brake or is it just me? I have always done it around town after my first off 6 days after starting riding where u grabbed a handful of front brake when I didnt need to and locked the front.

The reason I do it is I feel it either completely eradicates the reaction time or at least lessens it as your fingers are already on the brake lever so when you think I need to brake here your straight on the brakes without faffing about

 

Generally no. I was always taught to "keep your hands off the silverware" . I'll cover the brake and/or clutch when driving slowly in heavy traffic or filtering but not normally.

[learningtofly]

...This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

 

Good article - thanks for linking it. I tried this and found it fascinating.

 

If you are not convinced, try this test.

1 Look in a mirror.

2 Look repeatedly from your right eye to your left eye.

3 Can you see your eyes moving? You can’t.

Repeat the test with a friend and watch them. You will see their eyes moving quite markedly.

[xMachina]

YouTube is full of drivers/riders playing the victim when the reality is they put themselves in that situation.

I quite often see videos that start off with the uploader actually being on the receiving end of someone else's bad driving. However, they take no action whatsoever - they either fail to identify the hazard/danger or think that somehow being in the right is going to prevent them from being involved in a collision. At that point (for me at least) they stop being the victim and they become the bad driver/rider. I'm sure it will be a great comfort to their family to have 'It was my right of way' engraved on their headstone!

Then there are the ones like the first video posted that I think may have deliberately place themselves in an iffy situation to get a video to upload, because I can't for the life of me think why any reasonably sane person wouldn't have either gone past before they moved over or if that wasn't an option and your speed was matched at the posted limit just eased off and dropped in behind. Given the amount of lanes joining in close succession there I don't really understand why he moved in to that position in the first place.

Second one is just 100% in the wrong, no ifs no buts.

[SometimesSansEngine]

...This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

 

Good article - thanks for linking it. I tried this and found it fascinating.

 

If you are not convinced, try this test.

1 Look in a mirror.

2 Look repeatedly from your right eye to your left eye.

3 Can you see your eyes moving? You can’t.

Repeat the test with a friend and watch them. You will see their eyes moving quite markedly.

 

Here's a great example, from my ride home this evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNaU3531Qd8&feature=youtu.be

Look but didn't see, that side glance (because she did look to the right) where you're probably caught in a saccade. She slowed when my second shout of look out in her window made her jump and look out the window and released for the first time that someone was there.

Apologies for any Somerset language, I do go proper farmer when yelling ("geroff my land!")

I'm actually glad I always straight line this roundabout in the wet, if you try and go around the painted area it's usually got diesel in it from buses, at least going over the painted area you can keep the bike more upright. If I had gone around it properly any braking or swerving could have been nasty. And just glad there was nothing oncoming as there usually was so I could swerve over.

If anyone wonders why I didn't brake, I had several cars behind me and swerving to the right with no oncoming vehicles was the safer option.

Was this lady out to kill me? No, she made a mistake when she saw a gap she thought she could roll into and I nearly paid for it.

[Guest Richzx6r]

...This sums it up neatly https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/raf-pilot-teach-cyclists/

 

Good article - thanks for linking it. I tried this and found it fascinating.

 

If you are not convinced, try this test.

1 Look in a mirror.

2 Look repeatedly from your right eye to your left eye.

3 Can you see your eyes moving? You can’t.

Repeat the test with a friend and watch them. You will see their eyes moving quite markedly.

 

Here's a great example, from my ride home this evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNaU3531Qd8&feature=youtu.be

Look but didn't see, that side glance (because she did look to the right) where you're probably caught in a saccade. She slowed when my second shout of look out in her window made her jump and look out the window and released for the first time that someone was there.

Apologies for any Somerset language, I do go proper farmer when yelling ("geroff my land!")

I'm actually glad I always straight line this roundabout in the wet, if you try and go around the painted area it's usually got diesel in it from buses, at least going over the painted area you can keep the bike more upright. If I had gone around it properly any braking or swerving could have been nasty. And just glad there was nothing oncoming as there usually was so I could swerve over.

If anyone wonders why I didn't brake, I had several cars behind me and swerving to the right with no oncoming vehicles was the safer option.

Was this lady out to kill me? No, she made a mistake when she saw a gap she thought she could roll into and I nearly paid for it.

 

At least you were on the ball and knew that roundabout well, glad it ending well and not with you in a heap on the floor

[mikestrivens]

Why didn’t you use your horn when you could see the car wasn’t slowing enough to stop? Nobody in a car is going to hear a shout muffled by a helmet.

[SometimesSansEngine]

Why didn’t you use your horn when you could see the car wasn’t slowing enough to stop? Nobody in a car is going to hear a shout muffled by a helmet.

 

Bicycle..............

[SometimesSansEngine]

Contrary to popular belief, I don't wear my motorcycle helmet on my bicycle. It's just too heavy.

[SometimesSansEngine]

Alternatively I'm riding the world's quietest engined motorcycle, with clicky gears and a strobing front light.