Moron Motorists #3

[Kenzo]

I am a realist and there are some roads that I avoid (typically narrow descents on busy-ish roads) but in built up areas, any road should be fair game for a confident cyclist.

Better to just be right than to be dead right.

[Big_Red]

Having a nice commute in this morning until some tool in his truck decides to overtake me while on a downhill stretch of road (Lambert St, before turning into Cairns St, here) as the 45kph i was going (while taking the lane of course) would have held him up for a second or two. Luckily no cars came around the blind corner while he was completely on the wrong side of the road or they'd have been been goners. Caught up to said tool while he was reversing into the delivery dock for the Story Bridge Hotel and very politely suggested that he not undertake such a stupid course of action ever again. Received a grunt in reply for my efforts. Wish i had a camera for this one, it'd be up in youtube in a flash.

[InTheWoods]

Wish i had a camera for this one, it'd be up in youtube in a flash.

At about $34 for a 808 #11, why not!

[Big_Red]

Apparently the #11 are no longer, thinking of getting a #16 or something like Liquid Image's Ego HD cam which allows you to connect via wifi and will do 720@60fps. Just seen it for $150 at T7... Going to look at the differences between a #16 & the Ego on Techmoan's site when i'm home from work tonight.

[InTheWoods]

Apparently the #11 are no longer, thinking of getting a #16 or something like Liquid Image's Ego HD cam which allows you to connect via wifi and will do 720@60fps. Just seen it for $150 at T7... Going to look at the differences between a #16 & the Ego on Techmoan's site when i'm home from work tonight.

I just had a #11 v2 show up in the post yesterday. So still selling, unless they finished up in the last 2 weeks or so.

They gave me a config util for the #18 but it seems to work for the #11 too. Sample config file:
datetime=2012:11:14 14:07:00
autopoweroff=none
datestamp=on
audio=high
looprecord=on
videocliplength=15min
recordingindicator=on
moviesize=720p
videodatarate=10m
sensorrotate=off
tvmode=ntsc
hz=50
ev=0
photosize=3m
selftime=10s
continueshot=1
motiondetect=off
voicemode=of

Just tried out the motiondetection which is cool. Records for 3 minutes after seeing movement. Don't think it will work on the bike because lights are rarely a 3 minute wait, and even if they are, I'm not motionless while waiting. I should turn off the loop record though, in case it records over the top of an accident while I lie on the ground... 8gb card though, so I'd hope battery would run out first.

[Postieboy]

Two near missess today on the way home by poeple who CBF about anybody else. These two neare missess could have not happened if they simply pulled their head out of their anus. How easy is it to actually indicate and looking at where you are going. Drivers in Newcastle truly are the worst in the state.

http://youtu.be/dISgyNKGZN0

[Lukeyboy]

Look at all those overtakes.

[jasonc]

http://youtu.be/dISgyNKGZN0

the first 2 deserve reporting. kudos for putting a good motorist in there too.

[zero]

Two near missess today on the way home by poeple who CBF about anybody else. These two neare missess could have not happened if they simply pulled their head out of their anus. How easy is it to actually indicate and looking at where you are going. Drivers in Newcastle truly are the worst in the state.

http://youtu.be/dISgyNKGZN0

Yes the drivers are morons who don't know what a blinker is for, and they'll all wind up having fender benders, but you should ride more defensively than that - that way it doesn't have to be you that gets hit by one of those fools - it will be another car or another rider.

IMO you make 3 roadcraft errors in the video, and 2 of them lead to close calls.

IMO the SUV would either accelerate to roadspeed and not be passable by you, or maneuver - in which case its dangerous to pass. It didn't accelerate so it always had to be suspect, at 36 the gap is partially blind and insufficient clearance for the speed - can negotiate that one at half that speed to remove the risk and then speed up again, and "last parking stall cut-off" is a well known phenomenon that you should be wary of your commitment always.

[InTheWoods]

IMO the SUV would either accelerate to roadspeed and not be passable by you, or maneuver - in which case its dangerous to pass. It didn't accelerate so it always had to be suspect, at 36 the gap is partially blind and insufficient clearance for the speed - can negotiate that one at half that speed to remove the risk and then speed up again, and "last parking stall cut-off" is a well known phenomenon that you should be wary of your commitment always.

I couldn't make out what was happening with the SUV, but +1 on the white euro doing the cutoff. I would of held back just at that moment personally, as I wouldn't be able to trust that the driver wouldn't turn on top of me.

[Postieboy]

Two near missess today on the way home by poeple who CBF about anybody else. These two neare missess could have not happened if they simply pulled their head out of their anus. How easy is it to actually indicate and looking at where you are going. Drivers in Newcastle truly are the worst in the state.

http://youtu.be/dISgyNKGZN0

Yes the drivers are morons who don't know what a blinker is for, and they'll all wind up having fender benders, but you should ride more defensively than that - that way it doesn't have to be you that gets hit by one of those fools - it will be another car or another rider.

IMO you make 3 roadcraft errors in the video, and 2 of them lead to close calls.

IMO the SUV would either accelerate to roadspeed and not be passable by you, or maneuver - in which case its dangerous to pass. It didn't accelerate so it always had to be suspect, at 36 the gap is partially blind and insufficient clearance for the speed - can negotiate that one at half that speed to remove the risk and then speed up again, and "last parking stall cut-off" is a well known phenomenon that you should be wary of your commitment always.

Firstly I would like to thank you for your comments and crticisms. It is great to hear different perspectives on the incidents.

The SUV was maintaining a speed consistent with that of the SUV in front of it - that is why I made the pass. In fact you can see in the video that I am catching the other SUV, and further along after in the incident (not shown in the video), pass it.

If you listen to the audio from 31 you can hear that I am freewheeling and decelerating as I approach the gap at 36. I find that perception of speed is very different in the videos from real life.

As for the Honda, well I didn't even have to brake for this one as I knew it was coming as soon as they ever so slighty started moving off and to the left and were looking at the blank bit of road in front and to the left of them.

[Postieboy]

IMO the SUV would either accelerate to roadspeed and not be passable by you, or maneuver - in which case its dangerous to pass. It didn't accelerate so it always had to be suspect, at 36 the gap is partially blind and insufficient clearance for the speed - can negotiate that one at half that speed to remove the risk and then speed up again, and "last parking stall cut-off" is a well known phenomenon that you should be wary of your commitment always.

I couldn't make out what was happening with the SUV, but +1 on the white euro doing the cutoff. I would of held back just at that moment personally, as I wouldn't be able to trust that the driver wouldn't turn on top of me.

The SUV all of a sudden veered to the left and nearly took me out at the chainstays (hence my choice of words at the time). No warning just all of a sudden turned. Look at the wheel in the video and its position relative to the road markings.

[InTheWoods]

IMO the SUV would either accelerate to roadspeed and not be passable by you, or maneuver - in which case its dangerous to pass. It didn't accelerate so it always had to be suspect, at 36 the gap is partially blind and insufficient clearance for the speed - can negotiate that one at half that speed to remove the risk and then speed up again, and "last parking stall cut-off" is a well known phenomenon that you should be wary of your commitment always.

I couldn't make out what was happening with the SUV, but +1 on the white euro doing the cutoff. I would of held back just at that moment personally, as I wouldn't be able to trust that the driver wouldn't turn on top of me.

The SUV all of a sudden veered to the left and nearly took me out at the chainstays (hence my choice of words at the time). No warning just all of a sudden turned. Look at the wheel in the video and its position relative to the road markings.

Sorry what I mean is I couldn't tell why they did it. Avoiding something or just swerving at random

[jules21]

[boss]

Two near missess today on the way home by poeple who CBF about anybody else. These two neare missess could have not happened if they simply pulled their head out of their anus. How easy is it to actually indicate and looking at where you are going. Drivers in Newcastle truly are the worst in the state.

<a href="http://youtu.be/dISgyNKGZN0[/quote" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Link added by VigLink" class="vglnk"><span>http</span><span>://</span><span>youtu</span><span>.</span><span>be</span><span>/</span><span>dISgyNKGZN0</span><span>[/</span><span>quote</span></a>]

Yes the drivers are morons who don't know what a blinker is for, and they'll all wind up having fender benders, but you should ride more defensively than that - that way it doesn't have to be you that gets hit by one of those fools - it will be another car or another rider.

IMO you make 3 roadcraft errors in the video, and 2 of them lead to close calls.

IMO the SUV would either accelerate to roadspeed and not be passable by you, or maneuver - in which case its dangerous to pass. It didn't accelerate so it always had to be suspect, at 36 the gap is partially blind and insufficient clearance for the speed - can negotiate that one at half that speed to remove the risk and then speed up again, and "last parking stall cut-off" is a well known phenomenon that you should be wary of your commitment always.

Firstly I would like to thank you for your comments and crticisms. It is great to hear different perspectives on the incidents.

The SUV was maintaining a speed consistent with that of the SUV in front of it - that is why I made the pass. In fact you can see in the video that I am catching the other SUV, and further along after in the incident (not shown in the video), pass it.

If you listen to the audio from 31 you can hear that I am freewheeling and decelerating as I approach the gap at 36. I find that perception of speed is very different in the videos from real life.

As for the Honda, well I didn't even have to brake for this one as I knew it was coming as soon as they ever so slighty started moving off and to the left and were looking at the blank bit of road in front and to the left of them.

From that video, it appears you're riding too aggressively in banked up traffic. Another (fairly aggressive) rider/commuter's 2c.

[human909]

If I'm passing stopped or slow moving cars not in a 'bike lane' or similar then I would normally be travelling <<20kph. Going faster is just too much of a risk. While the law allows you to do it, it doesn't allow you to speed down the inside and place blame on any vehicle that moves across you path.

[boss]

If I'm passing stopped or slow moving cars not in a 'bike lane' or similar then I would normally be travelling <<20kph. Going faster is just too much of a risk. While the law allows you to do it, it doesn't allow you to speed down the inside and place blame on any vehicle that moves across you path.

+1.

I don't have a set speed limit but if I feel like I can't stop on a dime to avoid the car that is 2m in front of me at any given time, I'm going too fast

[Lukeyboy]

This nice chap decided to pull out and park in the bike lane to merge into stationary traffic as I was riding past. Dediced to give him the thumbs up for a fantastic parking job

[gretaboy]

Jules21....where do you have your camera mounted..is it on the helmet?

[jules21]

Jules21....where do you have your camera mounted..is it on the helmet?

yep.. was. i was made to remove it by a race commissaire on w/end. will mount on handlebars.

[fingy]

Todays ride

[Big_Red]

Todays ride

Tradie in their ute in a hurry to get to the next job from the looks of it. You should know better than to get in the way of those people.

[Postieboy]

Two from yesterdays ride into work in the wet. You would think that in the wet drivers would be more careful

http://youtu.be/p3usoRSAp2k

http://youtu.be/FmY9jZH3Z9w

[zero]

Two from yesterdays ride into work in the wet. You would think that in the wet drivers would be more careful

http://youtu.be/p3usoRSAp2k

http://youtu.be/FmY9jZH3Z9w

First one was an understandable enough misjudgement. If that intersection has regular such occurances - then take the middle lane through that intersection if you have no motor traffic overtaking you. That will generally discourage left turners as it implies you are through traffic and that their intended path conflicts with yours on an ongoing basis.

Second one you can discourage by riding further out, so that you are clearly occupying the through lane and further discourage by wearing hivis. (it works, but i doubt the visibility is not the major mechanism - its simply better imo at conveying the concept that the driver has an obligation at these intersections). ie I believe the driver saw you just fine, but you were positioned such that you encourage optimism. Optimism amongst drivers is not good for cyclists. The other side effects of riding further out is that its easier to see if any cars are active in the parking stalls, and you can't get doored, so you can pay less overall attention to the parking stalls, and more attention to the more dynamic roadway area.

[wellington_street]

Second one you can discourage by riding further out, so that you are clearly occupying the through lane and further discourage by wearing hivis. (it works, but i doubt the visibility is not the major mechanism - its simply better imo at conveying the concept that the driver has an obligation at these intersections). ie I believe the driver saw you just fine, but you were positioned such that you encourage optimism. Optimism amongst drivers is not good for cyclists. The other side effects of riding further out is that its easier to see if any cars are active in the parking stalls, and you can't get doored, so you can pay less overall attention to the parking stalls, and more attention to the more dynamic roadway area.

I thought similar - to the driver pulling out it appears you are riding in the shoulder and therefore he can turn into the lane without an issue. No doubt he's in the wrong but a bit of defensive riding may have helped.

(Note that it is actually illegal to turn into a lane if there is another vehicle in an adjacent lane travelling in the same direction - this is to avoid this sort of occurrence where there's a side swipe or fear of side swipe)