Moron Motorists #3

[jasonc]

We talking about the dude in spandex right on your tail?

no. the silver cruze. do you want a video with more precursor?

[herzog]

Might help. Hard to see what went wrong in that clip.

[jasonc]

ok, how's this:

[queequeg]

^^^ Hmmm, I am not seeing any cars busting to overtake you, but is hard to see (on my phone) if they were actually indicating initially, or had intended to go straight and then realised they needed to go left

[Summernight]

I see it now, a typical car situation where they are only seeing you and not looking ahead to see others (waiting cyclists) and then realising suddenly that they will not make it, so they stop, let you complete your turn then follow. The same result that if they had just been patient in the first place. When will motorists learn there is more than one pedal to choose from?

Yup. I was thinking (before I saw the extended clip) that we needed front cam to see the moronic action. Front cam seems to show these sorts of MGIF incidents in a bit more detail as you see the second they realise they aren't going to make it and start braking.

I did smile when the cyclist behind you looks like he leans down to check whether that thing on the back of your bike is a camera. I was also mesmerised by the flappy thing (presumably from your backpack).

[zero]

I see it now, a typical car situation where they are only seeing you and not looking ahead to see others (waiting cyclists) and then realising suddenly that they will not make it, so they stop, let you complete your turn then follow. The same result that if they had just been patient in the first place. When will motorists learn there is more than one pedal to choose from?

Driver of the car could see just fine - they were attempting to race for a gap that was entirely bounded by vulnerable road users - truly moronic and worthy of the thread. If there is a close gap that has motorcycles, pedestrians or cyclists - people should absolutely not be racing for it in a car.

[herzog]

Hey one of the recommended videos that popped up at the end of the Silver Cruze clip above:





WOW

[jasonc]

I was also mesmerised by the flappy thing (presumably from your backpack).

It's actually the zip tab from the saddle bag

[bychosis]

I was also mesmerised by the flappy thing (presumably from your backpack).

It's actually the zip tab from the saddle bag

Since mounting my camera on the rear I also have some good footage of my saddle bag zip tabs. When It's a bit dark the zip tabs blink red too!

Got a fright yesterday morn as a car 'came from nowhere' passed me quickly then on the brakes to turn left. Scary part was I had only just moments earlier moved out in the road a bit far to pass a parked car. I had been stopped at a set of lights beside another car, we both moved off and then within a block were turning left. The other car had presumably come through an orange light behind me and with the wind noise I had no idea it was there. After reviewing my footage I'm leaning toward forward facing the camera again because while the footage from the rear looked fine the front would have shown how he cut me off a bit. Maybe it's time for camera two. (A little dumb cyclist in there too as I didn't know there was a car behind me before moving out into the lane)

[jasonc]

the fly6 guys have said they are working on the Fly12 which will be a front facing camera with a light. As long as the light is a blinky, that's fine

looking something like a knog blinder would be the best option - one lens for the camera, one for the light

[il padrone]

Not mine. From Facebook, from the UK.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#! ... 69&fref=nf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[biker jk]

Not mine. From Facebook, from the UK.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#! ... 69&fref=nf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Typical dumb comments from UK bogans or should that be chavs? It's all too common for cars with an obstruction on their side of the road to not give way to oncoming vehicles and pass the obstacle dangerously. I live in a suburb with very narrow streets and around 80% of drivers think it's fine to cross to my side of the road to pass obstacles.

[il padrone]

I'm more disturbed by the 0.1% of drivers who think it's quite OK to reverse at speed, hundreds of metres along a main road, past side-streets, for a spurious disputed traffic call. Chav deserves to lose the licence for a long stretch.

[Aushiker]

I was surprised at how good the video footage was from a chest mount, very stable and very informative in the information it captures, sort of like a black box for the cyclist and what they are doing with their "controls".

Riding a recumbent now days I think a chest mount might work a treat. Might have to investigate this further.

Andrew

[arkle]

My post on that Facebook entry:

So the car driver was in such a hurry that he had to drive dangerously and maniacally and endanger other road users. But when called on his dangerous and maniacal driving by another road user, he suddenly has the time drive even more dangerously and maniacally and take that road user to task for highlighting his dangerous and maniacal driving. Do you see the idiocy there? Its the overwhelming sense of self importance and entitlement that is puzzling.

I'm from the UK and I'm used to driving and cycling on narrow roads with frequent parked vehicles.

Whilst the oncoming car driver encroached on the lane of the cyclist, this is pretty standard stuff over there. It happens when you're driving a car too. The normal, co-operative behaviour is to shift left so that you can pass each other safely. It happens all the time. In suburban streets, almost every minute.

The cyclist chose to ride wide and make a mountain out of a molehill. I'm not surprised that the car driver reacted badly to the cyclist sticking his middle finger up at him.

arkle

[arkle]

I've no doubt that in some situations they are inflamed by parties to the situation, my observation should probably have been worded more generically I suppose. Seems lots of people are in a hurry until such time as they feel it necessary to berate someone, then they suddenly have all the time in the world.

He probably wasn't in a hurry. This is pretty normal driving in the UK. People are much more co-operative there. We help each other, we move over for each other. If the cyclist wants to be belligerent because he has a camera strapped to helmet then so be it. Maybe the cyclist was Australian?

arkle

[biker jk]

I've no doubt that in some situations they are inflamed by parties to the situation, my observation should probably have been worded more generically I suppose. Seems lots of people are in a hurry until such time as they feel it necessary to berate someone, then they suddenly have all the time in the world.

He probably wasn't in a hurry. This is pretty normal driving in the UK. People are much more co-operative there. We help each other, we move over for each other. If the cyclist wants to be belligerent because he has a camera strapped to helmet then so be it. Maybe the cyclist was Australian?

arkle

So you're condoning swerving onto the other side of the road to pass an obstacle on your side as "normal" driving? Perhaps you need to go back to the UK?

[il padrone]

We saw this sort of thing in Italy, done by drivers overtaking us on our bikes.... at times forcing oncomimg traffic over to the right. The difference was we almost never encountered oncoming drivers doing this to us on our bikes. They seemed to have a greater degree of respect for cyclists and pedestrians (vulnerable road users). What I see and hear of cycling in the UK is that it's not so different to here in Aus. ie. drivers barely give a fig for cyclist safey, not if it's likely to infringe on their own convenience.

[arkle]

I've no doubt that in some situations they are inflamed by parties to the situation, my observation should probably have been worded more generically I suppose. Seems lots of people are in a hurry until such time as they feel it necessary to berate someone, then they suddenly have all the time in the world.

He probably wasn't in a hurry. This is pretty normal driving in the UK. People are much more co-operative there. We help each other, we move over for each other. If the cyclist wants to be belligerent because he has a camera strapped to helmet then so be it. Maybe the cyclist was Australian?

arkle

So you're condoning swerving onto the other side of the road to pass an obstacle on your side as "normal" driving? Perhaps you need to go back to the UK?

Yes. It's normal there. We don't generally have the same, "this is my lane," "you can't come into my lane," "oh no I'm entitled to be here so I won't move over and I'll ring my bell to show how immature I am," attitude.

arkle

[outnabike]

He probably wasn't in a hurry. This is pretty normal driving in the UK. People are much more co-operative there. We help each other, we move over for each other. If the cyclist wants to be belligerent because he has a camera strapped to helmet then so be it. Maybe the cyclist was Australian?

arkle

Snipped.
Why are you turning this into a pom aus thing?
The cyclist had no room at all on the left and he didn't seem to have an Aus accent . What if he veered around to the right , and at the same time the car behind his customer gunned it in frustration to his left.

Result; a head on with a cyclist on the wrong side of the road.....

[arkle]

He probably wasn't in a hurry. This is pretty normal driving in the UK. People are much more co-operative there. We help each other, we move over for each other. If the cyclist wants to be belligerent because he has a camera strapped to helmet then so be it. Maybe the cyclist was Australian?

arkle

Snipped.
Why are you turning this into a pom aus thing?
The cyclist had no room at all on the left and he didn't seem to have an Aus accent . What if he veered around to the right , and at the same time the car behind his customer gunned it in frustration to his left.

Result; a head on with a cyclist on the wrong side of the road.....

He had plenty of room on his left. He was in the middle of his lane when the car passed him. Yes he's allowed to be there, but road users are generally much more courteous than this in the UK.

I lived there for 25 years and it was common practice to move over to let oncoming vehicles safely overtake cars parked in their side. It's borne of necessity. Other people do the same in return. They do not typically display the inbred hostility that I see here. They try to help each other. People flash their headlights to let other people in, move over to help each other, wave, smile, and co-operate. You don't have to wait long at an intersection - the cars will slow down when they see that you are waiting, and they'll flash you in. It's lovely. It's such a shame that Australian drivers don't do this.

arkle

[human909]

It's all too common for cars with an obstruction on their side of the road to not give way to oncoming vehicles and pass the obstacle dangerously. I live in a suburb with very narrow streets and around 80% of drivers think it's fine to cross to my side of the road to pass obstacles.

There is no such thing as "YOUR" side of the road. And yes it is fine to cross to the otherside to avoid an obstacle or for a whole bunch of other reasons. You gotta do it safely though.

So you're condoning swerving onto the other side of the road to pass an obstacle on your side as "normal" driving?

Um, yes. That is both legal and a normal thing to do.

Keep as left as practical and pass oncoming vehicles of the left side. There are plenty of two way roads that aren't wide enough two fit two cars in parts.

[il padrone]

Not done safely if there is an oncoming vehicle passing the same obstruction at the time however.

And I don't care whether it's the done thing in the UK to trample on cyclists' road space. I really doubt that arkle is talking about motorists interacting with cyclists either, more likely motorists with other motorists. From what friends have told me about cycling in the UK, driver mentality towards cyclists is very much the same as here. I did not encounter such lane-jumping towards us as cyclists in Italy though. I believe there is a very basic difference in driver attitudes between Europe and UK/Australia and USA. It's called strict liability in civil claims - the principle that the larger, faster vehicle has greater responsibility to give way, and is deemed at fault in the absence of other negligent behaviour.

[outnabike]

He probably wasn't in a hurry. This is pretty normal driving in the UK. People are much more co-operative there. We help each other, we move over for each other. If the cyclist wants to be belligerent because he has a camera strapped to helmet then so be it. Maybe the cyclist was Australian?

arkle

Snipped.
Why are you turning this into a pom aus thing?
The cyclist had no room at all on the left and he didn't seem to have an Aus accent . What if he veered around to the right , and at the same time the car behind his customer gunned it in frustration to his left.

Result; a head on with a cyclist on the wrong side of the road.....

He had plenty of room on his left. He was in the middle of his lane when the car passed him. Yes he's allowed to be there, but road users are generally much more courteous than this in the UK.

I lived there for 25 years and it was common practice to move over to let oncoming vehicles safely overtake cars parked in their side. It's borne of necessity. Other people do the same in return. They do not typically display the inbred hostility that I see here. They try to help each other. People flash their headlights to let other people in, move over to help each other, wave, smile, and co-operate. You don't have to wait long at an intersection - the cars will slow down when they see that you are waiting, and they'll flash you in. It's lovely. It's such a shame that Australian drivers don't do this.

arkle

arkle, non of that answers why you are saying it is a race thing at all.
And I really can't see how the cyclist had plenty of room. Just put yourself there and what would you do.
You assume right of way and keep going and suddenly realize the oncoming car will not stop. Do you dare to go left and into the water laying there or the culvert protruding into the road. You cant tell how much road the oncoming car will take. Personally I would stop if I could as you virtually have been bullied into a stop.
Two road users in another country having an altercation, what that all has to do with a tirade regarding Australia beats me.

[biker jk]

It's all too common for cars with an obstruction on their side of the road to not give way to oncoming vehicles and pass the obstacle dangerously. I live in a suburb with very narrow streets and around 80% of drivers think it's fine to cross to my side of the road to pass obstacles.

There is no such thing as "YOUR" side of the road. And yes it is fine to cross to the otherside to avoid an obstacle or for a whole bunch of other reasons. You gotta do it safely though.

So you're condoning swerving onto the other side of the road to pass an obstacle on your side as "normal" driving?

Um, yes. That is both legal and a normal thing to do.

Keep as left as practical and pass oncoming vehicles of the left side. There are plenty of two way roads that aren't wide enough two fit two cars in parts.

Um, no. If you need to cross to the other side of the road to pass an obstacle when there's another car coming the other way then you need to give way if there's a risk of collision.