Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Was just in the Moron Motorist thread and I thought about an "incident" I had this morning...but a positive one.

Was travelling up a minor hill, doing the usual, when I realised I had a semi next to me. This is not all that unusual given the route I travel for my commute. Even the load he was transporting wasnt all that unusual, a massive forklift on a 20 wheel trailer

What was unusual was the fact that he actually moved over into the right hand lane in order to put room between him and me, he didnt blow his airhorn to try and scare me out of the way either. His actions held up the cars in the "fast" moving right lane. I checked my GoPro footage and it clearly shows him moving over well before he gets to me. Once past he moved back and took up the "lane" that I was travelling in with the left wheels of the trailer well over the white line.

So to the truck driver in TransTrac Australia, truck 151.....thankyou for taking my safety into consideration.

Worth an email/letter/call to the company. Those sort of things go a long way, just like the complaints.

bychosis wrote:Worth an email/letter/call to the company. Those sort of things go a long way, just like the complaints.

+1

bychosis wrote:Worth an email/letter/call to the company. Those sort of things go a long way, just like the complaints.

+2

Maybe 30% of the motorists I come across are really really good. 60% are ok. 9% are a bit borderline. Its the 1% (or less, really) that are the biggest problem... Disclaimer: I pulled the percentages out of thin air.

If only I didn't see a larger proportion of cyclists doing crazy [illegal] stuff every day...

jasonc wrote:

bychosis wrote:Worth an email/letter/call to the company. Those sort of things go a long way, just like the complaints.

+1

Yeah was going to, am planning to....just cant find them on the net . No number on the truck that I can see either. Have triple checked the spelling on the footage, have got it right, just cant seem to locate them. Truck had NSW rego plates too.

Little bit of info in ASIC that might help

cheers
Glenn

gretaboy wrote:Was just in the Moron Motorist thread and I thought about an "incident" I had this morning...but a positive one.

Was travelling up a minor hill, doing the usual, when I realised I had a semi next to me. This is not all that unusual given the route I travel for my commute. Even the load he was transporting wasnt all that unusual, a massive forklift on a 20 wheel trailer

What was unusual was the fact that he actually moved over into the right hand lane in order to put room between him and me, he didnt blow his airhorn to try and scare me out of the way either. His actions held up the cars in the "fast" moving right lane. I checked my GoPro footage and it clearly shows him moving over well before he gets to me. Once past he moved back and took up the "lane" that I was travelling in with the left wheels of the trailer well over the white line.

So to the truck driver in TransTrac Australia, truck 151.....thankyou for taking my safety into consideration.

That occurs for me all the time. I constantly head check so I know what is behind me and I take the lane so they have no choice but to move into the other lane. I can't insist enough that cyclists should do this more. Not doing so compromises your own safety.

human909 wrote: That occurs for me all the time. I constantly head check so I know what is behind me and I take the lane so they have no choice but to move into the other lane. I can't insist enough that cyclists should do this more. Not doing so compromises your own safety.

It doesn't always work though. I've been close shaved by tradies when I've been In the right wheel track with an empty lane beside me. Some people are just jerks.

Undertow wrote:

human909 wrote: That occurs for me all the time. I constantly head check so I know what is behind me and I take the lane so they have no choice but to move into the other lane. I can't insist enough that cyclists should do this more. Not doing so compromises your own safety.

It doesn't always work though. I've been close shaved by tradies when I've been In the right wheel track with an empty lane beside me. Some people are just jerks.

Its not always tradies,I find after Commodore drivers, late model Mercedes and Audi drivers would be the worst, by the way I am a tradie and drive a rather large ute and wear fluoro, the percentage of bad drivers of all persuasions would be the same i'd say

Bentnose wrote:

Undertow wrote:

human909 wrote: That occurs for me all the time. I constantly head check so I know what is behind me and I take the lane so they have no choice but to move into the other lane. I can't insist enough that cyclists should do this more. Not doing so compromises your own safety.

It doesn't always work though. I've been close shaved by tradies when I've been In the right wheel track with an empty lane beside me. Some people are just jerks.

Its not always tradies,I find after Commodore drivers, late model Mercedes and Audi drivers would be the worst, by the way I am a tradie and drive a rather large ute and wear fluoro, the percentage of bad drivers of all persuasions would be the same i'd say

I didn't mean to say all tradies were bad. It's just the couple of occasions I can recall were done by tradies.

On one of the occasions it cost the tradies company a $10k job too, as my body corporate had them quote on job a week after it happened and I veto'd them for their bad driving.

Undertow wrote:

human909 wrote: That occurs for me all the time. I constantly head check so I know what is behind me and I take the lane so they have no choice but to move into the other lane. I can't insist enough that cyclists should do this more. Not doing so compromises your own safety.

It doesn't always work though. I've been close shaved by tradies when I've been In the right wheel track with an empty lane beside me. Some people are just jerks.

If you have a mirror or if you head check like I do then you see those jerks coming. And by riding in the middle of the lane you have space to play with.

Not a fan of midlane positioning after I found an oil spot the almost hardest way. Glad I was wearing reflective straps on me ankle that day.

My feelings on whitevan tradies changed a tad today. Approaching a road crossing on a PSP, I backed right off to give him plenty of time to make his turn. He saw me, stopped and waved me through with a smile. He got a huge one back with a bonus hat tip. Made my day.

Mulger bill wrote:...... He saw me, stopped and waved me through with a smile. He got a huge one back with a bonus hat tip. Made my day.

Perhaps counter-intuitively it would have made his too. A little shared respect does wonders for all. It costs you nothing to smile and say thank you, yet it is not particularly common on the roads.

Well done to you both in this instance.

Riding near Noojee the other weekend, we saw half a dozen hoons on dirt bikes tearing through what was unlikely to be properties they owned.

I was dreading climbing a hill thinking they could just jump the road themselves one after the other without looking.

But one guy made his way across as a scout and with hand gestures held up his mates. They waited for us to pass by them, even though they could have revved up and gotten across before we got to them.

Risk taking teens they might have been by themselves, but they were also respectful road users in the presence of others.

Frobisher St Osborne Park is a wide single lane road (light industry, lots of trucks). Plenty of room to stay out of the gutter and still have traffic pass without crossing the centre line. However where there are small traffic islands at intersections the road narrows to a genuine single lane.
I normally head check and take the lane into the round about, but this morning was a bit slow: there was already a car passing and a queue behind from the traffic light change. So I ducked onto the kerb to wait for a break in the traffic. Looking behind for a break, a fellow in white tray back pauses and waves me on to the round about. Gave him a wave then and again when he passed me on the other side.
I hope he had a really good day.

Anyone who knows the eleebana s- bends knows its a bit tight. Rode through today and for about half the distance a courteous driver Waited patiently behind, turns out it was learner, probably not game to overtake. Hope the courtesy lasts through to full license. I was going about 35-40 in a 60 zone that most cars probably average 50 through.

Sunday's positive interaction
Godden Electrical is written on the side of the ute.
Driver waited patiently until I deemed it safe to pass and waved him through.
What is not on the video is him waving his thanks as he went past.

I would have been doing about 11km/h at this stage.

Had a fella let me in this morning so i could over take a stopped bus

Flinder st for perth people, Its a down hill so i was carrying decent speed, head check, arm out indicating, headcheck he stopped acclerating, big thumbs up to the driver as i got out of the saddle and made quick work of the over take.

small thing, and might be seen as expected driver etiquette, but appreciated all the same.

I thought I had a stalker today. A white Landcruiser ute with a large Loose Kid Industries sticker across the rear window. These are the types of vehicle I have the most problem with, but this particular driver (you could hear the thing coming a mile away) over took me 5 times in about 20 klms of riding. Every pass was the same, hear him back off the accelerator before passing me fully on the other side of the road. I still can't figure out what he was doing considering the roads are rural but I appreciate his efforts in passing safely.

AKO wrote:I thought I had a stalker today. A white Landcruiser ute with a large Loose Kid Industries sticker across the rear window. These are the types of vehicle I have the most problem with, but this particular driver (you could hear the thing coming a mile away) over took me 5 times in about 20 klms of riding. Every pass was the same, hear him back off the accelerator before passing me fully on the other side of the road. I still can't figure out what he was doing considering the roads are rural but I appreciate his efforts in passing safely.

He must be enjoying the view from behind lol! [WINKING FACE]

Rhubarb wrote:

Mulger bill wrote:...... He saw me, stopped and waved me through with a smile. He got a huge one back with a bonus hat tip. Made my day.

Perhaps counter-intuitively it would have made his too. A little shared respect does wonders for all. It costs you nothing to smile and say thank you, yet it is not particularly common on the roads.

Well done to you both in this instance.

I've had some good motorists as well over time. They always get a thank you wave, or if I can catch them, I'll say thanks.

dj.bren wrote:

AKO wrote:I thought I had a stalker today. A white Landcruiser ute with a large Loose Kid Industries sticker across the rear window. These are the types of vehicle I have the most problem with, but this particular driver (you could hear the thing coming a mile away) over took me 5 times in about 20 klms of riding. Every pass was the same, hear him back off the accelerator before passing me fully on the other side of the road. I still can't figure out what he was doing considering the roads are rural but I appreciate his efforts in passing safely.

He must be enjoying the view from behind lol! [WINKING FACE]

Can farms. He was looking at the cane farms. CANE FARMS I tell ya.

One driver's viewpoint on overtaking cyclists - I think he may be a cyclist himself. Great to see drivers waiting behind cyclists without aggro, like we experienced many times in Italy.

I get LOTS of good motorists; by far the largest proportion of drivers are respectful and safe. I also do NOT take the lane all the time and move over when I can.

I was on the Princes Highway a while ago, riding on the very narrow verge. Every single vehicle moved well to the right when passing, giving me well over 1.5m clearance. No one gave me any trouble. One guy going the other way gave me a toot, a wave and a big smile. It was a particularly interesting view because I could see how the stream of traffic moved around me with good manners and without problems.

If I had been sitting in the middle of the lane cruising at 25kmh and holding them all up it could have been a very different situation.

Give drivers a chance, indicate, take a lane when necessary but go hard to avoid holding up other traffic, move left if it's safe and if you are cruising, give out lots of waves and smiles....it's all pretty simple.

Chris249 wrote:If I had been sitting in the middle of the lane cruising at 25kmh and holding them all up it could have been a very different situation.

Quite right. But that isn't the way it should be.

On the flip side, but not taking the lane you have a greater chance of being DEAD or badly injured.